it doesn't need a case. interesting, weird, allowing 1968 teens to see a song in a different way. it's perfect where it is.
I was there and what you said applied to no one I knew back then, actually it was taken as goof...of which it was, still is and will always be...
I felt that way for years. Now, I appreciate its place on this sprawling record. The mono mix of the entire album really changed my thinking.
F'ING GENIUS! I have loved since the first time I heard it at 12 years old. My brother-in-law Tom introduced me to The Beatles as I was born in 1971 after they broke up. He and always told me, "get the White album last, you have to build up to how fantastic it is after hearing all of the other albums." It was the last one I got in 1983 and it warped my pre-teen brain. The first time I heard Revolution 9, I was listening on headphones and it created a movie in my mind that I still visualize every time I hear it. The funny thing is, I have to listen to it paired with Goodnight. That is like the soothing rainbow after the terrifying thunderstorm.
It was taken as a goof? Interesting. Maybe your friends were big fans of The Archies and this confused them. Hahaha, just kidding.
That's exactly how it hit me. I was 11 or 12 in 1969 and I had used mowing and snow shoveling money for my music fix. I started with Capitol singles moved to Abbey Road as it had just come out. Went backwards to Revolver and Magical Mystery Tour then Sgt. Pepper and Rubber Soul. Let It Be and the White Album followed. #9 is a visual piece abstract and dense at the same time. Some things only hit your ears on a few listens, others are directed right between your ears. I don't listen to it as often, but it never fails to draw me in.
I had no warning as to what Revolution No. 9 was going to be; probably expecting another version of Revolution. No one was there to warn me. Kind of just thrown into the deep end. I kept waiting for the "song" part of the song to start. I kept thinking "this is a very long intro to the song". When the little piano piece started I thought "awe, finally, the song is starting" ! Nope! No such luck! By the end of the piece, all I had was Yoko wanting to become naked. I mean, that would have been well enough as it was, but, the first time I heard it I was definitely surprised at what it actually was; somewhat disappointed that it wasn't a song (in the traditional sense I mean). I've never skipped over it and have always enjoyed listening to it. It's one of those pieces where from time to time I hear something new in the mix that I have never heard before. My first taste of the "avant-garde". Have diversified myself a lot since then but that was my first time with what some would call "weird" or "crap" or whatever they would want to call it.
that's valid, maybe to some people it is nonsense or whatever , I don't see it as a masterpiece or genius, but I like it, I remember listening to the album as a kid laying between to speakers and listening to it develop....kinda mesmerizing in the middle of the night. the transition from the cacophony to the lush strings on Goodnight is pretty cool. it is what it is, capturing a moment
It is a great sound collage created by John and Yoko with a little help from George and for me an essential part of the White Album.
Precisely. I has exactly the same effect on me that you are talking about, every time. Couldn't have said it better...
Thank you, finally an honest comment about R#9. Musique Concrete isn’t that interesting an exercise, in and of itself. It wears out it’s welcome so quickly as a piece of music — and R#9 is overlong, pretentious, fifty-cent avant-garde-ism. There are other songs such as The Benefit Of Mr Kite wherein the Musique Concrete is integrated in the song and works beautifully. I can understand if people find it interesting, but the reason fanboys go overboard with praise and call R#9 a “genius work of art” is because it’s on a Beatles album. I don’t have any real feeling about the song one way or another. I don’t hate it, or curse the fact that it’s on the White Album. Nor do I inflate the simple, yet pretentious genre exercise into a lofty category. It’s just a piece of Musique Concrete. And as a piece of MC, it’s a fairy generic piece.
No, not tricky. For one thing, George Martin would never have said "mom", and secondly, it is clearly "mmyes".
Maybe not "genius," but a clever, intriguing manipulation of sounds, voices and music. A cool soundscape, not a "song."
It's "right", not ride. It's from the fade out of Revolution 1, "don't you know it's gonna be all right...etc"
There are numerous honest opinions expressed in this thread. Whether we agree or disagree is another matter. I agree with you that #9 in and of itself was not groundbreaking or that great even in '68. But, its inclusion on The BEATLES served as an inspired way to expose the everyman to the Musique Concrete art-form. That extraordinarily adventurous 2-LP set introduced countless listeners to varying musical styles that they were not accustomed to hearing or even familiar with! #9 fits seamlessly and perfectly into that body of work. I personally think it's brilliant in that context! by the way, I'm certainly not a fan boy of 'The Beatles' by a long shot even though The BEATLES is my all time favorite album. And at age 63, that's not likely to change.
I like it because it's so different to the rest of their songs. I'll leave it to others to decide if it's a work of genius. Much better than You Know My Name IMO.
For me I like it in context, entire side 4 is a trip unto itself. And for me it also stands on it's own two feet, I can listen to it most anytime. The Beatles didn't invent the verse-chorus-verse song form either and they did all right there also.
Me as well, as the genre has never appealed greatly to general music audiences. Nevertheless, it introduced a huge population of listeners to the art-form including myself. It totally freaked me out the first few times I heard it. It’s also led me to explore other Musique Concrete and electronic music artists of yore. To be sure, it’s not for everyone.
