Middle Eight: Andrew McMillen steps into Spin Doctor’s shoes

The best middle eight can blow a song wide open by moving it from merely memorable to unforgettable.

Paul McCartney reproduced the brilliance of A Day in The Life’s middle eight at his last Australian concert. Picture: AAP

It’s the part in a song that signals a dramatic shift from what the listener has heard so far. Also known as the bridge or the “C section” — where A and B represent the verse and chorus — the middle eight often introduces an entirely new musical idea. The best of them can blow a song wide open by moving it from merely memorable to unforgettable. Despite the name, a song’s middle eight need not necessarily keep to eight bars, either. Among the greatest examples of a middle eight in pop music is the passage in A Day in the Life by the Beatles (1967) that immediately follows Paul McCartney’s couplet: “Found my way upstairs and had a smoke / And somebody spoke and I went into a dream.”

At this point the entire song changes course, suddenly and surprisingly, as Ringo Starr switches his drumbeat and McCartney’s wordless melody is treated with an echo effect, before the mix is subsumed by sharp horns and a return to John Lennon’s third verse.

This section — which lasts about 29 seconds — never ceases to thrill me. When McCartney played this song on his national tour late last year, my eyes watered at the sheer magnitude of the sound and the moment. Those 29 seconds were the singular highlight of an immensely satisfying concert — which I watched while sat beside my parents, who I can thank for my lifelong obsession with music.

Closer to the present day, I love the simple, elegant guitar melody that emerges in the middle eight of Home Again by New Zealand rock band Shihad, on its 1996 self-titled album.

And closer to my home, I’m fond of the extraordinary nylon-string guitar solo, performed by John Willsteed, that adds so much colour to a classic pop song, Streets of Your Town by the
Go-Betweens (1988). No matter how many times I hear it, this song — and its middle eight — reminds me of how much I enjoy living in Brisbane, after moving here from my home town, Bundaberg, to attend university in 2006.

I chose this name for my column because I want to use this space to tell music stories that enlighten, surprise or move you, as the best middle eights tend to do. That’s a high bar to set myself for a weekly column, but I think it’s fitting, as the previous music writer on this newspaper was held in such high esteem by everyone who crossed paths with him.

It was with no small amount of trepidation that I began this role last month, as Iain Shedden — or Spin Doctor, as he was known on this page — was a giant astride the worlds of music and journalism. I wrote album reviews for him here, between 2011 and 2016, which allowed me a small insight into his unflagging professionalism and positivity. As a freelance journalist and contributor to Review since 2010, I simply enjoyed reading his work, which was often among the most insightful music journalism published in Australia. I hope that, in this column and elsewhere in the newspaper, I can tell a few stories that would have made Iain smile.

But for now I’d love to hear a little about your favourite middle eight and why you’re fond of it. Despite the examples I’ve given here, your answer need not be limited to pop or rock music, of course. Email me and I’ll collect your responses to publish here periodically.