142. The Inner Light

 

 

"The Inner Light" is a song written by George Harrison that was first released by The Beatles as a B-side to "Lady Madonna". It was the first ever Harrison composition to be featured on a Beatles single. The lyrics are a rendering of Chapter 47 in the Laozi's Dao De Jing, the foundational book of Daoism. It is also available on the Beatles' compilation albums Rarities and Past Masters, Volume Two.

 

The Beatles' recording of this song features lead vocals from Harrison and brief backing vocals from John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The instrumental track was recorded in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, during the sessions for Harrison's Wonderwall Music (a soundtrack album), during January 1968.

 

"The Inner Light," was one of the last Beatles songs to become readily available on an album in the English-speaking world. Although the song had been included in Por Siempre Beatles, a compilation album released only in Spain in 1971, it was not available on a British or American long-playing record until the release of Rarities (which had been included in the British and American boxed set, The Beatles Collection, in 1978, and released separately as an album in the United Kingdom in 1979). The first stand-alone American album to feature "The Inner Light" was The Beatles Rarities, which was released in 1980. "The Inner Light" is available on CD on Past Masters: Volume Two.

 

The mono version of the song that was released as the B-Side of the "Lady Madonna" single (and later on the Rarities compilation) is slightly different from the stereo version available on "Past Masters: Volume Two". The mono mix features an extra horn riff during the intro and overdubbed vocals, whereas the stereo mix lacks the extra horn and features a single vocal track.

 

Jeff Lynne of ELO, who worked heavily with George Harrison, sang the song accompanied by his acoustic guitar, Anoushka Shankar on sitar, and an ensemble of Indian musicians in 2002's Concert for George.

 

Part of the song appears mixed alongside another Harrison composition, Here Comes the Sun, on the 2006 Cirque du Soleil album, Love.

 

 

 

 

143. Hey Jude

 

 

"Hey Jude" is a rock ballad written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and recorded by The Beatles. Despite being over 7 minutes long, it lasted two weeks as number one in the British charts, and spent nine weeks as number one in the United States, the longest spell at the top of the American charts for a Beatles single. Originally titled "Hey Jules", it was written by McCartney to comfort John Lennon's son Julian when Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia Powell, were divorced. The song made many "Best of..." lists compiled by magazines such as Rolling Stone, where it was number 8 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

 

 

Inspiration and composition

After Lennon and Powell separated, McCartney drove out to see Powell and Julian, Lennon's son with her. "We'd been very good friends for millions of years and I thought it was a bit much for them suddenly to be persona non gratae and out of my life," he said. The original title was "Hey Jules", and it was intended to comfort Julian Lennon from the stress of his parent's divorce. "I started with the idea 'Hey Jules', which was Julian, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces ... I had the idea [for the song] by the time I got there. I changed it to 'Jude' because I thought that sounded a bit better."

 

Later, Powell recalled, "I was truly surprised when, one afternoon, Paul arrived on his own. I was touched by his obvious concern for our welfare.... On the journey down he composed 'Hey Jude' in the car. I will never forget Paul's gesture of care and concern in coming to see us."

 

Julian Lennon discovered the song had been written for him almost twenty years later. He remembered being closer to McCartney than to his father: "Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit — more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad."

 

Although McCartney originally wrote the song for Julian Lennon, John Lennon thought it had actually been written for him:

 

“ "But I always heard it as a song to me. If you think about it... Yoko's just come into the picture. He's saying. 'Hey, Jude—Hey, John.' I know I'm sounding like one of those fans who reads things into it, but you can hear it as a song to me ... Subconsciously, he was saying, Go ahead, leave me. On a conscious level, he didn't want me to go ahead. ”

 

In his 1970 Rolling Stone Magazine interview, Lennon gave rare praise to this as one of McCartney's best and most genuine songs.

 

Other people besides John Lennon thought the song was about them, including Judith Simons, a journalist with the Daily Express. Still others, including Lennon, have speculated that McCartney's failing long-term relationship with Jane Asher when he wrote "Hey Jude" was an unconscious "message to himself".

 

Much as he did with "Yesterday", McCartney played the song for other musicians and friends. A member of Badfinger, the first band to join the Beatles-owned record label Apple Records, recalled that on their first day in the studio, "Paul walked over to the grand piano and said, 'Hey lads, have a listen', and he sat down and gave us a full concert rendition of 'Hey Jude'. We were gobsmacked.

 

 

Recording

The Beatles recorded 25 takes of "Hey Jude" at Abbey Road Studios in two nights, 29 July and 30 July 1968. These were mostly rehearsals, however, as they planned to record the master track at Trident Studios to utilize their eight-track recording machine (Abbey Road was still limited to four-tracks). One take from 29 July is available on the Anthology 3 CD. The master rhythm track was recorded on 31 July at Trident. Four takes were recorded; take one was selected. The song was completed on 1 August with additional overdubs including a 36 piece orchestra for the song's long refrain, scored by George Martin. The orchestra included 10 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos, 2 flutes, 1 contra bassoon, 1 bassoon, 2 clarinets, 1 contra bass clarinet, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 2 horns, percussion, and 2 string basses. While adding backing vocals, The Beatles asked the orchestra members if they would clap their hands and sing along to the refrain in the song's coda. Most complied (for a double fee), but one declined, saying "I'm not going to clap my hands and sing Paul McCartney's bloody song!"

 

Ringo Starr almost missed his drum cue. He left for a toilet break—unnoticed by the other Beatles—and the Beatles started recording. In 1994, McCartney said, "Ringo walked out to go to the toilet and I hadn't noticed. The toilet was only a few yards from his drum booth, but he'd gone past my back and I still thought he was in his drum booth. I started what was the actual take, and 'Hey Jude' goes on for hours before the drums come in and while I was doing it I suddenly felt Ringo tiptoeing past my back rather quickly, trying to get to his drums. And just as he got to his drums, boom boom boom, his timing was absolutely impeccable."

 

During the recording of the master take, Lennon shouted "Oh!" followed by "Bloody hell!" at 2:56 and 2:58, respectively, into the song. This occurs after he sings "let her into your skin" under McCartney's "let her under your skin." Sound engineer Ken Scott later told Mojo's Chris Hunt, "I was told about it at the time but could never hear it. But once I had it pointed out I can't miss it now. I have a sneaking suspicion they knew all along, as it was a track that should have been pulled out in the mix. I would imagine it was one of those things that happened—it was a mistake, they listened to it and thought, 'doesn't matter, it's fine'."

 

George Harrison and McCartney had a disagreement over this song. According to McCartney, during a rehearsal Harrison played an answer to every line of the vocal. This did not fit with McCartney's idea of the song's arrangement, and he vetoed it. In a 1994 interview, McCartney said:

 

“ "We were joking when we made the Anthology: I was saying: 'I realise I was a bossy git.' And George said, 'Oh no, Paul, you never did anything like that!' ... But it was essential for me and looking back on it, I think, Okay. Well, it was bossy, but it was ballsy of me, because I could have bowed to the pressure. ”

 

Ron Richards, who worked for George Martin at both Parlophone at AIR Studios, and who discovered the Hollies, was present for many Beatle recording sessions. He said McCartney was "oblivious to anyone else's feelings in the studio," and that he was driven to make the best possible record, at almost any cost.

 

Some commentators have noted a similarity of the fadeout of "Hey Jude" to that of Donovan's "Atlantis," which had been recorded two months earlier with Paul McCartney contributing. There is no solid evidence, though, that McCartney based the fadeout of "Hey Jude" on that of Donovan's song.

 

 

Single release

Even though "Hey Jude" was recorded during the sessions for the The Beatles, aka The White Album, it was always intended as a single and not an album track. It was the first release for Apple Records, who released it on 26 August 1968 in the U.S. and 30 August in the UK, with "Revolution" on the B-side of a 7" single. "Hey Jude" became the biggest-selling debut release for a record label ever, selling over eight million copies worldwide and topping the charts in eleven different countries.

 

Lennon intended "Revolution" as an A-side single, but the other Beatles did not agree. In his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, he said "Hey Jude" was worthy of an A-side, "but we could have had both." Ten years later in 1980, he told Playboy he still disagreed with the decision.

 

 

United States

"Hey Jude" entered the U.S. charts on September 14, where the song would stay for the next nineteen weeks. Two weeks later, "Hey Jude" was number one in the charts, and held that position for the following nine weeks, in the process setting the U.S. record for the longest time spent by a Beatles single at number one, as well as being the longest-playing single to reach number one.

 

American radio stations were averse to playing anything longer than the usual three to three-and-a-half minutes, and Capitol Records pressed a shortened version specially for airplay.

 

Because of the U.S. practice of counting sales and airplay for the A- and B-sides of a single separately, at one point Record World listed "Hey Jude" at number one, followed by its B-side partner, "Revolution", at number two. "Hey Jude" was also the first Beatles single to be issued in a paper sleeve instead of a picture cover. Five months after its release, 3.75 million copies of "Hey Jude" had already been sold. To date, five million have been sold in the U.S. alone. The record was certified gold the day before it entered the U.S. charts, but took almost 30 years to be certified platinum, on 17 February 1999.

 

 

United Kingdom

In the UK, "Hey Jude" began its sixteen-week chart run on 7 September, claiming the top spot a week later. It only lasted two weeks on top before being knocked off by another single from Apple, Mary Hopkin's "Those Were the Days".

 

"Hey Jude" remains the Beatles' most commercially successful song, fending off stiff competition from songs such as "Let It Be" and "Yesterday", both of which are also McCartney compositions. The released version clocked in at seven minutes and eleven seconds. The only other chart-topping song worldwide in the 1960s that ran over seven minutes was Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park". In the UK, where "MacArthur Park" did not top the chart, "Hey Jude" remained the longest number one hit for nearly a quarter of a century, until it was surpassed in 1993 by Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", which ran seven minutes fifty-eight seconds as a single.

 

 

Love

In 2006, George and Giles Martin remixed the song for the Love album.

 

Promotional film

 

For the promotional film of "Hey Jude", The Beatles performed the song on The Frost Programme, with a simulated live audience singing along in the final half of the song.The Beatles hired Michael Lindsay-Hogg to shoot the "Hey Jude" promotional film. Hogg had previously directed a "promo" film for "Paperback Writer." They settled on the idea of performing in front of a live — albeit controlled — audience. Hogg shot the promotional film for The Frost Programme, with McCartney himself designing the set. A friend of the Beatles later described the set as "the piano, there; drums, there; and orchestra in two tiers at the back." The eventual final film was a combination of two different takes, with David Frost introducing the Beatles as "the greatest tea-room orchestra in the world". The film was also broadcast in the U.S. on the The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and can be seen in the Anthology DVD series.

 

 

Critical acclaim

Music analyst Alan Pollock, praised "Hey Jude" saying, "it's such a good illustration of two compositional lessons — how to fill a large canvas with simple means, and how to use diverse elements such as harmony, bassline, and orchestration to articulate form and contrast." He also said it is unusual for a long song because it uses a "binary form that combines a fully developed, hymn-like song together with an extended, mantra-like jam on a simple chord progression."

 

The song starts to fade out mid-way through the latter section, the fade lasting over two minutes. During this time, the chorus "Na, na, na...Hey Jude" is repeated 18 times. Pollack described it as "an astonishingly transcendental effect,"while Unterberger observed, "What could have very easily been boring is instead hypnotic".

 

"Hey Jude" was nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1968 in the Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal categories, but failed to win any of them. It did win the 1968 Ivor Novello Award for "A-Side With the Highest Sales". In the NME 1968 Readers' Poll, "Hey Jude" was named the best single of the year.

 

In 2001, "Hey Jude" was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, it was ranked number 8 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. It came in third on Channel 4's list of 100 Greatest Singles. Broadcast Music Incorporated ranked "Hey Jude" the 11th-best jukebox single of all time.

 

"Hey Jude" was the top Billboard Hot 100 single for 1968, according to year-end charts, marking the Beatles' second appearance at the top of a year-end Hot 100 chart (they were #1 of 1964 with "I Want To Hold Your Hand"). McCartney would later place at the top spot again in 1976, with his band Wings and the song "Silly Love Songs".

 

Auctioned lyrics

In 1996, Julian Lennon paid £25,000 for the recording notes to "Hey Jude" at an auction. Lennon spent another £35,000 at the auction buying John Lennon memorabilia. John Cousins, Julian Lennon's manager, stated, "He has a few photographs of his father, but not very much else. He is collecting for personal reasons, these are family heirlooms if you like."Lennon reportedly later sold the production notes back to McCartney.

 

In 2002, the original handwritten lyrics for the song were nearly auctioned off at Christie's in London. The sheet of notepaper with the scrawled lyrics had been expected to fetch up to £80,000 at the auction, which was scheduled for 30 April 2002. McCartney went to court to stop the auction, claiming the paper had disappeared from his West London home. Richard Morgan, representing Christie's, said McCartney had provided no evidence that he had ever owned the piece of paper on which the lyrics were written. The courts decided in McCartney's favour and prohibited the sale of the lyrics. They had been sent to Christie's for auction by Frenchman Florrent Tessier, who said he purchased the piece of paper at a street market stall in London for £10 in the early 1970s. In the original catalogue for the auction, Julian Lennon had written, "It's very strange to think that someone has written a song about you. It still touches me."

 

 

Cover versions

"Hey Jude" has also been covered by several artists.

 

The most commercially successful cover version was by Wilson Pickett, whose rendition featured Allman Brothers' guitarist, Duane Allman, as a session player, and was the only cover to make the U.S. Billboard HOT 100 chart.

Elvis Presley, Maynard Ferguson, and the Grateful Dead also produced cover versions. Toots & the Maytals covered it on Here Comes the Sun: A Reggae Tribute to the Beatles album.

Maynard Ferguson's cover of Hey Jude in on his MF Horn II album.

Dame Shirley Bassey has recorded the song and often performs it at her live concerts. Her 1994 performance of the song at the Royal Variety Performance in the presence of Prince Charles brought the first standing ovation at the event for over twenty years.

Metallica recorded a short parody.

The Brothers Johnson covered the song for the 1976 evanescent musical documentary All This and World War II.

Ella Fitzgerald was known to perform the song, debuting it at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1969.

A contemporary cover version sung in Czech by Marta Kubišová was used to accompany the Prague Spring montage sequence in the 1988 film adaptation of Milan Kundera's novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

A slightly modified version is sung in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, which provides hints that part of the book series occurs on a parallel universe that in some ways resembles modern Earth. Here the opening line is slightly different: "Hey Jude, I see you, lad."

The satire tribute band Beatallica remade the song as "Hey Dude" on the eponymously titled album Beatallica.

Paul McCartney himself has made a humorous version starting, "Hey Jude, don't be a prat", which he sings in a cockney accent. This version was featured in the Oobu Joobu radio shows.

A cover of the song by the Mutato Muzika Orchestra is featured on the soundtrack of the 2001 Wes Anderson film The Royal Tenenbaums.

A cover of the song by Tony Vega in the Album Tropical Tribute to the Beatles.

Soul diva Dionne Warwick covered "Hey Jude" on her album of standards Soulful.

Jessi Colter recorded a version but called hers "Hey Dude."

Bootleg footage of early Soundgarden features Chris Cornell singing the last verse of Hey Jude over the intro to "Beyond The Wheel."

 

Cultural references

River Phoenix's middle name was "Jude" referring to the song.

"Remember to let her into your heart" is quoted in the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It was credited to Lennon and McCartney. The song is later mentioned in the chapter.

"Hey Jude" is referred to in the song "Shangri-la" by Electric Light Orchestra. The song "Shangri-la" is about falling out of love because of the loss of one's significant other. Part of the lyrics state the person's "Shangri-la" has gone away: "Faded like the Beatles on Hey Jude". "Shangri-la" was also the title of a song by The Rutles, which partly parodies "Hey Jude".

Cookie Monster and The Beatles' own parody band, The Beetles, sang a parody of this song called "Hey Food" on Sesame Street.

British band Kula Shaker mock the title of the song by naming one of their songs "Hey Dude".

"Hey Dude" is also the title of a poem by Roger McGough. In the poem McGough helps inspire the song while in Scaffold with McCartney's brother Mike McGear. The description of the song's genesis in the poem conflicts greatly with the established version, not mentioning Julian Lennon at all.

On the radio comedy panel game show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, Tim Brooke-Taylor sang the tune of the song to the lyrics of Funky Gibbon by the Goodies of which he was a member.

In a sketch in the third series of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Hugh Laurie performs the song in a high-pitched squeaky voice, with Stephen Fry adding the "na na na na"s in an extremely low-pitched voice.

In the novel "Vivianne" by Richard Hoyt, the title character uses the lyrics as a message to the character Jim Quint on the back of a photograph of her sister. The character of Vivianne was noted as being interested in the music of the Beatles.

In the Japanese Animation movie "The End of Evangelion", the vocal song played near the end of the film's climax, titled "Komm süßer Tod" (Come Sweet Death), is heavily inspired by the song "Hey Jude".

On The Al Franken Show formerally on Air America Radio, Al would sing "Hey Judd" when introducing Judd Legum from the Center For American Progress would be on the show filling in for Christy Harvey and David Sirota.

The main character of Canadian TV show Instant Star is named after this song. Her name is Jude Harrison.

In Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series, "Hey Jude" is a connection to the "key world."

The new movie coming out in 2007 Across the Universe uses the song Hey Jude in relation to the lead character Jude. It is also narrated in Beatles songs.

144. Revolution

 

 

"Revolution" is a song by The Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and attributed to Lennon-McCartney.

 

The song appeared in two distinctly different incarnations, a raucous electric "Revolution", and a slowed acoustic "Revolution 1". A third connected piece, the heavily experimental "Revolution 9", appeared on the same album side (i.e., side 4) as "Revolution 1" on The White Album.

 

 

Revolution

The first version of "Revolution" to be released (though the last to be recorded) was the B-side of the "Hey Jude" single, released in early September 1968.

 

A product of the recording sessions for The Beatles (aka The White Album), "Revolution" featured distorted guitars and an electric piano solo by session musician Nicky Hopkins. This track is said to be one of the loudest and most aggressive Beatles songs; it begins abruptly with a loud, overdriven electric guitar played by Lennon, a thundering, compressed drum beat from Ringo Starr and a monstrous scream from Lennon. (The scream was an overdub added when Lennon double tracked his vocal. McCartney performed the scream on the semi-live performance for the promotional film, because Lennon could not deliver the scream and catch his breath again in time to launch into the first verse.)

 

The musical form is a simple rock and roll chord progression, but the highly processed elements and hyperbolic approach distinguished the track from nearly anything that had come before; the sound of "Revolution" is often cited as presaging heavy metal. "Revolution" later appeared on the 1970 Hey Jude compilation album created for the U.S. market and other compilations.

 

The Beatles performed the song semi-live (with live vocals performed over a pre-recorded instrumental track) in a specially produced promotional film shot by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg at the same time as the Hey Jude promotional film. The film received its world premiere in Britain on David Frost's ITV television programme, 4 September 1968. As the Beatles were singing the vocals live on the film, they elected to incorporate part of the vocal arrangement from the slower Revolution 1 version of the track. McCartney and Harrison added the "shoop-doo-wop" backing vocals unique to that version behind Lennon's lead vocal - thus making the vocals on the film performance a hybrid of the two versions of the song.

 

Origin

Lennon claimed the song was inspired by the May 1968 uprising in France.

 

Another song called "Revolution" was released by the London psychedelic group Tomorrow in September 1967, a year before the John Lennon song. Tomorrow's lyric "Have your own little revolution, NOW!" contrasts with Lennon's lyric, including the opening lines, "You say you want a revolution/ Well, you know/ We all want to change the world." Tomorrow was also the first band to release a cover version of Strawberry Fields Forever on their album Tomorrow in February 1968.

 

 

Uses in advertising

"Revolution" was the first Beatles recording, and indeed one of the first rock music recordings by any artist, to be licensed for use in a television commercial. (Ford Motor Company had used a cover version of "Help!" for a TV ad in 1985.) Nike used the actual Beatles recording for a commercial in 1987, paying $250,000 for the rights to Capitol Records and Michael Jackson, who owned the publishing rights. This caused a huge backlash among Beatles fans, who felt Lennon would have objected to this usage, especially in the face of controversy over Nike's use of sweatshops. In addition McCartney protested, saying, "Songs like Revolution don't mean a pair of sneakers, they mean Revolution." Nike later released a television ad featuring the Lennon song "Instant Karma," with the permission of Yoko Ono.

 

In 2006, a cover version of the song was used in Australia on television advertisements to promote a Mitsubishi sales event.

 

 

Cover versions

"Revolution" was covered by the synth-pop group Thompson Twins on their 1985 album Here's to Future Days.

 

It was also covered by 90's rock band Stone Temple Pilots in November 2001, Hungarian band Anima Sound System on their 2006 album We Strike, Austrian pop star Falco in 1995 and low-fi rockers Grandaddy on the I Am Sam soundtrack.

 

The Grateful Dead have performed the song live a number of times.

 

Also covered by a German power metal band Running Wild on their album Victory.

 

 

Cultural References

In the computer game Civilization III the lyrics of "Revolution" were referenced. When the player starts a revolution to change their government type, the Domestic Advisor asks "You say you want a Revolution?" to which the player can reply either "Yes. You know it's gonna be alright," or "No. You can count me out."

 

In the Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl anime, one of the episodes was titled "Ya See We Want An Evolution!" as a parody to the Beatles song. When the title card was revealed, the main characters sang the line with the same notes and rhythm as the first line of Revolution.

145. Back In The U.S.S.R.

 

Paul live in the Red Square Moscow 2004

 

"Back in the U.S.S.R." is a 1968 song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney), which opens the double-disc album The Beatles, commonly referred to as The White Album.

 

The song describes a bad flight from the United States to the Soviet Union ("U.S.S.R." stands for "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics") on board a British BOAC aeroplane and mentions the beauty of Soviet women, the sound of balalaikas ringing, and the pleasure of returning home to his own country.

 

The song is a parody of Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A." and the Beach Boys' "California Girls", and also contains a pun on Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia on My Mind" McCartney is singing about the Soviet Republic of Georgia, whereas 'Georgia on My Mind' has been described as being about either or both of the state of Georgia in the U.S. or a woman named Georgia. McCartney thought that when he listened to the Beach Boys, it sounded like California, so he decided to write a song that "sounded" like the U.S.S.R.. The title was inspired in part by British Prime Minister Harold Wilson's "I'm Backing Britain" campaign. It has been suggested that McCartney twisted that into "I'm Back In (backin') the U.S.S.R."

 

A conservative American backlash against the song rapidly ensued, citing the song as evidence of left-wing Beatle propaganda. McCartney's recent confession of having used LSD (combined with Lennon's assertion that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus") made the Beatles the target of a new anti-rock campaign.

 

In his 1984 interview with Playboy, McCartney said:

 

“ I wrote that as a kind of Beach Boys parody. And 'Back in the USA' was a Chuck Berry song, so it kinda took off from there. I just liked the idea of Georgia girls and talking about places like the Ukraine as if they were California, you know? It was also hands across the water, which I'm still conscious of. 'Cuz they like us out there, even though the bosses in the Kremlin may not. The kids do. And that to me is very important for the future of the race. ”

 

"Back in the U.S.S.R." was released by Parlophone as a single in the UK in 1976. It featured the song "Twist and Shout" on Side B.

 

The song segues into the next song on the album, "Dear Prudence".

 

 

Ringo walks out

The "White Album" sessions allowed the four members to work on separate projects at the same time and, as a result, kept tensions to a minimum. However, tempers flared during the recording session on 22 August 1968, and Ringo Starr walked out and announced that he had quit.

 

"Back in the U.S.S.R." and "Dear Prudence", the first two tracks of the album, were recorded without Starr, with McCartney primarily responsible for the drum parts. McCartney's drums are most prominent in the mix, but both John Lennon and George Harrison recorded drum tracks for the song; these are audible in the left channel of the stereo mix. Lennon was later asked in an interview, "Do you think Ringo is the best rock drummer in the world?" to which he replied, "He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles." (Lennon was famously moody, and on other occasions he was much more complimentary about Starr's drumming.)

 

Starr returned to the group a week later on 4 September 1968 when he participated in the filming of promotional videos for "Hey Jude" and "Revolution." The first subsequent recording session was on 5 September for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

 

 

Cover versions

In 1969, Chubby Checker's cover version charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

Also in 1969, John Fred & His Playboy Band released it as a single and on their 1970 album Love My Soul.

In 1979, the punk group Dead Kennedys recorded a live version of the song that was released in 2004 on Live at the Deaf Club.

In 1987, Billy Joel covered the song on his live-in-the-Soviet Union album КОНЦЕРТ.

In 1992, the Leningrad Cowboys covered the song on their album We Cum From Brooklin.

In 1993 the Baba Yaga folk-rock band released an a capella version with inclusions of Russian chastushki on their album Kuda ty poidesh.

In 2001, Sigourney Weaver covered the song in the film Heartbreakers, on stage in a jazz club whilst pretending to be Russian but apparently not knowing any of the Russian language.

In 2004, Beatallica recorded a heavy metal parody version titled "Blackened the U.S.S.R" on their album Beatallica, aka The Grey Album.

In 2006, Guns N' Roses covered the song live at Wembley Arena. Their version of the song was called "Back In the f***ing UK".

Type O Negative covered the song.

146. Dear Prudence

 

 

"Dear Prudence" is a song by the Beatles, written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon/McCartney. It is the second track on the 1968 double-disc album The Beatles (also known as "The White Album").

 

 

Origins

The song is about actress Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence, who was present when the Beatles visited Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India. Prudence, focused on meditation, stayed in her room for the majority of their stay. Lennon, who was worried that she was depressed, wrote this song for her, inviting her to "come out to play". While the Beatles left the course, Mia, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and others, stayed and became TM teachers. She now teaches elementary school along with her husband, and they both still practice TM, and advanced versions of it, and may still teach TM.

 

This song, along with "Back in the U.S.S.R." which it directly follows on from, features Paul McCartney on drums rather than Ringo Starr, who had recently walked out. Starr returned after the recording of this song to find flowers waiting for him on his drumkit.

 

Lennon considered this song to be one of his favorite Beatles songs, and his son Julian Lennon has named it his favorite.

 

In 1987, Lennon's original handwritten copy of the lyrics was sold at auction for $19,500.

 

 

Cover versions

English rock band Siouxsie & the Banshees released "Dear Prudence" in 1983. It was produced by the Banshees and was given a gothic rock twist by the band, while still retaining the song's pop feel.

 

Siouxsie & the Banshees have repeatedly mentioned the Beatles as musical influences, and the band had previously recorded a cover version of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter". "Dear Prudence" became Siouxsie & the Banshees' biggest hit, peaking at number three in the UK singles chart during 1983.

 

The Jerry Garcia Band was known to have covered the song regularly during the 1980s and 1990s. It was thought to be one of Jerry Garcia's favourite Beatles songs. JGB's rendition was often extended and improvised (with many versions exceeding ten minutes) in accordance with their musical style.

 

Australian rocker Doug Parkinson released a cover of the song in 1973 on the Polydor label, which was a top twenty hit in that country.

 

Alanis Morissette also covered the song in some of her live shows.

 

Jazz Pianist Brad Mehldau covered the song in his 2002 album entitled "Largo."

 

Canadian band Our Lady Peace has covered the song in live shows.

 

Carbon Leaf has covered the song in concerts and also recorded a version for an iTunes-only set of covers.

 

 

Cultural references

The song's line "won't you come out to play?" was adapted by Elton John and Bernie Taupin in their 1982 song "Empty Garden", written as a tribute to Lennon.

 

In a 2007 Sharpie commercial, a man is writing a love letter expressing his love for his "Dearest Prudence" and ends up crossing it out and writes "Love Ya Babe!".

 

The Slate advice column, "Dear Prudence," is named after the song.

147. Glass Onion

 

 

"Glass Onion" is a song by The Beatles from The Beatles (also known as The White Album) primarily written by John Lennon (albeit credited to Lennon-McCartney). The song is a response to those who attempted to find hidden meanings in Beatle songs, and references "I Am the Walrus, "Strawberry Fields Forever", "There's a Place", "I'm Looking Through You", "Within You Without You", "Lady Madonna", "The Fool on the Hill", and "Fixing a Hole".

 

The song's "The Walrus was Paul" lyric is both a reference to "I Am the Walrus" and John "saying something nice to Paul" in response to changes in their relationship at that time. Later, the line was interpreted as a "clue" in the "Paul is dead" urban legend that alleged Paul McCartney died in 1966 during the recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and was replaced by a look-alike and sound-alike.

 

According to Lennon, "Glass Onion" was a throwaway song, much like "I Am the Walrus". "I threw the line in—'the Walrus was Paul'—just to confuse everybody a bit more. It could have been 'The fox terrier is Paul.' I mean, it's just a bit of poetry. I was having a laugh because there'd been so much gobbledegook about Pepper—play it backwards and you stand on your head and all that."

 

This is the first track on the White Album to feature Ringo on drums. He had left the band briefly, so Paul drummed on Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence.

148. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

 

 

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a Beatles song originally released on the double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album), and later released as a single. It is a Paul McCartney composition (credited to Lennon/McCartney).

 

 

Musical composition

The song was a conscious homage to the emerging reggae movement (lyrical reference: "life goes on, bra"), possibly related to the growing Jamaican population in Britain, although it is heavily blended with honky tonk. Aside from the syncopated beat, the song also employed metre schemes and devices not used in the Beatles' previous works and demonstrated the group's highly experimental nature at the time of its recording.

 

McCartney originally thought of the melody to be delivered at a much slower pace. However, John Lennon was not pleased with the song. He thought it was annoying and irrelevant. Lennon was experimenting with LSD at the time McCartney ran the song by him. Lennon, to satirise the effort, purposely sped up the tempo. McCartney was surprised at how good it sounded, and decided to stick with the faster version.

 

The character of Desmond is a reference to ska and reggae legend Desmond Dekker.

 

 

Lyrics

The light-hearted lyrics tell and retell the story of a couple named Desmond and Molly; the simple, upbeat lyrics are often punctuated by laughter, shouts, and sounds that accompany the lyrics in the background. The second time that the story is retold, the names are switched around in certain places. McCartney described the switch as a slip of the tongue; he decided to keep it in because none of the other Beatles wanted to run through the song again. Also, when the line is "lets the children lend a hand", it is possible to hear two Beatles in the background saying "arm" and "leg" instead of hand. Longtime Beatles associate Pete Shotton, who was present at the session, confirmed Paul's statement that the switch-up was accidental in his memoir The Beatles, Lennon and Me.

 

 

Controversy

Nigerian musician/singer Jimmy Scott later claimed that the phrase "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" was originally his; Scott sued McCartney for compensation for using the phrase in the lyrics and as the title of the song. According to McCartney, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" merely was a common saying of the Yoruba tribe, and Scott had simply taught the saying to McCartney. It reportedly means "Life goes on", words which are also heard in the song. The case was settled out of court.

 

 

Cover versions

Arthur Conley, on the album More Sweet Soul.

Celia Cruz (a version in Spanish), on the album Tropical Tribute to the Beatles.

Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, on the album Music of the Beatles.

Daniel O'Donnell, on the albums The Jukebox Years, Rock 'n' roll show.

James Last, on the albums "Die grössten Songs von The Beatles" (1983) and "James Last & Friends" (1998) (as a part of the "Beatles Medley")

Maria Muldaur, on the album The blues White album.

Marmalade (reached number one in 1968).

The Bedrocks, a West Indian band from Leeds (reached number 20 in 1968).

No Doubt, on the albums Boom Box, Live in the Tragic Kingdom.

Persuasions, on the album The Persuasions sing the Beatles.

Phish, on the album Live Phish Volume 13.

Shango, on the album Shango.

The Heptones, on the album Mellow Dubmarine.

Youssou N'Dour, on the album 7 Seconds.

The cast of Life Goes On during the show's opening sequence

 

In popular culture

The song is referenced in Savoy Truffle composed by George Harrison, which is on the same album

This song's lyrics were mentioned in the "Full House" episode "The Big Three-O." Jesse drives Danny's red convertible Bullet into the San Francisco Bay. Danny, attempting to not mind, states, "Hey! Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah!"

John Williamson, while covering The Offspring's "Why Don't You Get A Job" as a musical challenge for the Andrew Denton Breakfast Show, segued into "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" when he noticed the strong (intentional) similarity between the songs.

During the home games of the National Hockey League team the Vancouver Canucks, the song is always played at least once.

Spanish/French fusion singer Manu Chao references the phrase repeatedly at the end of his 2001 hit single, "Me Gustas Tú."

A cover version served as the theme song on the ABC television series Life Goes On, sung by the cast with Patti LuPone on lead vocals.

The song came top in an online poll of the worst songs ever.

An edited cover was performed by the Australian comedy duo the Scared Weird Little Guys with the words completely replaced with morse code.

In the show Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy, on the episode "Rent a Ed", when Ed breaks a teeter totter and falls into the ground, he says "Ob La Di, Ob La Da".

In the popular play Angels in America, written by Tony Kushner, Louis tells Joe, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Di."

 

149. Wild Honey Pie

 

 

"Wild Honey Pie" is a short song written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon-McCartney.

 

It can be heard on The Beatles album (also known as The White Album). Paul McCartney is the vocalist (multitracked) and plays all the instruments (electric and acoustic guitars, bass and drums) on this recording. Some sources strongly suggest that John Lennon also sang on this track, but most references state that McCartney is the only vocalist. Certainly George Harrison played no part in this recording as it was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios, London when he was on holiday in Greece.

 

McCartney said of this song: "We were in an experimental mode, and so I said, 'Can I just make something up?' I started off with the guitar and did a multitracking experiment in the control room... It was very home-made – it wasn't a big production at all. I just made up this short piece and I multitracked the harmony to that, and a harmony to that, and a harmony to that, and built it up sculpturally with a lot of vibrato on the [guitar] strings, really pulling the strings madly – hence 'Wild Honey Pie'."

 

According to McCartney the song might have been excluded from The Beatles album, but Pattie Boyd "liked it very much so we decided to leave it in."

 

 

Cover versions

The song has been covered by:

 

Pixies in 1988, featuring on their album Pixies at the BBC that was released in 1998.

Part Chimp - they recorded the song in 2005 for BBC Radio 1's anniversary of John Lennon's death.

 

150. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill

 

 

The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" is a Beatles song from the double LP The Beatles (also known as "The White Album").

 

The song opens with a flamenco guitar solo (actually created by a rarely used preset button on a Mellotron keyboard, here functioning as somewhat of a primitive sampler; on some CD reissues, this solo closes the previous track, Wild Honey Pie), followed by the chorus, sung by all four Beatles, a group of children, Ringo's then-wife Maureen, and Yoko Ono (providing the only female lead vocal on a Beatles recording, for a single line). John Lennon, who wrote the song, is the primary lead singer.

 

 

Recording

The song was recorded at Abbey Road on 8 October 1968 and was completed including all overdubs in this one session. The Beatles also started and completed the Lennon-composed 'I'm So Tired' during the same recording session.

 

In addition to her one-line vocal, Yoko Ono also added the synthesised trombone-like instrument heard during the choruses in the last minute (which was played on a mellotron).

 

 

Inspiration

This song mocks the actions of a young American named Richard A. Cooke III, known as Rik [sic] who was visiting his mother, Nancy Cooke de Herrera, at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh at the same time that the Beatles were staying with the Maharishi. According to his mother, both she and her son maintained friendly relations with all of the Beatles except for Lennon, who by Cooke de Herrera's account was "a genius" but distant and contemptuous of the wealthy American Cooke de Herrera and her clean-cut, Yale-attending son. According to Nancy's life account, Beyond Gurus, the genesis of the song occurred when she, Rik, and several others, including native guides, set out upon elephants to hunt for a tiger (allegedly presented by their Indian guide as a traditional act). The pack of elephants was attacked by a tiger, which was shot by Rik. Rik was initially proud of his quick reaction and posed for a photograph with his prize. However, Rik's reaction to the slaying was mixed, as he has not hunted since. Nancy claims that all present recognised the necessity of Rik's action, but that John Lennon's reaction was scornful and sarcastic, asking Rik: "But wouldn't you call that slightly life-destructive?" The song was written by Lennon as mocking what he saw as Rik's bravado and unenlightened attitude.

 

Lennon later told his version of the story in a Playboy interview, stating that: "[bungalow Bill] was written about a guy in Maharishi's meditation camp who took a short break to go shoot a few poor tigers, and then came back to commune with God. There used to be a character called Jungle Jim, and I combined him with Buffalo Bill. It's sort of a teenage social-comment song and a bit of a joke." Mia Farrow, who was also at the ashram during the period supports Lennon's story in her autobiography; she writes, "Then a self-important, middle-aged American woman arrived, moving a mountain of luggage into the brand-new private bungalow next to Maharishi's along with her son, a bland young man named Bill. People fled this newcomer, and no one was sorry when she left the ashram after a short time to go tiger hunting, unaware that their presence had inspired a new Beatles' song - 'Bungalow Bill.'"

151. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

 

 

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a rock song by The Beatles from the double album The Beatles (also known as The White Album).

 

It was written by George Harrison, who originally performed it with a solo acoustic guitar and an organ; a demo version, longer than the officially released version, can be heard on the Anthology 3 album and in reworked form on the Love album. Eric Clapton played lead guitar on the album version of the song with a Gibson Les Paul guitar. On The Concert for Bangladesh, he performed it on a Gibson Byrdland guitar, and later acknowledged that a solid-body guitar would have been more appropriate.

 

In 2004 George Harrison was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was played in tribute by fellow inductee Prince, along with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Dhani Harrison (video).

 

The song was ranked #135 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

 

 

Composition and recording

According to Harrison, inspiration for the song came from reading the I Ching, which, as he put it, "seemed to me to be based on the Eastern concept that everything is relative to everything else, as opposed to the Western view that things are merely coincidental."

 

Taking this idea of relativism to his parents' home in the North of England, Harrison committed to write a song based on the first words he saw upon opening a random book. Those first words were "gently weeps", and he immediately began the song.

 

The initial incarnation was not final; Harrison later said: "Some of the words to the song were changed before I finally recorded it." A demo recorded at George's home in Esher includes an unused verse:

 

I look at the trouble and see that it's raging,

While my guitar gently weeps.

As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but aging,

Still, my guitar gently weeps.

An early acoustic guitar/organ take of the song, released on Anthology 3 and also used as the basis of the LOVE remix, featured a slightly different third verse:

 

I look from the wings at the play you are staging,

While my guitar gently weeps.

As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but aging,

Still, my guitar gently weeps.

The composition was met with little to no interest by the other Beatles. The band recorded it multiple times, at first in the aforementioned acoustic style, and later in an electric version featuring a backward guitar solo (as Harrison had done in "I'm Only Sleeping" on Revolver), but no version seemed to work. Let down but undaunted, Harrison invited his friend Eric Clapton to join him during a day's recording session. Despite Clapton's doubts ("Nobody ever plays on the Beatles' records"), Harrison convinced him otherwise. The inclusion of Clapton allowed for two things: a moment's relief from the inner turmoil the band was experiencing and a chance for Harrison to free himself of lead guitar, playing only rhythm and vocal.

 

Some have questioned whether the famous solo in "Gently Weeps" is actually played by Clapton; it has been rumoured that the solo was re-recorded and that Clapton's solo was not the one that was pressed. Indeed, the style is reminiscent of Harrison's later lead guitar style, as demonstrated throughout Abbey Road and in his solo work. However, Harrison has said of the solo:

 

"So Eric played that, and I thought it was really good. Then we listened to it back, and he said, "Ah, there's a problem though; it's not Beatley enough." So we put it through the ADT [automatic double-track] to wobble it up a bit."

 

A popular belief and "clue" to the infamous Paul is Dead urban legend is that towards the end of the song, during the Clapton solo, Harrison cries out a moan something like "Paul, oh Paul, oh Paul."

 

On 14 July 1992, Harrison and Clapton performed a live version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in Japan. This live version also has background vocals.

 

An acoustic version can be found on the 1996 album Anthology 3, and again on the 2006 soundtrack to the Cirque du Soleil show Love. This demo version features only Harrison; it includes an additional final verse not included on the Beatles' final version, and the Love album includes a string accompaniment (arranged by George Martin).

 

 

Concert for George

On 29 November 2002 Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Dhani Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Eric Clapton performed "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at the Concert for George in memory of Harrison, who died a year earlier after a long battle with cancer. This version featured Eric Clapton playing his original solo and also a second in memorial to his good friend.

 

 

Cover versions

The song has been covered by various groups and artists.

 

Vinnie Moore, on his album Time Odyssey, made an instrumental version of it, playing the voice melody with his guitar.

Peter Frampton, on the album Now.

Russ Freeman, on the album (I got no kick against) Modern jazz.

The Jeff Healey Band, on the album Hell To Pay.

Kenny Lattimore, on the album From the Soul of a Man.

Phish, in concert numerous times, initially at the Glen Falls Civic Center (Glen Falls, NY) on October 31, 1994 when they played the entire White Album, versions released on the albums Live Phish Volume 8, Live Phish Volume 13.

Yaruch Bann, on the album Msspcd.

Kenny Rankin, on the album The Kenny Rankin Album.

The Rippingtons, on the album Brave New World.

Spineshank, on the album Strictly Diesel.

Joe Louis Walker, on the album The Blues White album.

Floyd from The Muppets, on the album The Muppet Show Music Album.

Jake Shimabukuro, utilizing a ukelele in place of the guitar portions of the song, on the album Gently Weeps.

Toto, on the album Through The Looking Glass.

Powderfinger, live.

Eric Roche, on the album Spin.

Yellow Matter Custard, live.

Damon and Naomi, on the album The Earth is Blue.

Mägo de Oz, live.

Rick Wakeman, on the album Tribute, a collection of Beatle covers (1997)

Built to Spill, numerous times live

152. Happiness Is A Warm Gun

 

 

"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is a song by The Beatles featured on the double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album). It is primarily a John Lennon composition, credited to Lennon/McCartney. The original, working title of the song was "Happiness Is a Warm Gun in Your Hand," which was inspired by a magazine cover containing the phrase. In 1962, Charles Schulz wrote a small, square Peanuts book titled "Happiness is a Warm Puppy," which sparked the snowclone. Some people think that the song title refers to a needle for injecting heroin. Lennon denied this.

 

 

Overview

Lennon once claimed the song was "sort of a history of rock and roll," as it features five different sections but is less than three minutes long. The song begins with a brief lilting section ("She's not a girl who misses much..."). Drums, bass and distorted guitar are introduced as this portion of the song proceeds. The surreal imagery from this section is allegedly taken from an acid trip that Lennon experienced. After this, the song transitions into a Lennon song fragment called "I Need a Fix," built around an ominous-sounding guitar riff. Lennon's plea "I need a fix/cause I'm going down" in this section forms the basis for speculation that the song is about heroin addiction (indeed, sources have claimed that Lennon was addicted to heroin at this time; Lennon's heroin addiction was referenced famously in "Cold Turkey"). The final section is a doo-wop send up, with the back-up of vocals of "bang, bang, shoot shoot." The song's multiple sections would inspire Radiohead's three part epic Paranoid Android on OK Computer.

 

One of the most radical musical accomplishments of the song is its frequent shifts in rhythm. Beginning in 4/4 time, the song shifts to a 3/4 time for the guitar solo and the "I need a fix..." section. This gives way to 6/8, 3/4, and 4/4 measures in the "Mother Superior..." section before returning to 4/4 for the doo wop style ending. During Lennon's spoken-word interlude, the instruments return to 3/4 except for the drums which remain in 4/4. This is one of the few instances of polyrhythm in a Beatles song.

 

According to Lennon, the title came from the cover of a gun magazine that producer George Martin showed him: "I think he showed me a cover of a magazine that said HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN. It was a gun magazine, that's it: I read it, thought it was a fantastic, insane thing to say. A warm gun means you just shot something."

 

 

Cover versions

Tori Amos, on the album Strange Little Girls

The Breeders, on the album Pod

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, on the album Tomorrow We'll Know Today

Anders Osborne, on the album The blues White album

Phish, on the album Live Phish Volume 13

Marc Ribot, on the album Saints

U2, as a B-side of the single "Last Night on Earth"

Jay-Z and Danger Mouse, as a mashup on The Grey Album

Alanis Morissette, during the 1995-1996 Can't Not Tour

Hajime Chitose, of the single Kataritsugu Koto

 

Cultural references

The song was used in Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine.

At the very end of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" the lyrics are printed in the book Marcie opens in the school for invisible spies.

The movie Trainspotting, Screenplay by John Hodge, Based on the Novel by Irvine Welsh, Directed by Danny Boyle.

Quotes of the caracter RENTON plays by Ewan McGregor "I've never felt so alone, never in all my puff. Since I was on remand they've had me on this programme, the state-sponsored addiction, thre e sickly sweet doses of methadone a day instead of smack. But it's never enough, and at the moment it's nowhere near enough. I took all three this morning and now I've got eighteen hours to go till my next shot and a sweat on my back like a layer of frost . I need to visit the mother superior for one hit, one f***ing hit to get us over this long, hard day."

153. Martha My Dear

 

 

"Martha My Dear" is a Beatles song which first appeared on the double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album). This song is mostly McCartney's work, the publishing credit for the song is to Lennon/McCartney. The title was inspired by McCartney's Old English Sheepdog.

 

The song features a music hall-inspired piano line that recurs throughout the piece, as well as a brass band. Typical of Beatles songs of the period, the song modulates smoothly through several keys. The song is actually about McCartney's "muse" - the voice in his head that tells him what words and music to write.

 

 

Trivia

McCartney's 1993 live album "Paul is Live" features one of Martha's offspring on its cover. This song was covered by Will Taylor and Strings Attached with guest Libby Kirkpatrick and featured on their live cd released in 2006

 

154. I'm So Tired

 

 

"I'm So Tired" is a Beatles song from the double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album).

 

It was primarily written by John Lennon, though Paul McCartney is also credited. Lennon wrote the song at a Transcendental Meditation camp when he couldn't sleep. The Beatles had gone on a retreat to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, India. After three weeks of constant meditation and lectures, Lennon missed his soon-to-be wife, Yoko Ono, and wrote this song. The fact it was recorded at three in the morning enhances the sentiment.

 

The song also mentions famed English author and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh by name in an ironic context, calling him a "stupid git" for bringing the tobacco plant to England.

 

 

Recording

The song was recorded at Abbey Road on 8 October 1968 and was completed including all overdubs in this one session. The Beatles also started and completed the Lennon-composed 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill' during the same recording session.

 

 

Relation to the 'Paul is dead' Hoax

At the end of this song, mumbling can be heard that sounds like "Ssim mih, ssim mihm, ssim mih. Nam ded see lope." When played backwards, some claim a scared voice intones, "Paul is dead, man, miss him, miss him, MISS HIM!" although there have been other claims that on different versions of this song, Lennon can be heard mumbling the words "Monsieur, monsieur, monsieur, how about another one?" The mumbling may be Lennon's attempt at speaking in reverse, without physically reversing the sound.

155. Blackbird

 

 

"Blackbird" is a Beatles song from double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album). Blackbird was written by Paul McCartney, who was inspired to write this while in India after a bird woke him up at six in the morning. McCartney said in 2002: "It was written when there were a lot of troubles in the southern states, over civil rights. I don't know if any of you know, but in England we sometimes call girls 'birds'… and I kind of wrote this song with that in mind."

 

The first night Linda Eastman, who would later become his wife, slept over, McCartney played it to the fans camped outside his house. Charles Manson took the song, along with "Helter Skelter" and "Piggies," as a metaphor for black and white race relations in the United States, which helped inspire his murders.

 

The song was recorded 11 June 1968 in Abbey Road studios, with George Martin as the producer and Geoff Emerick as the audio engineer. McCartney played a Martin D 28 acoustic guitar. The track includes recordings of a blackbird singing in the background.

 

McCartney revealed on PBS's Great Performances (Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road), aired in 2006, that the guitar accompaniment for Blackbird was inspired by Bach's Bouree in E minor, a well known classical guitar piece. As kids, he and George Harrison tried to learn Bouree as a "show off" piece. Bouree is distinguished by melody and bass notes played simultaneously on the upper and lower strings. McCartney adapted a segment of Bouree as the opening of "Blackbird," and carried the musical idea throughout the song.

 

The clicking sound on the track (left channel) which sounds like McCartney's foot tapping is a mechanical metronome.

 

In the 2006 album Love, Blackbird was used as an introduction to the song Yesterday (song).

 

 

Covers and cultural references

Many bands and performers have made covers of it, including Carly Simon, Jesse McCartney, Phish, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Doves, Brad Mehldau, Sarah McLachlan, Harpers Bizarre, Bobby McFerrin, Jaco Pastorius, Dan Fogelberg, Dave Grohl, Dave Matthews Band, Elliott Smith and Maria João & Mário Laginha.

 

Elements of the lyrics ("take these broken wings and learn to fly") have re-appeared in other pop songs over the years, notably the number one hit "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister and the Savage Garden song, "You Can Still Be Free" from the Affirmation album. Sections of "Blackbird" were incorporated into The Waterboys' cover of the Van Morrison song "Sweet Thing" on their album Fisherman's Blues, and into the end of U2's "Beautiful Day" during their set at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London on July 2, 2005, as well as some of the shows on the Vertigo Tour. Dynamite Hack references it at the end of their cover of "Boyz-N-The-Hood."

 

Composer Gustavo Santaolalla was inspired by "Blackbird" when he wrote "The Wings" for the movie Brokeback Mountain.

 

Tenacious D created their own version of the song called "Rocket Sauce."

156. Piggies

 

 

"Piggies" is a Beatles song from double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album). It was written by George Harrison as social commentary on class and corporate greed.

 

 

Production

 

Instrumentation

Piggies features a Baroque-style harpsichord and string quartet — which take an unexpected turn at one point playing a blues riff.

 

Chris Thomas (producing in George Martin's absence on some of the 'White Album' sessions) played the harpisichord part.

 

 

Lyrical Input

Harrison's mother provided the line "What they need's a damn good whacking", and Lennon contributed with the line "clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon".

 

 

Alternate Lyrics

There was an additional verse written for the song in 1968 but omitted during the actual recording. It involved the "piggies" playing "piggy pranks" in order to achieve its rhyming couplet of "piggy banks". Harrison reinstated this verse in all live performances of the song in the 1990s. A version can be heard on his double album 'Live in Japan'.

 

The original lyrics read "to cut their pork chops" (as heard on the Anthology 3 album). Lennon does not perform on the track although he did create the tape loop for the pig noises that were sampled for this song.

 

 

Track Placement

"Piggies" is sandwiched between two other songs with animals in their titles ("Blackbird" and "Rocky Raccoon"). This was a deliberate decision on the part of Lennon and McCartney while preparing the sequencing of the songs for the album.

 

 

Interpretations

Though Harrison intended the song as social commentary, it was often misinterpreted as an anti-police anthem.

 

 

Charles Manson Family

Charles Manson interpreted many of the songs from The White Album to justify his murders, and took the phrase "what they need's a damn good whacking" to mean that he should attack the police. During the murders of Sharon Tate, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Hinman and others, knives and forks were used to stab them because these utensils were mentioned in the song. The words 'political piggy', 'pig' and 'death to pigs' were written with the victims' blood on the walls.

 

 

 

 

157. Rocky Raccoon

 

 

"Rocky Raccoon" is a Beatles song, from double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album). It was written primarily by Paul McCartney who thought of the song while playing guitar for John Lennon and Donovan Leitch in India (where the Beatles had gone on a retreat). Some claim that the song is a parody of a Bob Dylan ballad, much like "Back in the U.S.S.R." is a parody of The Beach Boys.

 

The song is about a man (Rocky) who tries to shoot the man who stole his lover, but is mortally wounded by the rival instead.

 

The Old West-style honky-tonk piano was played by producer George Martin.

 

The song title, which is the character's name, was originally "Rocky Sassoon," but McCartney changed it to Rocky Raccoon because he thought "it sounded more like a cowboy."

 

 

Cover versions

James Blunt, Jack Johnson and Phish have recorded cover versions of this song.

 

Cultural references

This song was sampled on DJ Danger Mouse's popular Grey Album, coupled with the a cappella of "Justify My Thug."

In the early to mid-1990s, John Porcellino's King-Cat comic book series featured stories about Racky Raccoon, an anthropomorphic, slacker character who worked a series of dead-end jobs, drank too much and listened to punk rock.

On their album Hot Dogma, Australian band TISM feature a song called "While My Catarrh Gently Weeps". However the lyrics tell a story of a country-boy named Rocky Raccoon who is to feature on a Beatles album, only to be removed in the final cut.

This song was referenced in "Fur and Loathing", where a furry by the name of "Rocky the Raccoon" dies of mysterious causes.

In RV, Bob Monroe calls the raccoon that inflitrates the RV "Rocky".

In 1976 Marvel Comics premiered a space-faring raccoon character named Rocket Raccoon.

In Rocky V, When told by Rocky Jr. that he looks a little like a raccoon, Rocky replies "

"What like Rocky racoon"

158. Don't Pass Me By

 

 

"Don't Pass Me By" is a song by The Beatles from the double-disc album The Beatles (also known as the White Album). It was Ringo Starr's first solo composition, and he sang lead. It became a number one hit in Sweden.

 

Its earliest mention seems to be in a BBC chatter session introducing "And I Love Her" on the Top Gear program in 1964. In the conversation, Starr is asked if he wrote a song and Paul McCartney proceeded to mock it soon after, but the song is unmistakably "Don't Pass Me By" with very slightly different lyrics. The song has a very predictable 3-chord blues structure, apparently leading McCartney to mock it.

 

The song was recorded in three separate sessions in 1968: 5 and 6 June 5 and 12 July. Despite the references to the song in 1964 as "Don't Pass Me By", it was called "Ringo's Tune (Untitled)" on the 5 June session tape label and "This Is Some Friendly" on the 6 June label. By 12 July, the title was restored.

 

During a lead vocal track recorded on 6 June, Starr audibly counted out 8 bars, and it can be heard in the released song starting at 2:30 of the 1987 CD version.

 

The song was said to have originally opened with an orchestral interlude arranged by George Martin, which was later used as a cue for the Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine. In 1996, this piece of music was released as the track "A Beginning" on The Beatles Anthology 3 CD.

 

The line "I'm sorry that I doubted you I was so unfair, You were in car crash and you lost your hair" is cited by proponents of the Paul is dead urban legend as a clue to Paul's fate; the line "you lost your hair" is claimed to be a reference to "When I'm Sixty-Four", which was written by Paul McCartney.

 

The song has been covered by alt-country band The Gourds and by the Southern rock band, The Georgia Satellites on their 1988 album, Open All Night.

159. Why Don't We Do It In The Road?

 

 

"Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" is a song by English rock band The Beatles released on their 1968 album The Beatles, commonly referred to as The White Album. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney, but credited, as usual, to Lennon-McCartney. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" is short and simple; 1 minute 42 seconds of twelve-bar blues that begins with three different percussion elements (a hand banging on the back of an acoustic guitar, handclaps, and drums) and features McCartney's increasingly raucous vocal repeating a simple lyric with only two different lines.

 

 

Inspiration

While on retreat in Rishikesh, India with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, McCartney saw two monkeys copulating in the street and marvelled in the simplicity of this natural scenario when compared to the emotional turmoil of human relationships. He later said:

 

“ A male [monkey] just hopped on the back of this female and gave her one, as they say in the vernacular. Within two or three seconds he hopped off again and looked around as if to say, ‘It wasn't me,’ and she looked around as if there'd been some mild disturbance ... And I thought ... that's how simple the act of procreation is ... We have horrendous problems with it, and yet animals don't. ”

 

 

Recording

On 9 October 1968, while John Lennon and George Harrison were working on two other songs for the album, McCartney recorded five takes of the song in Studio One at Abbey Road Studios. Unlike its heavy blues result, the song began as an acoustic guitar number with McCartney alternating by verse between gentle and strident vocal styles. On this first night, McCartney played all the instruments himself.

 

On 10 October, McCartney and Ringo Starr finished the song, Starr adding drums and handclaps, McCartney adding more vocals, bass guitar, and lead guitar. Lennon and Harrison were again occupied, supervising string overdubs for "Piggies" and "Glass Onion."

 

 

Lennon's reaction

Lennon was unhappy that McCartney recorded the song without him. In his 1980 interview with Playboy, he said:

 

Playboy: "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?"

Lennon: That's Paul. He even recorded it by himself in another room. That's how it was getting in those days. We came in and he'd made the whole record. Him drumming. Him playing the piano. Him singing. But he couldn't—he couldn't—maybe he couldn't make the break from the Beatles. I don't know what it was, you know. I enjoyed the track. Still, I can't speak for George, but I was always hurt when Paul would knock something off without involving us. But that's just the way it was then.

Playboy: You never just knocked off a track by yourself?

Lennon: No.

Playboy: "Julia"?

Lennon: That was mine.

"Julia" was recorded four days after the first session for "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?," and is a solo performance by Lennon (double-tracked lead vocals and acoustic guitar).

 

In a 1981 conversation with Hunter Davies, who wrote a biography of the Beatles in 1968, McCartney responded to a Yoko Ono interview where she said McCartney had hurt Lennon more than anyone else, by saying, "No one ever goes on about the times John hurt me ... Could I have hurt him more than the person who ran down his mother in his car?" He then brought up Lennon's comments about "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?": "There's only one incident I can think of that John has mentioned publicly. It was when I went off with Ringo and did 'Why Don't We Do It in the Road'. It wasn't a deliberate thing. John and George were tied up finishing something and me and Ringo were free, just hanging around, so I said to Ringo let's go and do this."

 

McCartney also expressed some lingering resentment about a similar incident with "Revolution 9", recorded in June 1968, a few months before "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?": "Anyway, he did the same with 'Revolution 9'. He went off and made that without me. No one ever says that. John is the nice guy and I'm the bast*rd. It gets repeated all the time."

 

 

Cover versions

Phish covered the song live—along with the rest of the White Album—and released it on Live Phish Volume 13.

Lydia Lunch released a version on her album Transmutation.

In 2005, the a cappella band Toxic Audio covered the song on their album Word of Mouth.

The Velvet Monkeys covered the song as the B-side to their single "Rock the nation."

160. I Will

 

 

"I Will" is a song by The Beatles that was released on the White Album. It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and features him on lead vocal, guitar, and "vocal bass". McCartney wrote it for Linda Eastman, his future wife. "I Will" is the first of four songs McCartney wrote for Eastman. (The other three are "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Lovely Linda" and "My Love").

 

 

Recording

The recording session turned into a jam session, producing the short "Can you take me back"-segment that ends "Cry Baby Cry" on most versions of the album, as well as "Los Paranoias" (released on Anthology 3). This quiet song required 67 takes.

 

George Harrison did not play on this. During The White Album sessions, The Beatles often recorded in separate studios.

 

 

Track placement

Fans speculate that the track position of the song is a subtle joke, providing a question and an answer with the preceding track, "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?".

 

 

Anthology

In the televised documentary "The Beatles Anthology", McCartney, Harrison, and Starr are shown relaxing on a blanket outside. Starr asks McCartney what he wrote in India and McCartney answers, "I Will." Then Harrison begins playing this on his ukulele while he and McCartney harmonize with it.

 

An alternate version of "I Will" was released in October 1996 "Anthology 3" album. The alternate version was the take one of the song.

 

 

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many notable artists such as Alison Krauss (in Now That I've Found You: A Collection), Maureen McGovern (in her 1992 album Baby I'm Yours) and Ben Taylor, to name a few.

The song was sung in the romantic movie starring Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, The Love Affair.

This song was covered as a reggae-like number by "Rocky Horror" lead Tim Curry on his album Read My Lips.

A similar version of the guitar riff appears on the song "My Best Friend's Girl" by the group The Cars.

Jonathan Coulton did a cover of the song as part of his Thing A Week.

161. Julia

 

 

 

"Julia" is a song by The Beatles. It is the final song on side two (and disc one, in the CD era) of the band's 1968 album, The Beatles (often called The White Album).

 

 

Origins

"Julia" was written by John Lennon, and features Lennon on vocals and acoustic guitar. It was written during the Beatles' 1968 visit to India, where they were studying under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was here Lennon learned the song's finger-picking guitar style (known as 'Travis-picking') from the Scottish musician Donovan. No other Beatle sings or plays on the recording. While Paul McCartney made several "solo" compositions attributed to the group, dating back to his famous song "Yesterday", this is the only time that Lennon played and sang unaccompanied on a Beatles track.

 

"Julia" was written for John's mother Julia Lennon, who was struck by a car driven by a drunk police officer in 1958. It was also written for his wife Yoko Ono, whose first name, which literally means "child of the sea" in Japanese, is echoed in lyrics such as "Oceanchild, calls me."

 

The first two lines of the song – "Half of what I say is meaningless/ But I say it just to reach you, Julia" – were adapted from the poem "Sand and Foam," by the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran. The original line is: "Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you." The line, "When I cannot sing my heart/I can only speak my mind" is taken from the line, "When life does not find a singer to sing her heart she produces a philosopher to speak her mind," from the same work.

 

 

Cover interpretations

"Julia" has been covered by Ramsey Lewis, Bongwater, Chocolate Genius, Baptiste Trotignon, Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood, and John's and Yoko's son, Sean Lennon. Sean performed the song live on October 2, 2001 at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, as part of the Come Together – A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music concert special.

 

This song was also covered by Will Taylor and Strings Attached, with guest Libby Kirkpatrick, on their live CD released in 2006.

 

According to record producer Butch Vig, "Julia" was sometimes played by Kurt Cobain at Nirvana recording sessions in 1991. Dave Grohl, ex-Nirvana drummer and singer/guitarist of the Foo Fighters, has said that his life would be complete if he could write a song like "Julia."

 

 

Trivia

The character Julia in Cowboy Bebop was named after this song."

Whenever Julia Roberts makes an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman this is the song that the Paul Schaffer Orchestra plays.