What Does 'The Beatles' Mean to You?
Abbey Road - The Beatles
When it comes to listening to music, one of the great joys is being able to share the experience with family and friends, and discuss all the different thoughts and feelings it brings.
Importantly, the same song can be viewed very differently depending on the person you talk to. It is our individual experiences, key life events and first interactions with songs that affect how we perceive the music.
When a musician performs on stage, the audience isn’t singing back a song about the bandmate’s latest love and heartbreak, but instead remembering their own past ups and downs.
In doing so, one song can have a million different meanings; each listener with a different story to tell.
Taking this idea, I was curious how people’s perception on some of the biggest names in music would differ.
When it comes to musicians talked about more than anyone else, you might think opinions would start to align, where we are influenced by the surrounding buzz.
I have asked three people to share their separate experiences with one of the world’s biggest music acts of all time, The Beatles.
In this series, the three participants discuss five of The Beatles albums, briefly letting us into their world.
They tell us how the music makes them feel, their first experiences with the albums and how their experiences with the band have changed over time.
The three willing participants to join in are Dan Szczesny of ‘Day By Day, Brain of J-Hawk of ‘Music of My Mind’ and Zara Flack of ‘The Echo Chamber’.
Today we reach the final part of the series where the three discuss Abbey Road. Check out our previous conversation around The White Album below.
Abbey Road is The Beatles penultimate album, however many people see it as their farewell, with recording sessions for Abbey Road taking place a few months before Let It Be, their final album.
It is a classic rock album that is much less experimental than many of their records that came before it. The band had decided to keep things simple, getting back to enjoying what they were doing in a bid to reduce tensions amongst the members.
Abbey Road pulls from a range of influences in mainstream music, incorporating rock and pop to give a very clean and easy listen. It is raw and open as The Beatles step away from over-the-top concepts and storylines.
Dan Szczesny of ‘Day By Day’
George Harrison’s “Something” is the finest love song ever written. Just ask Frank Sinatra. “Oh! Darling” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” are absolutely blisteringly raw heavy rock numbers that still measure up to nearly anything that comes out today.
Personally, though, I’ve tended to shy away from the album because - of all the Beatles catalog - Abby Road is the only album where I actively don’t like a couple songs. I find “Come Together” to be Lennon at his most inauthentic, and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is just silly. Not really sure what McCartney was going for there.
When the album was released, the critics were pointed in their critiques, one calling it disposable music. Even at the time, it seems, everybody knew what was happening. In retrospect, Abby Road is more warmly received. Time heals all wounds apparently.
Ironically enough, the only real life Beatles fan memory I have is of a visit to England many years ago where a picture was taken of me in that famous intersection crossing the road near Abby Road studios. I know a picture was taken, but for the life of me I can’t track it down. Perhaps that’s for the best.
The Beatles continue to affect and influence my life to this day and that’s all that matters. In fact, I write this on a day when, later tonight, my daughter and I will be heading to a concert to see Studio Two, an early Beatles tribute band that we’ve followed since she was a toddler.
Tom’s Thoughts
I find it interesting to hear that the album received criticism upon release. As someone who’s only ever experienced Abbey Road in the 21st century, I’d always assumed this to be one of the bands most popular albums, given how famous just the album cover alone is.
The album is a clear example of the bands longevity and how they managed to cross generations. There is very little music that sounds like The Beatles, either before or after, giving them a fresh timeless sound for people of all ages.
Brain of J-Hawk of ‘Music of My Mind’
This quickly became my favorite record of theirs in high school and remains my favorite today, about 25 years later. “Come Together” is my favorite album opener. It’s one of the “coolest” sounding songs in their catalog. The bass on this track is incredible.
The two songs that always stood out the most for me are the two written by George. “Something” is such a beautiful and sultry song to dedicate to a loved one. Plus, the guitar riff that stands out with any I’ve ever heard. “Do do do, dooo, dooo, doooo.” The other song, “Here Comes the Sun” has long been one of my favorites of The Beatles. It’s such an uplifting song for me, that no matter how bad of a mood I am in, it pulls me back into content. It feels the sun is rising over the horizon or peeking through a cloudy sky when I listen to it.
The real masterpiece of Abbey Road is side two. I believe the run of tracks officially begins with “You Never Give Me Your Money,” but it starts at “Because” for me. That 10-track sequence is so iconic, not just to The Beatles but in rock period. I find it almost impossible to listen to one of them on their own. You really must dedicate yourself for the entire 20 minutes or so.
Once you get to “The End,” it’s awesome to get to hear Ringo go nuts on a rare solo. It’s my favorite part of side two. Then the track ends with “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” That’s one of the greatest song lyrics ever for me.
The last thing I’ll mention surrounds “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” The first time I heard of that song was in eighth grade. In my history class, one of my classmates heard the song and thought it was the coolest thing ever. He just found the right time to bring it up and sing one of the choruses to get another classmate to do the “bang, bang” part. The song is so innocent sounding, but the lyrics are so freaking dark. It is one of the most contrasting songs between music and lyrics that I’ve ever heard.
What I’ve come to learn recently is how much the band outside of Paul hated recording it. During the recording of Abbey Road some of the band members were in and out, depending on who was pissed off the most. On this song, John was not present. He believed this to be another “When I’m Sixty-Four” type of goofy song. Paul literally drove everyone angry because he was so hell bent on the recording being perfect. Something I would have never thought until I read about it leading up to this write up.
Tom’s Thoughts
“Here Comes The Sun” has to be one of the most uplifting songs ever written. It brings joy to anyone who hears it. It has positive lyrics, happy melodies and clean instruments.
It is one of my favourite songs to play on guitar whether there is rain or shine outside. It easily lifts people’s spirits and makes them want to sing along.
Zara Flack of ‘The Echo Chamber’
The album begins with the groovy “Come Together” with a haunting, bluesy bass line that truly gets under your skin. Similar to Magical Mystery Tour’s “I am the Walrus”, Come Together’s lyricism is mainly jumbled perplexity: with Lennon referencing “ju-ju eyeball”, “toe-jam football”, and “walrus gumboot”. The phrase “shoot me” is repeated again and again in a hushed, spooky tone.
Immediately after, Harrison’s stunning ode to Pattie Boyd, “Something”, steps into the spotlight. You can feel the spirit of the Harrison record “All Things Must Pass” in this track as Harrison rivals both McCartney and Lennon as principal songwriters. Paired with the jovial “Here Comes The Sun”, Harrison’s songwriting talents cement themselves in The Beatles’ legacy. The song reflects Harrison’s relief at the arrival of spring after a “long, cold, lonely winter” - a classic, charming Beatles track with Moog synth parts here and there. Again, I don’t think I can remember a time in my life where I didn’t know the melody of “Here Comes The Sun”.
At around age sixteen, not so long ago, I fell in love with “Sun King”. The song is tranquil and sleepy, while paired with rich, multi-tracked vocals from the band. The last three lines of the song are made up of mixed-up Latin languages - the group furthering the psychedelic ambience that had been building since Revolver. On late nights, studying for exams, alone in my room, “Sun King”’ was warm and familiar.
“She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” is rhythm heavy - with McCartney classic vocals duetting perfectly with Harrison’s twangy lead guitar. It’s only recently that I’ve given this song the time of day, and now I can say sincerely it is one of my favourites from The Beatles’ entire discography.
Let’s end my Abbey Road commentary with something on “Golden Slumbers”. Only around a minute-and-a-half long, the track is small but mighty - based on the poem Cradle Song. McCartney used the first stanza of the poem, but came up with his own melody for the song. His vocals begin soft, as if he is singing “a lullaby”, then move to a stronger, heartier tone on the line “Golden slumbers fill your eyes”, where Starr’s drumming introduces itself.
Abbey Road doesn’t have a particular theme, sound, or experience behind it. It is an amalgamation of what each of The Beatles had become by the end of the ‘60s. Abbey Road is a goodbye album which says hello to the independence of each of the Beatles in their individual talents.
Tom’s Thoughts
Abbey Road definitely feels a bit like a final hooray. The band go back to basics, agreed to let George Martin take complete control of the production and endeavoured to stop the arguing.
Harrison has said that it felt like everything was coming to an end, John Lennon had started work with Yoko Ono on Ono Plastic Band and Paul McCartney took time out as a new baby was on the way.
In this sense it feels very natural. The four boys from Liverpool’s lives had changed and naturally their careers would have to evolve too. They found something very special in The Beatles that they will forever look back on proudly.
If you’ve enjoyed the read and would like extra content, read Dan’s full article on Abbey Road below:
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