WEBVTT - Helter Skelter

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin.

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<v Speaker 2>I was inspired by something I read where it was

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<v Speaker 2>Pete Townsend talking about We've just recorded the loudest, dirtiest,

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<v Speaker 2>rockiest thing ever. And I love that description. I just thought, Wow,

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<v Speaker 2>what a great idea. So what we've got to do?

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<v Speaker 2>Something loud and raucous and urchy. I know you've deceived

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<v Speaker 2>me our years are.

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<v Speaker 3>I know that you had, because there's magic.

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<v Speaker 2>In my I can see. So I came into the

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<v Speaker 2>stereo sets of guys. Yeah, I just read about Pete

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<v Speaker 2>saying this and think it's really a great idea. Let's

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<v Speaker 2>just see how loud you get and how rowcus and

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<v Speaker 2>just let's just try and really make them meet us peak.

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<v Speaker 4>I'm Paul will do And I've been fortunate to spend

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<v Speaker 4>time with one of the greatest songwriters of our era.

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<v Speaker 2>And will you look at me? I'm going on to

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<v Speaker 2>I'm actually a performer.

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<v Speaker 1>That is sir Paul McCartney. We work together on a

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<v Speaker 1>book looking at the lyrics of more than one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty of his songs, and we recorded many hours

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<v Speaker 1>of our conversations.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh she'm a songwriter? My god, Well that that crypta homy.

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<v Speaker 1>This is McCartney. A life in lyrics, a masterclass, a memoir,

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<v Speaker 1>and an improvised journey with one of the most iconic

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<v Speaker 1>figures in popular music. In this episode, we'll trace the

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<v Speaker 1>story of one of the wildest Beatle songs, which some

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<v Speaker 1>consider to represent the beginning of heavy metal. Today, more

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<v Speaker 1>people probably think of Helter Skelter as that raucous Beatles

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<v Speaker 1>song with a strange title, rather than what it refers to,

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<v Speaker 1>an innocent funfair ride.

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<v Speaker 2>Not people in a marc don't know what a helter

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<v Speaker 2>skelter is. I do. You think it's a rollercoaster, But

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<v Speaker 2>as you know, it's a sort of conical thing. We'll

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<v Speaker 2>slide around the outside of it. We used to go

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<v Speaker 2>on those loads of times as kids. You'd you walk

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<v Speaker 2>up in the stairs inside it, and then you'd slide down,

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<v Speaker 2>and then you'd walk up again, and it was fun,

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<v Speaker 2>you know. So I just used that. I was thought

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<v Speaker 2>of symbol of life. I go up to the top,

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<v Speaker 2>I stopped, and I turned and I come down to

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<v Speaker 2>Moon't I see you again? So I was really thinking

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<v Speaker 2>of moods. You know, you're up, you get knocked down,

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<v Speaker 2>you're feeling euphoric and you're feeling miserable. Such as the

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<v Speaker 2>nature of life.

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<v Speaker 3>When I get to the bottom, I got back to

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<v Speaker 3>the top of the stop.

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<v Speaker 1>The image of a child sliding down a cylindrical tower

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<v Speaker 1>is in sharp contrast to what the song would become,

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<v Speaker 1>and especially to how it would later be misinterpreted. But

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<v Speaker 1>the funfair ride is a great metaphor for the sense

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<v Speaker 1>of play the Beatles brought to the studio, as we

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<v Speaker 1>can hear in this early version of Helter Skelter when

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<v Speaker 1>doing a lot.

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<v Speaker 3>Of lying up doing the hill where I stopped and

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<v Speaker 3>I jumped and I did a little trill.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen sixty eight, when the Beatles recorded and released

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<v Speaker 1>Helter Skelter, there was a new kind of rock and

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<v Speaker 1>roll in the air.

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<v Speaker 5>It was loud, distorted, heavy, jes kass.

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<v Speaker 1>There was of course the ho and there was the

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<v Speaker 1>King of the electric guitar, so let's say once again

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<v Speaker 1>the Jimi Hendrix experience. Things got heavier throughout the late sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>setting the stage for Black Sabbath, who would released their

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<v Speaker 1>first record in nineteen seventy. Throughout the late sixties, when

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<v Speaker 1>the Beatles were at their peak, rock groups saw the

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<v Speaker 1>rise of technological innovations in the studio. New signs new

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<v Speaker 1>production methods. By the time Helter Skelter was released, most

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<v Speaker 1>record companies had abandoned Mono had moved on to stereo recording.

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<v Speaker 2>Well. I remember walking into the studio and there being

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<v Speaker 2>two speakers, one on the left, one on the right,

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<v Speaker 2>whereas it's always just been one in the middle. And

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<v Speaker 2>we were, oh, you know, we were highly observant two speakers,

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<v Speaker 2>so we immediately were very thrilled because we assumed that

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<v Speaker 2>many it would be twice as loud, and George Martin

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<v Speaker 2>patiently explained to us, no, Draxy's hystereophonics. Because it was there,

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<v Speaker 2>it was available, We got into it. It was like a

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<v Speaker 2>new toy, but we thought of it in a different

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<v Speaker 2>way than you do now. Now you just think it

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<v Speaker 2>makes it more realistic, like listening to a band and

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<v Speaker 2>you get a surround feeling when you listen to it.

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<v Speaker 2>We thought, no, it's two speakers. We can have a

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<v Speaker 2>thing wandering from one speaker to another.

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<v Speaker 1>The Beatles White Album, which included Helter Skelter, was the

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<v Speaker 1>last the band would record in mono. For their next album,

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<v Speaker 1>Abbey Road, the stereo mix would become crucial to their

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<v Speaker 1>creative vision. Individual instruments would start to move from one

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<v Speaker 1>speaker to another.

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<v Speaker 2>So a lot of all things in the mix is

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<v Speaker 2>just go for walkers and decides to go over there

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<v Speaker 2>for a while.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, how active role did you yourself?

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<v Speaker 5>Yourself or your the other Beatles playing in the sand.

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<v Speaker 2>By then quite a love Yes. Well, we always used

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<v Speaker 2>to say, you know, the the lunatics were taken over

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<v Speaker 2>the asylum, we got control of pretty much everything, you know.

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<v Speaker 2>Being a bit of a perfectionist, I would would sort

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<v Speaker 2>of work out the song and then I'd say run

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<v Speaker 2>up into the control room and listen to the drum

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<v Speaker 2>sound and sort of stay to the engineer if you

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<v Speaker 2>make this a bit hard, and I'd fuss and pushed

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<v Speaker 2>till it was like for health scalp, till it was

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<v Speaker 2>kind of quite raucous, you know, and really just try

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<v Speaker 2>and coach the engineers and then you could leave them.

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<v Speaker 2>They were brilliant and they would multiply what you suggested

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<v Speaker 2>and sorted out make it, make it better.

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<v Speaker 1>At that time, most of the sound engineers would have

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<v Speaker 1>had classical production training with certain rules about arranging instruments

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<v Speaker 1>and volume levels and preventing distortion. But as the Beatles

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<v Speaker 1>drifted away from the sweet sound of their early pop hits,

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<v Speaker 1>they realized that most rules exist to be broken.

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<v Speaker 2>I remember Nowhere Man Child had brought this song in

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<v Speaker 2>from Weybridge where he was feeling like I know where

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<v Speaker 2>man and.

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<v Speaker 6>We wanted the opening guitars to be really spiky and

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<v Speaker 6>very trebling, super trebling, and they are if you listen

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<v Speaker 6>to them there it's like a.

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<v Speaker 2>Razor blade or something. You know, it's quite amazing.

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<v Speaker 1>He's a real no man sitting.

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<v Speaker 7>In his now land making all now.

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<v Speaker 2>Plans for So we said to the engineer, okay, so

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<v Speaker 2>make it as treble as you can. So he put

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<v Speaker 2>all the treble in and I said, can you make

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<v Speaker 2>it more? He said, no, that's it. I'm sort of

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<v Speaker 2>run out, you know, this is all that high made

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<v Speaker 2>and treble, and that's all I can do. I said, well,

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<v Speaker 2>could he put it through not a lot of EQ

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<v Speaker 2>So he did.

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<v Speaker 8>He sent it through the next channel, and of course

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<v Speaker 8>then this was like the game could you put even more? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 8>So we had him going through I don't know, quite

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<v Speaker 8>a few channels.

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<v Speaker 7>Jesus Jessee, no can Yus.

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<v Speaker 1>As McCartney and the rest of the band learned to

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<v Speaker 1>break the rules of production They were also playing with

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<v Speaker 1>the rules of language, drawing on the literary tradition of

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<v Speaker 1>nonsense poetry.

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<v Speaker 2>In the verses that's sort of Alice in Wonderland? Will

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<v Speaker 2>you won't you?

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<v Speaker 7>Do?

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<v Speaker 2>You don't? Let's lose Carol abisonly John and I both

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<v Speaker 2>related to we like that lotten use things.

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<v Speaker 1>From that, Things like the lobster quadrille from Alice in

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<v Speaker 1>Wonderland here performed by Gene Wilder.

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<v Speaker 2>See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance.

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<v Speaker 2>They are waiting on the shingle. Will you come and

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<v Speaker 2>join the dance dance? Will you won't you? Will you?

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<v Speaker 5>Won't you join the dance dance?

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<v Speaker 1>Many Beatles lyrics included playful phrases like this. Some of

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<v Speaker 1>these phrases coined by the band have even crept into

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<v Speaker 1>the common vernacular phrases such as a hard day's night,

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<v Speaker 1>eight days a week, or for that matter, helter skelter.

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<v Speaker 1>Most of the nonsense lyrics weren't meant to be interpreted.

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<v Speaker 1>They were meant to be felt in keeping with the

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<v Speaker 1>playful energy. However, some of the lyrics nodded toward that

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<v Speaker 1>which couldn't be played over BBC waves.

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<v Speaker 2>Don't let Me Break you. Yes, it's just sort of,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, something to hang a song of desperation, of

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<v Speaker 2>little sexual she's coming coming down fast, and perhaps a

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<v Speaker 2>little drug component which I'll throw it all in.

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<v Speaker 1>Helter Skelter wasn't the only song to which the Beatles

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<v Speaker 1>added clever euphemisms and hidden messages. As the band's music developed,

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<v Speaker 1>they inserted a few easter eggs that fans began to

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<v Speaker 1>crack open, including phrases that could only be heard when

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<v Speaker 1>played backwards.

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<v Speaker 2>See people thinking. Actually there was a whole set it

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<v Speaker 2>up with a few little clues kind of things, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we did. We put little things in. Well, those things

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<v Speaker 2>they were for our own amusement, you know, it was

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<v Speaker 2>it was. It was an effort to not be bored.

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<v Speaker 2>So when we heard the beach boys singing La La,

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<v Speaker 2>we thought that'd be great, to which on the session

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<v Speaker 2>became Ti tit and we sniggered like school boys, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>and really were happy.

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<v Speaker 7>Jesus kind of girl with wind.

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<v Speaker 2>And in Penny Lane for of fish and finger pied

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<v Speaker 2>finger pive is rude sexual reference. But we knew that

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<v Speaker 2>the people in Liverpool would get it, but no one

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<v Speaker 2>else would they would just think it was like a chefspie.

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<v Speaker 2>So I think once people thought there's hidden references, they

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<v Speaker 2>started they weren't looking for them, and I saw them

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<v Speaker 2>in everything, you know, even stuff that wasn't really there.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes interpretation can open up a song, reveale layers of

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<v Speaker 1>meaning that weren't discernible on the first listen. We could

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<v Speaker 1>tribute to a song by listening to it, and sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>we add significance of which even the lyricist wasn't conscious.

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<v Speaker 1>Misinterpretations are mostly harmless, like when some fans took lyrics

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<v Speaker 1>as evidence for the bizarre urban legend that Paul McCartney

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<v Speaker 1>died in nineteen sixty six and was replaced by a doubleganger.

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<v Speaker 2>So Paul is dead came out of the fact that

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<v Speaker 2>I wasn't wearing shoes on the Abbey Road crossing. Wait,

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<v Speaker 2>that's a stretch in anybody's language, you know. And then

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<v Speaker 2>there was a Volkswagen Beetle car in that which said

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<v Speaker 2>two eight one F, which was translated he would have

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<v Speaker 2>been twenty eight if he'd have lived.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, But when the wrong person looks too closely for

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<v Speaker 1>something that's not there, the meaning can be corrupted, like

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<v Speaker 1>when Charles Manson claimed Helter Skelter referred to a coming

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<v Speaker 1>apocalypse and read into the song a justification for his

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<v Speaker 1>heenous crimes.

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't do it for years because of that. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>when it was contemporary, I wouldn't have even thought of

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<v Speaker 2>doing it, because that's the sort of horror show, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>when something realized. I mean, we knew that there were

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<v Speaker 2>sort of daft Americans who read way too much into

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<v Speaker 2>everything we did. It's okay, but when Manson did it,

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<v Speaker 2>when when the Manson association.

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<v Speaker 9>With the murders, then that was, oh, okay, this is

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<v Speaker 9>no longer funny this guy, because you really thought we

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<v Speaker 9>were the four horseman of the apocalypse, and we.

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<v Speaker 2>Were horrified to learn that, you know, that his song

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<v Speaker 2>was helter Skelter, because of course, you know, it was

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<v Speaker 2>just sparked by this translated quote that I'd read, this

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<v Speaker 2>idea of you know, just loudest let's going now, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>let's go on and just make it the loudest.

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<v Speaker 3>We're not get to the da and I get back

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<v Speaker 3>to the tap of the stadt.

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<v Speaker 2>So we're not going to turn our guitars down. And

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<v Speaker 2>the turnament was a loud you know, I'm going to

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<v Speaker 2>ask the engineer to.

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<v Speaker 10>Be loud and it's dirty and give us distortion, the

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<v Speaker 10>kind of thing that we eventually got on Revolution, and

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<v Speaker 10>you know that was the epitome of the distortion.

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<v Speaker 1>That it's at the heart of the matter, really, isn't it.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, it's I mean, we liked, we liked that,

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<v Speaker 2>we liked it's it's very much part of rock and roll,

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<v Speaker 2>you know. It's.

0:19:26.544 --> 0:19:33.904
<v Speaker 11>Whereas orchestral music or dance and music will be trying

0:19:33.984 --> 0:19:39.824
<v Speaker 11>to be pretty gentle and romantic, rock and roll was

0:19:39.944 --> 0:19:42.424
<v Speaker 11>kicking that, you know, kicking out.

0:19:56.784 --> 0:19:56.984
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

0:20:14.584 --> 0:20:19.504
<v Speaker 1>The studio sessions for Helter Skelter became quite physically demanding,

0:20:20.264 --> 0:20:23.664
<v Speaker 1>gone with the cut school boys serenading their fans with

0:20:23.864 --> 0:20:30.224
<v Speaker 1>lovely Doo and eight days a week this music shredded, clashed, roared.

0:20:31.024 --> 0:20:35.664
<v Speaker 1>The Beatles recorded several takes of Helter Skelter, including an

0:20:35.744 --> 0:20:40.344
<v Speaker 1>unreleased version that ran at twenty seven minutes eleven seconds.

0:20:40.904 --> 0:20:43.544
<v Speaker 1>It's no wonder then at the end of the song,

0:20:44.024 --> 0:20:47.824
<v Speaker 1>Ringo's star would cry out.

0:20:50.624 --> 0:20:52.984
<v Speaker 2>It was that kind of thing where you had played

0:20:53.064 --> 0:20:57.104
<v Speaker 2>the hell out of it, and it was sometimes credited

0:20:57.144 --> 0:20:59.304
<v Speaker 2>by people as being in the start of heavy metal.

0:20:59.704 --> 0:21:02.504
<v Speaker 12>Yes, I've read that's I don't know whether that's true,

0:21:02.544 --> 0:21:07.744
<v Speaker 12>but you know it's pretty heavy metal, so you know,

0:21:07.904 --> 0:21:10.864
<v Speaker 12>you think it might have inspired someone in the same

0:21:10.904 --> 0:21:14.024
<v Speaker 12>way as the Tansend quote expired me.

0:21:14.624 --> 0:21:18.304
<v Speaker 1>McCartney doesn't remember which song from the who Townsend was

0:21:18.384 --> 0:21:22.104
<v Speaker 1>referring to. It may have been I can see for miles.

0:21:22.784 --> 0:21:26.304
<v Speaker 1>But it only took the idea of cranking up the

0:21:26.384 --> 0:21:30.904
<v Speaker 1>volume and rocking as hard as possible to inspire Helter Skelter,

0:21:31.544 --> 0:21:35.624
<v Speaker 1>a song which in turn would inspire the next generation

0:21:36.104 --> 0:21:49.064
<v Speaker 1>of heavy metal bands, like the band Motley Crewe, who

0:21:49.504 --> 0:22:13.704
<v Speaker 1>regularly performed their own cover of the song Helter Skelter

0:22:14.064 --> 0:22:18.744
<v Speaker 1>from the beatles nineteen sixty eight self titled record also

0:22:18.824 --> 0:22:37.024
<v Speaker 1>known as the White Album. This concludes the first season

0:22:37.224 --> 0:22:41.424
<v Speaker 1>of our podcast. We'll be back soon with more episodes

0:22:41.504 --> 0:22:46.064
<v Speaker 1>drawn from this treasure trove of lyrics, including McCartney's own

0:22:46.224 --> 0:22:48.384
<v Speaker 1>favorite McCartney song.

0:22:49.344 --> 0:22:49.904
<v Speaker 6>Beat.

0:22:52.544 --> 0:22:53.304
<v Speaker 2>My Name.

0:22:58.224 --> 0:23:04.824
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, statuned and subscribed to McCartney A Life in Lyrics,

0:23:06.904 --> 0:23:23.544
<v Speaker 1>Changing the wave of McCartney. A Life in Lyrics is

0:23:23.584 --> 0:23:29.104
<v Speaker 1>a co production between iHeartMedia, n p L and Pushkin Industries.