Revolution 9: Then and Now

Oddly, I'm the reverse. Lennon is my least favorite yet I feel "Revolution 9" is one of his masterpieces.

It's things like that which make me realize I'm apparently not a hardcore Lennon guy - the songs I DO like from him seem to be the few many real fans dislike. Go figure...

 

Would any of you guys rate it less if it wasn't a Beatles tune? Or if it wasn't on The White Album? Is it the context of the piece(a pop band attempting an extremely avant garde sound collage, & have it on an album where pretty much anything goes) or do you thoroughly enjoy the track(or just thinks it ok) based on solely what you're hearing? I do like how Goodnight, which is like the polar opposite of what we just heard, comes in right after it, as if to lure us into a dream after the abstract nightmare. A little like how the last thing you expected to hear after a cosmic psychedelic Indian experience, was an English pop bands take on Music Hall on Peppers.

 

I can't say much for then since I wasn't really alive but I don't really care for it. It sort of works in context of the album but it's not something I'd listen to outside of it's context. I used to skip it when it would come on in the car, I still do sometimes but sitting through it but I quite like how it transitions into Good Night. Maybe if it were at least a couple minutes shorter but even then it's little more then an interesting experiment.

 

That's a great point. It's definitely the context and placement for me. I admit I would never listen to Revolution 9 as a stand-alone track. It definitely works only because it is an essential piece of the album's puzzle.

You're right that a song like "Good Night" is made more magical (and peculiar) coming of the heels of a track that is opposite in every sense. You have to love this album!

 

Without Revolution 9, the 4th side of the White Album makes little to no sense. My daughter and I just listened to it as a result of reading this thread. She agrees with me, its amazing.

 

I didn't like it when I first heard it in 1981. I would skip it and Goodnight. But sometime in the late 80s, I "Got It".
I made a compilation tape of "Peace of Mind"(I know it probably ain't the Fabs), "What's The New Maryjane", and "Revolution 9" and listened to it in the dark. Scared the sh!t out of me.
I never skip it anymore.

 

You know, if it were cut in half, I'd enjoy the track a lot more I think. I believe without the filler, the White Album could have been the Beatles strongest album, but with it, it's a sprawling, schizophrenic experience that is unlike any other Beatles album & Revolution 9 is a big part of that, so I'd like to retract my earlier statement saying it was pointless. Every little thing on the album has purpose. I'm actually listening to it now (mono vinyl, of course).

 

I think its neat. It pre-dated a boatload of stuff and is still fun to listen to. The Beatles liked to push. Nice post.

 

You know, I never really specifically thought about it this way, but one could even argue that "Revolution 9" is a reprise of sorts, summing up all the twists and turns that the previous 28 songs took you on. While it doesn't literally sample any of the previous songs or anything, it works in transitioning from subdued segments to hectic ones. In that sense, you might say it summarizes the peaks and valleys found on the album, then fades out into "Good Night", which might be said to be the only stand-alone song on the album.

Am I just reading too much into this? Possibly. But isn't that what great and winding albums cause you to do?

 

Yes. Many do feel it has a little TOO much stuff on it. I myself have even tried to tweak and perfect it over the years but, as you stated, it turns out that every note, effect and vocal adds something essential to the whole. Even if some tracks resonate more than others.

I should break out my mono copy sometime (I currently only have the recent Apple re-issue).

 

It should be called 'Revelation :9'.

 

A guy named Charlie did just that as part of something very bad.

 

Yeah, this whole reading too much into the track exercise unfortunately has some bad precedents. Of course, if someone is going to infer something horrible from a song about a kid's slide (of all things), or from a piece of comedy-satire (Piggies), or from an artist's bewildering knob-turns and loops at a studio console, what are you gonna do? Nothing is safe. But it does seem to add to the album's notoriety and fame in its moment of time. As unfortunate as it is...

 

Love it! Rise! Rise! Rise!

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssseeee!!!!!

 

I liked it when I first heard it in 1995 and I still like it now. I think it's a very interesting and well-executed concept.

 

The twist...the Watusi...

 

Liked it then, love it even more now.

 

I like the track a fair bit - more than Mr. Moonlight, It's Only Love, and Maxwell's Silver Hammer for context. But I don't find it to be brilliant. I think the placement before Goodnight ended up being a really good choice by happenstance. The other three wanted to bury it, and it ended up being a perfectly apocalyptic juxtaposition to Goodnight. A microcosm of the entire album's odd complexity.

 

That's true I suppose. I've heard that the rest of the band indeed had no intended plans for it. Yet I still have to believe that whenever the decision was made to include it, someone must have put some thought into placing it there. I read that Martin and the band apparently worked quite awhile to sequence the album. While many understandably feel that the double seems "thrown together", from all accounts, it was very carefully sequenced for (hopefully) maximum effect.

Still, it could be that "Revolution 9" was just tucked away near the end simply because it was odd and many didn't even like it. Yet it sure sounds like its function was intentional.

 

When I got the white album back that Christmas that it first came out (I think it was Christmastime) I remember listening to it intently and looking at the posters and all of the other stuff we did when we sat in our rooms and listened to new music. A new Beatles album was everything to me back then, I was 16 and music was so very important back in 1968. The funny thing is, when I finally got to Side 4 and Revolution #9 came on, I was not shocked, surprised, stunned, annoyed... I don't think I was anything. I just listened. Considering that this track was nothing like anything I'd ever heard, I think I just accepted it as the Beatles being, well, the Beatles.

In some ways I have to admit that I would rarely play through Side 4 when I wanted to hear tunes, it was usually the other 3 sides, but once the 'Paul is Dead' deal happened, we all played 'Number 9' backwards to hear stuff like "Turn me on dead man" and all of the other stuff, so the song again came to the fore front.

Through the years it's been one of those tracks I visit from time to time, but not very often. Sorta like "You Know My Name, Look Up the Number"

Today when I hear it, I think about .... "This would be cool in 5.1!"

 

Thanks for the great post. Maybe we will get a fresh remix someday! The mono mix of the album offers a nice change of sonic pace once in awhile but Revolution 9 is unfortunately only a fold-down I believe.

 

When I was a kid it scared the heck out of me. Now I can appreciate it for what it is. (I still usually skip it when I listen to the White Album.)

 

Oh yeah it would have probably freaked me out if I had heard it when I was like 5 or 6.

But then i would have wanted to hear it again.

 

I thought it was a bizarre novelty comedy song at the time. It still is. I still crack up when I hear it.

 

Liked it then, like it now.
Good Night on the other hand...