32-bar form

History

Though more prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, many contemporary songs show similarity to the form, such as "Memory" from Cats, which features expanded form through the B and A sections repeated in new keys. Songwriters, such as Lennon–McCartney and those working in the Brill Building, also used modified or extended 32-bar forms, often modifying the number of measures in individual or all sections. The Beatles ("From Me to You" [1963] and "Yesterday" [1965]) often extended the form with an instrumental section, second bridge, break, or reprise of the introduction, and another return to the main theme. Introductions and codas also extended the form. In "South of the Border Down Mexico Way" by Gene Autry, "the A sections… are doubled in length, to sixteen bars—but this affects the overall scheme only marginally". The theme tune of the long-running British TV series Doctor Who has, in some incarnations, followed 32-bar form.