The Wild Anomalies in Helter Skelter, The Most Controversial Beatles Song

a diary entry from July. Mal's diary also mentions the September remix, but there is no mention of the lineup nor is there any mention of John on bass, so later newsletter reports could have simply repeated the July details in error. With dozens of new

song

s to report on and limited ways to corroborate details, a minor oversight like that could easily go unnoticed and eventually leak into the official narrative—that is, until recently. As with many of these debates, the

most

intriguing aspect to me is not the answer, but that there might even be a question in the first place.

These little organic

anomalies

of the analog era, especially during this period of

wild

experimentation in the studio, are part of why the Beatles' catalog remains so endearing, so fascinating, and so alive all these decades later. As a

song

, Helter Skelter is a fitting reflection of the band's creative state during this period: unbridled, unwavering, and defying all expectations. After the rollercoaster experience of 1967 and their subsequent trip to India in early 1968, The Beatles as a cohesive creative unit were fracturing and ideas were suddenly unleashed that might not have been approved under Lenin McCartney's former regime. . Like the sprawling, diverse and polarizing album it appears on, Helter Skelter must have seemed surprising in 1968.

And that was intentional. As the loudest and boldest song they had released up to that point, Helter Skelter repudiated expectations of what a Beatles song should sound like, especially one written by Paul McCartney, who had earned a reputation as the clean, music-oriented songwriter. pop of the time. cluster. In fact, Paul had constantly pushed others to embrace the avant-garde and had been the impetus behind some of his

most

daring works to date. Helter Skelter, however, was perhaps the first time this side of Paul was shown so prominently. Interestingly, one early reviewer of The White Album even confused Helter Skelter with a John Lennon composition, calling it "exhaustively wonderful" and "a brilliant feat of invention." Even today opinions about Helter Skelter are mixed.

Some fans consider it too indulgent, tedious and even irritating, while others love it for its hypnotic power and for capturing a moment when the entire band seems to be having a great time together. However, I think everyone can agree that it marks a fascinating milestone on their long and winding road since Love Me Do just six years earlier. As at many crucial moments in their career, The Beatles absorbed and contributed to emerging sounds, in this case heavy hard rock with psychedelic overtones, moments before a mainstream explosion of megagroups like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Speaking of Led Zeppelin, there's a fantastic fan-made mashup of Helter Skelter with Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love.

Definitely worth checking out. Sadly, shortly after its release, Helter Skelter would become negatively linked to a horrific tragedy involving Charles Manson and his cult of followers, who claimed to have heard messages encoded in songs from the White Album, including Helter Skelter, which also became the album title. Best-selling book that tells the saga. Despite having nothing to do with the Beatles, the song's unfortunate association with the Manson murders made Helter Skelter more notable than notable, and the original meaning of the song's title, a reference to a type of slide in British amusement parks, mirroring the descending main riff - has been almost completely obscured along the way.

Over time, the song's virtues began to eclipse Manson's stigma and have allowed for a much-deserved reappraisal. Further help has come from the numerous covers of Helter Skelter released over the years by artists such as Pat Benatar, Siouxie and the Banshees, Motley Crue, Oasis, Aerosmith and U2. After an understandable absence, the song has even made it onto Paul McCartney's set lists on recent tours, where he, by the way, always plays the bass part. So what do you think of Helter Skelter? Let me know in the comments. I hope you enjoyed this episode and, as always, thanks for listening and subscribing.