(Personal reflections inspired by Beatles songs)
Song: “Jenny Wren”
Album: Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
Release Date: October 2005
It’s rare when I come at an album for these Music and Memory musings that is completely foreign to me. Usually I already know to some degree something about the record, including at least one or two songs. Not so the case this week. For in continuing my ‘Solo September’ sojourn (John Lennon 2 weeks ago and Ringo Starr last week), I decided to give the well-received Paul McCartney album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard a listen, which had completely slipped under the radar for me until this week (as is the case for many of McCartney’s albums). In terms of release date (2005), it will end up being the most recent focus of mine in this Fab Foundations series.
Out of the gate, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard paints an aura of mystique, this initial impression based entirely on the album title. The cover is a photograph of a very young Paul McCartney in the process of developing his guitar skills, all alone in his parent’s backyard. The photo was taken by his brother, Michael, from a hidden spot near the backdoor, unbeknownst to his guitar-strumming older sibling. I’ve seen this photo before. It’s a classic. Michael McCartney may have had a premonition. I mean, how many younger brothers would do such a thing, particularly at the age of 15?
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard was the first studio album of Paul McCartney’s to be released after George Harrison’s death four years earlier. This may at least partly explain the unusually reflective and intimate tone of the record (considering the reputation of the man who composed it). It’s a solid disc, with McCartney overdubbing virtually all the instruments (which had me wondering why he did not do more of this sort of thing after the Beatles broke up).
This album sounds like a cross between Pete Townshend’s “Scoop” releases (to the degree that I think PT should have been credited somewhere) and late-career R.E.M. (particularly their album Up), with a dose of Beatles (“Jenny Wren”) and Wings (“Promise to You Girl”). It’s a bit eerie. A bit moody. A bit freelance. I gave myself a pat on the back after I read up on the producer, Nigel Godrich, who, as it turns out, also produced R.E.M.’s Up. It appears Godrich, like Daniel Lanois (who has worked with Bob Dylan, Neil Young and U2), is a producer who has a big effect on the final sound and feel of an album.
A number of songs off Chaos and Creation in the Backyard stood out to me at one point or another this week, which made it tough to emphasize any particular tune for this entry. The opening number “Fine Line” is standard fare musically (in comparison to other songs on this album), but the lyrics are deep for Paul McCartney. In this song, we get to hear McCartney in the unusual-for-him role as preacher, he sermonizing (presumably to a prodigal-son type) that there is a fine line between chaos and creation, recklessness and courage, etc. The take home message for me here is that McCartney sounds as if he is taking his ‘survivor’ role seriously, ready to embrace and carry the ‘profound’ torch forward for both John Lennon and George Harrison.
When I first listened, I sensed a direct George Harrison lyrical touch to the 5th cut, “Friends to Go”. Later, when I Googled the wiki summary of this album, I saw that the song was both influenced by and dedicated to George. How about that! I guess I’m even more locked in to all things Fab this year than I previously thought (a second, and final self-pat on the back). Side Note: It is so very cool that Paul McCartney tried to put himself in George Harrison’s shoes for this song; It is a wonderfully unique approach to eulogizing a friend, and I would love to think I can learn from it.
“How Kind of You” (the song that had me most thinking of R.E.M., particularly in relation to the instrumental bridges) is a nice touch, the lyrics expressing thankfulness toward someone who stands up for you during tough times. It’s reminiscent of Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me”, Natalie Merchant’s “Kind and Generous” and the lesser known “You Stand by Me” off the Who’s Endless Wire. On the flip side of this sentiment, the ominous “Vanity Fair” expresses hurtfulness and betrayal.
The closing number “Anyway” has spiritual undertones, if only based on the opening melody, which is note-for-note aligned with “People Get Ready” by the Impressions. Good stuff. Four other songs on Chaos and Creation in the Backyard - “Too Much Rain”, “A Certain Softness”, “Promise to You Girl” and “This Never Happened Before” - all appear to be love songs to McCartney’s then-wife Heather Mills. “At the Mercy” came across as a song about facing your fears. Add it all up and it’s clear that Paul McCartney runs the gamut on this album, much like John Lennon did on his Plastic Ono Band and Imagine albums in the early 70s.
I suppose the song that grabs me the most is “Jenny Wren” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9GvXFphCFc ). I say ‘suppose’ because I’ve only listened to this album for one week, which is enough time to know it has significant depth, but not enough time to know where the deepest pools are. The song title is Dickensian, Jenny Wren a disabled character in Charles Dickens last novel, Our Mutual Friend. I’m not going to pretend to critique that novel, which I have not read (although I have read several of Dickens novels). What I can say is, the song makes a connection. It delivers a message. And like any great tune, it leaves much to the imagination. The song-style is similar to “Blackbird” and “Mother Nature’s Son”, further revealing Paul McCartney’s special gift for the melodic touch.
Which brings me back to the album title. There is so much wallop here for me. I mean, I love my own backyard, but I never really thought of that special open space as a metaphor for life, which all along I believe was Paul McCartney’s intent to convey. In other words, Beatle Paul wanted the listener to reflect on aspects of their lives that remind them of their own backyards. What is it about our backyards that is unique? The remainder of this entry tackles that question.
Ok, so when my family and I moved to Pepperell, Massachusetts 16 years ago, I had a certain priority order in what I was looking for. Priority #1 was the region; I was in search of a region that had a lot of woods and protected land, and that was also part of a broader wildlife corridor. Priority #2 was the backyard, more so than the house itself. My thinking was the house was more malleable than the yard. I needed to run with that.
When we found what we were looking for, I went to town in the backyard. My first order of business was to fill the perimeter with native plants and to weed out any invasives. This was done primarily to attract the local fauna, but soon I realized I was doing this for sustainability reasons too; planting natives that could take care of themselves in the long run when it came to pests, or at the very least allow for a natural balance of things. It turned out that the less I disturbed, the more I could observe. Whaddaya know: A backyard metaphor for life.
From there it was a series of projects, including a trail into the woods, a tree house, a woodshed, a basketball court, a compost bin, a fish pond, a firepit, a toolshed, and a stone walkway (shaped like a stream from the fish pond to the house). Within a few years we had made this backyard our own.
The one place I can completely retreat mentally is next to the fish pond, which includes a small waterfall. I can sit there and zone out for hours. The fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles, mammals and invertebrates all do the busy work around me. We’ve had many friends and family visitors hang by the fish pond with us over these 16 years, as well as by the firepit nearby. It’s great to share the experience. I see it as a celebration of life. Hmm, …there’s another backyard metaphor.
We have never applied chemical fertilizer to our lawn. The general rule is to keep it green, free of bare patches. That’s about it. Other than that, it’s up to the grass, crabgrass, and moss to compete with one another. Therein lie a few more life metaphors.
This all adds up to leaving plenty of time for exploration, which can be done almost anywhere in the yard if I look hard enough. Thanks to Paul McCartney, I’ll never think of my backyard in quite the same way again. Chaos and Creation… just the way I like it.
- Pete
1 comment:
Nice!!
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