Prologue: SeemsI abandoned this project for a minute. Work got the best of me. Actually, I was embarrassed to admit how much Beatles music I was missing. Still am. But it’s been long enough.
It’s hard to quantify, but I think I’ve gotten some good out of this project. I have a much easier time reevaluating bands I once thought were awful (woohoo, right?). I still often think they are awful, but I’ll never not give someone a second chance. I still have to listen to the radio at times, and I guess I’ll never get over my dislike for most of that stuff unless I spend some time away from it. It’s not my prerogative to have some fantastic revelation about any of today’s top pop country hits, so we’ll call it a truce? It’s not important! I get so much more out of music now. I really encourage everyone to look at music differently: see it’s small, moving parts; see the forest for the trees; see what the artist says and feel what they want you to feel; get outside of whatever box in which you are trapped. I have much more music to get through, and maybe I’ll actually complete my Beatles discography, which is as much of a public good I could expect from anything I ever do.
Also, I don’t know if any of you readers have any questions about law school, but I go to a very good state law school and I’ve had some success with it. I’d be happy to answer questions about that if you have any.
The Beatles - Help!
I treasure the ability of The Beatles to influx big pop hits with a progressive ingredient that would lead to the more polarizing material of the band’s later career. For example, George Harrison’s guitar really acts out, almost teasing the melody and structure when the guitar slides down in main the transition riffs. Other times, Harrison hits strong bass notes that give “Help!” a respectable backbone, but still sticks out with an uncommon boldness. The drums come in stereo left, which gives the wall of sound some thoughtfulness that it really deserves.
The verses have a surprising amount of momentum. The speed and intensity of this song almost seems to big for its own good. That works both for and against The Beatles. For example, the final, stripped down verse seems like an afterthought because this Juggernaut of a song doesn’t allow us to catch our breathes when we listen (or perhaps hold on for the ride). However, this song moves so quickly and so powerfully to convey the frustration around which the lyrics center. Because of how strongly the Beatles move this song, it feels just like the maelstrom that perhaps makes us feel the need for help described in this song. Really impressive. It leaves me wondering what I’ll uncover when I view the other early Beatles tunes, which I tended to not listen to because they seemed so poppy.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Epilogue: I can’t even tell if there is an album that’s supposed to go with this song. From what I can tell, it’s a single that went along with the film, Help!, so I guess I’m not missing a goldmine. Correct me if I’m wrong. Here’s the real Beatles pickle for me. I have “Hey Jude”, but then I have some incomplete albums. I guess there’s no getting around cheating and trying to listen to the full albums despite not owning them, but I can’t seem to find them on my reliable music sources. I’d hate to listen to these albums on youtube or something. This is why I haven’t included any kind of link, as I usually do. If anyone is interested in trading some music to help me complete my Beatles repertoire, hit me up!
