Rating the Beatles for Psychedelia |
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Matt delves back into defining what is "psychedelic" based on criteria. This time the criteria is applied to specific Beatles songs to determine where they fall on the psychedelic scale.
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The most psychedllic Paul, perhaps (I could be forgetting something), is the execution of his idea for how the orechestra climbs up to his section of "Day In The Life."
FIXING A HOLE BEING A HEROIN NEEDLE? WHUT? I quote from Wikipedia: Some fans assumed the song was about heroin due to the drug slang "fixing a hole,"[6] but McCartney later said that the song was an "ode to pot".[7] In his 1997 biography Many Years from Now, McCartney stated that "mending was my meaning. Wanting to be free enough to let my mind wander, let myself be artistic, let myself not sneer at avant-garde things."[6]
Paul blamed everything on pot.
I always interpreted the song being about death and the need to always have something to fill the hole within yourself, that he’s trying to stop his kind form wandering to negative thinking and the bad aspects of life but that’s just what I always felt.
On the Anton scale of disliking a video, he scored this one a 17. 🤣
It was Anton Newcombe. He loves the Beatles, he just woke up and chose violence, which is understandable if you’re familiar with his work
@@johnthemachinel love the Brianjonestown Massacre! I'd be interested in hearing Matt's opinion on them
Psychedelic music is pretty broad area to explore. Matt's criteria define it well though. Psychedelic music can be drug induced or just simply expanded awareness and spiritual consciousness. In my humble opinion, Lennon wins easily with "Daytripper" "Rain" "Tomorrow Never Knows", "She Said, She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "A Day in the Life", "Lucy in the Sky", "I am the Walrus", and "Across the Universe." "Mind Games" and "#9 Dream" are pretty trippy too.
...and of course "I'm Only Sleeping"!
George hits the mark early on with I Want To Tell You from Revolver. I read an interview where George talked about drugs while writing It's All Too Much. Also think that Baby You're A Rich Man is very much a track that fits in with the summer of love.
I want to tell you... Paul in an interview said it was best song on Revolver. And it was really Paul's album... but Paul was right... best George song up to that point, and my fave off the album
I don't see Paul as less psychedelic because all that old-fashioned stuff he did (inspired by Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band which he produced in secret) was drug-influenced. Fool on the Hill is VERY psychedelic. Lovely Rita is very psychedelically produced. It's a song about cheating on his girlfriend LOL not very trippy but the sound is trippy. Anything the Beatles did from 66 until John went on heroin with Yoko was Psych.
Agreed about Paul's contributions. People tend to negate his psychedelic contributions because of the 'granny music' label he acquired.
I think of many of Paul’s songs in this period as being more ‘psychedelic adjacent’ than outright psychedelic. His songs still fit the overall vibe but are just not as overt much of the time. And he does contribute a lot of creative psychedelic touches to many songs by John and George. He seemed more confident adding cool druggy elements to some of his bandmate’s songs than to his own.
I don't understand using John's "Happiness is a Warm Gun" rather than "Strawberry Fields Forever "
I think he could also have used 'I want you (she's so heavy).
Fair point. From the standpoint of methodology (speaking as a retired marketer), it's often helpful to have a few outliers as reference points in a survey, and that's how I'd describe "Happiness" in this instance. Definitely points, though, to the opportunity for Matt to do another vid or two on this with other Beatles songs.
The reason I chose _Happiness_ or _Taxman_ was to show how the criteria works when weighted values are applied. This was not an exercise to demonstrate "what the most psychedelic Beatles songs are." You can apply the criteria to any number of songs yourself, if you'd like.
Agreed, Happiness is a song about Junk, not Acid. Psychedelic has nothing to do with smack, despite its prevalence. Speed, that's another story, but that's a different genre, too.
We agree to disagree on Lovely Rita, “when are you free to take some tea with me?”
Paul was under the influence of tea when he wrote that
@@samp.8099 there is some evidence that biscuits were involved as well
@@buddyneher9359I heard scones were involved. You could say Paul was sconed.
@@Mr_Rob_otto haha! "He's not dead, but he's a very naughty boy" 🙃
What’s notable to me is that while Paul’s songs are fairly light on psychedelia, he contributed a lot of of psychedelic elements to the other Beatles’ tunes (tape loops, guitar solos, etc.).
Yep. He supplied the tape loops for "Tomorrow never knows"
He’s also largely credited with conceiving the overall concepts/themes for Sgt. Pepper’s and Magical Mystery Tour, arguably their two most psychedelic albums. Despite being less into the psychedelic counter-culture than his bandmates, Paul seemed to “get it” and enjoyed setting up John and George for some real psychedelic flourishes. Same with George Martin.
He was into Stockhausen and other serious, experimental composers.
The mellotron intro to Strawberry Fields and the celeste intro to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds both very psychedelic.
@@austinwilkerson84 It's funny because Paul went to check out San Francisco first and thought the culture and consciousness were pretty cool. George went later that year and hated it and got off drugs.
Interesting Matt but surely a no-brainer for John, but where is the magnificent Strawberry Fields Forever, psychedelia personified surely and predating many of these?
You can certainly add this criteria to any song. This was not an exercise to highlight every one of the "most psychedelic" songs by the Beatles, just a comparative demonstration.
I always thought that the "...take some tea with me?" line in "Lovely Rita" was a reference to smoking pot.
Good point.
It’s arguable that every McCartney song from that period is under the influence of marijuana and/or LSD.
If the song had been written by Dirk McQuickly, it would have been tea .... with biscuits.
Lennon/McCartney absolutely loved the double entendre and came up with them serendipitously in their lyrics writing and delightfully kept them in.
As a kid in the 70s my introduction to the Beatles was when I borrowed my older sister’s copy of Sgt Pepper and played it to death. I’m pretty sure the lads didn’t have nine year old children in mind when making that album, but I was enthralled with the sounds and lyrical imagery. For my next birthday (10th) my parents got me Magical Mystery Tour which is equally if not more trippy than Sgt Pepper. So I’ve always had a sentimental soft spot for the Beatles’ psychedelic period because it takes me back to my childhood.
In my personal opinion, the Sgt. Pepper album has never been equaled or surpassed. It's the aural definition of what a masterpiece 'work of art' is and forever will be. It 'broke the mold,' kind of like Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon changed the so-called 'art world' forever.
to me all Beatles music from 1965 onwards feels psychadelic. Even their early solo music from 1970 and 1971 still has traces of that surreal magic realism vibe that hypnotizes me. I loved number 9 when I heard it for the first time in 1994 when I was 21 years old. I was also in 60s Hitchcock movies and shows like the avengers with Steed and Emma Peel and the first Star Trek show at that time so number 9 was exactly what I was looking for in art. Only later I started to appreciate music for its purely musical qualities like melody, riffs or harmony. But at that time it was all about the surreal atmopsphere.
For me, their psychedelic period fall strictly in their middle era, including Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine. With the White Album, they switch gears entirely and start mining the more rootsey direction pioneered by the Band and Music From Big Pink. The top examples for me are Rain, Strawberry Fields, I am the Walrus, Tomorrow Never Knows, Northern Song, It's All too Much and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. George's sitar excursions and John's more dreamy offerings like Day in a Life also qualify.
There are still remnants of psych on The White Album, although it's a different kind of psychedelia than what they had explored in 66-67. "Dear Prudence", "Glass Onion", "Helter Skelter", "Revolution 1", "Cry Baby Cry", and "Revolution 9" are all trippy to some degree, and some of the outtakes like take 20 of "Revolution 1" and "What's The New Mary Jane" are some of the most far-out recordings they ever made.
The book Riding High (recommended by Matt!) gives a good insight to Beatles drug exploration. Lennon and Harrison did the most acid and incorporated acid into their writing. Paul was hesitant and never really explored acid deeply. All of them were heavy into weed; pretty much all the time after Dylan introduced them. Only Lennon got into heroin (after Sgt. Pepper) but he never injected. Psychedelic music is mostly associated with acid and mushrooms- and weed. Opiates were not seen to be trip inducing.
Riding So High: The Beatles and Drugs by Joe Goodden..... is a great read.
So I guess Strawberry Fields Forever is way too obvious to be included? LOL. Interesting video, Matt, thanks! 🙂
This was an exercise to demonstrate how the criteria works when weighted values are applied, so there was no need to show too many of the obvious tracks. I'd like to create a survey so everyone can rank them, which I think would be fun.
Wonderful discussion.
Thank you, Darrell!
Fool on the Hill is said to be about the Maharishi, so it is meditative and a bit psychedelic.
Yes, he seemed to think that the lyrics had nothing to do with expanded consciousness but that was *precisely* the subject matter of the song--the wise, enlightened man who looks like a fool to everyone else. Maybe the lyrics move beyond drugs, but it's certainly about expanded consciousness in general.
@@spiritof6663the Maharishi was in fact a fool that posed as a wise enlightened man. Hence the Beatles rejection of him and George’s energies then being directed towards Krishna (via Srila Prabhupada).
@@hanspecans Prabhupada turned out to be a lot more of a sexist, homophobic asshole than the Maharishi! The Maharishi got a little weird toward the end of his life, but his TM technique has helped millions. People call him a "fool" without actually presenting any evidence for that fact. If you're going to call him that, at least provide an example.
@@hanspecans Interesting...you are literally one of the people calling the wise man a fool in the song! And don't even realize it. Prabhupada, btw, turned out to be quite sexist and homophobic. Something the Maharishi doesn't have on his record.
OK, "You Know My Name, Look Up the Number." ...annnnnd goooo 🤣
I think the fact that Paul produced tape loops for Tomorrow Never Knows shows how switched on psychedelically he was.
‘Only a Northern song’ is a psychedelic song that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, should have been on pepper.
magical mystery tour would bring Paul's score up.
'Fixing A Hole' a reference to heroin??? That's a subjective opinion. I don't get that at all.
It's not my opinion, but the opinion of many. Spurred on by the term 'fix', which is an obvious drug reference.
@@popgoesthe60s52 So every time I'm fixing a hole in my torn jeans I'm actually referencing heroin?! 🤩
"I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in and stops my mind from wandering, where it will go"
Dreamy psychedelic maybe.....referencing an altered mental state, shutting out the distracting intrusions of the outside world.... but I still don't get 'heroin' from that, regardless of group mind opinion. As a musician and meditator I don't even necessarily get 'drugs' from that.
@@ShamanMirror That's the tricky thing about choosing criteria. It's not about you.
Taxman always reminds me of Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie. my Paul favorite is Hello Goodbye which to me has that poppy Psyche sound like Cowsills - Flower Girl tune. Ringos drum pattern on Tomorrow Never Knows was Big influence for Ian Paice drumming on The Mule which he just added to what Ringo played. Only A Northern Song, Within You Without You etc and many others would qualify on your chart. Tx Matt
I appreciate the comments Poole!
"Tomorrow Never Knows" vs. "Within Without You"...which is more psychedelic? I'm sure "Within Without You" is about George's embrace of Eastern mysticism and not drugs, but the sound, to me anyway, is psychedelic. I really like your criteria and agree with it. I got a kick out of "non-psychedlic bands" that would throw in some dreamy sounds to fit the genre back in the late '60's & early '70's. Because I liked The Buckinghams- (definitely not a psychedelic band) I wondered why there was a break of backwards tape used in their hit "Susan" and read that the producer just didn't know what else to use. I really enjoyed the psychedelic era of music as a teenager. Good stuff & appreciate the work you did on this one, Matt. Interesting.
Yes, "psychedelic" music became a fad of sorts. Susan is a good example of that.
I recall the episode where you introduced the criteria, but this episode was an unexpected delight! Thanks!
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has always been my most definitive Beatles psychedelic song. Thanks for yet another entertaining presentation Matt - also great to hear that Paul's original iconic Hofner Bass has been confirmed found!
Lyrically Nowhere Man is very psychedelic and it found a place on my Psychedelia playlist of over 100 Psychedelia songs.
A Day in the Life! The Beatles Ultimate Masterpiece!!
“Its all too much” is hardcore psychedelia
One of my all-time favorite tracks.
For me I'm Only Sleeping is pretty psychedelic...it sets a great mood without being altered.
I listened to this music straight until I was 18 anyway.
Music wise, I Feel Fine primed the pump. Nobody could have come up with that opening. Then Ringo playing the straight man with that Rhumba beat🤣. It's a much harder song than people give credit. George's break followed by Ringo's behind the beat skins attack was genius. I doubt a Pop producer would even allow that today without dragging the line to the click track.
I totally agree with you re: I feel Fine. Thanks Jim!
I would rank 'Penny Lane' as one of Paul's most psychedelic songs. Although whimsical, it does contain stream of consciousness imagery. Paul is a very sentimental person and this is illustrated in this song. He also depicted Northern English Brass Band music in his psychedelic songs which is also a nostalgic element and a throwback to an earlier idealized period. John's and George's psychedelic songs are more overt and identifiable as lysergic-oriented.
Very good analysis -- entirely agree.
For me Rain is an underrated psychedelic masterpiece. Musically and somewhat in the production. Musically I think it completely was successful in it's production. In what world is Rain a B side. In the Beatles world I guess.
May have been one of the first in the genre!
Arguably the finest 'B' side ever. (I'm sure there are plenty of others I haven't thought of though 😊)
I recently watched the Beatles cartoon where "Tomorrow Never Knows" is featured. This was a Saturday morning cartoon back in the day for kids! The cartoon has the Beatles falling down a hole into some kind of ancient culture. I found Matt's video very interesting. I would like to see Matt apply this to other major bands of the 1960s to find the most psychedelic song in their discographies. A couple of examples come to mind, "King Midas in Reverse" by the Hollies and "Armenia City in the Sky" by the Who. Both of those would make the high range - maybe.
I may do that or I may devise a survey my viewers can take to help gather data.
Norwegian Wood has psychedelic elements with the sitar and lyrics. "Drinking her wine" really meant they were smoking marijuana, which obviously couldn't be stated explicitly in the lyrics. The whole song has a stoned motif.
the wood, isn't it good
Wrong.
It was just drinking wine.
Paul brought in elements of psychedelia first, but John had the most psychedelic songs
I think all The Beatles contributed to each others Songs. John was more “Far out” but without the other 3 contributions these songs would not have been so brilliant
Lyrically, Lennon is certainly more obviously psychedelic. On the records, however, regardless of whose song it is, McCartney was responsible for bringing in a lot of the innovative sonic qualities we'd call 'trippy' now. Without him, Strawberry Fields Forever would have just been on an acoustic guitar.
Riding So High: The Beatles and Drugs by Joe Goodden..... is a great read.
Interesting topic and scoring process. Not surprising that George and John came out ahead. Just looking at the single Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever and you can see the difference in terms of psychedelia. Thanks for sharing this Matt!
I like your complex definition of psychedelic music because it broadens the possibilities. Many people think a song has to be overwhelming in strange sound effects to count. Happiness is a Warm Gun surprised me. but the ones I was expecting were probably too obvious. I carefully perused your friend's lists and am completely puzzled how Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood are on it; could it be the odd twists of Some Velvet Morning or something I don't know, though I have the Nancy & Lee album. If you want to see some unimaginably passionate semantic arguments over genre definitions there are some fierce one over what is or isn't a Progressive Rock song.
You guessed correctly about Some Velvet Morning. I steer clear of the prog snob slobs.
There's this guy whose name escapes me-- he compiled a ton of compilation albums on psychedelia which I downloaded before he got his with copyright issues. He started off feeling that the Beatles were mainstream versions of "real" psychedelia but when compiling the albums and looking at the timeline, he says he discovered that actually, John Lennon invented "Intellectual Psychedelia." He had felt like John was aping Syd or whomever, but the Beatles created a lot of what others followed in the path of in terms of psychedelia even though they were such a commercial band. I was a kid back then, and all Saturday Morning cartoons went psychedelic when the Beatles did, and they stayed that way after the Beatles went onto other things.
I once read somewhere that John & Paul admired how Bob Dylan's poetic lyrics could affect the human psyche and in their own work took this to a more druggie level combined with music that went beyond folk motif structures.
Great video. The Beatles psychedelic period is my favorite from them. Your system of ranking how psychedelic a song is quite interesting. I hope you make more videos like this. Im wondering how you would rank Elvis’ ‘Edge of Reality’ as a psychedelic song.
Ha ha! Sassie banter! Psychodelic? I was there...all hype and weekend hippie BS! It's all meaningless....oh no...oh my....I think i'm having a psychodelic flashback now...blame it on the Maharishi...WOW! 😎
I would add the "Fairytale Landscape Imagery" criterion, which came to its apotheosis with guys like Syd Barrett. Excellent job, Matt!
John wins this one going away with Lucy in the Sky, Strawberry Fields, Walrus, Rain, Tomorrow Never Knows, She Said, I'm Only Sleeping, etc.
Well done. I only disagree with the counter culture influence in I Am The Walrus. Hare Krishna's in it, Seargent Pilcher and also the choking smokers, which are probably a reference to weed smoking hippies.
"Taxman" should get credit for being the only song in rock history to mention both the leader of the Labour Party (Mr Wilson) and the leader of the Conservative Party (Mr Heath)... I knew the names Wilson and Heath before I knew what kind of parliamentary structure that had in the UK (although I think I thought Heath's name was "Reese" lol)
Great episode, Matt.
Matt, being a child of the 60s I think I would add one more criterion to your list. Considering that most music of there era was based on cliche 32-bar pop song chord structures, IMO 60s psychodelic music often used eastern musical progressions which were highly repetitive simple chord structures with constantly varying harmonic embellishments. This is actually what I noticed about psychodelic music the most back in the 60s. Maybe the best Beatles example of this approach would also be "Tomorrow Never Knows."
BTW, this grandpa ever in search of new great music recommends The Lemon Twigs. If you like 60s vocal music give them a try.
-Andy AKA Grandpa
Another groovy video !!!
I was 11 & 12 during the years of " psychedelic " music. One could argue you , that you must be 21 & under when you hear it for the first time in your life and definitely you could never be over 30 !!!
You don't trust anyone over 30 !!! Lol.
The word psychedelic was all over the place back then , lots of teeny boppers were using it. There were clothes & posters & paints.... All being bought by kids who never even smoked a regular cigarette. Lol.
By the late sixties, "psychedelic" had become highly commercial. A lot of tunes were what I call "faux-psychedelic". A great example is "Just Dropped in to see what Condition my condition was in" which seems totally calculated and contrived to evoke psychedelia - the lyrics even reference Eight Miles High! Brilliantly used by the fearless Coen Brothers in The Big Lebowski.
"Psychedelic" production became a style - even a fad.
Absolutely right. The mainstream "absorbed" all of the trappings of the hippie movement and cashed in. I knew that the wheels had come off the bus when my dad bought a suit with bell bottom pants. Bad trip.@@popgoesthe60s52
@@popgoesthe60s52 And I sucked it up in buckets. Many pop artists gave it a whirl - Del Shannon, The 4 Seasons, Spanky and Our Gang, The Ventures...
Very well done. I think the one criterion I'd add would be "intentions." Obviously, it would be a guess without the lads having told us, but for me, it is obvious that lets say, Blue Jay Way, was intended to sound psychedelic. They even made a psychedelic video, of sorts, from the MMTour movie. Of course, this having to be an "in my opinion" criteria, it probably leaves too much room for arguments to start.
Try moderating one.
I have read that some of the lyrics for Happiness Is A Warm Gun were written under the influence of LSD. Still, I would have chosen Strawberry Fields Forever instead. That one is much more psychedelic.
It's interesting you mentioned Happiness, because I was inspired by your video about a psychedelic Beatles album and I made my own and included that song. But I do think you put too much emphasis on the drug references in the song. I just think that the song's lyrics should be "trippy." For me there are several perfect psychedelic songs by John. Paul's songs are usually a little too bouncy and sweet to sound truly psychedelic, though I would have a higher score for Fixing a Hole. Lyrically and production wise, it's pretty darn trippy.
Fool On The Hill: I can't be sure about Paul's state of mind in the studio but he is high as a kite in the promo video. It was filmed on a grassy hill in France for the MMT film. There's a part in it where the camera zooms in on McCartney's face and he's 100% stoned out of his mind. If you don't believe me re-watch it and tell me I'm wrong.
1960's psychedelic songs by females ? Poverty Train (1968), psych jazz blues in 6/8 by Laura Nyro.
George Martin came up with psychedelic touches too, like the animal sounds on 'Good Morning, Good Morning' and the organ snippets mixed in 'Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite'.
"Psychedelic music is music you listen to when you're feeling psychedelic" - Phil Lesh, bassist, Grateful Dead.
Taking Paul’s moaning out of the end of Lovely Rita, I finally can hear what John says, thanks for doing that! “Better believe it!”
Absolutely fantastic have a good weekend also happy long weekend ❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊
Brilliant.
Another approach would be to use a 5-point Likert scale for all item scores & then weight the item scores.
What would Ken Kesey think?
I've always believed the first psychedelic song I ever heard was 'The Word' off Rubber Soul. And one of the best ever!
I listen to "Paperback Writer" at about 23 and then "Rain" at 25 and I'm at pre-flashback or at least entrancement mode.
Matt, how do you feel about the idea that a song is either psychedelic or it isn't? That a numbered scale isn't necessary, it's like being pregnant.
What would your criteria be to render a genre so black and white?
@@popgoesthe60s52 Maybe I've always thought of myself as the final word on stuff like this??? No idea really. "Got To Get You Into My Life" is not psychedelic. "Nowhere Man" is. I dig both songs. I am willing to be tested on this. Someone could throw song titles at me, I would do my best. "I'm The Pied Piper" is not psychedelic. "Windy" is.
“Can’t define it, but I know it when I hear it!”
As always, Matt, you are reasoned, intensely specific, and analytical, as one should be in discussing any topic. You define, and you explain. Perfect, Matt.
Thank you, Antonio - more to come on this topic!
I’d give the “don’t belong” (don’t be long” ) on Blue Jay Way 1 point in underground themes
I always enjoy when no-talents critique or even better, make lists. They’re never to be taken seriously 😛
Blue Jay Way uses the Lydian mode, which helps to give its 'sound'.
Far Out Video Matt with Groovy criterias👍 I remember years ago I made a CD called Psychedelic Beatles and I havent heard in years and after watching your video I was curious to hear my CD again because I didnt remember what the track listing was so here is what I put as my listing of Psychedelic Beatles 1. Strawberry Fields Forever 2. Tomorrow Never Knows 3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 4.Flying 5. Love You To 6.Only A Northern Song 7. Blue Jay Way 8.Within You Without You 9.Its All Too Much 10. The Inner Light 11.Im The Walrus 12. Sgt. Pepper (reprise)/ A Day In The Life 13 Tomorrow Never Knows (Anthology version) - if you notice my track listing there's only one song for Paul which is the Sgt.Pepper reprise and all the other songs are from John and George, but Im going to revamp my CD and use your track listing from your album of The Beatles Drug Songs 👍👌✌️
Your comp is very good!
how would a score of 0 be mildly Psychedelic. I don't think an accidental 1 or 3 points would even make a song psychedelic. To be Psychedelic, I think at least half the 8 points, or 4, would need to be there to even be mildly psychedelic.
My Scale:
0-3 Not Psychedelic.
4-6 Mildly Psychedelic
7-11 Moderately Psychedelic
12-14 Highly Psychedelic
15+ Epically Psychedelic
Using your scale or mine, It is obvious that John wrote the most psychedelic songs and Paul wrote the least psychedelic, but more of them than George.
I would not consider Lovely Rita, Taxman, Paperback Writer or Eleanor Rigby to be psychedelic.
Yes, zero would be none, so you are correct on that. I like your scale.
WHAT SONG?❓ ❓ ❓ ❓ Writing credit, all four Beatles. All four Beatles sing, yet there are no lyrics. NO CHEATING😊 th-cam.com/video/577ru-Bbx0A/w-d-xo.html Where were you 60 years ago today❓
Flying
I would have more likely included magical Mystery Tour rather than The Fool on the Hill.
it's a shame that we haven't yet heard Carnival of Light; that would have had compete with Revolution 9.
This was not an exercise on what songs are most psychedelic, but to show some variance when values are applied to the criteria. You can certainly do this on your own if you wish.
Hello Matt, best wishes for 2024, glad to be a subscriber. Beatles discussion always welcome. Great video: controversial. I could do a completely different list from yours!
To paraphrase Brian Wilson, once stoned, they couldn't get unstoned? An element of that perhaps. But also the Beatles and George Martin were just enjoying the studio time and the inventiveness that was coming out, particularly in 1966/7. They weren't being "psychedelic" as such.
That said...Strawberry Fields Forever and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds are the real deal, cerebral and beautiful.
I am the Walrus... maybe. But IMHO, it's more John going back into his own gift (and the rich tradition) of nonsense and surrealism, as the Alice in Wonderland title suggests. By late 1967, psychedelia was on the wane. I think - from one account that I heard - that someone had told John that his lyrics were being studied and he thought he'd give 'em something to really chew on.
That was the genesis of the song, so I understand. Magical Mystery Tour and everything post-1967 was inventiveness pure and simple (again IMHO which may not be yours.) Thanks Matt.
I appreciate the comments, Tony! Thank you.
Interesting breakdown of what makes a song psychedelic . Id love to hear your breakdown of the songs on Sgt. Pepper . Take care Matt !
I would have put Within You, Without You or The Inner Light as more psychedelic for George's songs than Taxman. Also Strawberry Fields Forever, Rain and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds more psychedelic in John's songs than Happiness is a Warm Gun. I would also class Penny Lane as psychedelic.
You can rate any of the those songs using the criteria. I only wanted to do three each and show some variation.
Choosing Tomorrow Never Knows is a bit unfair, because nothing can compare to that!
Really enjoying your podcast on the issue. Very good compilation. And - allthough in general i'm not a a fan of ranking art, i must say that this here is some rather fair "scientific" method to put up a list of "the most psychedelic Beatle". I guess George could've ranked higher if you had picked "within you without you" though. Oh and another thing: just noticed the Elke Sommer record on your channel-picture and had to think of this great little song by german band F.S.K."Elke Sommers territory band" (recorded by Camper van Beethovens David Lowery btw.) about a guy who falls in love with Elke's franconian-english dialect and hoboes around the world to get to her, eventually failing of course :) cheers! th-cam.com/video/5vXdVED9h8k/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for that Elke Sommer song by FSK - didn't know about that. Yes, the "ranking of art" is not easy to tackle, so the application of criteria at least makes it easy to have the conversation.
Happiness is a warm gun, Only Sleeping, Good Morning.
60's psychedelic is aided by orchestral sounds, via your #6.
George Harrison has to be singularly responsible for associating the sitar with psychedelic music... I appreciate the criteria you came up with -- could you do the same for "Sunshine Pop" "Art Rock" "Prog Rock" "Jangle Pop" etc?
I may. I just had a lengthy discussion with my sons tonigh about doing that with prog, whose inhabitants are even more snobby than the psych-heads!
Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds - imagery is off the charts
I think studio experimentation, as in using the studio as an instrument is an important component for instance the British Kaleidoscope a very psychedelic band who strongest intake was milk lol though they made some very imaginative and Pink Floyd sounding albums
I love your scientific formula of measuring how psychedelic a song is. Although its subjective, its also intriguing, thought provoking and quite original.
As a lover of the psychedelic period of the Beatles music it wouldn't have bored me if you had gone through their whole 1966/67 back catalogue! 😄
It would be interesting to compare certain bands/songwriters or albums to see which is the most psychedelic using your method.
The Sgt. Pepper vs Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn album would be of interest because some of the songs from each album was recorded at the same time in the same studios.
Some of John Lennons songs vs a select few of Syd Barretts would also be another interesting comparison. I am not sure who would win that for being the 'most' psychedelic but its all subjective i guess 🤷♂️
This video had me applying the criteria to most of their catalog last night! I may try to get viewers involved to score the songs themselves and we can look at the results.
Any thoughts on doing something in regards to the now past 50th anniversary of Ringo! ?
Matt, I wish you would do a debate video with Mike Williams, the Sage of Quay, the guy who says The Beatles didn't write their own songs or play their instruments in the studio, and that it was all ghost writers and session musicians like the Wrecking Crew. It would make a very lively debate. We all know that George Martin was highly influential and a sort of quality control expert and it's common knowledge he had arrangements done and hired some session musicians, mostly classical music trained strings players, etc. I'm also convinced that Lennon and McCartney wrote in fragments and helped each other mix and match fragments and bridge them with their famous 'middle 8' song construction method. If anything, the lads were humble about their talents and did, in fact, outperform other songwriters and musicians. They couldn't read or write music notation, but that didn't stop them or many other pop stars of the period. Some people think it was all rigged, but I chalk up The Beatles' success to hard work. I'm not sure why people don't get that great success can come from a combination of hard work and talent.
Williams is either 1.) so ignorant of the facts, history and surrounding perspectives (i.e.: historiography) on the Beatles, suggesting he is not knowledgeable enough to be credible on the subject, OR 2) he is so dishonest as to ignore the magnitude of documentation, recording logs, and historical evidence, that he makes a mockery of the study of the Beatles. He may be both. A debate with someone as dishonest and ignorant (or perhaps delusional) as Williams would not be in good faith and therefore a waste of my efforts. There are limits to whom I will humor.
@@popgoesthe60s52 Right on Matt! This guy Mike Williams is clearly a troll. Maybe he could debate Bernard Purdie on which tracks Ringo doesn't play on.
@@delmofritz3964 He seems like a nice enough guy, but some conspiracy-types seem to revel in one side of the spectrum almost to fetish-like extremes. He has a base of followers that don't really overlap with mine in any way. I'm content to leave it that way.
@@popgoesthe60s52 Understandable, for sure. I think part of it is that if someone aspires to be a songwriter himself and simply doesn't have the natural talent to do it professionally, he thinks no one can accomplish what The Beatles accomplished because he sees it as impossible (because he himself can't do it). But the alternative is what? A bunch of unknown ghost writers in lab coats behind the scenes? Absurd. There's no realistic alternative. He claims the truth is in a book by Thomas E. Uharriet, a guy in Utah who self-confessed that his book is fiction.
@@continentalgin That's a great point. Williams' original music that I've heard is a cheap imitation of the classic rock music he claims was written by psyops. He's too lost to recognize the irony.
For starters human consciousness is widely considered to be the most difficult subject known to science, add to that powerful mind altering chemicals that allow for millions of reroutings and unusual connections in the brain and I’d say you have hit upon the most « subjective » of subjects of all. Science barely has language for the experience. There is also a George Harrison quote I read, somewhere, that he wrote ´It’s All Too Much’ about a specific experience he had while on LSD. In my view that song must be the must be the most psychedelic song the Beatles recorded. Walrus is more surreal wordplay and there’s nothing wrong with that. Heroin is not a psychedelic drug. It’s a body drug more than a mind drug. Kids, don’t take drugs, except the ones that mother gives you, which don’t do anything at all.
Yes, this was hard to tackle for the reasons you state. However, I think it's a mistake to try to give to much attention to the type of drug. The one thing that is light years more subjective than psychedelic music is the experience one has while on any drug. I personally wouldn't limit rating psychedelic music to having roots only in the so called "mind altering" drugs like LSD, DMT, mushrooms, etc. Dylan's work would be a good example of this. People call his mid 60s work psychedelic but he didn't use psychedelics. He used heroin, marijuana, red wine, and amphetamine. Lot's of rabbit holes! Thanks for the comment, syater.
Cool video but how is The Fool On The Hill a 0 for non-conformist AND counterculture themes? The Fool is by his very existence non-conformist and he's literally singing about going counter to the culture. He's not playing their game because he's off *expanding his mind*, so they see him as a fool. Swing and a miss with that call.
Very good point. With a range of 0-2, would you give that criteria a 1 or a 2? I'll adjust my score by adding 1, making the total 5. If you rate it a 2, then your total would be 6. In the end our scores would be 5/17 and 6/17, so the difference is about half a percent. The way I have devised this is that if a single criteria is under or over valued, the difference between the scores is negligible. In other words, it's very hard to over value or under value each criteria because of the point structure.
Dude, you clearly rank Paul's lyrics as Psychedelic way too low! Yes, John and George are more, but Paul's are and definitely reflective and spiritual in meaning, which makes it Psychedelic!
Which lyrics? How would you score them? Talk is cheap, dude.
Oh yeah I avoid Beatles facebook pages like the Black Death lol. Id have to agree about the stonedness of the listener not being a great criteria or else the allman brothers would be psychedelic. So how much does the imagery surrounding Sgt Pepper and Mystery tour play into the psychedelic perception? Reason I ask is some songs Rubber Soul check a lot of those boxes( sitar fuzz bass lyrics) is the reason ppl don’t look at Rubber Soul that way the simple cover?
For fun I used your metrics for Helter Skelter and I gave it an 11. Paul had his moments :)
I would limit the discussion to sound only. The videos of the songs the Beatles produced really add to the surreal experience so to compare apples to apples, I would not use any visuals in the criteria. 11 seems about right for Helter Skelter.
Matt, you will need to cover The Mothers of Invention psychedelic music. Just wonder, where is It's All Too Much from? What album. Great video. Stay groovy!!
It's All Too Much is from Yellow Submarine Soundtrack.
This scoring system should be explored for all relevant songs by a group (maybe in collaboration with Gear There and Everywhere) and then averaged per capita. I feel like Paul is getting short shrift here-especially since he contributed many psychedelic elements to others' songs.
Keep in mind this is not a criteria set up for individual members, merely the song so there is no short shrift, only numerical scoring according to the criteria. I would like to mention that Tomorrow Never Knows scored 17/17 on the scale so if one knows the history, McCartney must be given credit for the progressive use of tape loops. So far the date shows McCartney's "psychedelic" songs score far lower than Lennon's, which is not a surprise, just a writing style. I will be expanding the number of songs next month with my Patreon subscribers so we will see more data on the subject. Good suggestion on Gear There and Everywhere - I've been impressed with their work.
Possibly another criteria would be non standard approach to music theory, e.g. odd time signatures, unusual song structure, complex rhythms, repetition and just plain musical naivety.
Yes, I do go into those more in the longer video on What Makes a Song Psychedelic." All fall under the Instrumentation criteria.
My issue with the "composer stoned" catagory": I care about the effect, not the cause (it's the same finished product regardless). This is why I don't really care if a musician is being "genuine" or "authentic" or any of that. How it comes off is what matters to me. (Also, a composer could get the idea or inspiration for a song while under the influence, but write it sober.)
A good point but this criteria is a major issue when discussing Dylan's work. I spent a couple years researching and creating these criteria so I tried to cover all bases. I talk about the Dylan issue in my original video, What Makes A Song Psychedelic.
Harrison's 'Only A Northern Song' would easily make '17'...................
You'd have to apply the criteria to see.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong because I don't have first hand knowledge, but from the videos I've seen it looked like the white bread Ed Sullivan Show leaned heavily into the whole psychedelic scene, especially with their camera fades
Yeah, everyone jumped on the bandwagon, because that is where the money was at!
I don't agree with the criteria used to rate what is and what is not psychedelic. I think the entire definition is completely missed here. While I do agree that the subjective component of the listener has a lot to do with whether or not one has had a psychedelic experience musically, I don't think that the production engineering and reliance on non-standard recording techniques and unusual instruments have as much an overall influence into the psychedelic resulting experience of the listener. If it were so that these so-called essential components of recording were necessary and therefore integral to a psychedelic output, people would have listed songs like "Incense and Peppermints" or "My Green Tambourine" or "Crimson and Clover" as major psychedelic experiences. I know this is about the Beatles and their psychedelic output, but I want to just mention a huge branch of the psychedelic tree that is downplayed here, and that is the live performance essential psychedelic experience. Why I say essential is because my personal belief is that most people are on the wrong track when referring to psychedelia. While I think that a recording can contribute to a psychedelic experience, it becomes a weaker and weaker influence on a person's psychedelic experience as time goes on. A psychedelic experience can only be achieved in real time, as the body and mind absorb a live confluence of stimulation which acts upon the psyche at that moment to form thoughts and imagery which react to and gain personal insight from those influences. So listening to a recording that may have stimulated a psychedelic experience at one time, will likely not produce that experience again upon subsequent listening. Because the brain already knows what's coming it will not achieve the spontaneous development of thought and feeling at it did in the first listening.
If people are on the wrong track, what is the right track, Kevin? It's easy for someone to say, "the entire definition is completely missed here," and then not give a definition or ANY criteria of his own. Talk is cheap.
I agree with the overall conclusion here, but do take issue with your appraisal of the Paul songs. Fool on the Hill is absolutely an anti-conformist/counterculture song with “mind-expanding” themes - even putting aside the fact it was alluding to the Maharishi, the character described in the song is an outcast who’s out of step with mainstream society but privy to the deeper truths about people and life. The “take some tea” in Lovely Rita was a euphemism for smoking pot back in the 60s (shades of the Rutles, lol). Also, while you’re correct that Fixing a Hole’s lyrics are alluding to drugs, the “hole” wasn’t heroin-related at all, instead referring to a vision of a hole Paul had on acid.
Wo what would your score for Fool on the Hill be, using the criteria I laid out?
@@popgoesthe60s52 Probably 8, with non-conformist themes at 2, underground themes at 1, and lyrics at 2