John contemplating a world that is quickly devolving and coming apart at the seems.. while at the same time moving into interesting new frontiers.. and his response to all of this is that of a slightly passive, stoned, outside observer... his reflections are filtered through the world of media and art, all of which were in the process of becoming increasingly innovative and pervasive in everyone's lives. The disinterested quality is kind of a product of that and, to my mind, was something that continued on through many years later, into the 90s, with the 'slacker' label we all got (rightfully so, perhaps). I wonder if there is also a subconcious thought he's having here about whether his contributions to this new emerging 'art', and that of his contemporaries, is really helping the situation, or just making it worse. He was always so smart like that, being able to see both sides of the coin when it was most critical to have done so, but also when so few people actually were able to like him. So, at the end of the day, I think this is a song that contemplates a life of confusion, bewilderment, ecstasy, ambilivence, engagement, tempation, violence, brilliance, all converging on eachother simultaneously... that's why you hear the cacophy at the end.. but remember, that's followed by the incredible 4 beatles all hitting the same chord on the grand pianos in unison (then followed by a loop of weirdo beatles chatter if you have the actual LP). Good stuff. Hardly gets any better.
Very good post -- just one minor tidbit: it's all 4 Beatles plus George Martin each on a piano for that final chord. Then, to make the chord extend as long as possible, George Martin gradually raised the volume on the microphones as the chord faded to squeeze every bit of sound out of that chord.
Very good post -- just one minor tidbit: it's all 4 Beatles plus George Martin each on a piano for that final chord. Then, to make the chord extend as long as possible, George Martin gradually raised the volume on the microphones as the chord faded to squeeze every bit of sound out of that chord.
"So, at the end of the day, I think this is a song that contemplates a life of confusion, bewilderment, ecstasy, ambilivence, engagement, tempation, violence, brilliance, all converging on eachother simultaneously..."
I think this one statement sums it all up quite succinctly and gracefully.
"So, at the end of the day, I think this is a song that contemplates a life of confusion, bewilderment, ecstasy, ambilivence, engagement, tempation, violence, brilliance, all converging on eachother simultaneously..."
I think this one statement sums it all up quite succinctly and gracefully.
John contemplating a world that is quickly devolving and coming apart at the seems.. while at the same time moving into interesting new frontiers.. and his response to all of this is that of a slightly passive, stoned, outside observer... his reflections are filtered through the world of media and art, all of which were in the process of becoming increasingly innovative and pervasive in everyone's lives. The disinterested quality is kind of a product of that and, to my mind, was something that continued on through many years later, into the 90s, with the 'slacker' label we all got (rightfully so, perhaps). I wonder if there is also a subconcious thought he's having here about whether his contributions to this new emerging 'art', and that of his contemporaries, is really helping the situation, or just making it worse. He was always so smart like that, being able to see both sides of the coin when it was most critical to have done so, but also when so few people actually were able to like him. So, at the end of the day, I think this is a song that contemplates a life of confusion, bewilderment, ecstasy, ambilivence, engagement, tempation, violence, brilliance, all converging on eachother simultaneously... that's why you hear the cacophy at the end.. but remember, that's followed by the incredible 4 beatles all hitting the same chord on the grand pianos in unison (then followed by a loop of weirdo beatles chatter if you have the actual LP). Good stuff. Hardly gets any better.
Very good post -- just one minor tidbit: it's all 4 Beatles plus George Martin each on a piano for that final chord. Then, to make the chord extend as long as possible, George Martin gradually raised the volume on the microphones as the chord faded to squeeze every bit of sound out of that chord.
Very good post -- just one minor tidbit: it's all 4 Beatles plus George Martin each on a piano for that final chord. Then, to make the chord extend as long as possible, George Martin gradually raised the volume on the microphones as the chord faded to squeeze every bit of sound out of that chord.
"So, at the end of the day, I think this is a song that contemplates a life of confusion, bewilderment, ecstasy, ambilivence, engagement, tempation, violence, brilliance, all converging on eachother simultaneously..." I think this one statement sums it all up quite succinctly and gracefully.
"So, at the end of the day, I think this is a song that contemplates a life of confusion, bewilderment, ecstasy, ambilivence, engagement, tempation, violence, brilliance, all converging on eachother simultaneously..." I think this one statement sums it all up quite succinctly and gracefully.