“A Day in the Life”
John Lennon wrote “A Day in the Life”, which many music critics consider to be the Beatles’ masterpiece, after reading a newspaper obituary for his friend, Guinness heir Tara Browne, who had died in a car accident. Thus, the lyric: “He blew his mind out in a car/ He didn’t notice that the lights had changed.”
“Strawberry Fields Forever”
Written by John Lennon, “Strawberry Fields Forever” was a reminiscence of his youth in Liverpool. Strawberry Field (without a “s”) was a real place, a Salvation Army-run orphanage near Lennon’s childhood home. Throughout the years, both Lennon and his widow Yoko Ono donated money to the orphanage. In 2005, it was announced that Strawberry Field was set to close down. Unfortunately, there are no plans yet to preserve it.
“Penny Lane”
Written by Paul McCartney, “Penny Lane” was a reminiscence of his youth in Liverpool. Although the real Penny Lane is one of Liverpool’s main tourist attractions, as of 2006, members of the Liverpool Council pushed to change the street’s name. Unfortunately, before the street was immortalized by the Beatles, it was actually named after a wealthy British slave trader named James Penny. Because of this, anti-racist advocates want the street’s name changed. Note that other Liverpool streets named after slave traders have already been renamed for abolitionists.
“Revolution 9”
Crazed serial killer Charles Manson believed that the Beatles’ “White Album”, particularly the songs “Revolution 9” and “Helter Skelter”, spoke directly to him. “Revolution 9” was mostly John and Yoko Ono’s sound collage with only nominal participation from George Harrison. Manson believed that this song in particular contained secret messages like “Charlie, Charlie, send us a telegram.”
“Helter Skelter”
Manson also thought that Paul McCartney’s song “Helter Skelter” was about an upcoming race war. It was, however, about an amusement park ride. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a “helter skelter” is “a tower-like structure used in funfairs and pleasure grounds with an external spiral passage for sliding down on a mat.” Thus, the lyric: “When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top of the slide/ where I stop and I turn and go for a ride.
Come on, Chuck. Paul McCartney really isn’t that deep.
“Free as a Bird”
In 1995, a “new” Beatles song was released. In reality, “Free as a Bird” was a never-released John Lennon song demo recorded in 1977. In 1994, Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono “gave” the demo to the remaining Beatles, Paul, George, and Ringo, allowing them permission to record a new version of John’s song. It’s a “new” Beatles song only in the sense that the three then living group members added their own vocals and instrumentation to John’s demo. Some more purist Beatles fans have criticized “Free as a Bird” as a cheap exploitation of John’s legacy because he had never intended the song to be a Beatles song.
SOURCES:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3383606
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4623524.stm
“‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ proves to be an illusion”, Ian Herbert North, The Independent, URL: (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050113/ai_n9694322)
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql;=33:3jfoxqrrldse
“Back in White”, David Bowman, Salon, URL: (http://www.salon.com/ent/music/feature/1998/12/08feature.html)
