Speaking of The Beach Boys and Pet Sounds, “Here, There and Everywhere” was a track by The Beatles that was very much influenced by the sound the former were able to achieve on that album. Left in amazement by the song “God Only Knows“, Paul McCartney was inspired to write something that was able to match the emotional impact and lightness in execution, resulting in a song that would be placed fifth in the tracklisting of Revolver, released in the summer of 1966.
In contrast to the rich and plentiful instrumentation that is present throughout Pet Sounds, “Here, There and Everywhere” incorporates a more minimalistic approach. Apart from the usual band setup are only percussive finger-clicks and smooth ‘oohing’ backing vocals that add to the song’s close and intimate feel.
Paul sings about wanting his partner to be wherever he is, appreciating the small things she does that seem to make his life that bit much better. He promises that he will always stand by her side in return. The track is a tender love song, able to depict that perfect moment one feels when they have found their perfect match.
For those of you who see this and think this sounds a bit like the song I posted a few days ago….. you would be correct to do so. But it is intentional. The Rutles aren’t some band who appeared to replicate everything the Beatles did, like their Rooftop concert or whatever. It’s just a parody that was created by the minds of Neil Innes and Eric Idle of Monty Python. But it was the former who wrote all of the music.
So if you didn’t guess, “Get Up and Go” is a parody of “Get Back”. But unlike the all of the other tracks on The Rutles album which incorporate little riffs, chord progressions and instruments similar to Beatles tracks but created to make them sound unique in their own way, “Get Up and Go” is basically “Get Back”. Very similar. From the melodies to the drumbeat. John Lennon himself told Neil Innes this, even though he did love The Rutles. As a result, “Get Up and Go” was not released on the original soundtrack for “All You Need Is Lunch” in 1978. It was released on the 1990 CD re-release, so it turned out alright in the end.
If “Get Back” didn’t do it for you, then the likelihood of enjoying this track will be low. Though I think it’s juuusssst fiiiiine.
Honestly, I liked this track much more in the past than I do now. If I had the same attitude towards it like I did then, I would have provided the song’s full title, but that is just too much. I’m tired and burned out. Not to say that this track is bad, ‘cos I’m gonna write about it anyway. It has lost its effect on me, that’s all.
“Get Busy” is a very bitchy track. It appears to be from the perspective of a guy used for sex, and eventually dumped by a girl who he really had feelings for. The guy’s understandably pissed, but feels that justice is served when the girl’s ‘secret’ (what it is, we don’t know) comes out and rubs it in by telling her that the secret was shit anyway. He’s over her. She don’t matter no more.
I have always liked the music on this track. The palm-muted guitars add a very sinister tone to the song’s atmosphere, and the track also showcases Patrick Stump’s vocal talents. He doesn’t just sing on here, but he also (kind of) screams along with Pete during the bridge, adding a real harshness on his voice. It did take me a while that it actually was him who was doing that and not just a guest vocalist from another band they knew.
Pete Wentz also reads out a poem as the final chord is struck and fades out. To this day I don’t know what it’s about, but as he continues reading it his delivery rises in intensity as the guitar fades in again until coming to a sudden stop. That ending’s always made me feel a bit uneasy. But it’s a good lead in to “XO”. Very similar to what they did with “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” and “West Coast Smoker” on Folie á Deux.
A shame I don’t feel as excited by the song as I used to. But those were some good few years I had when I was.
Today’s first song is from disc two (or side four for all you vinyl people) of The Beatles self-titled album from 1968. Or “The White Album” as almost everyone refers to it. That year was when John, Paul, George and Ringo started to dislike each other a bit. Why? Well there’s one word that the latter three, and a lot of fans would answer that question with. Yoko. John Lennon and Yoko Ono were hardly ever apart, even during recording sessions, and this aggravated George, Paul, and Ringo quite a bit. How did John answer this? Possibly by many ways which would have gone on behind closed doors, but for us he wrote “Me and My Monkey”.
“Monkey” should be played very loudly out of speakers. It gets me in the mood to party. It sounds like the band had a very fun time recording it, what with the random howls and screams which appear after almost every “Come on” that John yells, that incessant bell that never seems to end and when John also appears to start becoming a sheep right when the song begins to fade out.
It may be about heroin use and there may be some sexual connotations thrown in too, but those are just interpretations.
Dunno about you, but has anyone else noticed during the breakdown near when only the guitars and bass are playing that the bass plays a sharper note than the guitar chords? Just irks me a bit. But still, it’s cool. Very good hard rock song.
Alexisonfire were alright, man. The contrast between George Pettit’s psycho screamo vocals and Dallas Greens nicer-to-the-ear singing was a dynamic that I’d never witnessed from a band before. And I liked it. I got into Alexisonfire for a bit; and that initial liking toward the group started just as they were about to release their third album “Crisis” which came out in 2006.
“Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints” is the first track on that album, and what a way to start it. There’s no proper introduction, just a yell of “ALRIGHT” and then it charges on from there. I heard it fully on YouTube when someone matched the track along to some fitting scenes from the anime “Afro Samurai”. The video is still on there if anyone wants to see it; it is very well put together.
The track is about the love of sharing their music to anyone – the suits AND the squares – and they’ll carry on doing their thing because they never get bored of it. That was then obviously. Sure, there are some insecure thoughts the band question us on: do we as an audience really appreciate what we’re doing? Are we even listening? Yes, we are Alexisonfire. We continue to even in your absence.
After an onslaught of screams, angelic singing, something sort of in the middle provided by guitarist Wade MacNeil, and an onslaught of continuous guitars the track comes to a noisy ending as the fading notes roll around in feedback, as drums fade in from the distance. Those segue into the next track, but that’s for another day.
As I said, Alexisonfire were alllllright. This track is slick stuff. A brilliant opener to set the tone for the rest of the album.
SIDE NOTE
The next song is a Lostprophets one.
Now, I’ve been thinking on whether to write posts of the songs that I have on my iPod by the band since… well you know. I like those songs, but I won’t do them if people don’t want me to. I probably should have asked this yesterday so more people could answer.
If you still want to see Lostprophets posts, then comment or something. These are the songs that won’t have them if it comes to it: “Dstryr/Dstryr”, “The Fake Sound of Progress”, It’s Not the End of the World But I Can See It from Here”, “Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja” and all the other tracks on “Start Something” that aren’t “Burn Burn” or “Sway….”
So yeah, keep following. Leave a like or something. Tell all your friends.
The Music in My Ears 