I'm So Tired

"I'm So Tired" is today's song, and it was written by John Lennon while at the ashram in India. According to Wikipedia: 

Lennon wrote the song at a Transcendental Meditation camp when he could not sleep...Yoko Ono, and was plagued by insomnia that inspired the song. Lennon later said of it: "One of my favourite tracks. I just like the sound of it, and I sing it well". After three weeks of constant meditation and lectures, Lennon missed his soon-to-be wife,

This song is also one of the "clues" utilized by the "Paul is dead" conspiracy theorists. At the end of the song, John seems to mumble incoherently. Apparently, when played backwards, this mumbling seems to say, "Paul is a dead man. Miss him, miss him, miss him." 

Conspiracy theories aside, I like this song. It reminds me of "I'm Only Sleeping", which was similarly about John's problems with insomnia (which I also often experience). I particularly enjoyed these lines: "Although I'm so tired I'll have another cigarette / And curse Sir Walter Raleigh / He was such a stupid git." Sir Walter Raleigh, as I learned, was a 16th-century nobleman credited with increasing the popularity of tobacco in England. :P

That's all for today! See you tomorrow.

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Heard It Tally: 36

Songs Completed: 148

Martha My Dear

Today's song is "Martha My Dear", which was written by Paul and reportedly inspired by his girlfriend, Jane Asher, who broke off their engagement in mid-1968 (apparently after finding Paul with another woman--his next girlfriend, Francie Schwartz). However, Wikipedia also says, "The title "Martha My Dear" was inspired by McCartney's Old English Sheepdog, also named Martha." 

Since this song (sort of) marks the end of Paul and Jane, at least musically, I'm going to post a bit of what Wikipedia says about their relationship, since it's rather interesting:

The Asher house was also a place of intellectual stimulation for McCartney... According to Cynthia Lennon, McCartney was "as proud as a peacock" to have Jane as a girlfriend, and saw her as "a great prize."

However, Marianne Faithfull remembered McCartney and Asher "never getting on very well," and described one evening at Cavendish Avenue when McCartney wanted a window to be open and Asher wanted it shut. McCartney would repeatedly get up and open the window and then Asher would get up and close it, although neither of them made any comment about it during the whole evening.

Asher has consistently refused publicly to discuss McCartney or her time with him, and has maintained her position on the matter to this day. On this basis, she is described by the Beatles' 1968 biographer Hunter Davies as the only major Beatles associate not to have published her recollections.

Although this song is about a break-up, it's really a lovely song. The music hall-style piano and brass instruments throughout really add something to the track, a kind of old-timey feeling, which is enhanced by the use of an old-fashioned name like Martha. 

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

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Heard It Tally: 36

Songs Completed: 147

Happiness Is a Warm Gun

"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" was written primarily by John Lennon. However, the guys considered it one of the few "Beatles" songs on The White Album because they had to work closely together in order to successfully perform the "challenging rhythmic and meter issues" in the song. Also, according to Wikipedia, "this is one of the few examples of polyrhythm in The Beatles' repertoire", as it changes many times over the course of the song.

Wikipedia gives us a blurb about the inspiration for "Happiness": 

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. I just thought it was a fantastic, insane thing to say. A warm gun means you just shot something." The reference, whether or not intermediately from the magazine, was one of many 1960s riffs on Charles M. Schulz's culturally popular saying, Happiness is a Warm Puppy, which began in the Peanuts comic strip and became a widely sold book.

Other interpretations involve Lennon's growing attachment to Yoko Ono, or his involvement with heroin at the time. Also, the first verse was apparently inspired by an acid trip. So there's that. :P

I really like this song; it's definitely got that psychedelic vibe we learned from Sgt. Pepper, and the various tempo changes are wonderful and musically challenging, both to play and to hear/follow. :)

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

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Heard It Tally: 36

Songs Completed: 146

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was written and sung by George Harrison, and featured the lead guitar of Eric Clapton. Clapton was at first reluctant to play for the track; "he said, 'Nobody ever plays on the Beatles' records'—but Harrison convinced him and Clapton's solo was recorded that evening." The song is highly-ranked on several lists, including "#135 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", #7 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time, and #10 on their list of The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs."

This song, more than any other, is probably the one that really represents George Harrison as an artist. It was played during the Concert for George, which took place a year after his death from cancer in 2001. Among those who played the song were Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, and George's son (and doppelganger), Dhani Harrison.

I love this song. It has this great floating melody with a rock-solid beat behind it, and the lyrics are stunning. Vying for my favor with the original is the version from Across the Universe by Martin Luther McCoy, which is slower, with a heart-wrenching guitar solo. Both original and cover are among my favorite songs. 

That's all for today. See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 36

Songs Completed: 145

The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill

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

Wild Honey Pie

Today's oddball song is "Wild Honey Pie", which featured Paul as the only performer (John and Ringo were working on other songs for the album and George was on holiday). The song references another White Album track, "Honey Pie" (which we'll be covering in a couple of weeks). 

The song is simple and brief; the only lyrics are "Honey pie" and "I love you, honey pie". McCartney experimented with multitracking to create layers of his own harmonies. In my opinion, "Wild Honey Pie" is less a song and more a piece of experimental audio artwork. It's not really the singalong kind, and although short it's got so much going on that it almost forces you to listen. I like it. :)

That's all for today. See you back here tomorrow.

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Heard It Tally: 34

Songs Completed: 143

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Today I'm listening to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". Wikipedia says that 

Paul McCartney wrote the song around the time that highlife and reggae were beginning to become popular in Britain. The tag line "ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra" was an expression that Nigerian conga player Jimmy Scott-Emuakpor, an acquaintance of McCartney, used.

(I'd never thought I'd hear The Beatles use the word "brah", a word more common to a frat house these days, but there it is.) John Lennon reportedly hated this song, labeling it "Paul's granny shit." The guys had some trouble recording it, and John actually stormed out, only to come back later, high, and "played the opening chords much louder and faster than before. He claimed that was how the song should be played, and that is the version they ended up using". Also, during the last verse, Paul mistakenly switches Molly and Desmond, saying that "Molly lets the children lend a hand / Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face". They guys liked it so much that they left it that way. 

This song definitely puts me in mind of reggae. However, because of the names Molly and Desmond, my very first thought was that this song is some kind of story about an Irish couple. Anyone familiar with Dublin will probably understand; Molly Malone, the "tart with the cart", is a famous Irish character and even has her own statue downtown. Overall, I like this song, and while it's not my favorite, it's certainly catchy. :)

That's it for now... see you tomorrow.

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Heard It Tally: 34

Songs Completed: 142