Beatles Songs

K

k1enneth

Member
I was listening to "Penny Lane" in my car today...And realized that almost every darn time I listen to the Beatles songs I hear something new, I mean
I've heard 'em since they came out, but there is always something fresh to hear in the song. Then I realized that VERY FEW of there songs are strictly guitars, drums and vocals only. And their lyrics are very pop with that english rhyme scheme. Well, anyway my point is that, It is ok to experiment with different instruments. Guitar songs can get old fast, mix in some piano or clavinet instead of guitar. Chords are chords but they sound fuller as strings or horns or something other than electric guitar. Vocals can be layered or harmonized to give more depth. And for a 2 minute song those guys knew how to get to the chorus.
 
I agree K1, I'm learning new things all the time by using my synthesizer to create sounds in place of guitar chords and melody lines. It's fun. Early Beatles stuff was pretty much only guitars and drums, (occasional harmonica) but it didn't take them long to branch out.

rpe
 
fab 4

Yep I have a yamaha sy77 and found the horns section which can emulate the "penny lane" horns...but you and I need to incorporate those type of ideas within our original songs. To construct you song demo with varying instruments...I tend to put down drum track-bass-guitar track...then throw on
one vocal track and think its complete. I gotta dump the guitar track and substitute something else...and layer the vocals. I'm stuck in some kind of creative desert and need to branch out. Otherwise these songs will sound identical because I use the same format of instruments over and over.
 
If you want to hear the freaky stuff, start listening to the fade-outs. "All you NEed is Love" is a perfect example. In that fade you get a recap of the lyrics from "She Loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah", the main theme from Bach's Invention Number Seven in F# Minor played on trumpet, all kinds of hoots and hollars, plus a lot of subliminal stuff I'm sure.
The fade-out of any song is often a treasure-trove of the odd, and sometimes where some of the best playing is, becuase musicians often cut loose because the pressure is off. Ever want to hear a guitarist's best licks? Just tell him that this is where the fade will be....

A
www.aaroncheney.com
 
speaking of Penny Lane, I heard this song by the group Taxi Ride called Ice Cream, that practically steals the P L horn solo. I found the CD in a free bin, so it might be hard to track the song.

If you're gonna rip off something, might as well be, something good.
 
One thing I've noticed, in particular in some of the "John" songs, is that the words are often completely meaningless. For example:

She's well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand, like a lizard on a window pane
The man in the crowd with the multicoloured mirrors on his hobnail boots
Lying with his eyes while his hands are busy working overtime
A soap impression of his wife, which he ate and donated to the National Trust

(Is my memory OK? Haven't listened to that one in years.)

It seems to me that the words were intended as placeholders, and they got left in for one reason or another. The rhythm is correct, but there's not a lot of meaning, and very little semantic connection from one line or phrase to the next. (Since when is a lizard on a window pane well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand?) I can't help but wonder whether anyone besides John Lennon, or someone else of his stature, could get away with this. I'm quite sure I couldn't.

Am I missing something?
 
Lets see...First line the touch of a Warm hands{his wife}
second line.. is about a liar and a theif{him}
Third line.. is about how his wife made him tell the truth for his own good..













Bull crap..LOL..Its impressionism..sort of like mmmmmm..Pablo Picaso{painting}
Its ment to be subject to interpretation.. createing tapistrys of words..I belive Bob Dylan was the inf. for him on these types of things..Not every thing has to be as it seems IMHO
 
It's called "nonsense verse", and it was popularized by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland. Carroll's poem Jabberwocky is perhaps the best known example of "nonsens verse" ever written, and the more I listen to songs like the one above or I Am the Walrus, the more I'm convinced that John was very influenced by Carroll.
If this kind of stuff intrigues you, you should definitely buy a book called The Annotated Alice. It has both Alice stories, which includes Jabberwocky, plus fascinating notes on the text.

Believe me... Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are not just children's stories!

Perhaps you'll recognize this line from Jabberwocky:

"All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe."


A
www.aaroncheney.com
 
lyrics mccartney or lennon!

When their songs came out, I thought they were good pop puff...I liked Clapton or Johnny Winter...But I still bought Beatle Albums because noone composed music, wrote lyrics and produced innovative songs! TWO MINUTE HITS!..Lennons stuff is surreal...you and I can interpret it anyway we want. McCartney's stuff is kitch...it tells a story, has nice melodies and rhymes. Ringo and George wrote a couple of hits together after the Fab Four broke up..."photograph" and "no no song" I think, but they knew what to do through osmosis. Here's a question...When you pull out Stones, REM, George Benson, or whatever your current fav group is...do you hear something new in the song each time? Can it bear repeated listenings without ear fatigue?
Not yet, Although I try to find new songs and groups that can do it...I think it takes a quality producer and engineer to experiment a lot to get all that mileage out of a decent song. Then do it 12 times over for an album. I just get a kick out of hearing one of their pop songs, then realizing later that their wasn't some distorted guitar or lead guitar (which I enjoy) that provided the hook or chords in their songs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top