Finally, some of the lyrics, including the opening lines, are from Kahlil Gibran’s book of poetry, Sand and Foam (1926). [146]
Both John and Paul ascribed this gentle, lyrical song to John. “That was mine,” said John in 1980. [147] And Paul, in 1995, said, “That was John’s song about his mum, folk finger-picking style, and a very good song.” [148]
SIDE THREE:
Birthday — (McCartney-Lennon)
(lead vocals: Paul and John) (recorded on September 18, 1968)
On the night of September 18, 1968, the Beatles wanted to see the movie The Girl Can’t Help It on TV — it had a number of their early rock heroes performing, such as Little Richard, Gene Vincent and Fats Domino. In addition, a number of the Beatles’ friends were present at the studio and the atmosphere was like a party. So instead of working on a detailed song or overdubs, Paul suggested that they just make up a song in the studio — a “useful song,” like a birthday song. This would fit with the party atmosphere of the recording session. [149]
They recorded a very simple harmonic backing, and went to Paul’s house to watch the movie. “Then we went back to the studio again and made up some words to go with it all,” Paul said in an early interview. “So this song was just made up in an evening. Umm, you know. We hadn’t ever thought of it before then. And it’s one of my favorites because of that.” [150] Elsewhere, he remembered: “So we came up with this really simple lyric, put a riff in the middle, a little instrumental break and we got the crowd of guests there to sing along to the chorus.” [151]
Paul described this song as a joint composition, improvised in the studio: “that is 50-50 John and me, made up on the spot,” he said in 1995. [152] John, in 1971, seemed to agree: “Both of us. We wrote it in the studio.” [153] However, both Paul and John remembered that writing the song was Paul’s idea. “I think Paul wanted to write a song like ‘Happy, Birthday Baby,’ the old Fifties hit,” John said. [154] So I accept that the song was Paul’s idea, developed in collaboration.
However, if we turn to early insiders, such as Chris Thomas (the acting producer) and Mal Evans, Paul’s contribution was more pronounced than 50-50. (And while insiders were generally not first-hand witnesses for a song’s composition, for this song, they were, because the song was created in the studio.) According to Thomas, Paul came in early because the Beatles were scheduling the session on both sides of the movie:
Paul was the first one in, and he was playing the “Birthday” riff. Eventually the others arrived, by which time Paul had literally written the song, right there in the studio. We had the backing track down by about 8:30, popped around to watch the film as arranged and then came back and actually finished the whole song. It was all done in a day. [155]
Evans, in a nearly contemporaneous article, remembered the song as a collaboration of all four Beatles, but dominated by Paul. “This was written in the recording studio with all four fellows working on it as a joint effort even if Paul seemed to contribute the most ideas.” [156]
I conclude that this song was collaborative, but a collaboration dominated by Paul.
Yer Blues — (Lennon)
(lead vocals: John) (recorded on August 13, 1968)
Like “I’m So Tired,” this was written in India, and reflects John’s feelings during the Transcendental Meditation camp, the duality between peaceful, happy meditation during the day and insomnia and misery at night. In this song, he bordered on suicidal: “I was right in Maharishi’s camp writing ‘I want to die.’” [157] John put this in the tradition of autobiographical or self-revealing songs that culminated in Plastic Ono Band . [158]
Mother Nature’s Son — (McCartney-Lennon)
(lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on August 9, 1968)
According to John, this song was inspired by a lecture on nature by the Maharishi, as was John’s “Jealous Guy,” originally titled “I’m Just a Child of Nature.” [159] Miles, perhaps reflecting Paul, perhaps reflecting this interview by John, agreed. [160]
Though the Maharishi lecture might have given Paul the original idea for the song, he remembered writing it at his dad’s house in Liverpool, and that he had a song sung by Nat King Cole, “Nature Boy,” in mind when he wrote it. [161] “‘Mother Nature’s Son’ was inspired by that song. I’d always loved nature, and when Linda and I got together we discovered we had this deep love of nature in common.” [162]
John ascribed this song fully to Paul. [163] Paul generally claimed it, [164] but in 1995, he said, “There has been a little help from John with some of the verses.” [165] Mal Evans, in 1969, referred to it as collaborative. “John and Paul wrote this while they were in India.” [166] Evans was in India with the group, but was possibly simply speaking generally — he doesn’t even reflect that Paul was dominant.
Though this is definitely a McCartney song, John evidently contributed to the lyrics in a minor way.
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey — (Lennon)
(lead vocals: John) (recorded June 27 and July 1, 1968)
John said that this song expressed the love and closeness that he and Yoko shared in the early days of their relationship: “It was about me and Yoko. Everybody seemed to be paranoid except for us two, who were in the glow of love. Everything is clear and open when you’re in love.” [167]
According to George, the opening phrase, “Come on is such a joy,” came from the Maharishi. [168] This, and the fact that the song was performed as one of the Esher demos in May 1968, suggest that it was written in India.
Paul observed that “monkey” was a jazz-musician idiom for heroin, [169] so this might reflect hard drug use, but this is not certain.
John and Paul both ascribed “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide” to John. In 1971, John said, “Me,” and in 1980, he remembered, “That was just a sort of a nice line that I made into a song.” [170] Paul felt that this song “very much reflected the early days of John and Yoko’s life together at Montagu Square.” [171] This chronology is not quite correct, as John and Yoko moved into 34 Montagu Square in late July, long after the song was written, but Paul’s main point is valid.
Sexy Sadie — (Lennon)
(lead vocals: John) (recorded July 19, 24, August 13, 21, 1968)
The incident behind this song is still shrouded in controversy. After Paul left India in late March 1868, with John and George continuing to stay in Rishikesh, John’s friend, the unstable “Magic” Alex Mardas, accused the Maharishi of making a pass at one of the women there (Mia Farrow, according to John).
John fully accepted the story, and was outraged. John and George confronted the religious leader and told him they were leaving. [172] Just before they left India, when their bags were packed, John wrote “Sexy Sadie” about the meditation guru, but at the time with lyrics explicitly about Maharishi: “Maharishi, what have you done, you’ve made a fool of everyone.” [173]
Back in London, John told Paul the story and sang the song. Paul later came to believe that the story about Maharishi was untrue, that Alex Mardas had fabricated it to lessen the Maharishi’s influence on the Beatles. [174] George also denied that anything had happened: “Now, historically, there’s the story that something went on that shouldn’t have done — but nothing did.” [175] Eventually, George persuaded John to take out any explicit reference to the Maharishi, and suggested the title “Sexy Sadie” instead. [176]
Both Paul and John ascribed this to John, [177] but the title came from George.
Helter Skelter — (McCartney)
(lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on September 9, 1968)
According to interviews with Paul in the eighties and nineties, the idea for this song came when he read an interview with Peter Townshend of the Who, in which Townshend said the Who’s next single, “I Can See for Mile and Miles,” was “the loudest, most raucous rock ‘n’ roll, the dirtiest thing they’d ever done.” That made Paul think: ‘Right. Got to do it.’ And I totally got off on that one little sentence in the paper
, and I said, “We’ve got to do the loudest, most raucous . . .” [178] “So I sat down and wrote ‘Helter Skelter’ to be the most raucous vocal, the loudest drums, et cetera et cetera.” [179]
In a much earlier interview, in 1968, Paul seems to describe a different sequence of events. He read a review of an unidentified record in which the reviewer said that “this group really goes wild, there’s echo on everything, they’re screaming their heads off.” Paul was annoyed that the group had beat the Beatles to it. Then he heard the actual record and was disappointed. “It was quite straight, and it was very sort of sophisticated.” “So I thought, ‘Oh well, we’ll do one like that, then.’” But instead of sitting down and writing the song, Paul thought of a song he already had that would lend itself to such a performance. “And I had this song called ‘Helter Skelter’ which is just a ridiculous song. So we did it like that, ‘cause I like noise.” [180]
The helter skelter is a ride in which a slide spirals down around a tower. [181] Paul used the symbol of a slide to represent the rise and fall of empires — “and this was the fall, the demise, the going down.” [182]
Whatever the details of the songwriting, both Paul and John ascribed “Helter Skelter” to Paul. Paul, in 2000, said, “So I said to the guys, ‘I think we should do a song like that; something really wild.’ And I wrote ‘Helter Skelter.’” [183] In 1971 John put it on a list of songs written by Paul alone, and nine years later, said, “That’s Paul completely .” [184]
The recording session for this song has become legendary. “‘Helter Skelter’ was a track we did in total madness and hysterics in the studio,” said Ringo. He also stated that Paul virtually wrote the song in the studio, though Paul’s interviews suggest he’d worked on the song before the recording. [185]
Long, Long, Long — (Harrison)
(lead vocals: George) (recorded on October 7, 1968)
This great song by George was allegorical, addressed to God. He used the chords from Dylan’s “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” to write the music. [186]
The eerie percussive coda at the end was a wine bottle that would rattle when Paul, who performed Hammond organ on the song, played a certain note. Ringo added a snare drum roll. [187]
SIDE FOUR:
Revolution 1 — (Lennon)
(recorded on May 30-31, and June 4, 21, 1968)
See “Hey Jude / Revolution” single, above. This is the original, slower, doo-wop version.
Honey Pie — (McCartney)
(lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on October 1, 2, 4, 1968)
Paul said that both he and John loved the music hall tradition. Paul listened to the Billy Cotton Band Show as he grew up, and Fred Astaire was a favorite. [188] “My dad’s always played fruity old songs like that, you know. And I liked ‘em. I like the melody of old songs, and the lyrics actually as well.” [189] So for this song, he pretended he was living in 1925, [190] and wrote a “fantasy song” in that style, about a woman in Hollywood named Honey Pie. He emphasized that it was not a parody, but “a nod to the vaudeville tradition that I was raised on.” [191]
Both Paul and John ascribed this to Paul. [192]
While Paul would make these obvious nods to this music from a different generation, the impact of this kind of carefully crafted melodic writing on his rock music has not been sufficiently recognized or understood.
Savoy Truffle — (Harrison-Taylor)
(lead vocals: George) (recorded on October 3, 1968)
George wrote this to tease Eric Clapton, who had a weakness for candy. When he saw a box of candy, he “had to eat them all,” said George. As a result Clapton was undergoing major dental work at the time. [193] The lyrics are partially found poetry, as George took a number of candy names from a box of chocolates. He remembered that Clapton “was over at my house, and I had a box of ‘Good News’ chocolates on the table and wrote the song from the names inside the lid.” [194]
Derek Taylor helped with the lyrics. “I got stuck with the two bridges for a while,” said George, “and Derek Taylor wrote some of the words in the middle — ‘You know that what you eat you are.’” [195]
Cry Baby Cry — (Lennon)
(lead vocals: John) (recorded on July 15, 16 and 18, 1968)
John got the idea for this song from an advertisement back in Sgt. Pepper days. In 1967 he told Hunter Davies, “I’ve got another one here, a few words, I think I got them from an advert: ‘Cry baby cry, make your mother buy.’ I’ve been playing it over on the piano. I’ve let it go now. It’ll come back if I really want it.” [196]
The lyrics are also partly based on the nursery rhyme, “Sing A Song Of Sixpence”:
The king was in his counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!
John worked on this song in India. [197] There is a home tape of it, Lennon on guitar and piano, which Winn dates to December 1967 or January 1968. [198] It was also one of the Esher demos, in May 1968.
Generally, both John and Paul ascribed this to John. Miles/Paul gave it as an example of a song that Paul first heard in the studio, because John was spending so much time with Yoko. [199] Mal Evans agreed, in 1968: “This is John’s number all the way with strong, heavy and very Lennon vocals.” [200]
However, just to prevent an easy solution to a Lennon-McCartney song, John, in 1980, denied writing it: “Not me. A piece of rubbish.” [201] He must have simply been confused, as the evidence for his authorship is conclusive.
Can You Take Me Back Where I Came From — (McCartney)
(lead vocals: Paul) (recorded on December 16, 1968)
This is an ad-lib by Paul, recorded during the “I Will” sessions, Take 19. It was originally two minutes and 21 seconds in length, and a 28-second segment was cut out of this for the White Album. [202] Not listed on the record, it serves as an intro to Revolution 9, or the outro to “Cry Baby Cry.” A haunting bit of McCartney between two classic John cuts.
I know of no comments on the song by Paul, John or any insider.
Revolution 9 — (Lennon-Ono-Harrison-Starkey)
(recorded May 30 to June 21, 1968)
As has been mentioned (see the “Hey Jude / Revolution” single, above), this experimental montage of sounds developed from an extended jam after “Revolution 1.” John said, in 1980, that the slow version of the song continued on and on, and he added sounds to the extended fade out. [203]
John was the main creator of this piece. Geoff Emerick remembered, “On this night John sat with me behind the console, like a kid with a new toy. He was the composer and he knew what he wanted, so he manned the faders instead of me.” [204]
Tape loops were an important component of the composition. John said, in 1970: “All the thing was made with loops. I had about thirty loops going, I fed them onto one basic track. . . . It was an engineer’s tape, and I was just using all the bits like to make a montage.” [205] George Martin described the cut as “an extension of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’” in its use of tape loops. [206]
Another influence was “classical” experimental music. John described this cut in 1971 as “just abstract, musique concrete, kind of loops and that, people screaming. I thought I was painting in sound a picture of revolution.” [207] The phrase “musique concrète” points to the electronic music of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Edgard Varèse.
Yoko’s impact on this cut was considerable, as she was present for the recording and even chose particular loops. [208] So Yoko contributed directly to the piece, and also inspired it. John and Yoko alone did the final editing, which took four hours. [209]
George Harrison, George Martin and Ringo also helped John on this piece. (Paul was in New York when it was recorded.) Once John wrote to Melody Maker to assert he was the main creator of “Revolution 9,” not George Martin; however, he said that he recorded it “with Yoko plus the
help of Ringo, George and Martin.” [210]
George Harrison remembered that he and Ringo went into the EMI tape library and pulled tapes for John to use in his collage, and John would “cut them together.”
The whole thing, ‘Number nine, number nine,’ is because I pulled the box number nine. It was some kind of educational program. John sat there and decided which bits to cross-fade together, but, if Ringo and I hadn’t gone there in the first place, he wouldn’t have had anything. [211]
Lennon’s friend Pete Shotton claimed that he helped substantially with this cut. “‘Revolution 9,’ of course, was the impressionistic sound-effects montage that John and I had conceived during our LSD trip hours before he revealed himself to me as Jesus Christ. John subsequently completed it with a little help from Yoko . . . ‘This is the music of the future,’ John would tell everybody who’d listen. ‘You can forget all the rest of the shit we’ve done — this is it! ” [212] Shotton said that he and John started Revolution 9 at John’s home, using “John’s network of Brunell tape recorders.” [213] Shotton was not there when Lennon was working on the piece in the studio, however. George Harrison was an important presence. [214] Perhaps Shotton helped with some of the tape loops before John brought them to the studio.
According to Miles/McCartney, the other three Beatles and George Martin all tried to convince John to leave this off the White Album. [215] In 1969, John said “Working on my own with Yoko, I can go as far out as I like. Take Revolution No. 9. I thought I imposed that on the Beatles.” [216] This was one time when John’s instincts were right; one can’t imagine the White Album without this extended avant-garde moment near the end.
Good Night — (Lennon)
(lead vocals: Ringo) (recorded on June 28, 1968)
John wrote “Good Night” as a lullaby for his son Julian, [217] and it is a classic example of John writing against type, with its lush orchestral accompaniment. It offers a striking contrast to “Revolution 9,” and serves as a moving ending for the White Album.
Who Wrote the Beatle Songs Page 28