My thoughts on songs 1 - 10

  I originally thought it a bit cliche to make this my number one song, but for all the following reasons it remains my favorite.  John's vocal has just the right amount of an erie echo as does the entire intro.  Pauls piano fills are not over the top but are perfectly playful and off balance at the same time.  Drums at first are understated but blend perfectly with the mood.  I love the way John says "film" 1:13 into the song.  Around 1:30 in, Johns vocals migrate to the left channel keeping that "off balance" feel.  The build at 1:44 starts off quite empty as the violins echo Johns vocal.  Only Pauls simple bass hints at what's to follow.   Then at 1:53 we are introduced to the rest of the orchestra.  I can picture Paul talking to each of the players convincing them not to listen to their fellow musicians...just start at your lowest note and end at your highest note...did they have the ability to hear Mal Evans counting to twenty?...were the musicians hip to the Beatles or were they just earning a sessions pay?  The counting to 20 was all my friends and I could talk about at the time.   They doubted it was there and I could never quite get the timing down good enough to prove it.  Only when the CD versions were released, could I clearly hear it.  (I hope they've heard it by now too.)  So after the build ends we are left with the echo, the persistent piano and Pauls bass line which drops an octave.  Gotta love the alarm clock, but what is Paul saying at 2:18?  Is he starting a "one" countdown or did he just make a mistake and start singing too soon?  Pauls muffled voice with no echo is in complete contrast to John...I've never heard Pauls voice sound like it does here every again.  I used to think that it was a poor quality recording but it seems to fit perfectly so if it was by mistake, it's one of those that enhanced the song and they left it like that.   John's simulated out of breath chant at 2:33 when Paul says he's late is perfectly John.  I love the way Paul sings the hard "t" in flat at 2:40.  Sounds like John in the background at the 2:42 mark with some kind of "eke" and again at 2:45 commenting on the kind of "smoke" that Pauls singing about.  John's heavily echoed "aahhs" start in the right channel but are quickly brought front and center only to fade left and then come back to center and then fade to the right.  Everything in the song is a bit off balance.  The loud horns bring us out of the break but we only have piano, bass and drums...no acoustic guitar for a few measures.  The song is more upbeat...I used to think it was faster.  Ringo leads the way with his brilliant drumming...so nice that they added the maracas to keep the beat.  It was George on the maracas and that appears to be his only contribution to this song.  Every time I hear John sign now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall, I think he might just mean "assholes"...  Have you ever heard the version with John counting in with a glum sounding "Sugar Gum Ferry, Sugar Gum Ferry"?  or the end of the song with the tape loop playing a mish mash of recurring noises and vocal non sequiturs'?...I'm glad they weren't on the versions that I listened to for the first 20 years. 
 

 John at his best introspective self....worried that he's too fat, too rich, too insecure, too everything.  I'd love to hear what this song sounded like when he first wrote it.  Was it slow?  What's interesting is that his best (IMHO) songs used the same general chord progression.  G to the B minor to the E minor...etc. just like "A Day In the Life".  I think his favorite chord was B minor.  It shows up repeatedly in his best work.  HELP, Across the Universe, A Day In the Life.

So let me give you a few random thoughts about why I find this song so interesting, progressive, ground breaking, revering, and....good.  Was there ever a song that the vocal echo/thought preceded the line?  Was there previously a pop song that was this introspective?  Just because it's upbeat don't think that there's not a heavy thought being expressed here.  Was there ever a pop song with such a startling beginning?  So let me focus just on the lyrics.  John tells a pretty heavy story here, one in which he's really reaching out for someone to help him.  But what I like is that the up tempo of the song hides the emotion...it almost dismisses the notion that here's a guy bearing a heavy burden in his life.  What courage it must have taken to sing these words.  But that's one of many things that made John, John.  I've heard John talk about how he is/was disappointed in the final version of HELP.  Boy, wouldn't it be great if they redid this song in 1969?  What would John want it to sound like?  I get the feeling that Paul must have been besides himself with the unnerving gaul of John to write about something so personal.  In that sense, I believe that the emotion in this song drove the next phase of Paul's and John's writings.  This was the first song to declare that it's OK to write about really personal thoughts....I mean really personal thoughts.  It's almost the early version of "Everybody's Got Something to Hide 'cept for Me and My Monkey".  It's also the song that proves that John can write a song "on demand"....that "A Hard Day's Night" wasn't a fluke.  They needed a song desperately to start the movie (and title the movie lest it wind up Eight Arms to Hold You!)  I'm pretty sure that John was embarrassed by the thought of "Eight Arms to Hold You"!!  The Beatles were better than that.  This also seems to be a song empty of Paul.  The only thing that's remotely Paul-like is background harmony.  This was the first Beatles song to declare that John and Paul don't write songs together anymore.  Paul never seemed to give this song it's due.  Even George talked about how innovative the background vocals were but Paul seemed more in awe of the song itself.  In that regard, I believe it's the one song that launched the next (and best) phase of Beatle songs.  I almost feel embarrassment for Paul writing "Another Girl" while John turns out HELP. 

 The Abbey Road medley...Starting with "You Never Give Me Your Money".  Ah.. the quiet understated piano begins...apologetically almost.  The bass plays what I'll call a lead bass.  Most of Paul's bass parts are melodic and this is a fine example.  Double stops on the bass...last used on Norwegian Wood and I Want to Hold Your Hand.  My favorite bass run occurs at the 45 second mark.  Then we start the terrific harmony on the second verse.  We descend at 1:08 into the rock part...megaphone like voice only on the right speaker at first.  Pauls wish for that "magic feeling" of no where to go...he's a bit fed up with having to be somewhere!  So simple here... then the ahs sound a bit like the Octopus's Garden under the water type.  I have to note that the Beatles have perfected the ahs and they make it seem effortless.  John contributes the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 all good children go to heaven because it just fits and sounds right.  I don't think there's anymore to it other than the simplicity of the lyrical thoughts about no where to go and one sweet dream of a simple life.  They're obviously fed up about most things at this point in their career and they long for the simple life of no where to go and just making rhymes because they sound good.  Nothing more than a simple good sound.  I don't know who's playing lead guitar near the end but it's a really nice sound.  Then...the crickets, bells and the crescendo cymbal to start "Sun King".

Again a lead, melodic bass to go with John's favorite chords.  Again very simple but detailed enough to sound complete.  And now, at 53 seconds, the ahhs.  Did John take the lyric from Here Comes the Sun??  Is George even on these tracks?  I think the sound of the drum near the end could have been improved.  They sound a bit flat as we go into Mean Mr. Mustard.
Well hear is the best use of the Moog synthesiser...echoing the bass line.  Perhaps my favorite part of this whole medley is harmony on the second verse that starts around 35 seconds in.  Pauls harmony is louder than John's lead and it works!  It captures the listener and pulls us in.  The startling end brings us into the harsh, even sloppy,  acoustic guitar to start Polythene Pam.  A bit of a throw away song but it works here.  Nice ahs in the background.  Maybe George was there.  A bit of a questionable and redundant lead that really doesn't do much but fills the gap.  Again, is it a George lead??   John seems to be having fun on this song.  Silly in the yeah, yeah, yeahs.  John says..."listen to that now, oh, look out here she comes".  And....She Came In Through the Bathroom Window...which I alway wonder why the track starts with the end of Polythene Pam lead.  Again the great ahs bring the song alive.  Ringo's drums sound a little better on this track...did he still have the cloth over the toms like in Let It Be?  They really could get a better drum sound.  Where's Geoff Emerick when you need him!! 

 A somewhat starling beginning, right to the point.  Immediately, this song sounds different, is that a melatrone in the background?  Pretty much a Paul only song up until the refrain when it's all John.  What stunning difference between the two parts of the song.  Paul sounds sincere, sweet, insistent, clear in voice.  John sounds like the devil in comparison, ever doubtful, and sounding a bit scolding in telling "her" that life is short you fool.  There never seemed to be an easy transition during this refrain.  The end of the last line is a bit awkward, they had to do something and this does work.  This must have given Ringo fits until it was worked out.  I have to point out that this song has one of the weakest bass lines that Paul has ever written.  He tended to do very little work on the bass lines on the songs he wrote in the earlier days and here is that thought at it's most apparent.  This is more of an acoustic guitar and tambourine song.

Having said all this, why is it my fourth favorite Beatles song?  Well, to start with the lyrics are amazing.  Pretty simple and to the point but what a terrific melodic verse.  In a sense, it's very bare and the song holds up with the acoustic guitar and the tamborine.  It seems to me that the tamborine makes the song.  I guess George wasn't given any opening to add something.  or maybe that's him on the acoustic, but my guess is that it's John.  I say this because of the clever strumming at the 1:09 mark.  He had to do something other than just strum it straight.... John did stuff like this on "She's A Woman" (at the 1:25 mark) and "Roll Over Beethoven" (at the 2:09 mark) to name a couple times he just had to do something different.  So I guess this songs ranks so high because of the crafting of these thoughts (both Paul's and John's) together.  The story is pretty simple and the song gets it all out in 2 minutes and 16 seconds.  There's not a thought that they missed.  So it's a beautifully crafted complete pop song that is catchy at the same time. 

 This is the best poem that John ever wrote.  And then he turned it in to a song.  If I knew more about the poem language of metaphors, similes, whodingers, syncopation and such I could go into detail here.  I just know that it's a brilliant poem.  My favorite line is about a restless wind inside a letterbox.  That image is precious.  Let me name all the phrases in this song that floor me....  endless rain into a paper cup, slither while they slip away, pools of sorrow, waves of joy, drifting, possessing, caressing...just about the entire song is full of images that astound.  Dancing broken light, thoughts meandering (in a letterbox for god's sake)....across the universe.  The only thing that stops this from being at the top of my list is the chorus.  Can you imagine if John came up with something other than the mantra chant, Jai Guru De Va....  Something that could bring this song to the public.  The mantra chant forces this song to keep it's place in the very distant background of Beatles songs.  It couldn't become mainstream with the somewhat downbeat chorus of "nothings gonna change my world"....and then to top it off the somewhat controversial meditation angle.  It seemed a bit hippy like to introduce an Maharishi chant at the time and that's the only reason this in not as popular as John's later "Imagine".  I know that there are a few versions of this song...birds at the beginning and such, but none seem to really nail it.  I don't really like the wa-wa guitar or the angelic chorus, or the horrible bass line at the end ot the song.  I don't suspect that Paul had anything to do with this song and I thinks that's a shame.  The arrangement could have been worked on to make this even better and I think Paul could have helped.  I get the feeling that the two of them really had very little interaction during this period.  They wrote separately and it shows.  None-the-less, this is a brilliant song/poem that deserves more recognition.

Across The Universe....take two update (today's date 12-9-14).  (Check that anniversary date in JL history)  So now that I've learned the technique of Transcendental Meditation, I need to amend my original interpretation of this song.  The chorus...Jai Guru Dev...is a tribute to the founder of the TM movement.  It was the Guru Dev that taught Marish Maheshi sp? to learn and teach TM.  So it's not a mantra at all.  It's John's tribute to the founder of the TM school.  Not enough has been written about John and TM so I'm reticent to go so far as saying this is a tribute but it's clear to me that John is saying something about meditation.  My TM teacher pointed out (just tonight) that the phrase "Nothing's gonna change my world" could literally mean that "nothing", as the subject of the sentence, could mean that the nothing, or the "awareness", that sometimes comes (and goes) briefly during meditation could be praise by John that the somewhat fleeting magical moment has been a huge (positive) change to His world.  The rest of the song now seems to be full of meditation references..."thoughts meander", "limitless undying love" etc..  I'm somewhat blown away by the beauty of this song as a tribute to TM.  Now that I've learned to meditate, I am even more amazed at the ability of John's lyrics to describe some of his experiences during meditation.  So my original interpretation of this song as somewhat downbeat has been turned 180 degrees.  This song may go down as the best song ever written!  I may need to revisit this song again.... 

  Pure power in a pop song.  John was right when he said this song was one of the early "heavy" songs.  Not just by the Beatles, but by anyone.  The simple but catchy "A" chord rife starts and then Ringo gets us going with a nice, really fast tom roll.  Of course the drums initially make the song interesting and I guess we have to thank Paul for telling Ringo what to do.  Paul may have suggested something but Ringo perfected it.  One of the things that doesn't get talked about with regards to the early to mid Beatles songs is the balance and mix of the overall recording.  Listen to the transition lead guitar part (played by Paul) and the drums how they quiet down during the verse.  In fact the whole mix is outstanding.  It seems to quiet down and emphasize the vocals yet it remains heavy at the same time.  It's a heavy pop song...the first of it's kind.  The harmonies are spectacular which by now is expected.  The little ad libs like John at the 1:40 and 2:30 mark keep the song seeming off the cuff and very natural, spontaneous.  John's vocal is terrific.  The song breaks down at the 2:45 mark into somewhat of a weak ending.  I chalk this up to them being pressed to finish the song and it's the best they came up with.  It's the only way that we know this song now so it's not as if it doesn't sound good but in retrospect, it does seem a bit weak.  I think the pressure was to finish and move on. 

 The bassline and drums hit you first.  It's a really simple bass line but boy is it effective.  John of course has an awesome sound on his vocal.  The echo makes the song different.  We've never heard the echo like this before.  There's no low end on the vocal and it works great.  I don't know if I can recite the words to this song....it's probably the only Beatles song that I might not know all the words.  That by itself is different.  In fact I think one of the things that made the Beatles so popular is that ALL of their words are clearly understood and articulated.

So my feeling is that Paul decided to rally the troops to make Abbey Road and John thought he'd like to write about it.  The Come Together chorus is just that...a rally to get everyone to....well, come together....over John, not Paul.  I think the song is autobiographical.  John is describing himself in many of the lines.  That's a theme that John visited often...."I'm a Loser", "I'm So Tired", "Nowhere Man", "Help";  most of his best were about himself and I think Come Together is largely about himself.  I love the understated and distorted guitar sound.  It's not very loud or prominent but so perfect.  The breaths on the bridge remind me of what he did on "Girl".  John used his voice as an instrument often.  The lead must have been John's although I don't know that for a fact.  I can't see or hear George on this track at all.  Ringo's drums sound much better on this track.  He must have gotten rid of the towels. 

 Another John composition that tells an interesting, simple story with wit.  Everyone should hear the evolution of this song on the anthology disc.  Take one is upbeat with a heavy drum driving the song...it's awful.   On take two, we finally hear the drums take a back seat to the beautiful chord progression and harmonic lyric.  At the end of this take John announces "well we finally found out what to do....it's good".  I couldn't agree more.  It's good.  The final version that is.

I wonder if this really happened to John?  Did he go to a girls house and ring the bell only to get no reply.  Did the girl really "peep" through the window and did he really see this.  It's almost too good to be true so I got to believe that it really didn't really happen.  John paints a picture of a perfectly believable story and brings it to life.  

Again, Paul's harmony is wonderful...he has a really high range.  I love the way the hand claps drive the song during the chorus only to have the drums settle down to the mellow verse.  This song is very similar to "I'm A Loser" in the arrangement and feel...an acoustic guitar accompanied by great harmonies and thoughtful drums telling a compelling story.
 

 So Mia Farrow's sister Prudence (as of 12-9-14 living and teaching TM on Florida's panhandle)  stayed in her room while they were all in India learning to meditate.  She never hung out with the Beatles and immediately returned to her room every night.  John wrote this song for her.   John was always writing songs and thank god for that.  I always wonder that he recorded maybe one fifth of what he wrote and I'd love to hear some of what never made it to tape.  Paul probably left much unrecorded and between the two of them we could have another 4 or 5 medleys.  (Recently, Paul seems to be recording too much....he needs the guidance of fab friends and producers to limit his recording sessions).

So here we have Paul on drums and bass.  The bass line is wonderful....and heavy.  The bass is one of the things that puts this song so high on my list.  You can always tell when Paul plays the drums because his snare sound is so different from Ringo's.  Paul hits the snare with the tip of the stick while Ringo almost hits the rim and the skin at the same time.  Nonetheless, this is one of Paul's best drumming we've ever heard....besides the snare difference the rest of his drumming is Ringo like and that's good.  In fact it seems to me that Paul even uses the ride symbol as a crash at the end of each verse.  Now that is very Ringo!!

While in India, John was taught to fingerpick by Donovan and he uses it on this song but picking on the electric Casio guitar is a bit different than what he was taught.  I like it, it's different.  So one of the great things about the Beatles is that very rarely did they just duplicate the sound or instrumentation of a previous recording.  Every song seemed to introduce something new to the equation and here we have John fingerpicking on an electric guitar no less.  This song starts somewhat mellow but immediately becomes heavy at the 44 second mark as the bass really kicks in.  Take away the bass and this song remains mellow and relatively quiet.  Paul deserves much credit on this point.  He doesn't add much in the way of vocals but kills it on the drums and bass.  George's lead fillers are nice and I'm glad he was able to contribute.  This album (The Beatles) was so fractured in that most of the songs seems to be a solo effort, I'm glad to hear contributions from all three.
 

  Another introspective John song.  (There seems to be a pattern to what I like).  So clearly John is singing about himself as he often did.  We have really nice harmony on this song and the rythm of bass and drums is pretty much a throw away.  The lead guitar is really nice.  John and George playing the lead in unisome on their fender guitars to get the best punch out of it.  I absolutely admire the harmonic on the last note of the lead.  Again we have something to this song that is totally unique and different.  It's funny how something as simple as that note can propel this song up my list.

John is confident on this introspective song.  He's okay saying he's a Nowhere Man because he knows it's not true.  There's a bit of "look at me, I'm so confident that I can call myself a Nowhere Man".  He rhymes "listen" with "missing" and it works brilliantly.  It sounds natural, not like some of his earlier rhymes which were definately contrived....remember "It Won't Be Long" when he rhymed 'fun' with 'own'.  In the same song he rhymes 'know' with 'more' but at the time it was fine even though it was a stretch.

One other thing about Nowhere Man.... It's one of the best songs to use the stereo and pan to the left or right channel.  I get such a kick out of hearing just the lead vocal or just the instruments... this stereo listening works best on Rubber Soul as I'm sure you've all discovered by now.