Whenever you see lists of the best
songwriters, Lennon-McCartney are near the top of the list, if not
the top. But, here's one for ya. The Beatles were not great
songwriters, certainly not great lyricists. Why do they get deemed as
such? I think their whole production appealed to people, the
combination of writing, singing, and production. Lennon and McCartney
were great singers. And they were innovative in the way they put
everything together. But if you dig into the songs, things are not so
magical. It's like Wayne Gretsky or Tom Brady. Not the fastest,
strongest, or most agile, but very smart about the game.
Here we go. Let's start with their
first hit.
Love, love me do
You know I love you
I'll always be true
So please, love me do
Whoa, love me do
OK now, moving on. How about this one?
Oh yeah, I'll tell you something
I think you'll
understand
When I say that
something
I wanna hold your
hand
I wanna hold your
hand
I wanna hold your
hand
And then there's:
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
You think you lost
your love
Well, I saw her
yesterday
It's you she's
thinking of
And she told me
what to say
She says she loves
you
And you know that
can't be bad
Yes, she loves you
And you know you
should be glad
There is no
poetry in these lyrics, other than maybe the line “When I say that
something.” Yes, the words rhyme, but that's not all there is to
poetry. Poetry is word play that makes your heart tingle. It's
different than spoken speech. Poetry uses metaphor, symbolism, and
unusual imagery to evoke meaning and feeling that goes beyond prosaic
speech.
Here's an example of poetry found in
rock music, written by Jagger and Richards of the Rolling Stones.
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colours anymore, I
want them to turn black
I see the girls walk
by, dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my
head until my darkness goes
Now that is cool. First you have the image of a red door, not
something one sees every day, and a guy who expresses his anger and
negativity by wanting it painted black. He wants all colors painted
black. That is not prosaic speech. He doesn't just say, “I am
angry.” He portrays that with imagery. He evokes a meaning with
wonderful word economy. He is angry. He is bitter. Why is his so
bitter? The next line gives us a clue. Seeing the sexy ladies in
their summer clothes frustrates him sexually. This is conveyed as
darkness that fills his head. Darkness is black. He wants everything
painted that way. That is four powerful lines of poetry that
expresses what maybe most men have felt at some point in their lives,
if not every day.
Paint It Black was
released in May, 1966 and Love Me Do in 1962, so maybe it's only fair
to look at some of the Beatles later work as they were kids who were
maturing rapidly. The Revolver Album came out in 1966. The most
famous songs on that record are arguably Good Day Sunshine, Eleanor
Rigby, Got to Get You into My Life, She Said She Said, Yellow
Submarine, and Here, There and Everywhere. Let's look at those.
I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something
I can laugh about
I feel good, in a
special way
I'm in love and
it's a sunny day
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
We take a walk,
the sun is shining down
Burns my feet as
they touch the ground
The last line has
a touch of poetic imagery but it's simple observation. It has no
bearing on the song. It's an empty song about the wonderful feeling
of being in love, a McCartney theme. Silly Love Songs. Here's another
one:
I was alone, I took a ride
I didn't know what I
would find there
Another road where
maybe I could see another kind of mind there
Ooh, then I suddenly
see you
Ooh, did I tell you I
need you
Every single day of
my life
You didn't run, you
didn't lie
You knew I wanted
just to hold you
And had you gone you
knew in time we'd meet again
For I had told you
Ooh, you were meant
to be near me
Ooh, and I want you
to hear me
Say we'll be together
every day
Got to get you into
my life
Even though romantic fantasies lead most people to heartache, with
McCartney it's all so lovely. This lyric is pretty empty; although
the first line ain't bad. I was alone and took a ride to find another
kind of mind. That's imagery. We don't normally think of ourselves as
looking for other kinds of minds. There is evocative imagery in the
first lines.
The whole
production is very catchy, with the horns and all. And that's true of
many Beatle songs. Take Yellow Submarine:
In the town where I was born
Lived a man who
sailed to sea
And he told us of his
life
In the land of
submarines
So we sailed up to
the sun
'Til we found the sea
of green
And we lived beneath
the waves
In our yellow
submarine
We all live in a
yellow submarine
Yellow submarine,
yellow submarine
We all live in a
yellow submarine
Yellow submarine,
yellow submarine
What does any of that mean? It's a silly children's song. The idea
that we all live in a Yellow Submarine is intriguing at first. But
after thinking about it for 50 years, one realizes it means nothing.
Lennon called
Here, There, and Everywhere one of his favorite Beatle songs. Yes,
it's sung sweetly with soothing harmonies, and the rhyme in the title
is intriguing. But what follows?
To lead a better life I need my love to be here...
Here, making each day of the year
Changing my life with
the wave of her hand
Nobody can deny that
there's something there
There, running my
hands through her hair
Both of us thinking
how good it can be
Someone is speaking
but she doesn't know he's there
I want her everywhere
and if she's beside me
I know I need never
care
But to love her is to
need her everywhere
Knowing that love is
to share
The line “Changing my life with the
wave of her hand” is poetic but pablum. Once again, it's a silly
love song. It's not profound, it's not wise. It's love drug.
Compare to this gem from the Stones,
written in 1962:
It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch
the children play
Smiling faces I
can see
But not for me
I sit and watch
As tears go by
My riches can't
buy everything
I want to hear the
children sing
All I hear is the
sound
Of rain falling on
the ground
I sit and watch
As tears go by
It is the evening
of the day
I sit and watch
the children play
Doin' things I
used to do
They think are new
I sit and watch
As tears go by
Once again, great
word economy from the Stones. And so evocative. It's evening, when
loneliness hurts the most. The singer sees smiling faces, but they
are not smiling for him. They are the smiles of strangers who smile
at each other. He is left out. I watch as tears go by. What is that?
Is the happiness of these strangers tears for him as they are
reminders of his loneliness? I'll go with that. It's a mysterious
line but it packs a bunch. It's not nonsensical as are so many
Beatles lines, particularly those from Lennon.
She said, "I know what it's like to be dead.
I know what it is
to be sad."
And she's making
me feel like I've never been born
I said, "Who
put all those things in your head?
Things that make
me feel that I'm mad.
And you're making
me feel like I've never been born."
She said, "You
don't understand what I said."
I said, "No,
no, no, you're wrong.
When I was a boy
everything was right,
Everything was
right."
I said, "Even
though you know what you know,
I know that I'm
ready to leave
'Cause you're
making me feel like I've never been born."
She said, "You
don't understand what I said."
I said, "No,
no, no, you're wrong.
When I was a boy
everything was right,
Everything was
right."
There's so much
wrong with that lyric. For one, it is a jumble of nothing. What is
this song about? But worse, it's so wordy. Lots of Lennon songs are
like that.
Take A Day in the
Life. This is arguably the most powerful song from the album always
credited as the best of all time in rock.
I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who
made the grade
And though the news
was rather sad
Well, I just had to
laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out
in a car;
He didn't notice that
the lights had changed
A crowd of people
stood and stared
They'd seen his face
before
Nobody was really
sure if he was from the House of Lords
I saw a film today,
oh boy;
The English army had
just won the war
A crowd of people
turned away
But I just had to
look
Having read the book
I'd love to turn you
on
What are
reading his journal? Did he put the slightest effort into crafting
those words? I guess it's a song about the dark side of fame, but it
doesn't teach us anything we didn't know. And most of it makes no
sense. “He blew his mind out in a car; He didn't notice that the
lights had changed.” That seems profound, but one realizes after
thinking it over for half a century that it's random thought. It
doesn't mean anything. Lennon admits that the lyrics are based on
newspaper headlines. He's a guy at a coffee table reading headlines
to us. That is not poetry. And so as not to pile on the abuse, I'm
not even getting into the middle part from McCartney about sitting on
a bus and dragging a comb across the head.
Still it's a powerful song. Why? Well
the singing is top notch. Lennon owed one of the best pop voices
ever. And the whole production with the piano that takes off like an
airplane and the orchestral finale is titillating to the ears. This
is an example of the Beatle magic. The lyrics are weak, but the whole
thing works. They were innovative sound makers. But they are shallow.
Here's another one:
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to
strawberry fields
Nothing is real and
nothing to get hung about
Strawberry fields
forever
Living is easy with
eyes closed
Misunderstanding all
you see
It's getting hard to
be someone but it all works out
It doesn't matter
much to me
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to
strawberry fields
Nothing is real and
nothing to get hung about
Strawberry fields
forever
No one I think is in
my tree
I mean it must be
high or low
That is you can't,
you know tune in but it's all right
That is I think it's
not too bad
Just random lines, cliches, nonsense.
What do strawberries have to do with any of this? It's just imagery.
Penny Lane is another song like that. Just images. They're OK. It's a
catchy tune. Barbershops and little kids laughing and a man who wears
a mack in the pouring rain, a nostalgic memory of a childhood and
warm feelings for a neighborhood. It's saccharine. It's not a crime
to make such a song, but it's not genius profundity.
Compare to:
You can't always get what you want
But if you try
sometime you find
You get what you need
That's wisdom. That's the Stones again, you know the guys who were
just a blues cover band according to McCartney. Much of the rest of
the lyric gets a bit cryptic, like an attempt to copy the Lennon I am
the Walrus style random imagery. Jagger seemed to have a weird
insecurity with regard to the Beatles, and that is a shame because in
my view he is far more talented. But hard as he may have tried to
imitate Lennon, the song still makes sense. It's all about people who
don't get what they want.
I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in
her hand
I knew she would
meet her connection
At her feet was a
footloose man
It's not clear at
first what the footloose (free from ties) man has to do with
anything, but the stanza seems to be about a woman who wants one man
and is getting another. The latter sits at her feet. He's footloose.
Not marriage material for sure. So upon second thought, the footloose
man does fit into all this. And we didn't have to wait 50 years to
figure it out. Again, great word economy and great imagery, all of
which ties into the theme. It should be no surprise that Jagger
attended the London School of Economics. For a guy who Don McClean
depicted as Jack Flash and the devil, he was damn smart.
You want word
economy. Try this:
I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no
girl reaction
'Cause I try and I
try and I try and I try
I can't get no, I
can't get no
Sexual frustration again conveyed in a few lines. After a few bars,
“I can't get no” sums it all up.
The Beatles have
their moments. “Well, she was just seventeen. You know what I
mean.” Is good. This is good: “And anytime you feel the pain,
Hey, Jude, refrain. Don't carry the world upon your shoulders. For
well you know that it's a fool Who plays it cool By making his world
a little colder.”
There's wisdom
there and compassion. Hey Jude is quite good. Eleanor Rigby is
another one from McCartney that qualifies as strong writing. Then
there's Blackbird.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken
wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting
for this moment to arise
As usual with
McCartney, it's all so simple. He lives in a simple world. But the
song is encouraging. It has lifted me up at times like an
affirmation. There's symbolism, effective imagery.
Yesterday is
darker, not that a song has to be dark to be good.
Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away.
Now it looks as
though they're here to stay.
Oh, I believe in
yesterday.
Suddenly, I'm not
half the man I used to be.
There's a shadow
hanging over me.
Oh, yesterday came
suddenly.
Believing in
yesterday. That's no prosaic speech. It's an unhealthy sentiment, but
it's something people do. That's good song writing.
McCartney wasn't
bad. But wasn't a genius lyricist. Unfortunately, he's called that so
often that he actually published a book of his lyrics as a poetry
book. So you saw Blackberry, which is a good lyric, presented as
poetry, which it really isn't.
Lennon was a
disturbed man and his songs show it.
I am he
As you are he
As you are me
And we are all
together
See how they run
Like pigs from a gun
See how they fly
I'm crying
Sitting on a
cornflake
Waiting for the van
to come
Corporation tee shirt
Stupid bloody Tuesday
Man, you been a
naughty boy
You let your face
grow long
Means nothing,
just a collection of weird imagery. And that's fine. The whole song
grabs you, but again that's not because of the lyric. It's singing,
creative noise making, and production.
Compare to the
Stones again:
Angie, Angie
When will those
clouds all disappear?
Angie, Angie
Where will it lead us
from here?
With no loving in our
souls
And no money in our
coats
You can't say we're
satisfied
But Angie, Angie
You can't say we
never tried
Angie, you're
beautiful, yeah
But ain't it time we
said goodbye?
The lyric is pure
heartache in part because it's so confusing. He loves Angie. Her
kisses still taste sweet. She's beautiful. She cries for him. So why
should they say goodbye? Is it because there's no money in their
coats? Lots of lovers with no money have stayed together. The clouds
won't disappear, but that's vague. What specifically is the problem?
Is it because there no loving in their souls? Are they incapable of
love? That is a tragedy. There's pathos here. It's powerful. And the
singing and production are as good as anything the Beatles ever did.
So there's some of
it. And I only compared to the Stones, didn't bring in Dylan,
Springsteen, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Goffin and other great
lyricists. I don't count the Beatles among them. And if you are not a
great lyricist, you are not a great song writer. At least pair up
with one as Elton John and Carole King did.
