Revolution 9: The Sum Of Its Parts
David J. Coyle
The following, an attempt at analysis inspired by the recent discussions of
"Revolution I" and "Revolution 9" from "The Beatles" (White Album), is
pretty long...]
Last night I thoroughly listened to both of these songs from the White
Album. As usual I heard various things I didn't hear the last times
around. It is very evident as "Revolution I" fades completely out that it
was about to kick in to a loud, long jam. You can just hear John scream
"alright" in the very last second, not unlike the final "alright" in the
"Revolution" single version. I personally had never listened this closely
to the fade, and until this point, I had a difficult time connecting this
slow, bluesy song to the riveting six-minute jam session described by
Lewisohn in "Recording Sessions."
Somebody said that only the _vocals_ from this take of "Revolution I"
were used in the "Revolution 9" collage. I tend to agree, since I hear
variations on John's repeated "alrights" (or "right") throughout the
latter piece, either buried in the mix or right in front of one channel
or another. Yet I can't immediately connect these screams to any
particular bit of musical backing. There's a lot of distorted electric
guitar popping up from time to time as well, but I can't say for sure
whether these came from the "Revolution I" jam or seperately recorded
for overdubs or compiled for SI's.
In addition, I can hear various bits of Beatle vocals. I swear at one
point, I hear George say "foot." Remember, in the released version of
"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" on the same album, when Paul sings "Molly lets the
children lend a hand," John and George variously yell out "foot" or
"leg." I believe one of these snippets was probably used on John's
sound-effects loops. (Can anyone tell me offhand which song was recorded
first?) Beyond that, still other snippets from various "White Album"
sessions tapes were probably used in addition to material from EMI's
sound-effects vaults, due to their instant accessibilty.
In Lewisohn's "Recording Sessions," he doesn't go too much into detail
about what was used for these loops, but at one point he does list some
of the contents of the more distinguishable loops. These include the
reverbed voice of George Martin saying "Geoff [Emerick, engineer]...put
the red light on" which is occasionally panned across channels, backwards
mellotron played by John (which is heard recurrently throughout the
piece), a snippet of the orchestral overdub session for "A Day In The Life"
(brass and strings going up the scale, again a recurrent snippet), and
various forward and backwards snippets of symphonies and operatic pieces.
The latter are easy to pick out, but very difficult to identify, if not
impossible. I suppose a person with a "White Album" LP, a turntable, and
a steady hand could match these up to particular songs, but if someone's
done so, they've not published anything definitive. Obviously, Abbey Road
studios was used for big band and classical recordings long before the
Beatles came in, and I assume John took various snippets from the vaults
were the master tapes were still stored. I would venture a guess that the
full, forward versions of these "Revolution 9" excerpts could be found on
any number of Parlophone or EMI-released classical records.
I think Lewisohn would probably have stated whether John or anybody kept
a record of what tapes were being taken out or used, or what pieces were
being used on what loops. He does mention some of these sound-effects
tapes by their label names (i.e., "Last Will Organ Test," "Vicar's Poem,"
"Come Dancing Combo," etc.) but goes on to say that some were instead
used for sound-effects in the stage adaptation of Lennon's "In His Own
Write" and were not used for "Revolution 9."
Two of the more familiar sound-effects from the piece (those not
specifically recorded for use) are the "number nine" voice, long credited
to a tape of the Royal Academy of Music examinations, and the crowds
shouting "block that kick/hold that line," credited to an EMI tape of an
American football game. I don't know whether other crowd noises present
in the mix came from the same tape, or from audience recordings at a
Beatles or other concert. The latter two SI's are also panned across
channels.
Furthermore, a lot of the sound-effects on the tape were recorded
in-studio, mostly by John and George. They read off various pieces of
literature, and any distinguishable bits are nonsensical. But I think
taken from another context, they might be more intelligible. For the most
part it sounds like they are reading from a newspaper (I hear the word
"Telegraph" at one point -- perhaps they are reading from the "Daily
Telegraph"?).
I can only make out disjointed phrases, probably from longer passages
which were faded in and out as John's whim led him. Distinguishable ones
include:
-- "...found a shortage of grain in Hertfordshire/and everyone knew that
as time went by they'd get a little bit older and a little bit slower..."
(I included the slash because I don't believe they are part of the
same sentence, although the voice is John's in both cases, I think. Using
OOPs, the first part is inaudible)
-- "...only to find the nightwatchman, unaware of their presence in the
building..."
(This voice is definitely George's, and it seems to be either from
some sort of newspaper account or possibly a short story)
-- "Take this brother, may it serve you well."
(The voice is John's. At this point, all other sound drops out, and
all you hear is this statement, with Yoko humming prominently in the
background. The statement, by itself, makes no sense without some
conjecture by the listener.)
-- "Who could tell what he was saying? His voice was slow and his (?) was
high, and his eyes were low.."
"Here I sit in my broken chair, my wings are broken and so is my hair,
I am not in the mood for..."
"The cats were catting, the dogs were dogging, the birds were birding,
and the fish were fishing..."
(These are all said by John. It sounds to me like all these bits were
from one poem or story. The patter and tempo are similar, and the
wordplay is Lennonesque. Can anyone tell where these might have come
from? Possibly one of his books?)
-- "Onion soup...personality complex...industrial output...financial
imbalance...the Watusi...the Twist...Eldorado..."
(These are variously said by John and George, in a style that suggests
free association. It also reminds me of the "clue round" in the American
game show "$100,000 Pyramid," although that obviously wasn't an influence.)
And perhaps the longest piece of mostly intelligible speaking...
-- "So the wife called [which some people have heard as "saw the
lightpole" suggesting Paul's "fatal" car crash], and we better go to see
a surgeon, what with the prices and all [garble] no wonder they're
closed, so anyhow he went to see the dentist who gave him a pair of teeth
which wasn't any good at all. So instead of that he joined the bloody
navy and went to sea..."
(This passage is quoted in the book "Big Secrets" which talks about
"Revolution 9" and various examples of "backmasking." Although this
passage is fairly easy to hear, it is equally difficult to understand.
And again, no indication of where the passage is from. In this case, I
don't attribute it to my "newspaper" idea.)
-- Yoko's voice is clearly heard at the end, just prior to the "block
that kick" loop. She is engaging in some sort of conversation with John,
but most of it is unintelligible. The only decipherable words are
"if...you become naked." John's input is mostly onomatopoeic, consisting
of "hmmm"s and "oh"s.
-- Lewisohn also mentions a part of the John/George overdub where they
whisper, six times "There ain't no rule for the company freaks." If this
was mixed into the final cacophony, I have yet to hear it.
And mixed into all this melange is the occasional sound of clinking
glasses ("Yellow Submarine" overdub sessions, perhaps?), female laughter
(Goon Show? "YS" again?), radio interference/static, crackling paper or
cellophane (long used in sound-effects to suggest fire, and perhaps used
by Lennon to add to the "revolution" image), more backwards instruments,
a female choir (either forward or reversed, either way I don't recognize
the song), the single beat of a snare drum and an occasional cymbal tap
(Ringo?), traffic noises, and what sounds to me like female orgasmic sounds.
And just before Yoko's bit, a single male voice is heard singing a song. It
always sounded to me like some anonymous Indian guru, but on closer listen, it
all of a sudden sounds to me like Bing Crosby!? Of course, it's not a
familiar tune.
The origins of John Lennon's sound collage (anticipated by Paul's
"Carnival Of Light" collage and continued in "Two Virgins" and
"Unfinished Music," etc.), and the fact that Lennon was influenced by
earlier experiments in "Musique Concrete" etc., and the fact that he was
inspired by the "Revolution/I" sessions to create a "sound painting" of a
revolution -- all have been discussed occasionally on this newsgroup.
Other people have attempted to analyze "Revolution 9" (as the sum of its
parts) from a biographical perspective. Others have merely argued over whether
"Revolution 9" is actually a song or not. I have attempted to present an
objective analysis of the various parts and snippets of this collage, at
least as I have identified them from repeated listening, in order to
facilitate any further discussion of this enigmatic Beatles track.
I do realize that other people may hear things other ways. I invite other
comments, theories, etc. And if anyone has more conclusive information
(like perhaps what symphonies, operas, etc. are excerpted in the piece)
on the contents of "Revolution 9," I encourage them to post.
Sources:
Mark Lewisohn, "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions," 1988
"Big Secrets" (don't remember the author)
|| DAVID J. COYLE / E-Mail: dc33...@oak.cats.ohiou.edu ||
|| Diversified Communications / "Sunset doesn't last all evening..." ||
|| Ohio University / --George Harrison, 1970 ||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon Toropov
Thank you brother--thou hast served us all well.
Brandon
Richard Schultz
And don't forget -- "Revolution 9" is the only Beatles song (AFAIK)
that contains a quotation of music by Beethoven.
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@ashur.cc.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry tel: 972-3-531-8065
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel fax: 972-3-535-1250
-----
"an optimist is a guy/ that has never had/ much experience"
David J. Coyle
-- "financially in balance" (Michalak)
-- "fine unnatural imbalance" (Poundstone, "Big Secrets")
All I can say at least is that Poundstone sounds more off the mark than
the others. I hear it as "financial imbalance" too. It makes sense, and
judging that Lewisohn apparently heard the lone tape of George and John
speaking and could hear these phrases apart from the other noises, it's
probably on the mark.
There are four elements present in the recording at the point near the
end where Yoko is speaking. One, of course, Yoko speaking. Two, it sounds
like John is responding to Yoko in kind, saying things like "oh?" and
"hmmm." Three, the guru/Bing Crosby like voice. Four, John mumbling in a
low voice (the mumbled "number nine" Ed Michalak mentioned).
Like the noises that occur in the fade to "I Am The Walrus," individual
parts are hard to distinguish. This is consistent throughout the piece.
It is true that this collage method makes it nearly impossible to
definitively decipher individual elements, but there is more to it than just
a bunch of rubbish and noise.
Biffyshrew
>-- "financial imbalance" (Lewisohn)
>-- "financially in balance" (Michalak)
>-- "fine unnatural imbalance" (Poundstone, "Big Secrets")
I seem to recall Life magazine, digging for clues during the Paul-Is-Dead
brouhaha, giving this as "a fine, natural imbalance." (I may be wrong
about the source.) I think it's clearly "financial imbalance"...that's my
tuppence worth.
Paul is not dead, but he is left-handed...
Biffy the Elephant Shrew @}-`--}----
(representing Michael P. Dawson - Compositeur Americain)
Visit us at http://users.aol.com/biffyshrew/biffy.html
Michael P. Dawson's current album is THE BRANDNEWBUG CONCERTOS.
A millihelen is defined as the amount of beauty required to launch one
ship.
David J. Coyle
listening. Just as a lot of what I hear in the piece is based on what
various sources have said it is.