Today's story-song is "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill". The song, written by John Lennon about one of the visitors to the ashram in India, is the only Beatles song to feature a female lead singer. Yoko Ono sang lead for one line of the song ("Not when he looked so fierce") and Maureen Starkey, Ringo's wife at the time, also accompanied on vocals.
If you want a more detailed glimpse at the inspiration for the song, check out the Wikipedia page. The short version:
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."
I'm a fan of this song--it's a criticism of tiger-killing (among other things), and I happen to be rather fond of tigers. Honestly, "Bungalow Bill" really reminds me of "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (or the other way around). The two songs share similarities like having a wider cast of singers (or simply more layered voices, so that it sounds like many people singing), and featuring a variety of instruments and tempos that provide segments, or chapters almost, to the songs. They're both excellent songs, whether or not you agree that they're similar. :)
That's it! See you tomorrow.
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Heard It Tally: 35
Songs Completed: 144
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