BEATLES: Revolution 9 - Their Craziest Song Explained
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- Опубликовано: 6 янв 2024
- In 1968 the Beatles released The White Album, which contained one of the most confusing and mysterious tracks they ever produced - Revolution 9.
Join me today in a deep dive into this demented montage of noise to see if there is a meaning or story hidden in amongst all the chaos... and to learn why the number 9 was so important to John Lennon.
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Many thanks, JH.
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At the end of Revolution 9 you can a hear a crowd chanting 'block that kick..block that kick'. When John's death was announced by Howard Cosell on MNF right afterward there was a field goal attempt that was blocked...And the kicker was an Englishman named John Smith....who was the only English field goal kicker in the NFL....
Now that gets my Obscure Beatles Trivia Award for 2024 hands down.
I always thought they were saying “Suck that dick! Suck that dick!”
OMG
That's just chaos theory SCARY 😂
Or they just faked his death which really shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Okay, you made me go listen to Revolution 9 again for the first time in about 120 years. And it still seems to be what it always was: vaguely interesting for its weirdness, kinda fun to listen to once in a blue moon, but ultimately not really all that good. In terms of interpreting it, I tend to think it's best to not be too linear. It's not really a song that screams linear narrative, especially narrative buried so deep in the mix that you need special technology to retrieve it. And I don't see it as a call to revolution. The Revolution song that it's coupled with also doesn't seem a call to revolution, despite its title. It's more saying, calm down, things are complicated, we're all good people doing the best as we can, everything's going to be alright, you're just going to make things worse with violence and/or extreme revolutionary ideology.
I've always interpreted Revolution 9 as fundamentally being about conflict. There's the constant quick hard panning back and forth, saying that there's this side and that side. The sides are in opposition, but both use the same football chants, suggesting that there's no fundamental difference between them notwithstanding their conflict. It's also an observation of how we use mock conflict as entertainment, how it's enjoyable to us vicariously identify with a tribe that does battle with against another. Similarly, neither of the voices is saying anything remotely intelligent, and yet they're just stepping on each other, neither listening to the other, just barreling ahead with their pointless points. And there are the military noises, which of course point to real actual war, rather than make-believe war. And I kind of see little digs at consumerism here and there, like in the enumeration of the dances punctuated with El Dorado, which can be seen as the dream that happiness can be achieved through wealth. The bit at the end about becoming naked makes me think about the idea (which was quite popular in that era) that sexual liberation would resolve society's problems. You know, make love, not war. It could also refer to the psychotherapeutic idea of letting go of our defenses in order to achieve personal growth.
I really wouldn't read all that much into this sound collage. After all Lennon wrote I Am The Walrus as a mockery of those who were trying to discover profound meanings within his songs.
Well said.
I second that emotion😊
that track reminds me to the music Mick Jagger made for Kenneth anger's My demon brother. Probably made around the same time.
Revolution 1 is a kinda fun, really catchy way of asking the listener "Are you sure you want a revolution?"
Revolution 9 drops the smile and asks again.
In the early 90s , me and my pals would double drop purple ohms and listen to this track “number 9 , number 9 “ it was like being surrounded by dozen of strangers living in the speakers while we’re just out of sight , clinking glasses and talking in sentences that were not quite there .
I’ve not listened to it in 30 years , not sure I want to .
Great double album that aside
You don't "explain" surrealism. You don't "explain" poetry, You experience it, and get an intuitive, nonverbal impression from it.
Perfectly right
Very interesting. I was listening to this song a few weeks ago. I first heard it in late '68 or early '69. The remarkable thing about it is that at this point I listen to it as I would a song. I know what part is coming next, which lyric I am going to hear, which sound will act as music. That it is listenable at all is remarkable enough since it is so chaotic and I would say unpleasant, but a testament to John and Yoko's artistic sensibilities as well as that of the Beatles that it has had such longevity. I agree with Paul, I would have left it off the album back then BUT I'm glad, after all these decades, that it made the cut.
I've listened to it many times and have always loved it. It's a sound collage, exciting, intriguing and just part of that magical group The Beatles. There's nothing crazy about it.
It's totally crazy. It's still awesome.
Love it when you talk Beatles, James. You have knack for unveiling things that even die hard Beatles fans have missed. You should check out a band from my home country (new zealand) called The Doublejumps. You'll love em mate. Cheers :)
Yeah but will it play at your wedding?
@@BettyBoolean yes🤣
there's a long history of experimental music that most beatle fans (or people in general) are aware of. R#9 has a place among the great experimental pieces of the 20th century. I've always found it amusing when 'fans' hate it because it's not "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".
It's not complicated, John talks about it in the Get Back film - it represents the sound you would hear after "the great calamity" i.e nuclear war. It was 1968 at the height of the cold war. John was a peace activist and this track is meant to be disturbing, for nuclear war is meant to be disturbing. It is the birth of sampling and something we take for granted today. It is years ahead of its time and a masterpiece.
we may be living it NOW, Lennon was so COSMIC
It's funny, when I was a kid I used to be so freaked out by the track that I would run out of the room if it came on. And yet now I've listened to it all the way through several times over, sometimes in one day, and even enjoyed it! Honestly even if there's not some "deep meaning" to it (though I think it can really mean whatever you bring to it or experience as a listener) I just think it's neat in its composition and the usage of samples. There are certain melody bits that have become my favorite and get stuck in my head, and I like imagining the creation in the studio being like a mix of a DJ and a mad scientist. I think it only sounds so scary when you don't know what to expect or when it doesn't sound like anything you've heard before, and when you come out on the other end there's a kind of appreciation for the journey. Also I like how after "take this brother, may it serve you well" it feels a bit like someone waking up from a bizarre dream in the middle of the night all groggy and disoriented, which makes Good Night all the sweeter afterward.
When I was 9 year old kid (there's those 9's again! I too was scared of it because it reminded me of the bizarre lucid dreams I had, like a live representation of a nightmare. It still fills me with a sense of dread to this day.
This was WAAAAY better a documentary than I expected. Subscribe to this guy. Excellent stuff.
This is amazing! Please do more Beatles stuff. It’s amazing how much symbolism and meaning can be found in this band. Maybe the two sides are communicating via Telegram, as in the messaging app? A premonition!
I’m not into numerology, but there’s another 9 in John’s life. John was taken from us on December 8, 1980 at 10:50 PM New York time. The date was December 9 in Liverpool where he was born.
I was about to comment the same thing, but it was mentioned briefly in the video shortly after the 9-minute mark, at 9:29 to be precise.
Thanks. I actually missed that in the video because it was only in text on the screen, and I was mostly just listening to the audio. @@ray_ray_7112
James, you are a better man than I, Gunga Din. I got the White Album when I was 7 about 4 years after it came out. Revolution 9 was so disturbing that I would take it off after about a minute. So often that I didn’t even notice “Good Night” until the CDs came out in the late eighties. I think that Revolution 9 has more to do with John’s obsession with the Goons and his jealousy that while he was married to Cynthia, Paul was going to avant-garde concerts and getting into Cage/Berios/Partch and making soundscapes just like this and pressing them in tiny numbers as Christmas gifts. Some of this stuff was eventually featured on Paul’s “Oobu Joobu” series.
Oobu Jubu. I thi k I heard of thst on The Beatles Channel on Sirius XM.
I've only listened to Revolution #9 once. I found it rather hard to get through just that one time...
if you think Revolution #9 is bad, you should hear Revolution #8
Is that number 8 burp?
I also thought this was great when I first heard it when it came out at age 11.
I also remember that that submerged banter between John and George was supposed to be clues about Paul's "death." Especially those lines about needing a surgeon and going to a dentist instead. No wonder he died after blowing his mind out in a car.
This is what TV should be. Fascinating. More please. Ta La.
Like many people, I disposed of my TV & have never returned to it.
Why? I knew it was mostly nonsense but realised it’s totally lies and mind control during early Plandemic nonsense.
Sick of being lied to and nudged.
I was gonna like this but look! NINE viewers already have!
if you think Revolution #1 and Revolution #9 are completely unrelated, go listen to Revolution #5
Love your vids James and always looking forward to the next one
Awesome, thank you!
Wow! Incredible analogy! I've been obsessed with Revolution 9 since I bought the LP as a teen. We reversed it on a real to real player. My friends and I didn't sleep that night. Haunted by what it all could be. Your isolation of John and George's "lyrics" has solved a 55+ year desire to know just what the fuck were they saying. Super Appreciate all the research and the time you put into this project. I wish we lived close and could hang out with you in order to debate and discuss interpretation. 90% of yours are a match to mine. You never cease to amaze or open my eyes/ears to what I've missed lyrically and music- wise.
You're absolutely AMAZING! THANKS SO MUCH for this!
Reel to reel (fucking spellchecker) 🙂
Your detailed analysis and ability to speak so fluently on this subject without stumbling is impressive. I have heard for many years how Revolution #1 degenerated into chaos and that it led into Revolution #9. I had also heard that #9 was John's first recording for the White Album (after the demos recorded at George's home) and that he couldn't consider doing anything else until it was completed. I had also heard that Paul wasn't impressed by it, perhaps because he was away and didn't contribute to it. I may be mistaken on some of these points; it's been a while and trying to recall from long ago. Thank you for giving us much to consider, particularly with your efforts in the isolated surround sound dialog tracks.
Number Eight BUUURRPP Number Eight BUUUURRPP Number Eight BUUURRRPPP
"I'd like a single plum, floating in perfume, served in a man's hat."
EXACTLY!!! APU AND SKINNER'S EYE ROLLS, THOUGH!!!! 🤣
I will never forget the first time I heard this track. I was high as a kite on really good weed provided by an older friend who got me stoned then said: "check this out." He started the track as I sat on the edge of a waterbed and closed my eyes. I had to have him stop it before it finished as I was literally feeling my head pop off my shoulders and float to the ceiling. I was all of 16.
James, you say "occult" like it's an friendly bacteria yogurt drink
True! 😆
Really entertaining video James! Please *please* keep exploring Beatles tracks - it's fascinating ✌
Lmao
Occult simply means hidden
Yakult
He says occult like it's a flavor of ice cream
Guitarist George, proudly shouting out the name of a model Cadillac, El Dorado, though he liked cars, he
mostly only owned cars from the UK and Europe.
I’ve always felt the same way about the number 9 starting with being born on the morning of February 9 1964. My father bought me my first Beatles album when I was 9 years old. I’ve always found the number fascinating like the integers in any multiple of 9 add up to 9 and when I was a child there were 9 planets ( I still consider Pluto a planet)
Always sounded to me like John and George were reading snippets from newspaper articles and ad libbing on them. It would be interesting if someone collected the papers from the days before the recording to see if there was any match-up. By the way, during the Yoko/outro section, they're playing a record in the background -- Farid El Atrache's "Awel Hamsa." Anyway, nice to see this track analyzed. People might not like it, but it's the kind of thing that kept them from being just another pop band. Who else would put a sound montage on a record expected to sell millions?
I may never listen to Revolution 9 the same way again. I always thought that it was a way out song like "Tomorrow Never Knows". Now after watching this, I'll have to rethink that. Excellent video. 👍
why
Fantastic video! You've brought up ideas that need to be further explored. I'm always learning something new about the Beatles, even after being a fan for 60 years.
I first heard Revolution 9 when a friend played it for me not long after he had purchased the White Album. I was a teenager at the time and I found it not only strange but a little disturbing. After I got my own copy of the album, I would pick up the tone arm of my stereo when it reached this track as I simply didn't want to hear it. As the years went by however, I came to not only appreciate Revolution 9 but was fascinated by it. To me, it was like tuning through the band of an AM radio late at night. Although its meanings are very open to interpretation, I think the part in which Lennon discusses someone getting teeth and then going to sea, he's talking about his father, Alfred Lennon, who was a merchant seaman. Thank you for posting this James and thank you for all of your hard work helping to make some sense of Revolution 9.
Cheers Chris, you're very welcome :)
I too was a teenager (15, to be exact) when the album was released. I found the track extremely unsettling, but what unsettled me even more was the way it faded into “Good Night.” That was the creepiest part for me then, and truth to tell, it still is.
I got the same impression that John was talking about his father, when the teeth come up.
Thank you for your patience in separating these tracks I've been listening to for years
James I love the way your head works. I you are deep lad , I wish I still had your insight . P.S my mission is to get Lee M to speak with you . Seen him twice over Xmas.
Thanks mate, appreciate that
I'd love to speak to Lee, but let's be honest... I won't hold my breath!
Who knows eh? Might happen one day!
@@JamesHargreavesGuitarCan hardly believe that “The Las” is 35 years old now.
Reminds me how old I am.
Would love to hear a casual chat between you and Lee.
Did you know Lee’s brother has a RUclips channel about old cars? Lovely guy.
I think his name is Gary though I’m not 100%.
#9 Dream is one of my favorite song
Flower power.
I was disappointed with the deluxe release that they did not include the dialogue session. The reels exists (Mark Lewisohn mentions it in the "Complete Beatles Recording Session"). They should have included it to represent Revolution 9 recording session. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who tried to isolate the dialogue from the surround mix. Revolution 9 track should be properly credited as Lennon/Harrison/Ono. George did supply lots of the loops, encouraged John to finish the mix, Yoko even confirmed that George participated a lot for the track, helping John on mixing the track. You have to listen to the acetate of Revolution 9. There is a bit of missing dialogue, and a weird speed change during the "number 9" sample. "Take this brother, may it serve you well" was not the last bit of dialogue George says something else after (again, only available on the acetate mix). Sad fact, John was pronounced dead on the 8th of December.. yet it was December 9 in England.
John: "Take this, brother. May it serve you well."
George: "Thank You........I'd just like to say."
Yeah, the acetate mix was available here on RUclips for several years until it got taken down. Fortunately I downloaded the video and I also have it on a bootleg CD.
This is quite good. Honestly, I’ve always felt it’s pretty great so many who own the white album also own a piece of avant-garde art I this track. Although I tend to skip it, I suppose I’m still glad it’s there.
While I prefer conventional music, I DO love something like a #9 every so often. As a 5 year old, I thought it was the funniest thing I'd heard up to that point. Still think it's a riot.
Would love a third part to The Masterplan Theory with Noel's first solo album
One of the best pieces of work John did. Brilliant. Great video too. Well done!
You missed the “9” reference in the First Region of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Hymnen” (for Concrete and Electronic Sound).Stockhausen’s electronic music influenced the sound elements of Revolution #9 more than any numeral reference. As a genre Revolution #9 is classic concrete music (started in the 1950s to early the 1960s) where the composition is derived entirely from previously recorded sounds. Stockhausen was used as a reference for Frank Zappa’s “Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny” from “We’re Only In it for the Money” LP which was a parody of the Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” album which features Stockhausen on the cover, to which Zappa made an audio response with Kontake-type electronic sounds at the conclusion of “Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny” Revolution…in music via electronic technology!
Fantastic job James, ripping this crazy song apart ! There's a lot of great videos on the Y-tube this one stands among the top 10... Fabulous Job....
Great light and background of your video ❤
It really sounds like Martin is calling Taylor a "cheap b*tch," rather than a cheeky one. I've listened to this over and over and i just can't hear the two syllable cheeky, but cheap. This actually makes more sense given the context of a guy not bringing the wine.
Anyone else hear it this way?
Brilliant work. Very insightful.
Very interesting take and your work on it is appreciated...
I still think that Ian MacDonald wrote the best analysis of this track than any other person. His writing of it really made me value this particular piece as the climax and culmination of the Beatles' entire personal evolution. It's like the final boss of the Beatles discography. "Let It Be" and "Abbey Road" are the post-game content.
Back in 1969 in Detroit I listened to local FM radio where well known DJ had a special program where he played a special recording of revolution 9. I remember hearing the part of John and George reciting poetry and telling the story of someone being in a car crash and getting burned, loosing a lot or all of their hair and going to the hospital. It was a clear recording as I remember, without all the covering noise. This was in 1968 or 69 and I never ever heard any of that version again.
The best guess I came up with was back in the 1960s pre- recorded reel to reel tapes were available, I was only a kid but I remember seeing them in revord stores.
I think even 4 channel versions were available but very rare and that disc jockey must have had connections.
The program was basically the start of the ' Paul is dead ' hoopla.
In 'Don't Pass me By', the Ringo Starr song from the white album, there indeed is mentioned that someone was in a car crash and lost their hair. 😀
Man, there are HUNDREDS of clues, many backmasked@@stefaandeleeck4380
I heard John was born 9 months after he was conceived. But seriously, little known fact: Lennon was a huge Chaplin fan (that's not the little known part). Back in the early days of The Beatles, (Sutcliffe/Best era) he even sported the iconic Chaplin mustache. Until they played their first gig in Hamburg and when he took off his scarf as he took the stage, people started shouting "9!" and threw bottles of Lowenbrau at him, 9 of them...
You are talking about events in the US and France, and forget 'The Battle of Grosvenor square' on the 17th March 1968, with some 80k people protesting the Vietnam war and a violent group of Maoists attempting to break into the American embassy. 'Revolution I' is fairly critical of *these* events, and the Maoists are clearly identified ('If you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao / you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow'). But the rest of the movement is patronized in the song as well.
So I'd say that Revolution 9 is neither prophecy nor call to arms, but just a depiction of what was happening. Per Revolution I:
When you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out?
Don't you know it's gonna be all right?'
And yeah, for 'the revolution' that seemed to work so well in France, exposure to London proved to be a difficult thing.
I like the way your brain works! I would have never attempted to find the meaning in the seemingly nonsensical mess of lyrics in this track, let alone find a common theme linking them together in a way that makes sense. Nice interpretation.
I know many will argue that the White Album would have been better off without "Revolution 9", but there really is a good reason for it to exist. Knowing what was going on in the world at the time, this would have been an appropriate soundtrack. It's 1968 in musical form - it's the sound of pure chaos.
probably in the majority of 1, but one of my favourite tracks on the white album. I find a lot of the stuff on the album dull and deffo only a single album quality wise. but then I always preferred the weirder still
Great album. Interesting from start to finish. 😊
I’ve appreciated your analyses. This one is particularly brilliant. For my money I am the Walrus captures the zeitgeist of the middle sixties as well.
Ian MacDonald who wrote Revolution in the Head rated this highly. Looking forward to your thoughts on it.
Burguers?
It's fucking brilliant. To others it sounds like a random collage of noise. To me it sounds very planned and carefully constructed. A genuine masterstroke and one of the most groundbreaking pieces they did.
I often find myself humming it during the work day.....
I've never listened hard enough to this track. I thought it was just a fill the groves of the record kind of thing. You've just unveiled to me the work that went into this track. Thanks a ton.
Excellent and informative video once again. Revolution take 20 is somewhat different to take 18 and gets a little more out there. It is also the final recording made in the studio of Revolution according to the recording sheet you can see in the background when you play take 18 on Spotify. Weirdly there is no mention of take 18 though. Take 20 is definitely worth seeking out.
i think Rev take 20 is super cool, best of all the Revolutions actually; shoulda been on the White Album re issue
Fascinating analysis!!
The initial version of 9 did not have Yoko on it iuntil the very end, her parts taken from the recordings she and John made for 'Two Virgins'. He is incorrect. I have the recording.
Pure art.Listening again decades later you can hear how John painted this revolution with sound.
Really enjoyed this! I believe that Russia has invaded Czechoslovakia during this very same time? And I also want to say, that there is a passage here of a Syrian Lebanese song, that I believe was first recorded in 1951. I am very proud to say that I have found this record Inside of my grandmother’s 78 record collection from the Middle East. I’m trying to find out what the translation would be, in respect to your story and timeline!
9:49 Shops opening at 9am, what madness is this?! 🙄
Always a piece that strongly contributed to the eerieness of the fabulous White album.
I once found an official cassette copy of the album that reverses the last two tracks
One of your best videos
I love your videos! Fascinating insight! One thing I always heard different was the Broken Wings part. I always thought it ended with, "I'm not in the mood for Wording". I took it to mean, "I'm not able to say anymore." See what you think.
Intyeresting analysis. I enjoyed listening to/watching that. I am always dismayed when people - including fans - think that The White Album should have been a single album. If it was a single album, it wouldn't be the White Album as we know and love it. The most disliked tracks - "Wild Honey Pie", "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" and "Revolution 9" - are *essential* to the album, IMO. "Revolution 9", especially, gives The Beatles a dimension that they would otherwise not have had. I have grown to love the track over the years and see it as part of a trilogy with "Cry Baby Cry" and "Good Night". A great way to end my favourite album of all-time.
First off, there was a second mix of this made that shed's more light on some of the things heard and said.
I've always heard John saying, "I'm not in the mood for words".
I've often wondered if George was actually saying, "Odorono", the name of a British deodorant. He DOES sound like he's rattling off a list of things to get at a store.
As for the football crowd, I'd think that was a British crowd, not an American one. I don't know of any American football crowd that would keep chanting, "Block that kick!" or "Hold that line!" which also appears in the Harry Nilsson song, "Poli-High".
There's was a British movie back then, I'm not sure when it came out but, it WAS about a revolution carried out by a bunch of students in a school. It was called, "If...". Could it be that some of John's inspiration for R9 be that movie?
If you listen to take 20 of R1, you SHOULD be able to clearly hear that a large part of the chaotic second half is in R9.
John didn’t take over the world again in 1982. On the other hand, an album Paul appeared on did take over the world starting that year.
I've always felt that Revolution Number 9 is a highly underrated masterpiece which, over time, will be considered among the greatest of works.
John said, at one point, that is was just a picture of what he thinks will happen.
But, as I weave all three songs together, I interpret it to mean that we are in the middle of a ninth Revolution. That revolution being the cultural revolution of the era.
We hear what sounds to be a guitar lic with cheering crowds very similar to Beatlemania. We hear social unrest. We hear of financial imbalance. We hear outakes of the 1968 national Democratic convention where riots occurred.
The slow version, Revolution 1, says, "we all doing what we can" followed by guitars and 50's rock and roll, doowap sounds.
My interpretation of all three versions is that we are in the middle of a social revolution, throwing out the old establishment and ringing in the new.
"Christianity will die", Lennon said.
The sexual revolution, whose anthem is rock and roll (originally referring to fornication, according to Little Richard and others) is underway.
John can be counted out now but in later, for the final climax of a social, violent revolution. "Don't you know, it's gonna be alright". In other words, it will all take place in it's own time.
The church is eerily chanting in the background with serene vocals in Revolution 9.
Happy Christmas, OUT SPELLS OUT! Like a child being punished..be out of here, now!
"A Spaniard in the Works" was a foretelling of John's antithesis to Christianity, just as pepper is an antithesis to "ye are the salt of the earth".
Interestingly, Magical Mystery Tour precedes the white album and Yellow Submarine follows, both with references to magic in song and story lines. (And, of course, the infamous witch Allister Crowley showing dead center in the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band".
Personally, I have felt that John's revolution began at an early age where he would purposely try to divide families, such as Paul's family, as he admitted in his Rolling Stone interview.
His revolutionary tendencies spread into the culture and influenced an entire generation around the world.
The Beatles are now a vital part of our world's history, for better or worse, or both.
i agree. It remains a totally unique piece of work. Nothing else sounds like it.
“Revolution 9” is quite interesting to hear, but it has a potpourri of sounds. What’s interesting is that it contains clues on the “Paul Is Dead” rumor, and when you play backwards, you can utterly hear “Turn me on, dead man”.
This also works with quadraphonic systems as a sound test. As you know, quadraphonic was a 4-channel sound format which was introduced in the 1970’s and it was a total failure. Quadraphonic uses SQ, QS and CD-4 matrix systems. And if you play “Revolution 9”, the speaker will go all around both front and rear speakers rather than regular stereo which were left to right as it moves back and forth. “Revolution 9” works on all four speakers with my Sony SQD-1000 SQ decoder and another amplifier and it still sound perfect. I used to have my Sony SQD-1000 SQ decoder, but I gave it away and replaced with my Yamaha RX-V379 AV receiver and it plays SQ encoded quadraphonic records which is compatible.
And in addition, another interesting fun fact, these sounds used in “Revolution 9” were from 3-LP set called “118 Authentic Sound Effects” which was put out by Elektra Records. They used many of the sounds which were used in “Revolution 9” was on there. I go through many of the tracks and I found those sound effects that came from “Revolution 9”. Elektra gave permission to use it for the “White Album”.
It’s unfortunate so many supposed Beatles fans do not give credence to the content the Beatles sewed into their music. The Beatles and George Martin were auditory geniuses, nothing they did was by chance.
If you cut magnetic tape into little sections and then throw them up in the air... pick them up and randomly splice the pieces together (some will be back to front) the result on playback would be the very definition of created by "chance". I believe this primitive sampling technique was used by The Beatles at some point. I could be wrong though... it's happened before.
Peace, Love & Cheers!
-dugair PDXtc
I just realized that I watched this video today January 9......oh.....my......Gosh.....
Got to say, this is a very brave subject to tackle! A hard track to analyse, I don't think there's any logic in it, just John & Yoko messing about in the studio, with help from George, and stealing some of the extended musical passages of Revolution, such as John's yelling "alright!"
But I wouldn't put any weight in Sean's birthdate, because Yoko was induced so that he would be born on the same day as John.
Loads of stuff happened in the beatles career and inevitably loads of it happened on dates with 9 in it. The same significance can be attached to all numbers! Interesting to hear his personal connection though.
Yeah, that's how I see how things work with Numerology. Once you see a couple of coincidental numbers that show up, you can go to extents to find that number appears more often. John was obviously obsessed with the #9. Who knows if he would have actually changed his middle name to Ono if it hadn't been for the fact that he needed 2 more Os to have 9 of them in his name.
Nearly died on the 9th Dec too! Edit.. I watched the rest of video 😅
Yes but, by English time: it was the 9th by the time he passed.
"Revolution 9" is unquestionably the weirdest and most controversial track the Beatles ever issued.
You know my name. Look up the number!
As a kid, I skipped this song. As an adult, I love listening to this cacophonous masterpiece! Musique Concrete. Of course, it's predominantly Lennon.
Even more interesting is listening to it backwards. The whole Paul is dead thing tells a horrible story including the car crash, "get me out" during the fire and so on. Do an episode of that!
It's even more terrifying backwards.
@@polycube868 yes that is what I stated. Backwards.
Our very close friend (he was like a brother) was killed in a horrible car crash. Let's have fun with it! A game combining
auditory pareidolia with where's Waldo type visual clues into a sort of dead beatle Rorschach inkblot test.
At least we still have Ringo!
Peace & Love!
Long live the oldest and last to join Beatle...
Long live Sir Richard!
Three Cheers!'*`′•,.-•°*''*'*
"Getting better" and "I'm So Tired" are hidden songs in reverse, WILD
It's ironic that for all the "Nines" in John's life, he died on December NINTH 1980, in British date (the Country where he was conceived and born) .
I remember, as a little girl, being really scared by this track. "Turn me on dead man" and all the theories about Paul having died in a car crash, etc... but knowing Yoko's influence on john I understand it now.
It's very much like David Byrne and Brian Eno's "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" where they used found sounds off the local radio and tv channels in San Francisco from the early 1980's. As a matter of fact I always wanted to do a home made video to "America is Waiting" which was about the hostage situation.
5:14: On June 9, 1957, for what were the Quarrymen auditioning at the Empire Theatre (perhaps for a gig before a paying audience)?
As I keep saying, listening to this brilliant album is like watching a well-written film in my head, with Revolution 9 as the (nerve wrecking) showdown and "Good Night" as the happy ending 😄 Ironically, there's a huge chance that George Martin (who, I believe was once again in charge of the song order, or am I misinformed there?) made Revolution 9 the second to last track because he hated it so much and always put what he considered the weakest tracks as close to the end of the album as possible, but (!) was always eager to have the actual last (!) track be a stronger one, which, in the case of "Sgt. Peppers" meant "A Day in the Life" and in this, I guess, something relatively pleasant to listen to., plus fittingly called "Good Night". He did a brilliant job considering he didn't even like the album, "accidentally" turning the whole thing into a compositional masterpiece, and especially those last two tracks wouldn't have worked nearly as well anywhere else on the album and in combination with anything but each other!
I always thought Good Night was last because it was supposed to be a calming song after the insanity of Revolution 9.
The Yoko speech sounds the way it does because it was recorded from the speaker of a portable cassette recorder. There are bootlegs out there of her talking into her little mic at a Beatles session.
"Satan look at me'
Nine is a mystical number. The ninth card in the Tarot is the Hermit. Nine is the highest single digit. It represents the accomplishment of wisdom and mystical understanding. Even mathmatically nine is a strange number. All the factors of nine equal nine (9 x1=9; 9 x 2=18 (1+8=9) 9 x 3=27 (2+7=9) 9 x 4=36 (3+6=9) 9 x 5=45 (4+5=9) 9 x 6=54; 9 x 7=63; 9 x 8=72; 9 x 9=81; 9 x 10=90) Also, see how the answers are mirror images: 09/90; 18/81; 27/72; 36/63; 45/54!
You excellent critique aside, may this song also be a comment on the great LSD revolution: it is like an LSD Trip that gets psychologically intense until the peak of bliss? Intellectual revolution, a revolution in consciousness reflected in the chaos of 1968. LSD was first given the the Beatles by a Dentist. "Take this brother, may it serve you well..." could be a friend giving another friend a tab of acid no?
No wonder John Lennon was fittingly born on October the 9th.
But October is the 10th month, so there’s that.
Fascinating. Thanks James. I recall reading about John’s fixation with the number 9 in a Beatles book years ago. I love the White Album, but Revolution 9 is where I always turn the record off. It’s just not pleasant to listen to, no matter what it means 😂 Cheers
I thought no way I’d watch this whole video. And yet I totally did
It was great, wasn't it?
off topic a bit but as you mentioned it: What is the best (affordable) stem splitter at the moment ? The technology is getting there but I'm still not quite happy (I used FADR recently)
Great breakdown...if you want the rest of the story, you need to do a Manson/White Album video. Charlie, thought John was screaming "Rise!" instead of Right, which reinforced his idea that the blacks would Rise up and start a race war *(taken from Blackbird-'You were only waiting for this moment to Arise'-and Rise was one of the words they wrote as a message in their victims blood...scary shit down this rabbit hole!!!
I've always wondered about that part of the song. Just before John screamed out the word "right" I always thought he was saying BRIAN, BRIAN, thinking it was in reference to the Beatles manager Brian Epstein who passed away a year earlier.
Helter Skelter in reverse says "I like's the dead I likes death"
An interesting but overthought diagnosis. It was recorded in the same time frame as ‘What’s The New Mary Jane’ and ‘Two Virgins’ which both draw on similar structures and really just boil down to experiments with tapes and mixers. I personally love Revolution 9 and have lists it so many times I know what is coming and when it is coming . There is much more to unearth in the track than just speech . There is backwards loop which sounds like bass and drums and could be part of an unreleased song 🤷🏻♂️. Also , in one part, there is a tape rewinding which is definitely music. I intend to isolate this and slow it down to see just what it sounds like . Some have suggested that the track has snippets of Carnival of Light in it but I am not convinced on this
Take this brother, may it serve you well...
James we need your thoughts on the Liam/Squire colab!
Thanks for deciphering and highlighting some/most of the words and trying to put them together into a plausible story! In that context even the short excerpt of a Shakespeare play seem to make sense.
However we shouldn't forget to take it all in with a pinch of salt😅
PS. in mudical terms I never cared for Revolution 9 and side 4 is my least played. However what do you make out of the differences between the superior mono mix that involved the Beatles and the later stereo mix without them?
James , now you have me
Wondering, about this Beatles white, album
In which I have heard it
Dozens of times, Is there
A part 2 to this fascination?? Now I’m
Very curious.
Manson also believed Lennon was singing Helter Skelter
12:45 That's not typically how stories go though, the climax happens and then the last act is the results of the climax, not just an immediate, that's it, the end, 'thanks for reading'.
Excellent work - but pretty sure John Dunbar introduced John & Yoko at Indica the 7th November ....not 9th. Poster says 7th
Could you make a documentary style vid like the oasis one on Kula shaker, how they formed and stuff
This is my second time through your presentation. I wondered who did all the artwork? If you did, and took credit for it, I missed that. KUDOs to whomever did it.
I remember when my brother and I each had to have a copy of this album. Our Dad couldn't understand why. I ran a library radio show from the AV room (dial up 66 and listen to music) and had a quiz about this album: How many grooves were on the whole album. Only two guessed the correct number. Oh, it wasn't the number nine.
Didn’t he live on Menlove Ave with Mimi when he was starting The Beatles?
The song may be the picture of a revolution. But certainly not John"s. He made that absolutely clear in Revolution 1. "When you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out." I see no room for interpretation there. Very interesting video nontheless.
He says count me out but then says 'in' afterwards
Did you know let it be was originally called let it three