Tell Me What You See

"Tell Me What You See" is the name of today's song. It was written mostly by Paul (he first said the work was 60-40 between him and John, but later claimed all the work was his own, so who knows?), who labeled the song "not awfully memorable". 

The song features a lot of neat, quirky instruments including a Hohner Pianet and a güiro (both played by Paul), a tambourine and a pair of claves (both played by Ringo). "Tell Me What You See" is also remarkable in that it "shows the musical growth of the Beatles since Please Please Me, and foreshadows their further exploration on Rubber Soul and Revolver." The guys were exploring with more than just inverted syntax ("If you put your trust in me / I'll make bright your day"). According to Wikipedia, "Evident in the song's structure and instrumentation is the group's then growing folk influence, with lyrics more mature and reflective than was standard in their earlier output."

As for me, when the song started it took me a while to figure out what was going on. Once I got deeper into the song, though, I caught the hang of it and I began to enjoy it. Learning about all the neat instruments the boys used definitely made it more interesting for me, too. :)

That's all for today... We've finished Beatles VI and we'll be starting Help! tomorrow. I'm definitely looking forward to it! After I've completed the album, I'll watch the video and do another movie review. :) See you guys tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 9

Songs Completed: 73

Dizzy Miss Lizzy

"Dizzy Miss Lizzy" is a cover of a Larry Williams song believed by Paul to be one of The Beatles' best recordings. I have to agree--normally I'm not too fond of the rock and roll songs but this one's great. John kills it on vocals (which Wikipedia calls "particularly rousing"), the guitar work is excellent, and you can really hear Ringo's love for the beat.

The title of the original was "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy", which makes sense since the lyrics aren't about a young lady with an inner ear problem. "You make me dizzy, Miss Lizzy", says the singer, who is crazy in love with the girl. According to Wikipedia, Ringo heard about the song from band manager Brian Epstein and encouraged his band-mates to record the song "after loving its upbeat rhythm and interesting lyrics." 

I also checked out the original, which is somewhat cleaner-cut, but it seemed like it lacked the sheer force of passion that Lennon and the guys imbued in their version. The original is good, but I think the cover is great. So, "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" is overall a well-loved and well-done song, with or without the comma. :)

That's it for today! Hope to see you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 9

Songs Completed: 72

Yes It Is

Bummer of a song today... "Yes It Is" was written by John (in a morose mood, apparently) and "features some of the Beatles' most complex and dissonant three-part vocal harmonies and showcases George Harrison's early use of volume pedal guitar."

While John wasn't too impressed by his own effort on this one (essentially calling it a poor man's "This Boy"), Paul seemed to think it was "a very fine song of John's". I'm leaning more towards Paul on this one; it's inexplicably fascinating. Maybe it's the weird, off-balance harmonies or the weird, off-balance guitar of George's... or the weird, off-balance lyrics in which John rhymes "tonight" with "tonight". Maybe all of these things together. Whatever it is, I like it. :) It makes you want to kind of sway back and forth while you're listening to it--and it's worth listening to, if even to marvel at the weirdness. :P

That's it for today... See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 9

Songs Completed: 71

Bad Boy

"Bad Boy" is the name of today's song. It's a Larry Williams cover, one of two on Beatles '65 that the guys made for a North American audience. It's a really fun rock and roll jam, and it sounds like the Beatles had a lot of fun playing it. :)

The lyrics are great--it's a story about a kid who loves rock and roll and seems to be a juvenile delinquent. He puts tacks on the teacher's chair, sticks gum in the hair of his female classmate, and spends every dime he gets on playing rock and roll in the jukebox. Some things are timeless, and that includes being a wild youth who loves loud, strange music and gives his mother grief. :P According to Rybaczewski on the song page for "Bad Boy" at BeatlesEBooks.com, "his rebellion even gets downright evil, feeding the canary 'to the neighbor's cat' and giving 'the cocker spaniel a bath in mother's laudromat.'" Ruh-roh!

That's all for today--hope you had a great Fourth of July! :) See you guys tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 9

Songs Completed: 70

You Like Me Too Much

Today we start the album Beatles VI, which has a lot of old songs but several new ones for us to hear. :) Beatles VI was the ninth Beatles album to be released in the U.S. in less than a year and a half--talk about prolific. It also contains two songs (both covers) recorded specifically for the North American market, which was a unique event in Beatles recording history. 

The first new song from the album is "You Like Me Too Much". My first impression is that the lyrics are a bit off. The song itself sounds great--the guitar is excellent (which makes perfect sense because George wrote it), and the vocals are top notch. However, the words themselves almost give me the same feeling Twilight or Beauty and the Beast do; it describes a kind of creepy, stalkerish, almost-abusive relationship. I'm sure most people don't read the song that way, and I'm sure I only do because I look for things like that, and I know the song's meant as an innocent love song about two people who make it work even though it's hard sometimes. 

But. But but but. When I hear lines like, "You've tried before to leave me / but you haven't got the nerve", "I will follow you / and bring you back where you belong" and "I wouldn't let you leave me", what comes to mind isn't a romantic and impulsive gentleman, it's a manipulative and abusive man. Similarly, most people view Edward Cullen (from the Twilight novels and films) as Bella's dark and mysterious protector. However, if you read more closely, he's quite violent and obsessive, and it's not just because he's a vampire. His treatment of Bella and her submission to his control (even when she's "doing her own thing" like visiting a friend of whom Edward disapproves--because she's still forced to sneak around behind his back to do so) might encourage girls in real life to look for partners who take absolute control over their lives from day one, thinking that's how love is supposed to be or that they can somehow "fix" the bad boys. To me, "You Like Me Too Much" echoes that dangerous sentiment.

Granted, this song is a far, far cry from Twilight. It's not nearly as bad as even the least sexist Rolling Stones song. :P This is just my impression of the lyrics. The song itself, like I mentioned above, is a great song. Without reading too deeply into it, I sincerely enjoyed it, particularly the instruments. :)

That's all for today! Hope you enjoyed the lecture. :P See you guys tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 9

Songs Completed: 69

I Feel Fine

Great song today--"I Feel Fine" is a very well-known Beatles song. Written by Lennon and primarily riff-driven, John actually wrote the song around the riff itself. Lennon, speaking about the origin of the song, related how it got its start. 

"I wrote 'I Feel Fine' around that riff going on in the background," he recalled. "I told them I'd write a song specially for the riff. So they said, 'Yes. You go away and do that,' knowing that we'd almost finished the album Beatles for Sale. Anyway, going into the studio one morning, I said to Ringo, 'I've written this song but it's lousy.' But we tried it, complete with riff, and it sounded like an A side, so we decided to release it just like that."

Another neat aspect of the song is the innovative use of feedback. Although artists such as The KinksThe Who had been using feedback during their live performances, "Lennon remained proud of the fact that the Beatles were the first group to actually put it on vinyl." The way they "discovered" the feedback is a pretty cool story as well; I'll let Wikipedia tell it. and

According to McCartney, "John had a semi-acoustic Gibson guitar. It had a pick-up on it so it could be amplified... We were just about to walk away to listen to a take when John leaned his guitar against the amp. I can still see him doing it... it went, 'Nnnnnnwahhhhh!" And we went, 'What's that? Voodoo!' 'No, it's feedback.' Wow, it's a great sound!' George Martin was there so we said, 'Can we have that on the record?' 'Well, I suppose we could, we could edit it on the front.' It was a found object, an accident caused by leaning the guitar against the amp."

Haha, "Voodoo!" It's stuff like that--little accidents and twists of fate--that really add to the Beatles mythos. Overall, this is a really great song. It's one of John's happier tunes, showing a contentment that we don't often see in his songs.

That's all for today... See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 9

Songs Completed: 68

She's a Woman

"She's a Woman" is one of two new songs from the album Beatles '65; it was sung by Paul and marked his attempt at sounding more like Little Richard. Since I listen to the song before beginning my daily post, I didn't recognize Paul's voice at all. For a second I even thought I was accidentally listening to a different band's version of the song. :P Overall, not my favorite; his voice just sounds so strained and weird.

Paul's adventurous vocal styling jumps the song up to a much higher register than even his tenor voice was accustomed to performing. As far as the lyrics are concerned, however, John seemed to be quite pleased with one specific line: "The lyrics 'turn me on,', were as John Lennon was quoted saying, 'so excited to say 'turn me on' — you know, about marijuana and all that... using it as an expression.'" Needless to say, the guys had been experimenting with drugs for quite some time before this point and had no doubt slipped a few references into their lyrics--though of course not nearly as many as they would in the near future. 

That's it for today... Tomorrow we'll hear the other "new" song from this album, and then it'll be on to the next one! See you then. :)

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Heard It Tally: 8

Songs Completed: 67