Revolution (song)

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"Revolution" is a song by The Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and attributed to Lennon-McCartney.

The song appeared in two distinctly different incarnations, a raucous electric "Revolution", and a slowed acoustic "Revolution 1". A third connected piece, the heavily experimental "Revolution 9", appeared alongside "Revolution 1" on The White Album.

Revolution

The first version of "Revolution" to be released (though the last to be recorded) comprised the B-side of the "Hey Jude" single, released in early September 1968.

A product of the recording sessions for The Beatles (aka The White Album), "Revolution" featured distorted guitars and an electric piano solo by session musician Nicky Hopkins. This track is one of the loudest and most aggressive Beatle songs; it begins abruptly with a loud, overdriven electric guitar played by John Lennon, a thundering, compressed drum beat from Ringo Starr and a wailing scream from Lennon as the song launches into gear. (The scream was an overdub added when Lennon double tracked his vocal. Paul McCartney performed the scream on the 'David Frost Show' semi-live television performance, because Lennon could not deliver the scream and catch his breath again in time to launch into the first verse.)

The musical form is a simple rock and roll chord progression, but the highly processed elements and hyperbolic approach distinguished the track from nearly anything that had come prior; the sound of "Revolution" is often cited as presaging heavy metal.

The lyrics of the song can be interpreted as a cautionary response to the most extreme elements of the counter-culture movement of the era, as Lennon's verses express sympathy for, yet outline several limits to his support of political and social revolutionary action, in the most famous case rejecting violence:

We all want to change the world

But when you talk about destruction

Don't you know that you can count me out

"Revolution" later appeared on the 1970 Hey Jude compilation album and other compilations.

"Revolution" was the first Beatles recording, and indeed one of the first rock music recordings by any artist, to be licensed for use in a television commercial. (Ford Motor Company had used a cover version of "Help!" for a TV ad in 1985) Nike used the actual Beatles recording for a commercial in 1987, paying $250,000 for the rights to Capitol Records and Michael Jackson, who owned the publishing rights. This caused a huge backlash among Beatles fans, who felt John Lennon would have objected to this usage, especially in the face of controversy over Nike's use of sweatshops. In addition Paul McCartney protested by saying "Songs like Revolution don't mean a pair of sneakers, they mean Revolution." Nike later released a television ad featuring the John Lennon song "Instant Karma," with the permission of Yoko Ono.

Cover versions

"Revolution" was covered by the synth-pop group Thompson Twins on their 1985 album Here's to Future Days.

Revolution 1

"Revolution 1" is the same song as "Revolution" but is performed in a distinctly different style: slower, with less distortion and more emphasis on acoustic instruments (though electric guitar remains a primary component of the track's sound). Lennon performed most of the vocal take lying on his back in the studio, typifying his ongoing search for new ways of recording his vocals.

"Revolution 1" was recorded between 30 May and 4 June 1968, about 6 weeks before "Revolution", but released nearly three months later than the single. Lennon wanted the initial version to be released as a single but the other band members said it was too slow for a single. Lennon then led the band through the faster recording which ended up backing "Hey Jude". The original version, re-titled "Revolution 1" to distinguish it from the single version, was released on The Beatles' 'White Album', The Beatles in late November 1968.

"Revolution 1" contains a notable lyrical difference to the final "Revolution": Lennon's vocal for the track adds the word "in" following the line "When you talk about destruction/ don't you know that you can count me out". Lennon stated in interviews that he was undecided in his sentiments toward the song's theme so he included both options.

Non-released versions of the song including demos and outtakes can be found on many bootleg albums such as "From Kinfauns To Chaos" and "Revolution" which includes a twenty-three minute version of the song with Yoko Ono talking over The Beatles.

Revolution 9

Main article: Revolution 9

"Revolution 9" was a sound collage piece which appeared along with "Revolution 1" on The White Album. It shared no music or lyrics with the released versions of "Revolution" or "Revolution 1." The collage originally began as a coda for "Revolution 1" but ended up as a separate track. Some elements of the original coda are clearly audible in "Revolution 9", such as Lennon's drawn-out "all right" and repeated screams of "right".

External links

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes On Revolution and Revolution 1
• Beathoven: A long, detailed analysis about Revolution 9, among other things