Wichita Lineman Analysis

[Snouter]

Folks, I have been studying Wichita Lineman the past week or so. I have not found Jimmy Webb documentation on it. I wish he would do a video about it in regards to music theory. There are many sheet music attempts and numerous folk guitarists and piano players with their versions. None that I have encountered have explained it properly.

Like with most music three harmonic things are happening, bass on the bottom, chords in the middle and melody on the top. Jimmy Webb points out in his book Tunesmith, bass is not always the root of the chord, chords can be inversions and slash chords. This creates certain tension, release and direction of the tonality, but the thing that gives the most information is the melody.

As I study it, there are two verses that cycle three times in Wichita Lineman. In the first verse, based on the melody the key is C Mixolydian and modulations to C Lydian at the end of the first verse. Notes of the scales: Bb goes to B and F goes to F#. That is just the first verse. The second verse has a variation of the descending D pattern found in many guitar rock songs, White Room, Tales of Brave Ulysses, Needle and the Damage Done, Can't Find My Way Home, Hymn #43, Over The Hills and Far Away and in many more.

Jimmy Webb mentions that the song was not 100% finished when he sent it to Glenn Campbell and The Wrecking Crew. And that seems to be evident when studying it. The Fmaj7 (F Ionian is same set of notes as C Mixolydian) of the intro never happens again. The first verse chord is BbMaj7 in 5th position the guitar. Every video of Glenn Campbell that is where he plays it. The allows for some cool chromatic descending notes.

More info to follow!

 

[dblack]

Folks, I have been studying Wichita Lineman the past week or so. I have not found Jimmy Webb documentation on it. I wish he would do a video about it in regards to music theory. There are many sheet music attempts and numerous folk guitarists and piano players with their versions. None that I have encountered have explained it properly.

Like with most music three harmonic things are happening, bass on the bottom, chords in the middle and melody on the top. Jimmy Webb points out in his book Tunesmith, bass is not always the root of the chord, chords can be inversions and slash chords. This creates certain tension, release and direction of the tonality, but the thing that gives the most information is the melody.

As I study it, there are two verse that cycle three times in Wichita Lineman. In the first verse, based on the melody the key is C Mixolydian and modulations to C Lydian at the end of the first verse. Notes of the scales: Bb goes to B and F goes to F#.

Jimmy Webb mentions that the song was not 100% finished when he sent it to Glenn Campbell and The Wrecking Crew. And that seems to be evident when studying it. The Fmaj7 (F Ionian is same set of notes as C Mixolydian) of the intro never happens again. The first verse chord is BbMaj7 in 5th position the guitar. Every video of Glenn Campbell that is where he plays it. The allows for some cool chromatic descending notes.

More info to follow!

Most of your comments regarding the musical sophistication of this song are, unfortunately for me, over my head. But it's one of my all-time favorites regardless. My appreciation for the music is intuitive at best - it's really the lyrics that get my attention. Anyway... please continue with your analysis!

In the meantime, here's my favorite rendition of the song:

 

[Skull Pilot]

gotta post the original

 

[Geaux4it]

I was 9 when GC recorded this fine song. One of my favorites. I know the feeling of being atop tall telephone poles when I was installing antennas back in the day. Gaffing a 90 footer is no joke

While I have studied music (played trumpet) and used to bang around in a garage band (guitar by ear), it is the trumpet that helped me learn to read music. We played all the Chicago songs of the day.

Glad I found this thread. Good stuff OP

Anyway, more on the technicals at WIKI

Structure
The song consists of two verses, each divided into two parts. The first part is in the key of F major, while the second is written in D major. D represents the relative minor position to F, so a D minor (as opposed to major) section would be expected. The fact that it is nevertheless set in D major arguably contributes to the unique and appealing character of the song.

The lyrics follow the key dichotomy, with the first part of each verse (F major) handling issues related to a lineman's job (e.g. "searching for another overload", "if it snows, that stretch down South won't ever stand the strain", whereas the second part (D major) dwells on the lineman's romantic thoughts. Set off against the F major of the first part, the D major of the second part sounds distinctively mellow, which is consistent with its content.

 

[tinydancer]

The hook. Webb lost his woman to another man (according to my ex who was a player back then) and when he was driving I think it was thru Oklahoma seeing pole after pole after pole and then seeing a line man on top of one, Jimmy thought it to be the epitome of loneliness.

But the hook. The haunting melody. Webb grabs the pain of love in just two lines.

"And I need you more than want you,
And I want you for all time
And the Wichita lineman is still on the line"

 

[dblack]

The hook. Webb lost his woman to another man (according to my ex who was a player back then) and when he was driving I think it was thru Oklahoma seeing pole after pole after pole and then seeing a line man on top of one, Jimmy thought it to be the epitome of loneliness.

But the hook. The haunting melody. Webb grabs the pain of love in just two lines.

"And I need you more than want you,
And I want you for all time
And the Wichita lineman is still on the line"

Yes, yes - that's what hooked me. It's also a fine, if unintentional, metaphor for on'line' relationships.

 

[tinydancer]

By the way he's not well known outside of the business but he's a music hero to me. Al De Lory. Session player extraordinaire and producer. I personally believe Campbell was made by Al in the sense that De Lory and the way he handled Glen he took crossover to the max.

Don't get me wrong. Campbell was a force in country unto himself, but I believe Al was able to get Campbell into all genres at the time.

 

[tinydancer]

The hook. Webb lost his woman to another man (according to my ex who was a player back then) and when he was driving I think it was thru Oklahoma seeing pole after pole after pole and then seeing a line man on top of one, Jimmy thought it to be the epitome of loneliness.

But the hook. The haunting melody. Webb grabs the pain of love in just two lines.

"And I need you more than want you,
And I want you for all time
And the Wichita lineman is still on the line"

Yes, yes - that's what hooked me. It's also a fine, if unintentional, metaphor for on'line' relationships.

Thank you. Webb has been one the best lyricists of our time By the time I get to Phoenix still kills me. Talk about one of the best "leaving" songs ever.

 

[tinydancer]

Great thread Snouter!

 

[Mad Scientist]

I've been playing guitar since HS and all I can say in response is:

Well maybe. It depends.

 

[dblack]

The hook. Webb lost his woman to another man (according to my ex who was a player back then) and when he was driving I think it was thru Oklahoma seeing pole after pole after pole and then seeing a line man on top of one, Jimmy thought it to be the epitome of loneliness.

But the hook. The haunting melody. Webb grabs the pain of love in just two lines.

"And I need you more than want you,
And I want you for all time
And the Wichita lineman is still on the line"

Yes, yes - that's what hooked me. It's also a fine, if unintentional, metaphor for on'line' relationships.

Thank you. Webb has been one the best lyricists of our time By the time I get to Phoenix still kills me. Talk about one of the best "leaving" songs ever.

Still not sure what to make of MacArthur Park though.

 

[Snouter]

This was pretty difficult. It was fun though trying to figure out Jimmy Webb's approach to writing in general in his book Tunesmith and how Glenn Campbell, former Wrecking Crew guitarist and vocalist would perform it live. I used Photoshop Elements for the graphics and, wow, what a primitive program. So not intuitive. Anyhow, fun project overall and hopefully enlightening for others.