Ticket to Ride

Acording to A Hard Day's Write by Steve Turner, many Americans concluded the "ticket" was from British Railways, and "ride" was the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. McCartney confessed to his biographer Barry Miles that they were partly right. Paul had a cousin who ran a bar in Ryde and he and John had visited them there. Paul later mentioned that although the song was primarily about a girl riding out of the life of the narrator, they were conscious of the potential for a double meaning.

On the other hand, John coined the phrase "Ticket to Ride" for another meaning. He was referencing the girls who worked the streets in Hamburg had to have a clean bill of health and the authorities would give them a card saying they were clean.

Hard Day's Night

The Beatles movie "A Hard Day's Night" was entertaining and certainly in a category of its own. The film was light-hearted and showed each of the members of the group to be unique characters with quirky personalities. The jokes and humorous scenes in the film were corny in a way that somehow fit with the band's image. Despite the fact there was really no particular plot (other than a sort of 'day-in-the-life theme), it held my attention. The Beatles are clearly not actors and don't pretend to be--which is why, in my opinion, this sort of film worked to show their personalities and showcase their songs. The scene in the picture above honestly felt like four guys just having fun and messing around in a very quirky fashion and this was the kind of feeling I got from the overall film.

Yesterday

Yesterday is a song was written primarily by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in their fourth album titled “Help”. John Lennon went through the loss of someone he loved and this is reflected through some of the lyrics he was writing within the album. For example, the song Help and Yesterday are both apparent cries for help and yet they aren’t recognized until later in their career. With the entire albums slower rhythm and less of their famous upbeat tempo showed a shift within their attitude towards making music. Overall, these songs are examples and give us some insight into how their emotions influence what style of music they release.

You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away

Released in August 1965, the Beatles fifth album, Help! contains many of the songs that people commonly recognize, including Yesterday, Help, and Ticket to Ride. One of the other songs on the album is titled You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, it, as with many Beatles songs, was written and sung by John Lennon. The song has a very clear influence from Bob Dylan; Lennon himself said “That’s me in my Dylan period again.” Due to the influence from Dylan, the song has more of a folk feel to it than other Beatles songs. The main aspect that differs from Dylan’s work is that a flute is used in the Lennon song rather than the harmonica that Dylan used in his works. 

The meaning of the song has been debated among Beatles enthusiasts. There are many sides to the debate but the main two are that Lennon wrote the song about Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager who was gay, and the other is that Lennon wrote it about having to keep the fact that he was married under wraps. Either way, the song tells of someone who must hide their love due to either societal pressure or simply fear.  

Due to its presence on such a famous album, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away is often overlooked when people who aren’t Beatles fans listen to Help! As a song, it is underrated and needs to be brought into the spotlight alongside songs like Yesterday.

Classical Influences of the Beatles

The Beatles became one of the most unique rock bands of all time due to their unique style that distinguished them from the other bands of the era. Part of this unique sound is their incorporation of many different styles of music, including much influence of classical music. While most music can claim classical influences, the Beatles used this greatly, with their harmonies and chord progressions mimicking many baroque, classical and romantic composers. One of the songs we listened to today was Paul McCartney’s Yesterday, which features a classical string quartet in the background, giving a softer tone to the piece. One of their influences, the Everly Brothers, used harmonies that would appear in many early Beatles songs, those same harmonies being very classical in nature.

The Yellow Submarine

The Yellow Submarine was a popular song years ago and is till taught at school to little kids. It was originally written by The Beatles, more specifically by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. There are a few ways on interpretating the exact meaning one way is that throughout the Beatles music career they had to stay in hotels while they were pressured by people as well as the fans. This would be seen as the submarine. Next the color yellow is supposed to signify friends inside the submarine. During the song it mentions sea of green wich reprsents money and costs. This song was put in the Revolver album and was written especially for Ringo to lead the singing. Paul McCartney later explained after its release  in 1966: "'Yellow Submarine' is very simple but very different. It's a fun song, a children's song. Originally we intended it to be 'Sparky' a children's record. But now it's the idea of a yellow submarine where all the kids went to have fun. I find this cool in a way because most of their songs are songs that teens and adults would listen to and that was like an expectation of them. However, they create this song that will last who knows how long. I meant that   In a positive way. 

Instruments and the Beatles

The Beatles recorded with a great many instruments during their years together. Ranging from the iconic Höfner 500/1 "violin" bass, to the relatively standard Fender Stratocaster, to George Harrison's sitar, they no doubt contributed to the overall quality and diversity of the Beatles' sound. The Beatles recorded with numerous "country" style guitars with f-holes, lending a unique sound to the rock-and-roll style of the Beatles, and later in their more experimental phase, a prime example being the Epiphone Casinos as seen with John Lennon in their final rooftop appearance, as well as those owned by George and Paul. The source of the feedback in the intro to "I Feel Fine" was a Gibson acoustic-electric, and George's Rickenbacker 12-string was featured heavily in their work. Paul's iconic Höfner bass, which cemented Höfner as a name in the instrument industry, was not necessarily the source of his iconic basslines; rather, he used his Rickenbacker 4001S for most of his career following Rubber Soul, utilizing its powerful low end for such hits as "Come Together". Ringo played Ludwig 4- and 5-piece drumsets throughout his career, with Zildjian and Paiste cymbals, with sound varying due to his constant experimentation with new muting techniques. The guitars and vocals were mostly recorded by the studio's provided Neumann microphones, although the drum mics were probably from AKG or Shure. Of note is their recording engineer, Geoff Emerick, who experimented with many recording techniques, some of which are now commonly used in many studios. One such method using a speaker as a microphone to record bass tones which would normally have blown out a microphone. They also recorded with a large number of keyboards, including a harpsichord, a Steinway upright, and even a Moog synth, as well as several other eclectic instruments, like the aforementioned sitar, harmonica, recorder, and assorted percussion such as bongos and timpanis. All of these myriad factors contributed to the unique, instantly-recognizable sound that is heard every time someone plays Abbey Road on Spotify, or spins up the White Album on vinyl, or clicks on "A Hard Day's Night" on YouTube, showing just how iconic the Beatles managed to become.