Revolution #9

From: candl <70004.2001@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 24 Oct 1995 08:31:43 GMT

This is an analysis of the Beatles' sound montage, "Revolution #9". 
I endeavor to show that John would consider it among his best works, 
and show what I feel are the autobiographical elelments of the piece.

From "Lennon Remembers" (1971), pg. 29:

Jann Wenner: "Let me ask you again, are you pleased with the new album 
(PLASTIC ONO BAND)?"

John: 'I think it's the best thing I've ever done. I think it's
realistic and it's true to me...that has been developing over the years
from "In My Life", "I'm a Loser", "Help", "Strawberry Fields." They're
all personal records. I always wrote about me when I could. I didn't
really enjoy writing third person songs about people who lived in flats
and things like that...'
	'The only true songs I ever wrote were "Help" and "Strawberry
Fields." I can name a few...I can't think of them offhand, that I
always considered my best songs.'

Now, the way I remember it, John had wanted to release "Revolution #9"
as a single, but the other guys wouldn't allow it. In this alone, you
would think John considered this a "best song". Add this to the fact
that the song is very biographical, which by Lennon standards qualifies
his best work.  You can set a biographical time span on the song by
zeroing in on the time Beatlemania makes it appearance in the piece.
This is a good place to plot the song's timeline from:

At 4:02, a clip of an actual Beatle audience awaiting the arrival of
the group is introduced. The fans are all excited, you can kind of
sense a "hey, Beatles!" attitude among the guys, and the female fans
are obviously ready to start screaming. At approximate 4:06, you get a
tune up, like a group preparing to go on: a tone of an instrument, and
a singer warming up like a "mi, mi- mi- mi, mi-mi". This is the Beatles
at their moment. What follows at 4:18 is the sound and feel of their
tours. John on touring:

"[The Hunter Davies book] was really bullshit...there was nothing about
the orgies and the shit that happened on the tour... I mean we had that
[innocent] image, but man, our tours were something else...you know,
the Beatles tours were like Fellini's SATYRICON."  (Ibid. pg. 84)

At 4:18, after you hear the shrill screaming of the female admirers
(remember, an actual Beatle sound clip), we are introduced to the
sounds of a debauched, orgiastic event, with John "licking his lip's
and smecking", so to speak, perhaps the most insidiously powerful
moment in the piece.  Notice the sound of the crashing cymbal, like a
whip cracking over everything. The Beatles on tour. The Beatles
marketing phenomenom. The height of Beatlemania! The whip cracks over
everything. This mounts until..

4:50. Public acclaim from both (all) sides, sounds like an audience
applauding after a show. The boys have done it, they're a universal
success. John is on a crazy ride.

At 5:00, the "hold that line" tape is introduced. The only thing I can
make of this is that in England, you have the "firms" of the football
crowd, blokes and birds that go and get crazy over their teams.
Drunkenness, fights with rival firms, etc. are common at these bashes.
They are known as very violently loyal fans. This could imply
intoxication, or something going on in the streets...

5:28. The Sgt. Pepper period is introduced, with the final note of a 
"Day in the Life" (again, actual Beatle sound clips, LSO recordings from 
the Pepper sessions). This is repeated three times (5:28, 5:42, 5:48), 
and once more at 6:24. The war sound effects in this section might be a 
comment on VietNam; they could refer to "How I Won the War". 

At 6:25 the whip starts cracking again. 

But by 6:30, the song starts moving out of the past, and into the present 
(at least the present when the song was made). We hear a miltary band 
(Pepper playing for the fans?), then jump from the past to the present at 
the immediate "Take this brother, may it serve you well", 6:47. We are 
present at the moment of artistic creation, so to speak...

6:50. Inside with John and Yoko. We are witness to an true
autobiographical moment, getting so close to John and Yoko that it
feels like we're in their bedroom. Yoko is expounding, John is waking
up, and starts droning something as in the backround, a crooner parody
of Paul singing a period-piece song goes on ("Good fishes again in the
kettle?" Paul as the Walrus?  Just what is he saying?). This part ends
with Yoko inviting us to get naked with the Lennons: John's life has
been laid bare, so to speak, in an experimental musical piece...


This is just an outline; it's a little more difficult plotting the
timeline from the begining of the 'song' to the the emergence of
Beatlemania, but not impossible. A baby crying - John's youth? "Every
one of them knew that as time went by they'd get a little bit older and
a little bit slower" - John growing up? How about the honking horns of
the first part of the song? Is this a memory of the accident which
claimed his mother's life? &c.

As you see, there's a good case to consider this one of John Lennon's
best pieces, in my and probably in his own opinion. Don't let the
experimental nature of the work alienate you. I have a strong feeling
this song will stand the test of time and will someday be considered a
Beatles masterpiece, brushstrokes and all...

As this piece deserves more credit than it usually gets, it gets my
vote for Most Underrated Beatles Song ever.

Cheers, 
Isaac Samuel        

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"In Pepperland, all things are possible."  - "John"
"The resemblance is truly striking."   - "George" (?)   
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(cartoon Beatles at the 'goldfish bowl' in Y.S.)
-- 
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    "remember, the light at the end of the tunnel may be you"
					- Aerosmith, "Amazing"
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