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© 2026 Nadav (Nahdi) Lazar. Beatles music © Apple Corps. Fan-made – not affiliated with The Beatles or Apple Corps.

“In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

Songs Magical Mystery TourHello, Goodbye

I Am the Walrus·Strawberry Fields Forever

Hello, Goodbye1967 · Magical Mystery Tour

Magical Mystery Tour album cover

Hello, Goodbye

1967 · Magical Mystery Tour

“You say yes, I say no”

A McCartney composition for Magical Mystery Tour, lead vocal by McCartney. Built around a verse-refrain alternation in C major with a distinctive 45-second vocable coda over a C pedal.

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This song is one of only 2 Beatles songs with ABABCBAB.

AlbumMagical Mystery Tour

Track7 · Side opener · Side 2

Songwriter(s)McCartneyCredited as Lennon–McCartney

RecordedOctober 2 – November 2, 1967

ReleasedNovember 24, 1967

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Text138 tags

Motif

Greetings Question Philosophical Dialogue Communication

Vocabulary

Positive tone Limited vocabulary Minimal lyrics Nonsense words Casual language

Narrative

Second person Conversational First person

Lyrical device

Anadiplosis Anaphora Antithesis

Rhyme type

Identical rhyme Extrametrical rhyme Triple rhyme Internal rhyme Perfect rhyme

Song form

Sections

Has bridge Many choruses (4+)Standard verses (2-4)Has coda Has outro

Section links

Verse variation Outro based on chorus Coda based on chorus Chorus variation

Repetition

Recurring verse Consecutive word Consecutive line Recurring fade line

Word cloud

Recurring words

goodbye high low do you don't know i may it's time say hello say i stop and time to why you and i say do you say i don't know it's time to stop and i why do you i don't know why it's time to go i don't know why you

Cover-shared words

bye go know mean oh say stay stop till time you and i but i i can i don't i say oh no to go yes i you say

Lyric shape

[ADJ] you [VERB] why [VERB] yes may [VERB][ADJ] you [VERB][VERB] [VERB] i [VERB] [WORD] and [VERB] [WORD] i [VERB] and i do you [VERB]i [VERB] no i may [VERB]it's [NOUN] to why you [VERB]yes i [VERB]you [VERB] [WORD][VERB] [WORD] i [VERB][VERB] and i [VERB][VERB] i don't [VERB][WORD] and i [VERB]and i [VERB] [WORD]i don't [VERB] why it's [NOUN] to [WORD]why do you [VERB][WORD] [WORD] i don't [VERB][WORD] and i [VERB] [WORD][WORD] i [VERB] [WORD] [WORD]i don't [VERB] why you

Cover-shared shape

[NOUN] it's [NOUN] to [VERB] and [VERB] i [VERB] no [WORD] and [WORD] i [WORD] no can [VERB]don't [VERB]i [VERB]it's [NOUN]to [WORD]you [VERB][NOUN] to [WORD][VERB] [VERB] and [WORD] [WORD] i [WORD] and i [WORD] i [VERB]and i [VERB]i [VERB] [ADJ]i [VERB] [WORD]i [VERB] i i can [VERB]i don't [VERB]you [VERB] [ADJ]you [VERB] [VERB]i [VERB] [WORD] [WORD]i [VERB] [WORD] [WORD] [WORD]

Rhyme scheme

AAA ABCBB AAB AAAAA

Line length

Unique line length

Distinctive word

chahebahelahelloa

Music179 tags

Arrangement

Lead vocals Backing vocals Electric guitar Lead guitar Bass guitar Piano Organ Drums Percussion Tambourine Maracas Bongos Handclaps Viola Other percussion Congas

Instrument group

Guitars String Keyboards Percussion

Bass work

Descending bass Chromatic bass line Stepwise bass line

Music genre

Pop Psychedelic Rock

Vocal work

Ooh vocals Counterpoint

Tempo

Key

Time signature

Song form

Verse-chorus ABABCBAB

Sections

Has bridge Many choruses (4+)Standard verses (2-4)Has coda Has outro

Section traits

Section links

Verse variation Outro based on chorus Coda based on chorus Chorus variation

Section transition

Harmony

Plagal cadence Minor plagal Modal mixture Deceptive cadence Perfect cadence Borrowed chord Backdoor cadence Parallel harmony Half cadence Chromatic mediant Drone

Composition

Shared chords Non-tonic opening Tonic ending Verse in ii Chorus in I Bridge in ii Non-tonic verse Tonic chorus Non-tonic bridge

Mode

Ionian Mixolydian

Chord type

major minor min7 slash chord

Scale degree

I ii7 IV iv V ♭VI vi ♭VII VII

Chord degree

I–IV–I–V IV–I–V IV–I I–IV ♭VI–V ii–I I–V V–vi vi–V V–I I–V–vi I–vi vi–IV IV–iv iv–I IV–♭VII ♭VII–I I–vi–IV IV–iv–I iv–I–vi vi–IV–♭VII IV–♭VII–I IV–I–V–I I–VII ♭VII–I–vi ♭VII–♭VI ♭VII–♭VI–V VII–♭VII ii–I–V vi–V–I vi–IV–♭VII–I I–VII–♭VII IV–♭VII–I–vi ii–I–V–vi–V IV–iv–I–vi vi–IV–iv–I

Chord shape

Am → F → B♭C → F → C → G C → G → D C → B♭C → B C → F → G Am → G C → G C → Dm C → F Am → G → D C → G → Am Am → G → C C → G → Am → G C → Am Am → F C → Cm Am → E C → D C → Am → F C → Cm → G Am → E → D♭m C → G → D → G C → B♭ → A C → B → B♭C → D → Bm C → B → A Am → F → B♭ → C C → Dm → C → F Am → G → D → Em → D C → Cm → G → Em Am → F → Fm → C C → F → G → Em

Chord literal

F → C C → F C → G G → Am G → C Am → G → C C → Am Am → F F → B♭C → Am → F C → G → Am F → C → G C → B C → F → C → G F → B♭ → C Fm → C F → Fm A♭ → G Am → F → B♭F → Fm → C B♭ → A♭Dm → C Am → F → B♭ → C G → Am → G → C F → C → G → C Am → G Fm → C → Am B♭ → C B → B♭

Studio18 tags

Studio technique

Double tracked vocal Close mic'ing Fade-out Reduction mix Leslie speaker processing

Equipment

Rickenbacker 4001S Hammond RT-3 Leslie speaker Studer J37 4-track recorder EMI REDD.51 console Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster Ludwig Super Classic Hamburg Steinway

Recording location

EMI Studio 2 EMI Studio 3 EMI Studio 1 EMI Studios

Session duration

People19 tags

Unique personnel

Line-up

Backing vocals Lead guitar Piano Organ Handclaps

Lead vocals Backing vocals Bass guitar Piano Percussion Bongos Congas

George Harrison

Backing vocals Electric lead guitar Tambourine Handclaps

Backing vocals Drums Tambourine MaracasHand bell

Orchestral scoring

Recording engineer

Ken Scott Geoff Emerick

Assistant engineer

Phil McDonald Graham Kirkby Jeff Jarratt Richard Lush

Info24 tags

Release type

Song on album Song on EP Single A-Side single Song on compilation Song on Anthology

US release

Identical release

Release mix

Label

Capitol Parlophone

Publisher

Song type

Duration

Chart performance

Number one UK Number one US RIAA Gold single

Cultural impact

Beatles film soundtrack Promotional video

Sources & references

Tags on this page are original analysis, transcribed and cross-checked against the fine work of others: Alan W. Pollack's “Notes on…” series, the Beatles Complete Scores (Hal Leonard), Mark Lewisohn's session histories, Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head, Dave Rybaczewski's Beatles Music History and Andy Babiuk's Beatles Gear for the instruments and studio equipment, and others besides – then verified by ear against the recordings. Full bibliography: Sources & thanks.

Updated 2026-08-09

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AlbumMagical Mystery Tour

Track7 · Side opener · Side 2

Songwriter(s)McCartney

Credited asLennon–McCartney

RecordedOctober 2 – November 2, 1967

ReleasedNovember 24, 1967

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