(Personal reflections inspired by Beatles songs)
Song: “Revolution 1”
Album: The Beatles
Release Date: November 1968
Concluding my White Album review song by song, here I tackle side 4. If you have not already done so, I suggest reading the introduction to Fab Foundations # 4 as a prelude to this entry ( https://pete-gemsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2020/01/fab-foundations-4-going-back-to-white.html ) seeing as it explains my personal introduction to the White Album on Christmas Day as a young teenager many years ago. Side 2 is tackled in Fab Foundations # 15 ( https://pete-gemsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2020/04/fab-foundations-15-going-back-to-white.html ). Side 3 gets fleshed out in Fab Foundations # 25 ( https://pete-gemsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2020/06/fab-foundations-25-going-back-to-white.html ).
Side 4 of the White Album has always been the most secluded of Beatles album sides to me (there is one big reason for this, which I will explain). When I listen, I feel as if I’ve gone off the beaten track and found a cool hidden cave. As I mentioned in my original “Going Back to the White Well” Fab Foundations entry (# 4), when I first listened to this seminal album, I was very methodical, taking in each song in the proper sequence. Seeing as virtually all the songs were new to these ears on that Christmas morning, by the time I finally flipped to side 4, I was already pretty much overwhelmed. My brain could only take in so much in one sitting. Yes, it would take some time for side 4 to register as deeply as the others, but right off I knew it too was special.
As with the other 3 entries, I will type my thoughts as I listen on headphones.
White Album, Side 4 (of 4)
“Revolution 1” (John). One thing you could always count on with a John Lennon vocal was attitude. This certainly bears out on “Revolution 1”. When you are in your formative years, listening to a song with this type of attitude can be very powerful. In my generation it was a big draw with Rock and Roll. It’s also a big reason why rap music has been so popular with my son Peter’s generation. At some point in your young life, you get the sense that there will be times when you are going to have to make a stand for something you believe in – or don’t believe in - and when you do so, you better be able to show the other side you are serious.
There was never any wishy-washy aspect to John Lennon’s delivery in his songs. He projected himself in a way that gave the impression he meant what he said. Note the caveat ‘gave the impression’. Lennon was not obstinate; unwilling to change his position on something. Case in point, when Lennon sings the line “But when your talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out”, he adds the word “in” at the end. In other words, …. it depends. Somehow Lennon is able to take two sides of the debate here. You can only do something like that with the kind of attitude he had.
‘It depends’ is what is really at the heart of the meaning of the song “Revolution 1”. John Lennon was by that time (1968) tuning into the peace movement and the Vietnam protests happening in America and elsewhere. He could see many very good willed people in support of these causes, but he could also see the occasional twisted mindset taking things a bit to the extreme. I may not have been able to articulate what I heard the first time I listened as a kid, but I recall vividly understanding the logic.
“Honey Pie” (Paul). The Beatles sound like they are having a lot of fun in the studio here. I love the ad-libbed “yeah” at the end of John Lennon’s nifty guitar solo during the bridge (it sounds like Lennon who is doing the ad-libbing). George Harrison sounds funky taking a rare turn on the bass. But it’s mostly Paul McCartney who makes this song happen, channeling a throwback British music-hall style in flawless fashion.
The first thing I tuned into when I heard “Honey Pie” was the singer pining for his lover overseas. It’s been a familiar theme in our Covid household these past months, our daughter, Charlotte, longing for her significant-other, Andres, who is also overseas (a reunion incredibly played itself out this week). Love can be painful sometimes, especially when it’s a long-distance affair.
Earlier in this “Going Back to the White Well” sub-series, I suggested that my parents may not have known quite what they were doing when they purchased the “White Album” for me back when I was at my most impressionable (instead of say, something more innocent from earlier in the Beatles career, like Meet the Beatles or A Hard Day’s Night). But songs like “Honey Pie”, “Martha My Dear”, and “Good Night” counterbalance this notion a bit. Regardless, somehow the harsh (“Revolution 1”) and the gentle (“Honey Pie”) all fit together like a glove.
“Savoy Truffle” (George). The White Album was only the 3rd Beatles album I really tuned into (after the greatest-hits “Red Album” and Sgt Pepper) and every song composed by George Harrison that I heard to that point was serious and heavy, including his 3 other compositions on this album; “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Piggies”, and “Long, Long, Long”. And so, it was refreshing to hear something that sounded fun from him, at least lyrically. I mean, a song about truffles and other desserts can only be fun, right?
Still, the music and George’s vocals suggest something deeper is going on, which has always been my suspicion. The lyrics of the first bridge alone are testament to this take on the song meaning:
“You might not feel it now
But when the pain cuts through
You’re going to know and how
The sweat is going to fill your head
When it becomes too much
You’ll shout aloud”
Is George joking about his friend Eric Clapton’s chocolate cravings or is this a veiled attempt to address what it’s like to be in the throes of heroin addiction? Is this song a precursor to John Lennon’s “Cold Turkey”?
I never really dwelled on this to much, because I was always too busy enjoying the music. “Savoy Truffle” is a fantastic, up-tempo Rock song, further revealing the capabilities of a band at the top of its craft (particularly Ringo Starr on drums).
“Cry Baby Cry” (John). If side 4 had me feeling as if I’d gone off the beaten track and discovered a hidden cave, “Cry Baby Cry” was the ancient cave painting on the inside walls. The quirky eccentricities of a royal family seem to be at least part of the story here. But the real story is the music, which is mysterious and sedated; almost menacing. You get the sense you’re in an old mansion, with rooms upon rooms of unused space, all wide open to mischief of one kind or another. The Fall of the House of Usher. The Shining.
I like the background sound effects near the beginning of the third verse; uppity conversation with the duchess over clinking glasses. There is all sorts of vocals and instrumentation coming in and out throughout (including George Martin on the harmonium). Just another day of studio innovation for the Beatles.
As he is wont to do, Paul McCartney’s tags a somewhat isolated ditty to “Cry Baby Cry” at the end. It is even more eerie than the rest of the song. “Can you take me back where I’ve been from, can you take me back” he repeats. For me it reaffirms the lost-souls feel of the rest of the song, as if they are longing for a glorious time-gone-by that has been lost forever.
“Revolution 9” (John). Can this be classified as a song? I’m not so sure. However, I am confident to say that “Revolution 9” (aka ‘Number 9’) can be classified as one of the most bizarre things you will ever hear on a record. To simply be there on one of the most acclaimed albums of all time is what astounds. How did John Lennon get away with it? How did he get away with so many other things in his oh-too-short a life? Well, ‘Number 9’ pretty much says it all. Lennon rarely allowed conventional thought to get in the way of his ideas. His resistance to selling out and his brutal honesty is a huge piece of what made the Beatles so successful. So, everyone else dealt with it.
When best buddy Mac and I went to the Berklee Performance Center to watch an incredible show that covered the White Album from beginning to end (as discussed in Fab Foundations # 25), “Revolution 9” was the only thing the musicians could not perform. Instead, when it came to this cut, the original was queued up and an amazing kaleidoscope of images played out on a big screen, which was very appropriate.
"Revolution 9” is likely the reason why side 4 of the White Album feels so secluded. When you put the side on the turntable back in the day, you knew you were in for an 8 minute stretch of absolute weirdness. Was it worth it? Frequently the self-answer was “no”. Maybe when you are on your own, but when hosting others? I for one would think… “ahh, let’s see, what else is in the record bin”. And yet, is a strange way, it’s comforting to know ‘Number 9’ will always be there.
“Revolution 9” kinda proves that, not only were the Beatles the first band I got into; arguably they were the most radical (which played out in many other ways too, including their utopian approach to Apple Records Corp, which hemorrhaged money because of their overall radical philosophy). It’s incredible to think that a band of such unique prominence can be labeled as such.
“Good Night” (John). This was the only song on the White Album where the principle songwriter was not also the singer. In fact, John Lennon does not even appear on this song in any capacity. Neither do Paul McCartney or George Harrison. It’s all Ringo Starr, George Martin and orchestral strings.
The Beatles touched on an incredible range of musical genre on the White Album, so why not toss in an original lullaby for good measure. “Good Night” appropriately closes the album. What with the barrage and range of the 29 songs that preceded it one would almost need a good-nights-sleep to recover, especially when hearing most of them for the first time. On that Christmas Day, with my new turntable and album sitting in front of me, I was both cooked and exhilarated. I’m willing to believe my overtaxed brain was more than ready for some zz- zz’s by days end.
Pete
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