Pocket symphony

For the album by Air, see Pocket Symphony.

A pocket symphony is a song with extended form.^[2] The term was popularized by English journalist Derek Taylor, who used it to describe the Beach Boys' 1966 single "Good Vibrations".^[3][4] (The description of a "pocket" symphony had appeared in print since as early as 1928.^[5])

A visual representation of the structure to "Good Vibrations" (1966). It shows how the song develops without the guidance of overdetermined formal patterns.^[1]

Attributions

Popular music

• The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations" (1966)
• The Beatles – "A Day in the Life" (1967)^[6]
• T. Rex – "Telegram Sam" (1971)^[7]
• Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971)^[8]
• Paul McCartney & Wings – "Band on the Run" (1973)^[9]
• Queen – "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975)^[10]
• Radiohead - "Paranoid Android" (1997)^[11]
• My Chemical Romance - "Welcome to the Black Parade" (2006)^[12]
• Weezer - "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" (2008)^[13]

Classical compositions

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Eine kleine Nachtmusik^[14]
• Havergal Brian – Symphony No. 12^[15]

See also

• Pocket Symphonies
• Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars