Only a Northern Song

Today we start listening to Yellow Submarine, which was released in January of 1969 and provided the soundtrack for the film of the same name. Interestingly, only the first side of the album features songs by the Beatles; the B-side was all original instrumental compositions by George Martin. Additionally, two of the six songs on the Beatles side had been previously released (including "Yellow Submarine" and "All You Need is Love", which we've already covered here). 

Really the best way to sum up Yellow Submarine as an album is to show you what Wikipedia says about its reception:

In contrast to how the film was received, Yellow Submarine is usually considered The Beatles' weakest release. It was one of the few Beatles releases not to top the charts on either side of the Atlantic. Its highest position was #2 in the US, kept from the top by their own The Beatles, which had been released two months before. The Beatles themselves did not consider it a proper studio album, since they had little involvement in the project, and the four previously unreleased tracks on it were taken hodge-podge fashion from various sessions in 1967 and early 1968.

So, skipping the first track ("Yellow Submarine"), we arrive at "Only a Northern Song", which was written by George Harrison and recorded in 1967, originally for the Sgt. Pepper album. It's described as being his criticism of the Beatles' music publishing business, Northern Songs Ltd. Since Lennon and McCartney each owned 15% of the company's public shares, and Harrison, being considered a songwriting "contractor", owned a mere 0.8%, Lennon and McCartney earned more from Harrison's songs than Harrison himself.

That of course explains the bitter-sounding lyrics, such as "It doesn't really matter what chords I play / What words I say or time of day it is / As it's only a Northern song." The distorted music (including a glockenspiel and a trumpet) adds to the tension and an almost subconscious sense of discomfort the song produces in the listener. The audience, if we know the history behind the lyrics, can definitely understand George's anger and resentment. Following from the tense tradition of the White Album"the song also suggests that, at this time, Harrison "had yet to recover his enthusiasm for being a Beatle", Harrison having threatened to leave the group six months earlier, following their final live concert at Candlestick Park." sessions,

That's all for today! See you tomorrow.

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Heard It Tally: 39

Songs Completed: 168