The 5 Most Bizarre Songs by The Beatles
If The Beatles taught us nothing else, it’s that they were unafraid to follow their muses wherever they might have led, even if that took them way outside the established boundaries of rock and roll. And if that also meant that things got a bit weird at times, well that was part of the deal.
These are five Beatles songs that wear like their bizarre nature like a badge of honor. Let’s look back in chronological order.
“Good Morning Good Morning” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
On the surface, this Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band track isn’t all that weird. It’s got a peppy rhythmic pulse and some sly John Lennon lyrics about the boredom of everyday life (a pervasive theme on that album). But then there are the little touches the band adds that take this one into strange territory. First, there’s the decision to suddenly switch to the German language at the end of the refrain: Good morning, good morning, gut. Even odder is the wild cacophony of animal noises tacked onto the end of the song.
“Blue Jay Way” from Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
George Harrison, while staying in a rented house in Los Angeles and fighting jet lag, decided to write a song on an old organ so he could stay awake until his friends arrived. The lyrics pretty much tell the story of the night without embellishment. But the music of “Blue Jay Way” (the name of the street where the house was located) tells a different, eerier story. Everything about the accompaniment is just a tad off-kilter, from the creaky organ, to the insinuating strings, to the backing vocals that sound like disembodied spirits haunting the song.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
