BY JEREMY HAAS
It’s been 50 years since The Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. That’s enough time for a guy to be born, grow up, find a career, start a family, develop back problems, and sadly be considered “old.” The Beatles, however, will probably never age. Watching numerous TV specials, reading countless articles, and seeing these guys just about everywhere in the past few weeks can tell you that. There is something far beyond mere popularity that sets the Beatles apart, though, and anyone who has listened to one of their albums can verify it. Sure, everyone likes the Beatles, but from the moment I was old enough to form sincere musical opinions, I loved them. Why is that? What is it about the Beatles that allows them to retain the title of “the greatest rock and roll band of all time?” It’s been 50 years – 50 years since we were exposed to what rock and roll was truly made of. So, in honor of the Beatles’ everlasting presence on our music, our culture, and our world, this installment of Classics Revisited will be taking a look at one of the most prime examples of the group’s sheer genius, their 1966 release Revolver.
Many consider the years 1965-1970 to be the Beatles’ prime. While this is generally true, and widely accepted, there is an even more specific, three-year span within this broad-based prime that truly made the Beatles career all the more worthwhile. This was 1965-1967, and the release of three fateful albums proved the group worthy of a spot on every greatest-bands-of-all-time list. Smack dab in the middle of those three years is Revolver, a psychedelic collection of genius lyricism, musical nirvana, pop-catchiness without the pop-mindlessness, and a sound that has influenced just about everything anyone has ever listened to that came after.
Let’s take a look at the initial indicator of Revolver’s glory. We’ve got “Eleanor Rigby,” the second track of the album. It’s a beautifully off-putting two minutes and eight seconds that refuses to leave your head for weeks after the first listen. The one opening line, the ever so simple “look at all the lonely people” resonates, creeping behind every charmingly ominous verse. It’s the sunshine that enters your room in the morning after a long night spent in a depressive stupor. Perhaps it works so well considering its contrast in sound with the rest of the vocals. Verses paint obscure portraits of all the lonely people, wearing faces that they keep in jars by their doors. Really, who are they for? Let’s not disregard the invitingly dark instrumental either, filled to the brim with the sounds of only a few instruments. The creeping string section is a stubborn reminder of the murky daily routine. This track is a horror movie rendition of your saddest days, the days when you really wonder who that smile is for, where you, all the lonely people, really all belong.
Much like the Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning,” we’ve all had a dawning reminiscent of “I’m Only Sleeping.” Those days when maybe you’re physically tired, or maybe you’re emotionally exhausted, but a longing for that warm embrace of sleep grips you from the moment you hear a painfully obnoxious alarm clock. You walk around your day in a trance, and nothing’s wrong, but still, nothing’s right, you’re just, well, you’re only sleeping. The harmonies in the chorus of this song are angelic; the sly guitar riffs played in reverse remind you of that sleepy feeling that some days, you just can’t escape.
Later on the album we have upbeat rock and roll love songs, catchy, folksy ballads, and even some of George Harrison’s Sitar. Still, Revolver’s infinite glory and grace is making these songs to be otherworldly in their sounds. The Beatles were so ahead of their time, so ingenious with their delivery, it’s was impossible for it to have gone unnoticed. I can hear the Strokes Is This It and it’s pleas for love within shallow relationships in “For No One.” There’s so much of “Tomorrow Never Knows” and it’s fuzzily chaotic synthesizer track in Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as well.
Revolver is a revolutionary album released by the most classic band that has directly influenced so many other classics, so yes, it earns the title “Classic.” And for that, Beatles, we thank you.
