Perfectly Pleasant: “All I’ve Got To Do”
And the same goes for me,
Whenever you want me at all.
I’ll be here, yes I will, whenever you call.
You just gotta call on me
Coming On Too Strong/Only Vaguely Creepy: “Hello, Little Girl”
I send you flowers
But you don’t care
You never seem to see me
Standing there,
I often wonder what you’re thinking of,
I hope it’s me
And love, love, love
It’s not the first time that it’s happened to me,
It’s been a long, lonely time
And it’s so funny, so funny to see
That I’m about to lose my mind
Slightly Sinister: “You Like Me Too Much”
You’ll never leave me and you know it’s true
‘Cos you like me too much, and I like you
And it’s nice when you believe me
If you leave me
I will follow you and bring you back where you belong
Wait, Did He Set Her House On Fire: “Norwegian Wood”
I sat on a rug,
biding my time,
drinking her wine
We talked until two
and then she said,
“It’s time for bed”
She told me she worked in the morning
and started to laugh
I told her I didn’t
and crawled off to sleep in the bath
And when I awoke,
I was alone,
this bird had flown
So I lit a fire, isn’t it good Norwegian wood?
I…Hmm: “Getting Better”
I used to be cruel to my woman
I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved
Man, I was mean but I’m changing my scene
And I’m doing the best that I can
Horrifying If True: “Run For Your Life”
Well, you know that I’m a wicked guy
And I was born with a jealous mind
And I can’t spend my whole life
Trying to make you toe the line
You’d better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand, little girl
Catch you with another man
That’s the end, little girl
These Are Just Murder Ballads Now: “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”
Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine
Calls her on the phone
“Can I take you out to the pictures, Joan?”
But as she’s getting ready to go
A knock comes on the door
Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s silver hammer
Came down upon her head
Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s silver hammer
Made sure that she was dead
[Image via Beatles Wikia]
Tags: george harrison put down the gun, john lennon will come back from the grave to kill us all, mortal terror, paul mccartney please don’t murder me, ringo i can’t stay mad at you, the beatles
I…Hmm
Mallory you are a treasure.
I remember the first time I heard “Another Man” – I think I did a triple take, and then my face was all D-:
My mother, who’s generally a Beatles fan, refuses to listen to that album, because “Another Man” is on it. (I clicked on this post hoping that song was on the list, because damn, it’s a horrifying song.)
“Run For Your Life” is a really creepy song especially since its the last track off Rubber Soul but I love “Michelle” and “I’m Looking Through You”
I’d rather see you dead, little girl
Than with another man
remind me why our entire culture worships this band, again
The patriarchy. It’s because of the patriarchy.
Even John Lennon was uncomfortable with that song, though George Harrison had a strange fondness for it.
Man, I thought he was supposed to be the nice one.
Nah, Paul is the nicest one where women are concerned (and yet seems to get the least credit). George was just the most “spiritual.”
YOU GUYS
Apparently John ripped off those lines from a 1955 Elvis song, “Baby, Let’s Play House” by Arthur Gunter (where the murder lines kinda come out of nowhere), got in a morbid mood, and expanded it into a whole song.
Why do I never think about song lyrics until somebody points them out to me
/shallow
Plus why are you sitting on a rug getting drunker and drunker until two in the goddamn morning when she probably just expected you to make the first move, seeing as it’s the ninteen-fucking-sixties, dude.
Exactly. And sexual intercourse only began just before your first LP, after the end of the Chatterley ban.
omg
I have very little knowledge of Beatles lyrics beyond some na-na-nas and Hey Jude so I’m sitting here fervently believing that Mallory made some of these up.
Same. My folks were never fans, so I didn’t encounter them that much growing up, so this is a brand new horror for me.
I fell hard for the Beatles when I was in middle school, memorized essentially all of their songs, and now when I listen to them again for the memories/nostalgia/pleasure I try and rank the songs on how offended/freaked out I should be. At least Maxwell is supposedly a fictional character; “Run For Your Life” is just straight-up crazy.
Though I do really like listening to “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” and thinking about it as a gay love song.
brb listening to ALL THE BEATLES now
YES I am not the only one who thinks that about “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”
I always dedicate that song to Brian Epstein in my head.
Is ‘Run For Your Life’ called ‘Another Man’ in the US? *puzzled face briefly replaces horrified face*
Nope! I just made a mistake!
“Please Please Me” is definitely about oral sex though right?
Last night I said these words to my girl
I know you never even try, girl
…
Please, please me, whoa yeah
Like I please you
Uh, yeah, I’d say so.
See, this. This is why my head explodes in anger when people gasp indignantly about the misogyny in rap music and then say wistfully that they want to get back to the times of wholesome, innocent music when men respected women. You know, like the Beatles!
But the tags!
Also, can I use this space to share how creepy (non-Beatles Springsteen hit) “I’m On Fire” is? Granted, I first heard it as a kid, but “Hey little girl is your daddy home/Did he go and leave you all alone?” is still creepy as hell, right?
I heard that song for the first time recently and was VERY UNCOMFORTABLE.
I grew up in a Springsteen household, but I never realized this until I heard the Bat for Lashes cover. The creepiest.
Isn’t “Another Man” actually called “Run for Your Life”? That song definitely starts out with the lines “Well I’d rather see you dead little girl than to be with another man.” The whole song is a thinly veiled threat.
Thinly veiled! (You’re right about the title; it’s been fixed.) What part of “Baby, I’m determined, and I’d rather see you dead” is thinly veiled? What kind of DEEPLY SPECIFIC THREATS are you comparing this to??? ahhh
Well the veil is cellophane.
Oh god Maxwell Silver Hammer! I totally forgot about that song. That brings back sweet memories of choir camp and twelve-year-old me crushing on a girl who snuck in an mp3 player and and his under a bush with me to listen to what she and her friend called “the happy murder song.” I wonder whatever happened to her.
It’s hard out here for a John Lennon apologist.
The thing about Getting Better, too, is that it’s so upbeat and most of it has really happy words, and then it’s like, NOPE, disclosure of past partner abuse, here we go.
Also I could have sworn that Tiger Beatdown had a great article about the Beatles and how they treated their wives, and how if Yoko broke up the Beatles it’s because she busted up their culture of being terrible to women, but I can’t find it anymore.
That is EXTREMELY disappointing.
Could I interest you in this consolatory feminist analysis of Yoko Ono from The Curvature?
http://thecurvature.com/2008/12/15/yoko-ono-a-feminist-analysis-introduction-oh-yoko/
Oooh, I think this is the article I was thinking about, and I was just wrong in thinking Sady Doyle wrote it. Thanks!
Why you may indeed…
What an excellent way of putting it. It really grosses me out that so many people think of John Lennon as some sort of progressive hero. Like, sure, he did say and do a few cool things, but actually he was kind of a major dick and he never AFAIK expressed any real remorse for treating his first wife and son like shit. Thank goodness for Yoko, what a BAMF.
God I fucking love Yoko Ono
And I know I read somewhere about him being a real ass to Yoko, too. Like how everyone thought that she was controlling because they were together all the time, when in reality he wouldn’t let her out of his sight and would even GO TO THE BATHROOM WITH HER. I find that explanation rings way more true than Yoko being the nut (perhaps based on how Lennon admittedly treated first wife and child). Why, John? Why couldn’t you just be cool?
Yeah, basically. He knew it too:
LENNON, 1980: “It is a diary form of writing. All that “I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved” was me. I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically — any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn’t express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for love and peace. Everything’s the opposite. But I sincerely believe in love and peace. I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster.”
*points at username* So, full disclosure, I’m a big Beatles fan, because of beautiful music and pretty boys with crazy drama. (I love the tags on this SO much.)
But yeah, some of their stuff is just terrible. “Run For Your Life” makes me physically cringe, especially because the song is so FUCKING catchy. I always skip that one. And yes, he absolutely lights her house on fire because she didn’t have sex with him. John Lennon was an abusive misogynistic asshole as a young man. I think he was changing, but yes, the amount of unquestioning adulation he receives is REALLY PROBLEMATIC, as is the Yoko-bashing that often goes with it.
I give George a bit of a pass on “You Like Me Too Much,” because it’s like the third song he ever wrote, he was 21 and probably thought that was a perfectly healthy relationship dynamic, and his early stuff was never really lyrically sophisticated, to put it politely. And “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is…well, Paul likes to create characters and get in their heads. (Rocky Raccoon, Ob-la-di Ob-la-Da, She’s Leaving Home…) Um…at least it’s about a serial killer that murders women AND men? (He kills the judge at the end!)
Yeah, I’m having a hard time these days seeing John as anything but a dickhole (and I consider myself a Beatles fan). After reading Patty Boyd’s book, I also see George in a new, unflattering light. Ringo was a cheater. But from what I know, Paul was always pretty cool to the ladies, and certainly had a respectful, beautiful relationship with Linda. I’m tempted to stick my fingers in my ears and loudly sing “LALALALA” to any reports to the contrary, because I need one Beatle to not have been a terrible dudebro!
I know Paul McCartney has his faults, and it’s certainly not the cool thing to say that he’s your favorite Beatle, but god, I just love him so much. You’re right — his relationship with Linda was mature and beautiful. (Oh,”Maybe I’m Amazed!” *swoon*) And yeah — everyone talks about Pattie Boyd leaving George for Clapton, but George was in the middle of an affair with RINGO’S WIFE at the time, and he did treat Pattie horribly. And of course, he cheated on his second wife, Olivia, quite a bit. I think he had a bit of a misogynistic streak, too, though not as bad as John’s. And sigh…I know Ringo isn’t perfect, but I still want to hang out with him.
I’m totally with you as a frequent Paul apologist. I suppose it’s not cool to be uxorious, or to be the one pushing the Beatles into making all those albums.
I still feel outraged by Nicole’s dad’s comment that he couldn’t play guitar. Hello, “Taxman” solo? Also, he was a wonderful bass player.
Phew! Just had to get that out!
I have a probably annoying tendency to jump into long-winded rants about how underrated Paul McCartney is at the slightest provocation. He’s a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist AND one of the best vocalists in rock history. Every time Rolling Stone snubs him by putting Lennon ahead of him on one of their stupid lists, my poor boyfriend is subjected to an hour of me railing against the hipsters and demanding he cancel our subscription. “They just hate him because he’s SINCERE and LOVES MAKING MUSIC!”
…oh god, I sound like I’m fun at parties, don’t I? I SWEAR I’M USUALLY PLEASANT AND NORMAL.
<3
Please come sit by me at parties. You’re not annoying at all! Just CORRECT.
Lots of the world’s great art can be problematic and troubling; that doesn’t make it bad, just worth interrogating instead of blandly accepting its tacit meaning. (Even the brief unpacking you gave “You Like Me Too Much” here, for example, makes some sense of it to me.)
By which I just mean: yeah, me too. I grew up drenched in Beatles songs and never stopped loving them, even when I realized that they were nowhere near the sweet innocent love-songs my parents seem to heard in them.
Oh, totally! The Beatles were kind of monsters, but their songs were great, and most of them are dead now, so everything is fine.
I truly hoped “Run For Your Life” was the worst one, but I had forgotten about “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”. I love most of their songs, but holy fucking shit, they could be crazy when it came down to women (especially John Lennon).
Fun fact: the very first Beatles album that included at least one song not about a woman/women is Rubber Soul. It only took them 10 or so albums to get there.
It’s possible that my complete inability to actually hear what lyrics are saying in songs without paying extremely close attention stems from growing up with Beatles and Rolling Stones songs, as it’s best for one’s anger levels to just ignore what they’re actually saying and focus on what the guitars are doing and the voice-as-instrument, not voice-as-information-conveyor.
Aaaaaand then the manipulative one* where he woos her back by implying that it’s her fault he got angry and abusive, and that his hurting her is due to the (apparently immutable) nature of his personality:
I was feeling insecure
You might not love me anymore
I was shivering inside
I was shivering inside
I didn’t mean to hurt you
I’m sorry that I made you cry
I didn’t want to hurt you
I’m just a jealous guy
*From Lennon’s first solo album, not a Beatles song, but STILL.
Best stalker song: No Reply, Return to Sender, or Brand-New Key? No Reply, for the record:
This happened once before,
When I came to your door,
No reply.
They said it wasn’t you,
But I saw you peep through your window.
I saw the light, I saw the light.
I know that you saw me,
‘Cause I looked up to see your face.
I tried to telephone,
They said you were not home,
That’s a lie.
‘Cause I know where you’ve been,
And I saw you walk in your door.
I nearly died, I nearly died,
‘Cause you walked hand in hand
With another man in my place.
If I were you I’d realize that I
Love you more than any other guy.
And I’ll forgive the lies that I
Heard before when you gave me no reply.
I’ve tried to telephone,
They said you were not home,
That’s a lie.
‘Cause I know where you’ve been
And I saw you walk in your door.
I nearly died, I nearly died,
‘Cause you walked hand in hand
With another man in my place.
I’ve always thought “Run For Your Life” was a rare misstep for the Beatles. At best, you can construe it as a threat to break up with her, but really it’s hard to take it as anything other than a threat of physical violence. “Norwegian Wood” is more dark and ambiguous so I find it creepy but enjoyable.
But for the people on here who are saying that these examples (which are still a small part of the Beatles’ oeuvre, which covers a tremendous breadth of subjects and tones) show that the Beatles are patriarchal, or that John Lennon is a misogynist/asshole/etc., I don’t think you’re being fair. John Lennon was unusually frank about his anger as a young man and about the difference feminism, Yoko, growing up, and various types of therapy made in his life. So just please remember to measure his occasional scary antiwoman lyric against songs like “Julia,” “Dear Prudence,” “Woman,” and “Real Love”
I don’t think John Lennon was this evil monster, or that the Beatles aren’t still worth listening to despite some creepy, shitty lyrics, but “think of all the songs about women he didn’t hit” isn’t the most convincing argument I’ve heard today.
Mallory deliberately did not tell me she was writing this because she knows I am a Classic Beatles Apologist and would try to talk her down.
I can’t really find fault with this post, sadly.
I’m like the only person in the world who is really into weird middle-late Beatles. Who wants to come over and listen to “It’s All Too Much” and “It’s Only a Northern Song” with me and talk about how Ringo is perfect?
Example of Ringo’s greatness: Don’t Pass Me By
(check the tags)
I so love Don’t Pass Me By. And any other time Ringo is in country mode, like Act Naturally. And I don’t even LIKE country, except when Ringo does it. He’s a much better singer than people give him credit for! I would love to talk about the perfection of Ringo. Even though I’m a huge Macca fangirl, Ringo is the Beatle I would most like to chill with. The Grammy Museum in LA just recently did this super cool exhibit on Ringo’s career (I went to one for George a couple years ago) with lots of original memorabilia and outfits and photos and such, and there was the little drum tutorial set up with a video of Ringo teaching you how to play, and he was just so. damn. cute.
Plus, the man is 73 and he looks ridiculously good. He’s hotter now than he was when he was 30!
Just from reading this description before I even followed the link, I knew this was gonna be about my once and always dreamboat musician love Josh Ritter! bgprincipessa, are you going to the show in Boston perchance???
What about Ringo’s amazing (terrifying) cover of “You’re 16, You’re Beautiful and You’re Mine”? Is that on the table? True, he didn’t write it and it was a “solo project” But also, here is the video with Carrie Fisher as the “love interest”, so I think it’s time for us to deal with that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76O6tuJPe3w
Huh. I absolutely didn’t get that he set her house on fire. I figured he woke up, alone, was cold, so he did what normal people do in the morning, start a fire (in the fireplace…) but cripes, I looked it up and lo and behold McCartney explained the title and lyric as follows: “So she makes him sleep in the bath and then finally in the last verse I had this idea to set the Norwegian wood on fire as revenge, so we did it very tongue in cheek. She led him on, then said, “You’d better sleep in the bath.” In our world the guy had to have some sort of revenge … so it meant I burned the place down ….[3]”
Apparently Paul was the one to write those few lyrics. HUH. Unfortunately, Ringo, I’m told, wasn’t all too swell to his wife either.
Is Ringo’s amazing (SEE: Terrifying) cover of “You’re Sixteen, You’re Beautiful, and You’re Mine” on the table? I know he didn’t write it and it was technically a “solo project” but Carrie Fisher played the “love interest” in the video and I think it’s time for us to deal with that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76O6tuJPe3w
The needle flies right off Misogyny Meter when applied to their contemporaries, Paul Revere and the Raiders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoMWQu5Z-Ho
“george harrison put down the gun”
As always, I love reading your Tags too Mallory.
I WAS RIGHT HE BURNT IT DOWN!!!! *dances*
Not sure why I never thought to check Wikipedia for the answer to that one, though…
What about Piggies? Heard a certain murderer liked it so much he (or someone in his gang, Squeaky maybe?) smeared it in blood on the wall. Or, Happiness is a Warm Gun? What’s creepier than “Mother Superior jumped the gun?” But you are absolutely correct to include Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, and best of all, it could have been:
“Rose and Mallory screaming from the gallery!”
Oh yeah!