"Good to My Baby"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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On Wednesday I listened to Today!, and I became really interested in the guitar part in "Good to My Baby," particularly the glissando.  So I figured that out, and then I got the chords too.

I waited until now to record and post an example because Pet Sounds and SMiLE still take precedence.  This is just a rare divergence.

There's an interesting feature at the very end of the verses.  The chords go from D major to G major to E major, within which there's a chromatic phrase (D, F#, A; G, B, D; E, G#, B).  They're half-step increments, the smallest interval.  The lyrics there are "And when I give her my love, it's between her and me" in the first verse and "And we stay together while other couples come and go" in the second verse.  That chromatic phrase seems to portray the lyrics both times.  Because it's the smallest interval, nothing can get between the notes, just like the singer/speaker's love is "between her and me."  Similarly, they're adjacent, in the same way that the singer/speaker and his girlfriend "stay together."