Every time I hear the story about Geoff Emerick close-miking the bass cabinet, I remember playing gigs at the local handicap children’s school in a band, where I was playing bass for once, and how the deaf kids would come up and put their heads almost in my cabinet, because they could feel it, and they just start smiling and moving in rhythm! I loved it so much!
One factor that significantly contributes to the sleepy feeling is that the backing track was recorded with the tape machine running fast (mains power at 52 Hz) to achieve a sluggish feeling when played back at the normal 50 Hz. This way of varispeeding the entire backing was first employed on "Rain", recorded just a few days before.
Another great analysis! Based on nothing more than my own impression, I think "float upstream" refers to the dream state as like an out-of-body experience, just floating away. This is one of my favorite Beatles songs--along with almost every other song of theirs--which means it's one of my favorite songs, period.
Just discovered your channel and love it. I'm from Liverpool and was raised in the next town where John and Paul were from so I'm a massive Beatles fan. I also started my aviation career off at Liverpool Airport when it was just called 'Speke' airport (Speke is the town the airport is located)
Thanks for sharing. Great, dreamy track. First heard a version of it decades ago as a teenager when I bought the "Rarities" album on vinyl. I like the jazzier version with the vibraphone, too. Seems like there's a demo version of John and Paul singing with an acoustic guitar. Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music
The lyrical meaning? All of the above. Lennon conveyed the heartfelt wish for sleepy escape from the busy chaotic world around him and the band beautifully reflected the feeling of enjoyment of the half awake state - the little instrumental (backward guitar) coda represents the world going on its merry way, spinning on out of control. At least that's how I see it! Musically another example of how to use arrangement to convey the weight of feelings - and how to augment Lennon's original masterly use of melody and shifting chords to express that simple 'give me a few more minutes of warm, dreamy peace before I have to get up and switch on'.
"the little instrumental (backward guitar) coda represents the world going on its merry way, spinning on out of control. At least that's how I see it!" Love this comment.
That's surely the immediate, headline meaning. John grew famously fond of his bed, and don't forget that in the typically-sharp perceptive Maureen Cleave interview cited here, re the Beatles being more popular than Jesus, she also described him as "the laziest man in England"
Your videos are an absolute joy for this lifelong Beatles fan. I'm so thankful to have stumbled upon your channel. The HARMONIES of this song just make me bonkers. You can't believe what you're hearing.
your point is registering with me now that revolver is the album where their individual voices truly flourish. i find it a delicious sound: john's vocal is great and though the track signifies classic singer songwriter sat on the edge of the bed ( i've come perilously close to saying something clever) it is very much a studio creation. the guitars on revolver sound beautiful in all their electrified glory and, doesn't matter what the guy on the controls said, george plays a massive role. do you ever vocalize the backwards guitar? i attempt it fearlessly and managed to get not very close sometimes. good enough. the interpretation, nancy, of the lyrics as a response to a general angst holds up. i think 🤔 the indolent aspect regarding the creative process might be equally complex. i came across academic research suggesting that inactivity was as important as artistic activity. it goes against the picasso dictum that 'inspiration exists but it has to find you working'. all power to em cooper. the loving vincent movie had a similar approach and i love that too.
Hendrix mastered the reverse guitar technique, one of his finest is on his track "Drifting". It's so perfectly beautiful, the guitar tone on Revolver is arguably the greatest tone ever created, especially on " She said, She said". I've been chasing it forever!.
Im sure I've heard Ringo saying he played on the G of BANG. Em Cooper's piece is truly a thing of beauty and a labour of love. Watch right to the end to see Revolver playing on a record player and a quick glimpse of Paul's hand.
Stop making us fall in love with you! I feel like I invented you out of my record collection, muses, best best friends conversations ever (esp late at night), girl groups and a pinch of perfect fairy dust that is ineffable. The worst thing about these videos is we can just chat and shoot bathe shit, maybe jam a little…
Hi Nancy! In case you care: "In 2001, twenty years after his death, Speke Airport was renamed in honor of John Lennon, becoming the first airport in the UK to be named after an individual." Now ya know... A great synopsis of the macroµ history of 1966, when I was already a very nerdy 12 yr old! I love your DavidCrosby t, too!
I think he revisited this subject in one of his last songs, Watching The Wheels - which was about shutting everything out, getting out of the rat race and being content in his own, more private world. Eg. “People say I’m lazy, dreaming my life away” vs “Everybody seems to think I’m lazy, I don’t mind I think they’re crazy” He may have looked outwardly lazy, but I doubt Lennon’s creative mind was ever quiet - some people just don’t appreciate how much you can achieve with your eyes closed!
I couldn't find anything in Lewisohn's "Tune In" (searching through my copy of the 1500-page Extended Special Edition) about John Lennon working as an airport baggage handler, nor do I remember ever hearing anything like that. In the summer of 1959, he was employed for about six weeks as a low-ranking construction worker, doing all the crap stuff no one else wanted to do. He had to get up every morning at 5:00 AM and catch a train, then walk for a while to reach the worksite. But John endured this so he could make enough bread to buy his first electric guitar. Eventually he was sacked, and that was the last hourly wage job he ever had. As for the meaning of the song, I agree it could have existential connotations, and I loved your philosophical digression exploring all that... but I'm pretty sure that at the time John was composing it, the only thing on his mind was sleeping. He did, of course, have a powerful subconscious, and that influence often seems apparent in his lyrics. So your theory might be at least partially correct. 😉
"John advised anyone who would listen not to each cheese sandwiches at Speke Airport; he said he'd once been employed there as a packer and used to spit in them for spite". - Derek Taylor, "Fifty years adrift", cited in "Tune In" chapter 14, (1958).
@@bjornerikroth Aha -- you're right! I couldn't find that in the index because it's listed under Derek Taylor, not John Lennon. Anyway, for three or four weeks in the summer of 1958 (a year before his construction job), John worked in a restaurant at Liverpool Airport, and that's where the sandwich story comes from.
Remember the infamous comment and what I didn’t know at the time is that the press was deliberately and highly selective in editing his comment, basically eliminating the context. I also met people from Texas who recalled that era. They came from very conservative religious environments and it was pretty clear that the southern churches were eager to burn albums, to find ways to attack the Beatles. The same mindset is rather pervasive among that segment of society, even 58 years later.
"I'm only sleeping" is literally about John Lennon's sleeping patterns. He slept a lot when he wasn't touring in the mid sixties. He was called lazy, He replied by writing the song, which is an amazing song. Probably my favourite Revolver track, if pushed really hard.
9:03 Just wanted to answer your question.. "How do you float upstream?" "When I'm in the middle of a dream - stay in bed, float up stream (float up stream)" Nancy - He's in the middle of a dream. It's easy to "float upstream" *in a dream*. I don't see it as John suggesting that we are "living in a simulation". I think his message is that just because LOTS of people choose to live life running around at high speed - always trying to get ahead - or worrying about this and that... we do not have to make THAT choice. He did not have to continue to follow that path. He could choose to slow down - and be happy taking an extended nap (and float upstream) whenever he felt like it. It's a legitimate choice to get off the hamster wheel, leave the rat race behind (at least for awhile) and zone out - relax - do nothing - stop and smell the roses, etc. It is very good for people to take a break. It is highly beneficial to take some time - just for yourself. It is ok to sit back and just watch the world going by your window. You might even find that doing so can lead to the creation of some fine art. "John Lennon was a slothful man." Love that comment - and that you then had to stop and check... is that a word..? You make me smile so often. The bass sound works so well in the song. All the music does. I think the vibraphone version gives it a more dreamy sound (which also worked well - but in a different way). The backwards guitar solo works exceptionally well for the song. Super job by George. in regard to Emerick's words on this - to me he was mostly stating that it went on and on and on... for a long, long time as George was working to get the exact sound he was looking for. Harrison did this often . He spent an entire 8.5 hour recording session from 7 PM to 3:30 AM working on a backwards guitar solo for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", just him and a recording engineer, on September 3rd, 1968 - and never got what he was looking for. There's a tape of John Lennon complaining about how George would go on and on... re-doing his guitar solo for some of the songs he did with John on his "Imagine" LP. John was like... it's great already... you don't need to do it a hundred times. I think George could make even Paul want to move on - in terms of being a perfectionist when it came to his guitar solos. Btw... I think his solo in this song sounds great forward. It works in either direction. 19:50 "Who could forget... "Keepin' an eye on the world going by my window"..? "Good work, Paul." Love Paul's high harmony on that part. It is delicious. Over thirteen hundred oil paintings... WOW! I agree with Em Cooper's comments that you highlighted: "It feels kind of like a defiant position against the kind of capitalist view of time. You know we must get everything done. It's almost like Lennon saying like you know I'm not hurting anyone by sleeping." How.... did you choose that particular early Beatles interview where George picks "White Christmas" as his favorite song.. to end this video..???
Both. Edit: It’s a wonderful expression. Ringo swings… and they all do so much much more. Yes, he was always being called by Paul to go to the studio and work… or play, depending on how it’s looked at. Ha😳✨😂🤣😂🤣 Not my words, but Ringo said it in an interview a saw. Bye bye Edit two: You’re so good at this! Smart, observant… and all those things! Ok, bye bye
I think both things are true at the same time. There's too much relish in the way sleeping is talked about for some of the meaning not to be hymn to a lovely lie in. Also some heavier themes in there about escape from the world and a little bit druggy too. It actually reminds a little of Mr Tambourine Man in theme. Never heard of Lennon working at the airport. Was known as Speke Airport till about 2000 or so. Presuming he was heading there from Menlove Avenue, it only would have taken him about 20 minutes on the bus to get to the old terminal building. Definitely lazy if that was too much of a commute for him.
Liked your vid and assessment of IOS ... Lennon didn't like "It's Only Love" either, but for me is another one of his gems. On the topic of Geoff Emerick Geoff Emerick disliked George, disliked John, put up with Ringo ... but was a Paul "Fanboy toadie". Emerick did not have any contemporaneous diaries during the 60s or even take notes (other than the band layout for Paperback Writer on the back of some studio recording sheet). Most importantly he had a memory like a sieve and a vast majority of the so called facts in his book are just made up BS. He goes into great lengths in his book to say how Macca decided to record BLACKBIRD outside in the backyard of Abbey Road studios so the local blackbird birdlife could be captured on tape while Macca was playing/recording the song .... mmmm ... Oh yeah ... the best studio in the UK is going to join together dozens of microphone cables (ignoring signal and frequency loss) and lay them out along the internal studio corridors and open doors of the studio complex, down to the back garden where Paul would be sitting with his acoustic guitar. Then amazingly Macca is able to record the song with perfect timing of the Blackbird bird-calls, but at the same time no background traffic noise, overhead aircraft noise, pedestrian noise or other wildlife noise was captured onto the magnetic tape. As I said ... utter BS. Unless corroborated elsewhere, I don't believe anything in Emerick's book.
Worth pointing out that George couldn't get his Taxman solo right after a couple of hours of trying. Paul asked could he have a go, George said yes, sure...and it is Paul's solo that is on the album. Even George was complimentary about that.
You must have forgot , but Paul played the guitar solo on Taxman . I'm also a fan of " im only sleeping" my mom asked if I wrote it when I was playing it a few weeks ago haha .
Good questions. I'd not considered the existential dread idea before but, on reflection, I think you've nailed it. John was intelligent & well-read & quite capable of drawing out depth with his songs, although he'd also downplay it. A complex man. With George, as I understand it, he never got much respect from the production team until his stunning work on Abbey Road.
I prefer this song to Eleanor Rigby because it’s the beautiful magical Beatles group, the four of them playing together and that is one of the most beautiful thing you can hear.
i think both arguments about the song meaning are correct. they're just interpretations and ambiguity of meaning is something that i know at least Paul did with blackbird and I'm sure Lennon did too
I'm quite sure John ( as far as HE was concerned ) was playing this in E minor. John wasn't particularly fussy about perfect concert-pitch tuning, so his guitar being tuned a semi-tone flat wouldn't have been unusual. The tuning issue wouldn't have become apparent till he played it to the others. So if I want to play it, I tune all my strings down a semi-tone and play it in E minor. It makes more sense, musically, that way. The idea of John deliberately playing in E flat minor seems a bit implausible, knowing what he was like ! LOL
The Beatles (except maybe Paul) had grown tired of Geatlemania. John, at this time of his kife,stopped caring about stuff. He just wanted to lie in bed all day, only to get up to go potty. He would have all his meals and drjnks in bed, drop acid in bed, watch tv in bed, he was one of the first people with a remote control for his tv. Paul had to pick him up from his house for their song writing sessions or recording sessions. I think his habit to stay in bed all dwy is what this song is about.
John could write a song about anything. So could Paul, but John's are more philosophical and deep, and his lyrics make you think a bit more than Paul's. Some albums are John's (Hard Days Night) some are Paul's (Abbey Rd) Revolver belonged to them both, they are equal, a top top album...... Tomorrow Never Knows.
No way is Abbey Road Paul's. If you add up times taken there is more Lennon music than McCartney on that album, and he's ahead on quality too I would argue.
4:20 If you follow UK politics, that 1966 Daily Express page is uncanny. Same characters (Wilson, Powell) with different names, and simlar poll results expected in the coming 2024 general election.
I love your passion - and I love what you do. Just found your channel, and I subscribed. I have one request - please stop speeding songs up. Music needs to live in its own time.
@@fathommusicnz I know what you mean about the copyright gods - but I didn't mean play longer parts of the songs - just keep them in original tempo. But I guess that could also be a problem. I think you do a great job, and I love your passion for The Beatles - which I share completely.
I just walked out on tediouse padly paid work ,,At least on two occasions, ..Its not worth your soul , Alternately I was a musician and not at all "slothful" ,, I suppse some are better built for tediouse badly paid work , The video looks fab 🙂
John Lennon working at the airport was definitely in Tune In and the part I remember, that is gross, is that he would spit in the sandwiches he would prepare as part of his job...😮
Every time I hear the story about Geoff Emerick close-miking the bass cabinet, I remember playing gigs at the local handicap children’s school in a band, where I was playing bass for once, and how the deaf kids would come up and put their heads almost in my cabinet, because they could feel it, and they just start smiling and moving in rhythm! I loved it so much!
That’s such a great story. Must have been a very rewarding experience.
@@MsAppassionata it was! And I was lucky to have it more than once!
I like to think of I'm Only Sleeping, I'm So Tired and Watching the Wheels as a trilogy.
Good connection
When he floats upstream, he floats backwards and gets higher. Backwards guitar to float backwards to. A poetic drug reference.
"he's Hando" such a good line
We're living in a simulation? Heavy indeed! That video preview at the end is BRILLIANT. It deserves the Grammy!!!!!
One factor that significantly contributes to the sleepy feeling is that the backing track was recorded with the tape machine running fast (mains power at 52 Hz) to achieve a sluggish feeling when played back at the normal 50 Hz. This way of varispeeding the entire backing was first employed on "Rain", recorded just a few days before.
Great comment.
No wonder this song makes me yawn, and it’s not because it’s boring. I just feel tired after listening to this song and “I’m So Tired”.
Another great analysis! Based on nothing more than my own impression, I think "float upstream" refers to the dream state as like an out-of-body experience, just floating away. This is one of my favorite Beatles songs--along with almost every other song of theirs--which means it's one of my favorite songs, period.
Well said.
This channel is criminally under-subbed!.
One of their first proper psychedelic songs, and what a great one it is! And the music video is so fitting!
This song may be one of John's very best - if you listen carefully - it is full & busy - lot's going on. I listen to it at least 20 times a week.
"Good work Paul, good work" 😊
I've always loved the high harmonies from Paul
We should start a Club or Congregation of some kind.
Smart, funny, bright & witty!
‘ right on brand’, ( about Paul waking John, ) had me laughing!
I really enjoy your videos 😊
Agreed. I also laughed at that comment.
Just discovered your channel and love it. I'm from Liverpool and was raised in the next town where John and Paul were from so I'm a massive Beatles fan. I also started my aviation career off at Liverpool Airport when it was just called 'Speke' airport (Speke is the town the airport is located)
Thanks for sharing. Great, dreamy track. First heard a version of it decades ago as a teenager when I bought the "Rarities" album on vinyl. I like the jazzier version with the vibraphone, too. Seems like there's a demo version of John and Paul singing with an acoustic guitar. Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music
I actually learn a lot from your videos. I don't know where you find half of this information, but I'm glad to now know it :)
Nice comment.
Ditto Lifelong Beatles fan here, and I learn something new in every one of her wonderful videos.
The lyrical meaning? All of the above. Lennon conveyed the heartfelt wish for sleepy escape from the busy chaotic world around him and the band beautifully reflected the feeling of enjoyment of the half awake state - the little instrumental (backward guitar) coda represents the world going on its merry way, spinning on out of control. At least that's how I see it! Musically another example of how to use arrangement to convey the weight of feelings - and how to augment Lennon's original masterly use of melody and shifting chords to express that simple 'give me a few more minutes of warm, dreamy peace before I have to get up and switch on'.
"the little instrumental (backward guitar) coda represents the world going on its merry way, spinning on out of control. At least that's how I see it!"
Love this comment.
perfect assessment of a perfect song (not to mention, a nice cat).
floating upstream = floating up into your subconscious self or maybe your dream state. The source
Nicely stated.
I just saw it as John was not a "morning person" and maybe Paul was. Like for example his song Good Day Sunshine seems to be the exact opposite vibe
Good point.
That's surely the immediate, headline meaning. John grew famously fond of his bed, and don't forget that in the typically-sharp perceptive Maureen Cleave interview cited here, re the Beatles being more popular than Jesus, she also described him as "the laziest man in England"
Wonderful song - love John’s vocal timbre in that period. See also Rain.
Excellent video thanks. John Lennon Airport..below us only Asthma
Your videos are an absolute joy for this lifelong Beatles fan. I'm so thankful to have stumbled upon your channel. The HARMONIES of this song just make me bonkers. You can't believe what you're hearing.
your point is registering with me now that revolver is the album where their individual voices truly flourish.
i find it a delicious sound: john's vocal is great and though the track signifies classic singer songwriter sat on the edge of the bed ( i've come perilously close to saying something clever) it is very much a studio creation. the guitars on revolver sound beautiful in all their electrified glory and, doesn't matter what the guy on the controls said, george plays a massive role. do you ever vocalize the backwards guitar? i attempt it fearlessly and managed to get not very close sometimes. good enough.
the interpretation, nancy, of the lyrics as a response to a general angst holds up. i think 🤔 the indolent aspect regarding the creative process might be equally complex. i came across academic research suggesting that inactivity was as important as artistic activity. it goes against the picasso dictum that 'inspiration exists but it has to find you working'.
all power to em cooper. the loving vincent movie had a similar approach and i love that too.
"do you ever vocalize the backwards guitar? i attempt it fearlessly and managed to get not very close sometimes. good enough."
Beautifully said.
Perilously close? You may even have crossed over, Alan! Thanks for your ever-clever insights!
Hendrix mastered the reverse guitar technique, one of his finest is on his track "Drifting".
It's so perfectly beautiful, the guitar tone on Revolver is arguably the greatest tone ever created, especially on " She said, She said".
I've been chasing it forever!.
Im sure I've heard Ringo saying he played on the G of BANG. Em Cooper's piece is truly a thing of beauty and a labour of love. Watch right to the end to see Revolver playing on a record player and a quick glimpse of Paul's hand.
Stop making us fall in love with you!
I feel like I invented you out of my record collection, muses, best best friends conversations ever (esp late at night), girl groups and a pinch of perfect fairy dust that is ineffable.
The worst thing about these videos is we can just chat and shoot bathe shit, maybe jam a little…
Hi Nancy! In case you care: "In 2001, twenty years after his death, Speke Airport was renamed in honor of John Lennon, becoming the first airport in the UK to be named after an individual." Now ya know...
A great synopsis of the macroµ history of 1966, when I was already a very nerdy 12 yr old!
I love your DavidCrosby t, too!
I do, and thank you! Also, well spotted! I love Here If You Listen. Fantastic album.
Synthesis: the song is about both.
I think he revisited this subject in one of his last songs, Watching The Wheels - which was about shutting everything out, getting out of the rat race and being content in his own, more private world.
Eg.
“People say I’m lazy, dreaming my life away” vs
“Everybody seems to think I’m lazy, I don’t mind I think they’re crazy”
He may have looked outwardly lazy, but I doubt Lennon’s creative mind was ever quiet - some people just don’t appreciate how much you can achieve with your eyes closed!
He also revisited this topic in 1968 with "I'm So Tired".
And, I would argue, Strawberry Fields.
I couldn't find anything in Lewisohn's "Tune In" (searching through my copy of the 1500-page Extended Special Edition) about John Lennon working as an airport baggage handler, nor do I remember ever hearing anything like that. In the summer of 1959, he was employed for about six weeks as a low-ranking construction worker, doing all the crap stuff no one else wanted to do. He had to get up every morning at 5:00 AM and catch a train, then walk for a while to reach the worksite. But John endured this so he could make enough bread to buy his first electric guitar. Eventually he was sacked, and that was the last hourly wage job he ever had.
As for the meaning of the song, I agree it could have existential connotations, and I loved your philosophical digression exploring all that... but I'm pretty sure that at the time John was composing it, the only thing on his mind was sleeping. He did, of course, have a powerful subconscious, and that influence often seems apparent in his lyrics. So your theory might be at least partially correct. 😉
"John advised anyone who would listen not to each cheese sandwiches at Speke Airport; he said he'd once been employed there as a packer and used to spit in them for spite". - Derek Taylor, "Fifty years adrift", cited in "Tune In" chapter 14, (1958).
@@bjornerikroth Aha -- you're right! I couldn't find that in the index because it's listed under Derek Taylor, not John Lennon. Anyway, for three or four weeks in the summer of 1958 (a year before his construction job), John worked in a restaurant at Liverpool Airport, and that's where the sandwich story comes from.
@@michaelt6218 Searching for "Speke Airport" which it was called apparently all the way to 2001 helped as well :D
@@bjornerikroth - Nice job. You saved me from going to look it up.
Great work! Thanks to my dedicated team of researchers in the comment section - always appreciate you!
14:47 Yes. The roundness description makes perfect sense, don't worry 😅
Yes.
Remember the infamous comment and what I didn’t know at the time is that the press was deliberately and highly selective in editing his comment, basically eliminating the context. I also met people from Texas who recalled that era. They came from very conservative religious environments and it was pretty clear that the southern churches were eager to burn albums, to find ways to attack the Beatles. The same mindset is rather pervasive among that segment of society, even 58 years later.
I really like your videos!
"I'm only sleeping" is literally about John Lennon's sleeping patterns. He slept a lot when he wasn't touring in the mid sixties. He was called lazy, He replied by writing the song, which is an amazing song. Probably my favourite Revolver track, if pushed really hard.
9:03 Just wanted to answer your question.. "How do you float upstream?"
"When I'm in the middle of a dream - stay in bed, float up stream (float up stream)"
Nancy - He's in the middle of a dream. It's easy to "float upstream" *in a dream*.
I don't see it as John suggesting that we are "living in a simulation". I think his message is that just because LOTS of people choose to live life running around at high speed - always trying to get ahead - or worrying about this and that... we do not have to make THAT choice. He did not have to continue to follow that path. He could choose to slow down - and be happy taking an extended nap (and float upstream) whenever he felt like it. It's a legitimate choice to get off the hamster wheel, leave the rat race behind (at least for awhile) and zone out - relax - do nothing - stop and smell the roses, etc. It is very good for people to take a break. It is highly beneficial to take some time - just for yourself. It is ok to sit back and just watch the world going by your window. You might even find that doing so can lead to the creation of some fine art.
"John Lennon was a slothful man." Love that comment - and that you then had to stop and check... is that a word..? You make me smile so often.
The bass sound works so well in the song. All the music does.
I think the vibraphone version gives it a more dreamy sound (which also worked well - but in a different way).
The backwards guitar solo works exceptionally well for the song. Super job by George.
in regard to Emerick's words on this - to me he was mostly stating that it went on and on and on... for a long, long time as George was working to get the exact sound he was looking for. Harrison did this often . He spent an entire 8.5 hour recording session from 7 PM to 3:30 AM working on a backwards guitar solo for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", just him and a recording engineer, on September 3rd, 1968 - and never got what he was looking for. There's a tape of John Lennon complaining about how George would go on and on... re-doing his guitar solo for some of the songs he did with John on his "Imagine" LP. John was like... it's great already... you don't need to do it a hundred times. I think George could make even Paul want to move on - in terms of being a perfectionist when it came to his guitar solos.
Btw... I think his solo in this song sounds great forward. It works in either direction.
19:50 "Who could forget... "Keepin' an eye on the world going by my window"..? "Good work, Paul."
Love Paul's high harmony on that part. It is delicious.
Over thirteen hundred oil paintings... WOW!
I agree with Em Cooper's comments that you highlighted: "It feels kind of like a defiant position against the kind of capitalist view of time. You know we must get everything done. It's almost like Lennon saying like you know I'm not hurting anyone by sleeping."
How.... did you choose that particular early Beatles interview where George picks "White Christmas" as his favorite song.. to end this video..???
Love your comments as always, Mike!
"It's almost like Lennon saying like you know I'm not hurting anyone by sleeping."
That's the premise behind the bed-ins for peace.
Very similar mind set to his much later Watching The Wheels.
I hadn’t connected those dots, but absolutely true.
Both.
Edit: It’s a wonderful expression. Ringo swings… and they all do so much much more. Yes, he was always being called by Paul to go to the studio and work… or play, depending on how it’s looked at. Ha😳✨😂🤣😂🤣 Not my words, but Ringo said it in an interview a saw. Bye bye
Edit two: You’re so good at this! Smart, observant… and all those things!
Ok, bye bye
Paul would go to John's house to write with him... and he would find John still asleep when he got there - often.
@@aBeatleFan4ever I’ll believe that! Ha Ha
I don't care if it was intended to be existential or not, it's a good song nonetheless.
I think both things are true at the same time. There's too much relish in the way sleeping is talked about for some of the meaning not to be hymn to a lovely lie in. Also some heavier themes in there about escape from the world and a little bit druggy too. It actually reminds a little of Mr Tambourine Man in theme.
Never heard of Lennon working at the airport. Was known as Speke Airport till about 2000 or so. Presuming he was heading there from Menlove Avenue, it only would have taken him about 20 minutes on the bus to get to the old terminal building. Definitely lazy if that was too much of a commute for him.
Yup I wanna be just like you
Liked your vid and assessment of IOS ... Lennon didn't like "It's Only Love" either, but for me is another one of his gems.
On the topic of Geoff Emerick
Geoff Emerick disliked George, disliked John, put up with Ringo ... but was a Paul "Fanboy toadie".
Emerick did not have any contemporaneous diaries during the 60s or even take notes (other than the band layout for Paperback Writer on the back of some studio recording sheet). Most importantly he had a memory like a sieve and a vast majority of the so called facts in his book are just made up BS.
He goes into great lengths in his book to say how Macca decided to record BLACKBIRD outside in the backyard of Abbey Road studios so the local blackbird birdlife could be captured on tape while Macca was playing/recording the song .... mmmm ... Oh yeah ... the best studio in the UK is going to join together dozens of microphone cables (ignoring signal and frequency loss) and lay them out along the internal studio corridors and open doors of the studio complex, down to the back garden where Paul would be sitting with his acoustic guitar. Then amazingly Macca is able to record the song with perfect timing of the Blackbird bird-calls, but at the same time no background traffic noise, overhead aircraft noise, pedestrian noise or other wildlife noise was captured onto the magnetic tape.
As I said ... utter BS.
Unless corroborated elsewhere, I don't believe anything in Emerick's book.
Worth pointing out that George couldn't get his Taxman solo right after a couple of hours of trying. Paul asked could he have a go, George said yes, sure...and it is Paul's solo that is on the album. Even George was complimentary about that.
Great information. Thank you.
You must have forgot , but Paul played the guitar solo on Taxman . I'm also a fan of " im only sleeping" my mom asked if I wrote it when I was playing it a few weeks ago haha .
That's correct! I go into a bit more detail about that solo in the Taxman episode: ruclips.net/video/Q4H_vZXFyC8/видео.htmlsi=B07Pp-5AjrTPqpAt
Good questions. I'd not considered the existential dread idea before but, on reflection, I think you've nailed it. John was intelligent & well-read & quite capable of drawing out depth with his songs, although he'd also downplay it. A complex man. With George, as I understand it, he never got much respect from the production team until his stunning work on Abbey Road.
Expert analysis !!
I enjoy when you speed up the song 😅
I prefer this song to Eleanor Rigby because it’s the beautiful magical Beatles group, the four of them playing together and that is one of the most beautiful thing you can hear.
My dumb ass thought he was singing "grown-ups dream" for decades, haha.
i think both arguments about the song meaning are correct. they're just interpretations and ambiguity of meaning is something that i know at least Paul did with blackbird and I'm sure Lennon did too
I'm quite sure John ( as far as HE was concerned ) was playing this in E minor. John wasn't particularly fussy about perfect concert-pitch tuning, so his guitar being tuned a semi-tone flat wouldn't have been unusual. The tuning issue wouldn't have become apparent till he played it to the others. So if I want to play it, I tune all my strings down a semi-tone and play it in E minor. It makes more sense, musically, that way. The idea of John deliberately playing in E flat minor seems a bit implausible, knowing what he was like ! LOL
The subconscious is always present.
I think it's a combination of both interpretations.
Fantastic video and i love hearing you play the fretless bass.
Where were you raised?
The Beatles (except maybe Paul) had grown tired of Geatlemania.
John, at this time of his kife,stopped caring about stuff.
He just wanted to lie in bed all day, only to get up to go potty.
He would have all his meals and drjnks in bed, drop acid in bed, watch tv in bed, he was one of the first people with a remote control for his tv.
Paul had to pick him up from his house for their song writing sessions or recording sessions.
I think his habit to stay in bed all dwy is what this song is about.
Funny how John, when freed of all Beatles obligations, chose, out of all possibilities, to do a protest by staying in bed.
The rat race he was escaping from is also in Watching the wheels. God how I love John Lennon, king of the unconscious 😊
John could write a song about anything. So could Paul, but John's are more philosophical and deep, and his lyrics make you think a bit more than Paul's. Some albums are John's (Hard Days Night) some are Paul's (Abbey Rd) Revolver belonged to them both, they are equal, a top top album...... Tomorrow Never Knows.
No way is Abbey Road Paul's. If you add up times taken there is more Lennon music than McCartney on that album, and he's ahead on quality too I would argue.
@@gettinhungrig8806 Yes, I can see you like arguing......
4:20 If you follow UK politics, that 1966 Daily Express page is uncanny. Same characters (Wilson, Powell) with different names, and simlar poll results expected in the coming 2024 general election.
I don't, and that's fascinating, thanks for sharing!
I love your passion - and I love what you do. Just found your channel, and I subscribed. I have one request - please stop speeding songs up. Music needs to live in its own time.
I'd love to, but sadly, I can't play the music for that long without angering the copyright gods. 😕
@@fathommusicnz I know what you mean about the copyright gods - but I didn't mean play longer parts of the songs - just keep them in original tempo. But I guess that could also be a problem. I think you do a great job, and I love your passion for The Beatles - which I share completely.
I just walked out on tediouse padly paid work ,,At least on two occasions, ..Its not worth your soul , Alternately I was a musician and not at all "slothful" ,, I suppse some are better built for tediouse badly paid work , The video looks fab 🙂
It is the bass guitar (effect) making the yawing sound.
I've heard it said that Paul played lead guitar on 'Taxman.' Have I been misinformed?
He played lead for the solo, but not the rest! :-)
No. You can float up or downstream. How? Lunar tides.
I suppose he COULD be in an estuary...
John Lennon working at the airport was definitely in Tune In and the part I remember, that is gross, is that he would spit in the sandwiches he would prepare as part of his job...😮
Geoff Emerick only liked Paul. George and John disliked Geoff. Taxman solo was done by Paul.
One of my favourite Beatle songs period. But only my third favourite on the album.
PS I love your cat.
It's gotta be: She Said, Tomorrow Never Knows, Sleeping, Maybe. Here There and Everywhere. For No One. Taxman. Beatles were fire on that album
@@Wheresthelove7 Mine goes: Got to Get You Into My Life, For No One, I'm Only Sleeping, Tomorrow Never Knows, Eleanor Rigby
"The capitalist view of time?"
Geoff Emerick is not my man.
Never heard so much babbling in my life.
❤