Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Yeah...

beefandbones wrote:"She's a big teaser, she took me half the way there" is also a pretty mischievous lyric. Particularly as it's sung.

I was going to post this earlier. I have often wondered if, in his heart, he was singing "she's a ***** teaser" I've listened with headphones and
the jury is still out. Of COURSE it sounds like "big" but it could be "pick" (silent British R), purposely slurring it a bit so George Martin wouldn't
catch it. You know, almost like somebody pronouncing words while only touching the top lip to the bottom teeth, not the bottom lip?

No one has mentioned George yet. His first IMO good lyric song, "Taxman" was a thumb in the eye of the gov't , but not the fans. He was a consummate craftsman who wrote the songs he wanted to hear written. He took his songwriting role more seriously, maybe because he stood in two very tall shadows.

kiramdear wrote:No one has mentioned George yet. His first IMO good lyric song, "Taxman" was a thumb in the eye of the gov't , but not the fans. He was a consummate craftsman who wrote the songs he wanted to hear written. He took his songwriting role more seriously, maybe because he stood in two very tall shadows.

George definitely suffered from a lack of confidence in pushing his material...mind you, some of it was rather inconsitent. Taxman, though, is an absolutely brilliant song - the aggression, the bass line, the middle 8, the totally off-the-wall McCartney lead, and the used of the 7#9 chord (way before Jimi) make it stand head and shoulders above anything George had done until then. The production is superb too. I love the totally nasty rhythm guitar tone, as did Paul Weller....

Once George got rolling with songwriting, Taxman being the first example of maturity, he progressed pretty consistently to hit an apex with All Things Must Pass. He fell into some inconsistency again after Dark Horse and beyond the late 70's, seemed to struggle to put out the quantity of rich material to match the ATMP era. Still there were a few gems on every solo effort, and a few very strong albums (i.e. cloud nine). That's my unstudied opinion of course. In the period between Imagine and Dark Horse albums I thought George's solo work was the strongest of the four, Phil Spector notwithstanding.

"Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday.
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long."

Makes PERFECT sense to ME!

If Shakespeare had been thumbing his nose all along, wouldn't we still be quoting him? Artist's intent often has no relation to the meaning of a work of art. Jackson Pollack (the Kurt Cobain of painters) saw his work demoted from transformational mind-maps on his studio floor to backdrops for tasteful living. Rothko killed himself too, disappointed that his mural for the Four Seasons Restaurant failed to "gag every rich m**********r in New York". Lennon, of couse, fought the same dragon. His artistic "ax to grind" even included Mimi's throwing out his childhood drawings. One way he managed his frustration was to to learn to complain beautifully, to mock and taunt with a surgeon's skill.
The Beatles' lyrics became our icons for many reasons, their intentions being perhaps down the list a ways. Look at Helter Skelter, which only after very long quarrantine came out to appear on Paul's setlist. Paul's intentions, benign or not, were irrelevant to the song's cultural significance. Can you listen to it without summoning up a horrible face with a swastika branded on its forehead? I can't.

kiramdear wrote:Once George got rolling with songwriting, Taxman being the first example of maturity, he progressed pretty consistently to hit an apex with All Things Must Pass. He fell into some inconsistency again after Dark Horse and beyond the late 70's, seemed to struggle to put out the quantity of rich material to match the ATMP era. Still there were a few gems on every solo effort, and a few very strong albums (i.e. cloud nine). That's my unstudied opinion of course. In the period between Imagine and Dark Horse albums I thought George's solo work was the strongest of the four, Phil Spector notwithstanding.

All three song-writing beatles managed at leastone brilliant album after the split:

George: All Things Must Pass
John: Imagine
Paul: Band on the Run

In general, their material outside these was inconsistent - there's some brilliant stuff mixed in with some horrid filler.... For instance, I like a lot of Double Fantasy but find "Beautiful Boy" to be totally cloying. I had hopes for Paul following his dabbling with Elvis Costello, but he has slowly wound down the same spiral. George did such a great initial solo album that everything else paled by comparison... It just shows that the Beatles fit the cliche of being better than the sum of their parts.

(continued)
A song, like a child, takes on a life of its own after it leaves the nest. John and Paul set a hundred or so loose in the first few years and saw a few too many come home mangled and/or misunderstood. So they started to bullet-proof them, to disguise their meanings. And they started to complain about it in song, both entirely necessary reactions for their artistic survival. How do you think John felt, as an artist, when he saw "Help!" (the first LSD song) performed by Muppet-like animated characters for 9-year olds on Saturday mornings? And why shouldn't he talk about (let alone write songs about) the elephant in the room, peace in Vietnam? If he could have put his frustration over the "more popular than Jesus" brougha into song it might have come out something along the lines of Sexy Sadie with no one the wiser. After the split he expressed it clearly in "God". The whole POB album was him finally shrugging his own burdensome sixties' hit-and-run Mysterio songwriting style bag and baggage. He couldn't remain avant garde forever, it was too tiring and eventually the drugs didn't work as expected.
It's hell being an artist sometimes, and huge fame inevitably fan the flames. I don't think they were putting us, the fans, on. I think they sincerely appreciated us by and large (witness the kid in the garden scene from Imagine) But they definitely went on the offensive with the authority figures of the day, the critics, the government, the Church, the list goes on. We knew what the songs meant; you couldn't suss them out literally but their meanings were clear to those who paid attention, and didn't we watch with innocent delight while they took the bastards on and turned the world on its ear!

Sorry for too much yada-yada and not enough lyric quotes

joepee wrote: ... and people will still think it's great!"

Unfortunately, they do.

Most music people genuflect before anything that has the name "Beatles" stamped on it whether it is actually deserved or not.

How else to explain things like SPLHCB being named the "greatest" album of all time and so forth.


OK, time to duck . . .

firstbassman wrote:

joepee wrote: ... and people will still think it's great!"

Unfortunately, they do.

Most music people genuflect before anything that has the name "Beatles" stamped on it whether it is actually deserved or not.

How else to explain things like SPLHCB being named the "greatest" album of all time and so forth.


OK, time to duck . . .

One could argue whether Pepper was good or not, lyrically, or musically, but if enough people genuflect before it, isn't that indeed what makes it Great? Artistic quality is one thing, subjective and up for discussion, but in terms of its technical,historical and cultural significance SPLHC is not easy to topple from its lofty perch. If it walks like a duck...

"Anderson: "A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace,
And rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace ..."

Actually, I didn't think this made sense until I started acupuncture for back problems a few years ago. Now it makes perfect sense.

just_bassics wrote:"Anderson: "A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace,
And rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace ..."

Actually, I didn't think this made sense until I started acupuncture for back problems a few years ago. Now it makes perfect sense.

Glad your back is better, but those aren't Beatle lyrics (please note the topic)

I was going to post this earlier. I have often wondered if, in his heart, he was singing "she's a ***** teaser" I've listened with headphones and the jury is still out.

I believe the original lyric was written as '*****' teaser but was later cleaned up for the recording. it wouldn't surprise me at all if John mischievously sang this through his teeth on the recording itself also. I've heard at least one bootleg where I'm sure he sings it this way. He quite often used to change the lyrics to songs live, a good example is 'A Taste of Honey', regularly sung by Lennon as 'A waste of money' in the harmony parts! As for issued recordings themselves, have a listen to 'Baby you're a Rich Man'. A close listen to the last few choruses through headphones reveals John's lyric as modified to 'Baby you're a Rich Fag Jew' a supposed crude reference to Brian Epstein.

"It's a laugh a line with Lennon!!"
-Paul, from "A Hard Day's Night"