May 19, 2003 03:38 PM
1881 Views
(Updated May 19, 2003 03:41 PM)
Why don't we do it in the road?
No one will be watching us
Why don't we do it in the road?
Yes...why don't we do it in the road???
Can a present day band do a song like this? This is a song (THE WHOLE SONG!!!) in the White Album...and I'll tell you the White Album story the way I see it. 1968, The Beatles were bigger then any other band and they had everything going for them....why take such a big risk...why ruin it all by doing a risky double album containing a sprawling array of songs which ranged from folk rock numbers to psychedelic experimentations to nursery rhymes. WHY???? WHY??? Why not do nice pop numbers like 'She Loves you' and 'Love me do'. This reminds me of a Mark Twain quote:
''There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's life that he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.''
What's digging and how did the Beatles do it? I'll reconstruct this Twain quote: There comes a time in every talented artists life when he has gained enough success and money to sit down, smoke a fag and say, 'I don't give a damn about how this one will go...I'll do what I want to'.
The Beatles were big boys now and they needed to dig...the digging really started with Revolver (1966) and continued with Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) but the wonderful, awesome, magnificent culmination was The White Album.
Half of what I say is meaningless
But I say it just to reach you, Julia
~Julia (White Album)
Yes, half of what they did in this album would seem meaningless (the first time!!!) but have a little patience and read this review. Please!
Let's see, what do we have here.....
Excellent pop ditties like 'Birthday' and 'Back in the USSR', 'Everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey'(What a name!!!)
Breathtaking love songs like 'Julia', 'I will', 'Don't pass me by' (Ringo wrote this one and sang it!!!), 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' (Clapton's guitar solo is awesome!! one of the greatest guitar riffs I've ever heard....'Marta My Dear'...Martha was Paul's dog but forget that...another great love song.
Social Commentaries: 'Blackbird' on apartheid, 'Piggies' on the sad state of the materialistic middle class. 'Revolution' on the communist threat, 'Happiness is a warm gun' on drugs and easy accessibility of guns in America, 'Sexy Sadie' is a jab at spiritual gurus....Sadie being Lennon's manipulation of Sadhu.
Psychedelic: 'Revolution No.9' is a motley of sounds from people screaming to bus horns and what not...this is not easy listening?.infact this is not a song at all...it is a representation of the grim turbulence that had permeated the 60's....something that Floyd did more successfully and may I say conventionally with Dark Side of the Moon. 'Dear Prudence' was about a girl, Prudence who never came out of her hut when the Beatles stayed at Maharishi's ashram at Rishikesh....just listen to the guitars shimmering in the dark...bet you'll see the light!!!
Blues and Folk rock: 'Yer Blues' all about feeling lonely and the suicidal instinct, 'I'm so tired' about being emotionally exhausted by a difficult love affair. 'Rocky Raccoon' about a guy who goes out for revenge and come back with a bible (sounds silly but it is extremely profound!), 'Mother Nature's Son'..nature's beauty hidden in an acoustic guitar......
Hard Rock yeah...i did say Hard Rock...listen to 'Helter Skelter'...they dabbled in that too!!!
Now we come to the interesting part....
NURSERY RHYMES: who says we are old and cynical and our dreams are all dead lying in a garbage can???? No...no...no....I don't want to believe that....here's the Beatles tribute to the child in all of us. 'Obla Di Obla Da' guy meets girl, they fall in love, they have kids and life goes on....enjoy the subtle dreariness that emanates out of this...enjoy the hope...hope exists!!! And if you're still there and not out in the park playing on slides then we can all go tiger hunting with 'Buffalo Bill'
He went out tiger hunting with his elephant and gun
In case of accidents he always took his mom
I'll take my mom......
IF YOU FIND A BAND WHICH HAS COVERED SUCH DIVERSE GENRES IN A TEENY-WEENY DOUBLE ALBUM SET THEN SUE ME.....
