As I said in an earlier post, The Beatles were a big part of my childhood. My mom was a fan. "The Ballad of John and Yoko" was one of her favorite songs. This one's for you, mom!
Honestly, I didn't actually realize that this was a Beatles' song until I was older. I thought it was a solo number from John Lennon, especially given the subject matter. And the fact that it doesn't appear on any Beatles' album added to that confusion. The song, however, was one of the fab four's many singles. Back in the day, bands frequently released songs that were not connected to albums in any way. In the Beatles' case, I know I've read where they've said the albums were complete bodies of work and should be looked at in their entirety. The singles were separate entities completely.
"The Ballad of John and Yoko" was recorded in the Beatles' later days, around the time of the Let It Be sessions. Apparently the inspiration for the song came from Lennon's frustration over his inability to legally marry Yoko Ono in a number of places they'd thought of. He felt like the media and other people in power were crucifying him and the song is his sense of musical venting.
The beat of the tune is just fantastic. Paul McCartney plays a wicked, rolling bass line that just carries the song from start to finish. Actually, Paul played nearly every instrument on the track, including bass, piano, drums, and maracas. Lennon played the lead and rhythm guitar parts. Paul also contributes my favorite vocal moments, adding falsetto-y back-ups to the last words of verses like "Eating chocolate cake in the BAG" and "You know how hard it can BE." Love that! What's funny is that as much as I had always thought this was a John Lennon song, it's Paul McCartney who provides me with the more enjoyable moments. Don't know how you can't bob your head up and down to this one.
One other thing of note: Listen to the drums closely. You may notice that there isn't a single cymbal crash in the entire song. Coming of age in the 80's, I've grown accustomed to dramatic cymbal crashes and splashes all over the place. Not in the classics, baby!
"The Ballad of John and Yoko" is from the compilation "Past Masters II." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.
Honestly, I didn't actually realize that this was a Beatles' song until I was older. I thought it was a solo number from John Lennon, especially given the subject matter. And the fact that it doesn't appear on any Beatles' album added to that confusion. The song, however, was one of the fab four's many singles. Back in the day, bands frequently released songs that were not connected to albums in any way. In the Beatles' case, I know I've read where they've said the albums were complete bodies of work and should be looked at in their entirety. The singles were separate entities completely.
"The Ballad of John and Yoko" was recorded in the Beatles' later days, around the time of the Let It Be sessions. Apparently the inspiration for the song came from Lennon's frustration over his inability to legally marry Yoko Ono in a number of places they'd thought of. He felt like the media and other people in power were crucifying him and the song is his sense of musical venting.
The beat of the tune is just fantastic. Paul McCartney plays a wicked, rolling bass line that just carries the song from start to finish. Actually, Paul played nearly every instrument on the track, including bass, piano, drums, and maracas. Lennon played the lead and rhythm guitar parts. Paul also contributes my favorite vocal moments, adding falsetto-y back-ups to the last words of verses like "Eating chocolate cake in the BAG" and "You know how hard it can BE." Love that! What's funny is that as much as I had always thought this was a John Lennon song, it's Paul McCartney who provides me with the more enjoyable moments. Don't know how you can't bob your head up and down to this one.
One other thing of note: Listen to the drums closely. You may notice that there isn't a single cymbal crash in the entire song. Coming of age in the 80's, I've grown accustomed to dramatic cymbal crashes and splashes all over the place. Not in the classics, baby!
"The Ballad of John and Yoko" is from the compilation "Past Masters II." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment