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Rating: I have read so many things about the Beatles on this site; I've read that they were four mediocre musicians, and that their success came from their publicity; I've even read that they never composed a real masterpiece: "A Day In The Life" is the masterpiece above another 4-5 masterpieces, I seriously wouldn't know how to define it. What is that song? Boh. However, many on this site believe they were important, yes, but more as a cultural phenomenon (damned Scaraffone); but thanks to George Harrison's Eastern openness, didn't they anticipate by how many, 20, 30 years, the discovery of India and Asia in general, now also from a cinematic point of view; many think they are just Pop; there's even someone who says they didn't influence anyone, which is also more than debatable. Or rather, a colossal nonsense. It's enough for me to say that songs like "Arnold Layne" or "Ruby Tuesday" have something Beatlesque about them. I could also say that from their psychedelic intuitions, which is NOT pure psychedelia, they started the prog-rock movement, because many songs are polished with that dreamy arrangement and satisfaction, just like "I Talk To The Wind". That's saying something.
And indeed, you can say anything about the Beatles, because it's very easy, more than for other bands, to speak ill of them, for the simple reason that everyone talks about them. And, be careful, it's the fact that you CAN say anything that is dangerous, because it gives rise to unmotivated and uncontrollable chain reactions, sometimes making you want to cut your veins. But what really pisses me off is that a sort of revisionism has been set in motion about the Beatles; they who incubated and nurtured every possible musical genre embryo, rendered in a catchy song form, and for this reason even more to be esteemed. Even Pink Floyd were terribly catchy; even "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn," an album I adore, is terribly catchy, but no one speaks ill of that. And don't tell me "No, The Piper is another thing..." and nonsense like that. I don't believe it.
But what is Sgt. Pepper? A concept album, I don't think so. A rock opera? Maybe something more. It's an opera because it's the most varied album I've ever heard. It's like going to the theater and seeing 4 strangely dressed guys doing strange things singing natural, human music. The problem is that it's not rock. Except in the two tracks "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" and the subsequent reprise. The first track is a warning: "Attention, you are about to listen to and see the adventures that happen to Sergeant Pepper and his lonely hearts club band". And you can expect, must expect anything. The eclecticism of the Beatles is something unassailable. "She's Leaving Home" sounds like a piece of classical music adapted to the 19th century: silence, the music is talking, the lyrics add details, nothing more. The next song could be anything: it goes from melancholy to mockery, to vaudeville music (listen to "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society") with "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite", sure, not a masterpiece, but it’s a sweet surprise. The fact is that in Beatles' music I see everything, going from the proto-psychedelic lull of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" to the strong cadences of "Getting Better" has something magical.
There is something magical in the interval in the pause between songs, there is something magical in the attack between the first and second track (mumble mumble, what does it remind me of? Oh yes, the continuity of Pink Floyd's albums). A little note, Paul turned 64 this year, and he seriously looks insane seeing him, strange that it's him who created a little second-hand masterpiece like "Lovely Rita", walking almost on tiptoe. And then, to conclude, "A Day In The Life". There's nothing to say about this song, every time I hear it it's a strange sensation. The only note I want to make is that the 4 decided to have about a hundred strings play from the highest note to the lowest, quite crazy stuff.
Boh. You decide.
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 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.’"
By granpaul
It is no secret that the four used acids and the like, and with this album they show the damage that drugs cause to the brain.
I can’t fathom how some people dare to call it a record, even Wonderful, not realizing that they have in their hands the sickly vomit of four delirious drug addicts.
