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Rating: I remember that spring of 1996 very well. I had read many reviews, both old and new, about this album. Never (neither before nor after) have I felt such emotion putting an album in the CD player.
At first listen, I was a bit disappointed. I realized that the absolute masterpieces (those songs that enchant you at first listen and make you understand they come from another world) were only three: for me, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "She's Leaving Home," "A Day in the Life." I didn't stop there and continued to listen to it endlessly, reading all the lyrics and continuously comparing it with "Revolver." Today, after many years, readings, and listens, I can give a balanced opinion. I won’t talk much about the individual songs, but I will say a few things that I don't think are known to everyone.
It's true, the masterpieces present in "Revolver" outnumber: "Eleanor Rigby"; "I'm Only Sleeping"; "For No One"; "Here, There and Everywhere"; "Tomorrow never knows," etc. But it's also true that the (pleasant) downfalls of "Revolver" aren't there. For me, "Pepper" is one of the most homogeneous albums ever listened to.
"Pepper" is not a concept album (Lennon said about this: "My Kite has nothing to do with the sergeant and his band"). "Pepper" is rather, at least in intention, a "concert album". The Beatles had decided to be done with concerts in August 1966, so they decided to "bring people to the concert." The idea is splendid, and as John Robertson says in his autobiography of Lennon, people were fascinated by it, perhaps more than by the songs themselves. Too bad that the applause disappears after the first song and reappears at the penultimate one. Ringo considered it a flaw: "The central idea went right out the window." Also, the fact of introducing only one fictitious character ("Billy Shears") and not the other three, is another (forgivable) flaw of the album. Applause throughout the album, and four fictitious characters would have made it more curious.
Lennon tried to tear it down in the 70s, perhaps due to a poorly concealed jealousy, because many critics, in that decade, considered it as "an idea and a triumph of McCartney's lively imagination." Here are his words: ""Pepper" goes nowhere, although it was a hugely important moment for the group. Maybe this is better, but I continue to prefer the music of the "White", because that's where I'm truly myself." Lennon was exaggerating, as usual. Indeed, reading lyrics like "I'm so Tired" and "Yer Blues," there's John laying bare as never before. But it's equally wrong to think that Lennon doesn't talk about himself in "Pepper." In "Good Morning, Good Morning" (which he inexplicably considered "rubbish") there's one of the most ruthless and sincere portraits of his desperate and bored rockstar life ("Nothing to do to save this life"). And then "Getting Better," although brought to the studio by McCartney, is an autobiographical text by Lennon, who didn't just contribute with the chorus of "It can't get no worse."
There's one thing that makes this album more "beautiful" than others. It's the John-Paul collaboration, back as it was in the beginning. It's not true, as is usually written, that the Beatles' quarrels began during the "White" sessions. The first quarrels began in "Rubber Soul" and during the "Revolver" sessions, Paul slammed the door, telling everyone to get lost. During this period, John was very serene. George Martin recalls never having seen him so happy and collaborative, even writing lyrics for his friend-rival. John even allowed Paul to "mess" "A Day in the Life" with a "bridge" that is almost a song. Paul returned the favor by giving John the idea of the orchestra. Perhaps if Lennon had been jealous of his piece, the orchestra would have remained in Paul's head, and today that song wouldn't be as gigantic as it is.
It's true, "Pepper" is an overly deified album. All subsequent Author’s Pop, at least as far as I'm concerned, is much more a child of "Revolver" than of this album. But it is equally evident that this album managed to and manages to touch people's hearts better than a more "reflective and at times gloomy" album like "Revolver". The merit (and I would say the miracle) of "Pepper" is being easy without ever falling into the commercial. Even "Revolver" is a pop album (although this definition is sometimes quite superficial), but "Pepper" is more "popular," and I say "popular" in the highest sense of the term. It manages to satisfy refined tastes, but also those who want to listen to good music to distract themselves. Even music for distraction has its dignity.
As someone wrote: "Revolver beats Pepper in technique. Pepper beats Revolver in spirit."
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (03:30)
Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes
Cellophane flowers of yellow and green
Towering over your head
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes
And she's gone
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaaah
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
That grow so incredibly high
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore
Waiting to take you away
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds
And you're gone
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaaah
Picture yourself on a train in a station
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile
The girl with kaleidoscope eyes
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaaah
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaaah
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds...
05 Fixing a Hole (02:39)
I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
and stops my mind from wandering
where it will go
I'm filling the cracks that ran though the door
and kept my mind from wandering
where it will go
And it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong
I'm right where I belong
I'm right where I belong
See the people standing there
who disagree and never win
and wonder why they don't get in my door
I'm painting the room in a colorful way,
and when my mind is wandering
there I will go
And it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong
I'm right where I belong
I'm right where I belong
Silly people run around
they worry me and never ask me
why they don't get past my door
I'm taking my time for a number of things
that weren't important yesterday
and I still go
I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
and stops my mind from wandering
where it will go
where it will go
I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
and stops my mind from wandering
where it will go
08 Within You Without You (05:07)
We were talking
about the space between us all
and people who hide themselves
behind a wall of illusion
never glimpse the truth
then it's far too late
when they pass away
We were talking
about the love we all could share
When we find it
to try our best to hold it there
with our love, with our love
we could save the world
if they only knew
Try to realize it's all within yourself
no one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
and life flows on within you and without you
We were talking
about the love that's gone so cold
and the people who gain the world
and lose their soul
They don't know, they can't see
Are you one of them
When you've seen beyond yourself
then you may find
peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come
when you see we're all one
and life flows on within you and without you
10 Lovely Rita (02:44)
Lovely Rita meter maid
Lovely Rita meter maid
Lovely Rita meter maid
nothing can come between us
When it gets dark I tow your heart away
Standing by a parking meter
when I caught a glimpse of Rita
Filling in a ticket in her little white book
In a cap she looked much older
And the bag across her shoulder
Made her look a little like a military man
Lovely Rita meter maid
may I inquire discreetly
When are you free to take some tea with me
Rita!
Took her out and tried to win her
had a laugh and over dinner
Told her I would really like to see her again
Got the bill and Rita paid it
Took her home and nearly made it
Sitting on a sofa with a sister or two
Oh! Lovely Rita meter maid
where would I be without you
give us a wink and make me think of you
Lovely meter maid
Rita meter maid
oh, Lovely Rita meter, meter maid
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Other reviews
By Aerith
The most beautiful track on the album is the closing one: A Day In The Life is perhaps one of the most beautiful and modern songs by the Beatles.
She’s Leaving Home still manages to move me, blending perfectly in the myriad of bright lights and colors of the album.
By waties
"’A Day In The Life’ is the masterpiece above another 4-5 masterpieces, I seriously wouldn’t know how to define it."
"It’s like going to the theater and seeing 4 strangely dressed guys doing strange things singing natural, human music."
By Sanjuro
The whole class watches him squirm like a Houdini of the urban underclass, the new feminist girls then... kick the male chauvinist bear and spit rains down everywhere.
Davide X instead of lady laxatives could have found with unchanged results... a copy of the already much-mentioned Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
By vellutogrigio
Although inferior to contemporary "hard" rock songs by The Who, Rolling Stones or Kinks, it perhaps has the merit of introducing this kind of music to less attentive listeners.
A masterpiece that seems to have no weak points... you won’t hear it played in any dance entertainment for sixty-year-old professionals. Chapeau.
By enbar77
"Sgt. Pepper’s should be protected by an impenetrable case to avoid attacks from any deterrent agent of natural or artificial origin."
"Anyone who loves rock music and beyond MUST own ‘Sgt. Pepper’s.’"
