Hey Bulldog

According to music engineer Geoff Emerick, "Hey Bulldog" was the last song that the Beatles recorded as an enthusiastic and willing team. The title was inspired during the recording of the song, when McCartney started randomly barking. The next lines were then changed from "Hey, bullfrog" to "Hey, bulldog", and the title was born. Paul credits the song to John, adding that he helped a bit as well. He said, in 1994:

I remember (it) as being one of John's songs and I helped him finish it off in the studio, but it's mainly his vibe. There's a little rap at the end between John and I, we went into a crazy little thing at the end. We always tried to make every song different because we figured, 'Why write something like the last one? We've done that.' We were on a ladder so there was never any sense of stepping down a rung, or even staying on the same rung, it was better to move one rung ahead.

This song is pretty unique and interesting. I recognized the last two lines of the first verse ("Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles / What makes you think you're something special when you smile?"); I'd read them somewhere before and thought they were neat. When I looked them up to see where they came from, I found out about "Hey Bulldog" but I didn't listen to it. 

As one of the few Beatles songs to center around a piano riff (the riff from this song is very similar, though in a different key, to the one from the single "Lady Madonna"), with strange lyrics and a wicked guitar accompanied by barking dogs (and a barking Paul), "Hey Bulldog" is definitely a song you need to listen to more than once to get the full effect--particularly of what Paul called the "rapping" near the end. :P

That's all for now... see you tomorrow!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heard It Tally: 39

Songs Completed: 170

All Together Now

"All Together Now" was written by Paul, and, like "Yellow Submarine", has the feel of a children's song:

McCartney described the song as a children's sing-along with the title phrase inspired by the music hall tradition of asking the audience to join in. He also described a "subcurrent" in the song, a dual-meaning where "we are all together now.

The good news is that I recognized this song. The bad news is that I'd never known it was a Beatles song since I'd heard it first in a Sprint commercial. I'd always disliked the song in the commercial; however, now that I know it's a Beatles song and have heard the original, I find I prefer it over the cover. I dislike the commercial even more now. :P

The lyrics, disregarding the line about taking a friend to bed (which I find odd and out of place), provide a perfect sing-along style tune for kids to enjoy. So, of course, I enjoy it as well, since I'm still very much a kid. :)

That's all for today! See you tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heard It Tally: 39

Songs Completed: 169

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heard It Tally: 39

Songs Completed: 168

Album Summary: The Beatles

The Beatles, which I've (kind of) consistently referred to as the White Album, has been an incredibly interesting (and lengthy) journey. It contained several songs I'd heard previously, either on my own or in Across the Universe, and I really enjoyed hearing the originals, such as "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "Blackbird", and "Dear Prudence". I also heard many more songs I'd never known about but immediately loved, like "Glass Onion" with its self-references, and (re)discovered new favorites like "Rocky Raccoon" and "Helter Skelter".

Unlike some of their earlier albums (including my favorites, Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour), there didn't seem to be any kind of overarching theme, style, idea, plot, or vibe. It felt more like what it was: a collection of songs which had been created by some of the Beatles, one or two or three but rarely all four, at a time. All the same, it didn't feel disjointed to me. Rather, it felt like a branching-off, experimental, getting tired of things but going forth anyway, sort of voyage. The guys were getting sick of one another and so were going off and doing their own thing; they may or may not have realized that they were testing the waters for the future, seeing how far they could push or be pushed before the breaking point. Paul was simply the first to realize just where that point was for him.

It seems to me that the White Album really was a turning point for the Beatles. From what history I gleaned over the past two and a half weeks or so, the guys were no longer fighting the world and their own celebrity so much as fighting one another. Having been so well established as a cohesive unit over the past several years, it must have felt exhausting to them, trying to have their own individual voices heard over the others. It's not surprising to me that they all went on to solo careers, and it's not surprising that such a wildly prolific and celebrated group didn't last long--they were burning the candle at both ends, truly.

Although The Beatles is widely regarded as the beginning of the end for "The Beatles" as a group, it's certainly not the last album they created during their remaining time together. We'll start a few new songs from Yellow Submarine tomorrow. See you then. :)

Good Night

"Good Night", written by John for his son Julian and performed by Ringo (the only Beatle to perform on the track), provides the perfect send-off to the White Album. The lullaby features soaring music provided by an orchestra, purposefully "cheesy" at Lennon's request, to give it the feel of an "Old Hollywood" number; the piece was arranged and conducted by George Martin. The music is, according to Wikipedia, "excessively lush" and features twelve violins, three violas, three cellos, one harp, three flutes, one clarinet, one horn, one vibraphone, and one string bass. 

This felt like the perfect song to end the album. Not only was it Ringo's second of only two songs (astounding, considering The Beatles is a double album), but it was also so relaxing and soothing that I really feel more sleepy after having listened to it. The lyrics themselves remind me of such bedtime classics as "Goodnight Moon", among others. It's an ideal lullaby to send a child (or an adult) to sleep. :)

That's it for this song. Next up is the White Album summary. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heard It Tally: 39

Songs Completed: 167

Revolution 9

"Revolution 9", which as we know is another version (I would call it a spinoff) of "Revolution", was a "sound collage" by John Lennon. John and George were the only Beatles to work on the song; Paul was out of the country at the time. Yoko Ono contributed as well. According to Wikipedia:

Lennon said he was trying to paint a picture of a revolution using sound. The composition was influenced by the avant-garde style of Ono as well as the musique concrète works of composers such as Edgard Varese and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

The repeated phrase "number 9" (in a voice that sounds like Ringo's, but isn't) provided ammunition for fans of the "Paul is dead" conspiracy theory; when played backwards, parts of the song apparently say, "Turn me on, dead man".

As an art history major in college, I studied Yoko Ono and her work as part of a contemporary art course. If I had to choose songs other than her own to represent her work, "Revolution 9" would definitely make the list. Her avant-garde influence is quite clear. The song paints a vivid picture (a thousand pictures, really) in the listener's mind, reaching in with many tentacles to stimulate different parts of the ear, the brain, and, if one closes one's eyes and lets the imagination fully take over, the eyes. All told, the song used 45 sound sources, which included Beatles songs, recordings, and even Yoko Ono's voice (she says, "you become naked" towards the end).

Overall, I'm a fan. However, I'm also a fan of contemporary art (whether it's an audio work, performance piece, or whatever other medium contemporary artists may use), which doesn't always appeal to the general masses. I can understand very well why "Revolution 9" wasn't a hit with critics or fans, and why Paul argued against including the track on the White Album.

That's all for today. Only one song left on the White Album, and then I'll be doing the usual album summary (which may be longer than usual by necessity :P ). Then, it's off to the next exciting album! See you then. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heard It Tally: 39

Songs Completed: 166

Cry Baby Cry

"Cry Baby Cry" was written by John Lennon, who was inspired to write the original lyrics, "Cry baby cry / Make your mother buy", by an advertisement. According to Wikipedia, "Cry Baby Cry" was the last straw for someone who worked closely with the Beatles:

This was the song the Beatles were working on when engineer Geoff Emerick quit, though his departure was precipitated by Lennon and McCartney's obsessions over the recordings of "Revolution" and "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da", respectively, and the overall tensions of the White Album sessions. Emerick would not work with the Beatles again until the session for The Ballad of John and Yoko nine months later.

As a nerdy, geeky kind of person, my first thought when I started listening to this song was, of course, "Firefly". On that show, the "Cry Baby" was a device the good guys employed that would mislead anyone pursuing their spaceship. Two of the characters actually say the first lines of the song: "Cry baby cry." and "Make your mother sigh!" That's a huge part of the reason this song makes me happy. :P 

Other than that, the lyrics themselves remind me most of the nursery rhyme, "Sing a Song of Sixpence" because both songs talk about a king, a queen, and their various locations and activities. I'm sure it was done that way on purpose by Lennon, who, like many children (particularly in England), was no doubt familiar with the popular 18th-century tune. 

The lyrics of the Beatles song are much different, however, and at some points seem to suggest a rather dysfunctional family. In particular, the lines "the children of the king" combined with the chorus ("Cry baby cry / Make your mother sigh / She's old enough to know better / So cry baby cry...") were almost disturbing to me; the part about the Duke and Duchess was even worse. All together, the lyrics suggest that all is not quite well/normal in the kingdom of Marigold.

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heard It Tally: 39

Songs Completed: 165