I listened to The Beatles ‘Paperback Writer’ again and it struck me. The opening riff is about as strong as I’ve ever heard George Harrison play. It really grabs your attention. The other thing that I missed entirely, until paying a second visit — is it’s simplicity. It’s a two chord song. You can’t get more basic — well, maybe one chord but that would knock onto minimalism and we don’t have the time to broach that. It is interesting that something so simple, architecturally, can still deliver an effective story and compelling melody. Like the reduction of fractions…
I heard the song last week and it kept resurfacing mentally…