The Beatles Plus 50 It was fifty years ago today…

Revolution 3: Legend has it that many of the short “Revolution”s scattered throughout the album are parts of a larger work, now lost to history. One wonders, would it have been amazing, or annoying? We’ll never know.

Savoy Truffle: The line “We all know Ob-la-di-bla-da” is, of course, a reference to “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” released as a single back in September 1968 (Apple 005, b/w “Birthday”). “I hated that fucking song,” John Lennon told Jann Wenner years later,

“And I didn’t want it on the album. So I convinced Paul to release it as a single, figuring it would sink like a stone.” Lennon smiled ruefully. “Of course it became a huge fucking hit.”

Glass Onion: As previously noted, when John sang “here’s another clue for you all/the Walrus was Paul,” he could not consciously have been tweaking the Paul-Is-Deaders — as that did not become a thing until 1969. Unless he could see the future. Which I suppose is possible.

A Beginning/Don’t Pass Me By: For reasons that are not entirely clear, George Martin was inspired to create an orchestral intro to Ringo’s goofy C&W-via-Liverpool song. The result is somewhat incongruous, though not unpleasant.

Rocky Raccoon: Continuing the theme, this is Paul’s idea of a country song; “Rocky had come/equipped with a gun/to shoot off the legs of his rival” is his equivalent to “I killed a man in Reno just to watch him die.” Something about “Rocky Raccoon” always makes me want to drink gin and lie down on a table.

The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill: I’m not sure what you’d call this, genre-wise. It has a country/folk/campfire kind of feel, but it has one foot in something avant-garde. John was into challenging his audience at this time, and “Bungalow Bill” certainly does that. File under “Fucked-Up.”

Revolution 4: Many have speculated about the meaning of the phrase “Take this, brother, may it serve you well.” It kind of sounds like a knight handing a sword to his comrade, though it could easily just have been The Beatles passing a joint around.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps: Few people paid attention to this song until it was used in the famous bathtub scene of the top-grossing movie of all time, Withnail and I.

Cry Baby Cry: On Magical Mystery Tour’s “Your Mother Should Know,” Paul sang:

Let’s all get up and dance to a song
That was a hit before your mother was born
Though she was born a long long time ago
Your mother should know

Whereas here John says:

Cry baby cry
Make your mother sigh
She’s old enough to know better.

Coincidence? Hah. There are no coincidences in Beatleism.

Can You Take Me Back/Gone Tomorrow, Here Today: These two snippets of unfinished songs might be considered filler, except that there was no need to fill space on the already sprawling album. They’re there because they’re supposed to be there. Stop asking questions.

Good Night: The Beatles recorded several different versions of this song, and had a hard time deciding which one to use on the album. In the end, they used two. This one includes a false start, rich Beatle harmonies, and a guitar part reminiscent of “Dear Prudence.” Bonus points for anyone who can figure out what John’s muttering at the end there.