And here it is. The 1000th entry on this ongoing series. Took almost 10 years, but it’s finally arrived. We’re now much nearer to the end than to its beginning. And the song to mark it is one by a band that isn’t real, but sort of is, and a complete parody of ‘Help!’ by the Beatles. Couldn’t make this stuff up. Though what I’ve mentioned may be the case, it doesn’t stop me from actually preferring ‘Ouch!’ much more in comparison to the source of its inspiration. A whole lot more, honestly.

For those not in the know, the Rutles were the brainchild of Monty Python man Eric Idle who wrote a mockumentary based on the Beatles entitled All You Need Is Cash. You can watch it on YouTube. Neil Innes wrote all the songs that were clever parodies and takes on real Beatles songs. On ‘Ouch!’, Neil Innes copies the structure and elements of ‘Help!’ down to a tee. The call and response dynamic of the backing and lead vocals during the verses, the descending arpeggiated scale that the guitar plays preceding each verse. Generally, the whole band performance. What differs the most between the two is the actual melody of everything that’s sung and the lyrical matter. While John Lennon was doing some soul searching, writing with a lot of sincerity on his part, Innes turns it into another love song – making it about a person who’s begging his partner not to leave and pondering why those feelings that love brings have to hurt so badly.

I don’t know what else to say, really. I think I got it all down in the preceding paragraph. Maybe some “pure” Beatles fan may hear it and think, “How can you like a parody over the real thing?” All I can say is, that’s just how it is. Forgetting that it’s based of the music of a very, very successful band, the track stands up on its own just because of its great songwriting. In that way, it’s miles ahead of any other parodies out there. And it’s not trying to be funny either, also like a lot of parodies out there. Those ones I don’t like so much. Neil Innes really hit it out of the park for the movie soundtrack, that’s all it come down to. So with that, this’ll be the last Rutles track in this series that I’ll post about. It’s been fun. Had to end some time.