Don T Pass Me By Musical Analysis

Although many of the songs on which Starr was the lead vocal were written for him, he did contribute two compositions to the Beatles canon: “Don’t Pass Me By” and “An Octopuses Garden.” In his first compositions, Starr shows complete understanding and acceptance of his persona. Starr’s first contribution to the Beatles canon, “Don’t Pass Me By,” came six years after the release of the Beatles first single and was worked on, by its composer, for five years (Macdonald 286). The song is a “country-and-western style embellished with bluegrass violin” (Macdonald 286). The song is essentially a three chords, blues trio with the only added chord a Dm7 in the very last measure (Pollock 142). “Don’t Pass Me By” could be called a “painfully simplistic ditty” and it has been argued, “this kind of thing is the …show more content…
“Octopus’s Garden” is, like “Don’t Pass Me By,” a country and western style song, written by Starr with a little help from Harrison (MacDonald 351). The song is similar in theme to “Yellow Submarine” (even using some of the same sound effects) and could be considered a children’s song much like its predecessor. There is a “Peter Pan-like theme of escape from the harsh realm of storm, wave, and being told what to do to a place of shade, warmth, joy, happiness and safety” (Pollock 181). Musically, Starr has not improved much as a composer, as he falls back on a classic Doo-wop chords progression (Pollock 181). “Octopus’s Garden” has goofy lyrics, befitting a children’s song, about having fun and being safe from a storm in an “Octopus’s Garden” under the sea. Starr’s lack of musical progression and infantile lyrics exemplify his childlike and naïf persona, as he has been unable to improve his compositional ability between “Don’t Pass Me By” and “Octopus’s Garden.” He has created a fun and catchy children’s song that showcases that manner in which the Beatles portrayed their