The Beatles’ ‘Revolution 9’ Is Good, Actually
TL;DR:
- John Lennon revealed The Beatles’ “Revolution 9” was one of his favorites from The White Album.
- He implied what Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr thought of the track.
- “Revolution 9” was ahead of its time.
The Beatles‘ “Revolution 9 “is not one of the Fab Four’s most beloved songs. In fact, some fans think it’s terrible. Despite this, “Revolution 9” is an avant-garde masterpiece.
John Lennon wanted The Beatles ‘to freak out a bit more’
The book Lennon on Lennon: Interview and Encounters with John Lennon includes an interview John did in 1969, over a year after the release of The White Album. In it, John was asked what kind of music he pictured The Beatles making together in the future.
“I can’t imagine, I can’t imagine at all,” he said. “I don’t think of it in terms of Beatles music. It’s only Beatles music when it comes out under the name ‘Beatles.’ There’s no limit to where anybody’s music can go, and I think Beatles stood still a bit too long after Pepper, and they’ve got to freak out a bit more. That’s where I’d push them.”
John Lennon implied his bandmates didn’t like The Beatles’ ‘Revolution 9’
John was asked if his bandmates felt they should “freak out” more. “You see, because we’re all different, we all have different concepts of how far you go,” he replied. “I say, ‘Go as far as you can.’ I don’t know what the others say. I can’t quote for the others, but we don’t all think the same. That’s why we make individual music. See, like on The Beatles double album, ‘Revolution 9’ is the track I’m interested in. I had to impose that on them, really.”
John implied Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were not big fans of “Revolution 9.” Sadly, Paul, George, and Ringo didn’t understand the brilliance of the song. Every band should strive to be original, to push the boundaries of music, and to challenge their audience. “Revolution 9” does all of that.
What is ‘Revolution 9’ about and why do some fans hate it so much?
How many other bands have released a song as experimental as “Revolution 9?” Far too few. To this day, the track raises a lot of questions.
Is it meaningless? Is it a song about revolution? If it is, how does each individual sound in the collage relate to that concept? Why does it include a line about the watusi? The song also contains some of The Beatles’ trademark dark humor with its random lyrics and terrifying noises.
Sure, “Revolution 9” doesn’t have the commercial appeal of “A Hard Day’s Night” or “Hey Jude.” But album tracks don’t need to be marketable. If “Revolution 9” has a bad reputation, it’s partially because the sheer length of The White Album can make the collage exhausting in context.
“Revolution 9” was a revolutionary work of art in the 1960s and the music industry has yet to catch up to it.
