FIRST TIME HEARING - The Beatles - I Want You (She’s so Heavy) REACTION

[@jimfrederick3907]

They have a very specific genre. It's called "Beatles". No one else has it nor can duplicate it.

[@TheCornishCockney]

No. There is no genre they couldn’t do absolutely mind-blowingly brilliantly. They are the REAL GOAT’s for a reason.

[@dennydowling2169]

They played everything. Incredible harmonies? 'This Boy', 'If I Fell'. Mid 60s Rock 'n' Roll? 'A Hard Day's Night', 'I Should Have Known Better' Introspection? 'Help!', 'Nowhere Man', 'In My Life' Indian-influenced music? 'Within You, Without You', 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' Riff driven? 'Day Tripper', 'Paperback Writer'. Surfer Rock? 'Back in the USSR' Lullaby? 'Good Night'. Children's song? 'Yellow Submarine', 'Octopus's Garden' Motown soul? 'Got to Get You into My Life'. Psychedelia? 'Tomorrow Never Knows' Vaudeville? 'Honey Pie' (thoroughly enjoyed by my grandma who was born in 1899. Also, not something you need to review.) And many more.

[@johndavids4780]

They planted the roots for metal. The started it with Helter Skelter and gave the rest of the bands "permission" to take it further. Metal is built on the Beatles musical foundation. Almost all of the metal bands will tell you that.

[@AnthonyMinsky]

And a reggae song, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

[@gettinhungrig8806]

They started it with Revolution

[@kevinetheridge7201]

@@gettinhungrig8806 “Tomorrow never knows”

[@luke9947]

Type o negative for example

[@korfrag6865]

@@gettinhungrig8806 Revolution is more punk imo

[@dagmar.6954]

This song is on the 1969 album Abbey Road & features Billy Preston playing the organ. This is the last album the group recorded together. It is considered one of their best albums with so many great songs such as "Come Together", "Something", "Here Comes The Sun", "Oh! Darling", "Because" etc.

[@antarcticorb9197]

Surprised it wasn't blocked!

[@brianherrington7226]

This is also the final track they recorded with the four of them in the studio making it the final Beatles tune they recorded together.

[@Brandi6666]

Billy who. Who cares. They threw a studio pianist a bone because he had killer dope

[@Brandi6666]

I kinda like to think if edgar poes poems were music, this would be the sound🤘❤️

[@dylankerr2411]

@@Brandi6666 You're killing me. Billy Preston f'ing rocks. And they thought so too, which is why he is the only person they ever shared a song credit with. And why he is often referred to as the fifth Beatle.

[@VidiotSavante]

Speaking of The Beatles being able to do any genre, their "Helter Skelter" from 1968 is one of the earliest Heavy Metal tracks, which Paul McCartney wrote about an amusement park ride. You really need to hear it!!! 🔥😎

[@michaelbriefs9764]

When John screams "Yeah!" at the end of the lyrics, you can hear the technician in the recording booth yelling back at John to not sing so loud because it's putting the levels in the red!! They actually left that "unscripted" moment in the final release of the song! Awesome!

[@John-et9yl]

From Love Me Do to I Want You (She's So Heavy) in less than 7 years. No other group on earth has got anywhere near that kind of transition.

[@TheCornishCockney]

McCartney on bass. Most underrated bass man of all time.

[@Upe-f9c]

I would say that Paul McCartney has been hailed for his bass playing all time long.

[@Kermit_T_Frog]

If McCartney were any more hailed for his bass playing, doctors would be tattooing it on the foreheads babies at birth.

[@speedoflight9005]

This song as "Come together" was ahead of its time as many of The Beatles songs. Each Beatle song was different and enough "material of inspiration" for any great band that follow them. Never ever a band that created so many fabulous songs.

[@billythedog-309]

How far ahead? 10 minutes? 20?

[@sathira_anuk5179]

​@@billythedog-3094 and 8 minutes

[@threekidzmom04]

Oh I loved this song, It spoke to my teenage heart back then. Please remember we took music as it was back then. We didn't dissect it. We just enjoyed it.

[@izzonj]

"They can do anything, except maybe metal..." Oh, check out "Helter Skelter"

[@petergiffes1239]

Paul is a great bassist. Not just good… but great. And he sang while playing the most complex of bass lines.

[@blitztim6416]

Paul on bass. Back then 'heavy' meant like 'intense' would be used now. Like if someone said something that you thought was wise or made a lot sense you'd say 'Wow. That's heavy.'

[@gerrycoogan6544]

Dude! That's a heavy comment, man!

[@strathman7501]

"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" was John's inspired, tyically brutal, farewell to The Beatles, ending Side 1 of Abbey Road. He takes their myth, dials it up to eleven, buries it in white noise like the jet-shriek of screaming Beatlemania from which it emerged, then cuts its throat and walks off into the future with Yoko. In contrast, Paul's farewell, "The End", closes Side 2 with his typical constructive optimism, collegiate and respectful of the myth, summing up the best of the Beatles' message in a Shakespearean couplet: "And in the end the love you take / Is equal to the love you make." Lennon/McCartney, always the two flip sides of the same great work of art, each saying Goodbye in his own way before walking the Abbey Road zebra crossing away from the studio for the last time as The Beatles.

[@gerrycoogan6544]

Astute comment. Sweet! One of the reasons that the Beatles were SO inventive was the tension between the fantastic creativity of both Lennon and McCartney which shared certain common ground but also had divergent perspectives. When they met somewhere in the middle they achieved unparalleled heights of innovation. Even when they didn't see eye to eye, they were each capable of producing masterpieces while at the same time George was developing into the world class songwriter which he ultimately proved to be. The best of it was that they managed to continue to collaborate for as long as they did. Despite their growing differences in their idea of what their future direction ought to be, they could positively support each others' ideas or at least stay out of the way if they weren't enthusiastic about the track (e.g., John's reluctant involvement in "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" or "Ob-La-Di" and his complete lack of participation in Harrison songs such as "Long, Long, Long", "Here Comes The Sun" and "I Me Mine".) Abbey Road is an astonishing artistic achievement on its own merits and yet it was created by four amazing artists who were still in their twenties and were, at various degrees, anticipating a near future in which their band would no longer exist! Some bands issue barely presentable "contractual obligation" recordings when their time is up. The Beatles instead produced one of the best albums of all time without even breaking sweat. Meanwhile, they didn't even bother to include classic songs such as "All Things Must Pass", "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Come And Get It", "Gimme Some Truth" or "Every Night" for consideration. (Not to mention that they had, at that point, decided to completely abandon incredibly accomplished songs such as "Let It Be", "Across The Universe" and "The Long And Winding Road." The fact that "Now And Then" was recently #1 in the UK charts proves that even the material that is pulled out of a Beatle's wastepaper basket from nearly half a century ago is still better than anything that is being produced today!

[@gribwitch]

Lennon often undervalued the band and criticised it. If it wasn't for Paul's unwavering loyalty, determination and enthusiasm to leave a lasting legacy for the fans, we wouldn't have at least two of their final albums to cherish. He kept them going when they could have broken up a number of times before they eventually did. We owe Paul a debt of gratitude.

[@jenniferhyde5389]

I can remember getting stoned and grooving out to this.By the time it ended I would be mesmerized 😂❤

[@vincentvancraig]

Paul McCartney was a monster on the damn bass

[@sourisvoleur4854]

And this album was his high point of all the Beatles albums. He really outdoes himself. Stellar playing.

[@vincentvancraig]

@@sourisvoleur4854 yeah, even the slow bass line for :something” is insane...i never even noticed too much until maybe 5 years ago my friend sent me a guy doing a solo bass cover of “something” & u could see what pauls fingers were doing via this guy covering it & it blew my mind...nowadays, almost all of paul’s isolated bass tracks are on youtube...pretty amazing, & yeah, i agree with u 100%

[@sourisvoleur4854]

@@vincentvancraig I have always thought of "Something" as a duet between the bass and George's voice.

[@Kathmak]

Paul is the bass man for sure❤

[@paultreneary]

One word sums up that ending - Moog. I believe George owned one of the earliest Moog synths in the UK (the 3rd perhaps?) - I never realized it, as a kid, but there's a lot of synth on the Abbey Road LP

[@gerrycoogan6544]

The Moog synth is used on "I Want You(She's So Heavy)", "Because", "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "Here Comes The Sun." Funnily enough, the Moog malfunctioned in the intro to "Here Comes The Sun" so that as soon as the player removed his finger from the keys the note didn't stop but instead it slid down in a smooth portamento glissando. George was playing the Moog on "Here Comes The Sun" and they had to interrupt the session to call in an engineer from Moog to fix the problem (which he successfully achieved.) Meanwhile, the finished version which we hear today still contains the introduction in which the Moog was malfunctioning and that is why we hear the Moog sliding downwards at the end of the intro. It wasn't planned to be that way but once George heard it back, he decided he liked it and so it stayed in!

[@hungfao]

The Beatles managed to acquire a Moog synthesizer (an early model). This album has little effects dropped in throughout. In their very early career you could fit them into a genre much more easily. They were pretty much bound by the record company's expectations that they make 2.5 minute pop songs. That definitely changed when they became proven record sellers. After that, they pretty much ruled the studio.

[@tonycasey3183]

I like how you say, "They can do anything except for metal (?Helter Skelter) and reggae"(?Obladi Oblada). I feel a deeper Beatles dive coming on.

[@rjaraneta913]

The "noise" in the background is a Moog synthesizer programmed by George, it was new back then and very unpredictable. Billy Preston on organ joins The Beatles in this song.

[@debjorgo]

And Ringo is working a wind machine for the swooshing sound you hear.

[@BabbleBebble]

Nope, that sound was the so called 'white sound' it was the typical noise from an empty tape that John Lennon wanted to add to the song...

[@debjorgo]

@@BabbleBebble According to Beatle historian Mark Lewisohn, on August 8th, "Ringo added drums and John, an overdub of the synthesiser in conjunction with a white-noise generator (to produce a swirling, gale-force wind effect) on I Want You." Ian MacDonald called it a wind machine in his book Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties.

[@BabbleBebble]

​@@debjorgo Yep, I had this old random memory wich was actually wrong about the sound, in fact it came from a moog

[@debjorgo]

I mentioned the date, August 8th, because that was the same day they shot the album cover. Then I forgot to mention it.

[@russelldye3751]

This song is one example of how great Paul was at making the bass a big part of the song! Without his bass in so many songs they wouldn’t be as great!

[@sarahfullerton6894]

Just so you understand: "heavy", in late 1960's slang, meant, "deep", as in a deep-thinker. Like, "Wow, that idea is so heavy, man!"

[@dorothyramser7805]

Paul essentially gives the bass lead guitar status. You are so right. His bass makes many of the songs.

[@dorothyramser7805]

@@sarahfullerton6894 i was going to say that 😊

[@sarahfullerton6894]

@@dorothyramser7805 , I guess great minds really do think alike! Hahahaha 😅!

[@dorothyramser7805]

@@sarahfullerton6894 or of a certain age 😊 .. i am just watching someone listening to Yesterday who asks 'are they British?'. Must have lived in a bunker all his life not to know who The Beatles are! You wouldn't have the explosion of music without them breaking down barriers and burning the rule book!

[@riphopfer5816]

This is blues-based psychedelic rock if I had to throw a label on it. And you’re right: this is John Lennon, and of the Beatles, he was known as the most ‘raw’ and ‘authentic’. He really did pour his heart and soul into his songs.

[@gribwitch]

Paul poured his heart and soul into some of their songs too. Can't get more raw than "Oh Darling" for example.

[@Rowlph8888]

Well,you are mentioning the bass… if you look back at the recordings, John insists that Paul plays the bass heavy..Paul was jamming and singing this song himself, before the final recording and was playing a much lighter bass.In fact, George Harrison implied when referring to this song's development, that John wrote the baseline, because don't forget that just because each places instrument, songwriters generally have an idea for every instrument on a general level, when they get to the stage of introducing it to the band.Just off the top of my head. George stated "this is a very original, quirky John -like song"

[@smartiplants]

I have often thought that of the few things everyone in the world can agree on, one is that the Beatles were amazing.

[@mibeatleman6767]

The noise in the back of The Beatles is the MOOG synthesizer.

[@aasja7739]

I mean this truly. You could listen to the Beatles non stop. And hear nothing but great songs. James Bond, yep.

[@hurricane1951]

Paul McCartney is the bassist, and he is so melodic and inventive in his playing. Oh, by the way, listen to "Helter Skelter" if you want to hear another example of their genre-stretching ability.

[@gerrycoogan6544]

"Ob-La-Di" was The Beatles doing a reggae song (as reggae stood in 1968). "Desmond has a barrow in the market place" is a tip of the hat to Desmond Dekker who had a UK #1 in 1968 with "The Israelites". I'm a reggae guy. I've heard a lot of reggae artists covering "Ob-La-Di". As for metal, it's not a stretch to make the proposition that the very first Heavy Metal recording was "Helter Skelter" on the 1968 double album called "The Beatles" (aka "The White Album"). So, on the same album we hear The Beatles *creating* Heavy Metal, playing about with reggae AND still creating unparalleled and unique gems such as "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "Dear Prudence" or "Piggies", nevelr mind rock classics such as "While Mt Guitar Gently Weeps", "Back In The USSR" and "Revolution #1". If you really want to learn why The Beatles remain the greatest and most versatile band of all time, buy these albums: "Revolver", "The White Album" (aka "The Beatles"), "Abbey Road", "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Rubber Soul." Play them repeatedly and study them carefully until you totally absorb them. Then you will be ready to study the rest of their catalogue (including the singles, which are mostly absent from their albums). There is a darn good reason to explain why supremely celebrated artists such as Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Elton John, David Bowie, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Vinnie Colaiuta, Phil Collins, Jeff Lynne, Bob Marley, Brian Wilson, Paul Simon - even Leonard Bernstein!!! - are just a few of the major popular music figures who are on the record as saying that the music of The Beatles was a colossal influence on their careers. There's The Beatles. Then there's everybody else. If you don't know The Beatles inside out, you don't know music.

[@dorothyramser7805]

The Beatles have no genre, they are The Beatles. Genius and legends. Nobody can touch them.

[@SpaceCattttt]

ABBA...

[@dorothyramser7805]

@@SpaceCattttt Not in the league of The Beatles.

[@SpaceCattttt]

@@dorothyramser7805 They're above the Beatles.

[@dorothyramser7805]

@@SpaceCattttt How do you work that out? They are nowhere near The Beatles or Elvis for that matter.

[@alfredoramirez1022]

La diferencia Beatles se escucha todavía y Abba ya no ..por eso Beatles más talento..más fan..más premios más número 1...todos los conocen ...no tienen género..no hay canción igual a otra...en Abba muy buena pero todo suena igual..es muy limitado.. Beatles es universal

[@pmR32red]

👍 I think the Beatles invented most musical genres...

[@Hippychic723]

This has funk, jazz, blues and Paul singing along with the bass 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠

[@johnandrews3151]

The Beatles did what is considered the first Metal song. It is called Helter Skelter😮

[@andynator501]

Mixing this song was the last day all four Beatles were in the studio together. John Lennon wanted to keep gradually increasing the white noise and feedback until the end of the song was nothing but white noise. Obviously that wouldn't fit on the record, so he famously said "cut it right....there!" and now we have it. The vamp repeats 15 times.

[@johnclaeys9514]

The wind like noise in the background is most likely the Minimoog analog synthesizer that they used in other parts of this album for melody lines and little flourishes here and there…very evident on Here Comes the Sun and other songs. Here, they use the white noise wind-like textural sound that synths are capable of generating.

[@gerrycoogan6544]

It wasn't a Minimoog. That came around years later. It was an original Moog synthesiser, still in development, and it was a massive piece of equipment which had a huge switchboard of inputs that were connected together by cables. To get an idea of what this amazing machine looked like, search for videos of Keith Emerson of ELP performing live in the early 1970s.

[@michaelt6218]

That "orchestra in the background" effect, created by only four members of the band (along with Billy Preston on organ), was made by John, Paul, and George layering their guitar licks over and over again on multiple tracks, building toward a volcanic conclusion. The "noise" is from an early version of the Moog synthesizer.

[@BabbleBebble]

8:28 - 8:56 The sound you asked about at the outro of the song was called the 'white sound' and it was actually the noise of an empty tape the John wanted to add at the song, no one sound engineer would add this sound in a song at that time! But John wanted that end he wanted to cut the song at the end like a dream when it ends brutally...

[@markamos1911]

It was called "white noise", and created using the white noise generator that was one of the features of George's Moog Modular 3 synthesizer.

[@BabbleBebble]

@@markamos1911 My my bad, I recall the 'tape' example because I read an article long time ago about this effect and probably the 'empty tape' was a sample, to explain how the sound could sound, my bad really, I was watching this video today and I found out, sorry for the mistake: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqCum36Id9aWi8k

[@jameswarkentin2798]

The end of this song repeats over and over, then suddenly stops. On a vinyl record, you flip the disc over to play side two. But on a CD, the sudden stop is followed by the gentle strings of "Here Comes the Sun" It is such a hard contrast, but it works. Way to plan ahead for the new format, Beatles!

[@xers999]

Abbey Road has to be one of the greatest albums ever produced.

[@gerrycoogan6544]

Not "one of". THE greatest album ever produced.

[@gribwitch]

@@gerrycoogan6544 "Abbey Road" was simply sublime. And what an album as their swansong !

[@jimfrederick3907]

The genius of George Martin comes once every few centuries!@@gerrycoogan6544

[@Xcris_crosX]

Plus they made a monster hit singing and repeating basically six words… that’s the point. That’s their ingenuity

[@Xcris_crosX]

The Beatles don’t have “A” genre because they were so innovative they’re credited for creating at least ten different genres. Their creative music was a new sound to our senses

[@renepeterse1884]

This song is SO FKNG GOOOOD

[@xtiants]

John and George overdubbed tons of guitars for that massive sound. Paul played the hell out of the bass, and John added "white noise' through an early Moog synthesizer. Ringo, of course, killed it on the drums. Oh yeah, and Billy Preston on the organ!

[@gerrycoogan6544]

George Harrison should have had a song writing credit on this song. He and John spent hours in the Trident studios creating that riff and it's the centre point of the entire composition. Take out that riff and what are you left with? This, to my mind, is a Lennon-Harrison composition, just as "Gimme Some Truth" on the *Imagine* album should be credited as a Lennon-McCartney-Harrison composition.

[@pablolara797]

Sound in the back is a Moog synthesizer producing "white noise". A new toy at the time. The Beatles were among the first having one to play with.

[@jwffdunlevy1186]

John, the lead singer on this song wrote this about Yoko, his wife. You are right, this song is not about the lyrics or a message. It is about the vibe. You were asking about that noise, John got with the engineer, and had him over dub white noise on to the track. As others have said, they did the first heavy-metal song with Helter skelter. You need to review that one too. This song and it the first side of the album. The second side is beyond amazing as well where one soul leads into another. Also, on that album is the song come together. Probably the best song on the whole album, and that’s saying a lot. It’s fun to watch you take a deep dive into the Beatles.

[@gerrycoogan6544]

The best song on Abbey road is indisputably, unquestionably, inarguably George's "Something." John, Paul and Ringo said as much in recorded interviews. George was too modest to agree and he named "Because" as the best song on the album. (That's a decent shout. I personally believe that "Because" is one of the most under-rated, overlooked Beatles gems - along with "Rain".) Even Sinatra loved it so much that he recorded it twice and included it as a constant staple in his live shows during the eighties. Frank was no fan of The Beatles! But he made an exception for "Something" and he subsequently became very friendly with George. I recently read that "Something" is the second most covered song of all time. Only "Yesterday" surpasses it for the number of cover versions.

[@SpikeMatthews]

What I love most about this song is how - purely by chance - it transitions into 'Here Comes the Sun' on a CD or streaming version of the album. I Want You originally closed out side A of the LP Abbey Road, and it worked monstrously well there. However, to immediately follow it up with the George Harrison's beautiful Here Comes the Sun is an amazing exercise in counterpoint and contrast.

[@theresamorris6206]

Lovely to see you first time seeing you on here and I've now subscribed. But I had to see your first reaction to this song by The Beatles.👈😺 I was just a scrolling through KZbin, & "wait, what was that , , never heard, , ," oh now this is a must see. Not knowing what Beatles you are already familiar w/🤔 but if it's w/earlier Beatles hits (all sunshine & lollipops) & the like, well then this ought to shake ya up a bit. Yes lyrically speaking it ain't saying all that much. This is truth, but the song in no way leaves ya flat due to it's (almost overwhelming, but definitely over the top) seriously building musical intensity. This song just grabs you by the spine an then slowly, yet purposely, climbs up into your brain an pulls you up an up an up to the ceiling. An then w/o any such warning, just straight up abruptly vanishes, , , 😮, , , dropping you back down to the floor below. A bit shocking, an most definitely intense for a song that is perhaps like what🤔 maybe x2 sentences total & repeated over, an over, an over again. Well of course that does 👈😺 go in to helping w/that whole building intensity theme indeed 😺👌 Yep The Beatles are definitely something else for sure. An they went through several intense musical changes over their music creating years. The Beatles are w/o a doubt masters at all that they do. So much so that when I'm talking about something being the best (of it's topic or what have you, be it the best local plumber or the top brand of chain- saws whatever I myself refer that as being "the Beatles of _____" . Like saying, , , " due to his ability to so perfectly master any genre of film that he tries to do, & on his first try too = that in my opinion makes Quinton Tarantino w/o a doubt The Beatles when it comes to movie directing, script producing & actor casting for his films." Because The Beatles are & have always been the top. They are just that way & just that good. Enjoy young man enjoy.

[@mariaportengen2959]

A real Blues number, just like their number : Yer Blues. 🎶🎶🎶👍

[@christianmattison6096]

For those NOT in the know, "she's so heavy" bears no reference to the girls size or weight. "Heavy" was another way of saying "she's incredible" in the lingo of the day!

[@gerrycoogan6544]

Nevertheless, Yoko was fat.

[@ronsandahl274]

Actually, someone being called "heavy" in the 1960's meant that they were "deep." The reason that John wants the girl in the song is that she is deep, and he loves talking to her.

[@ofrabjousday1]

Yes, they can do metal ("Helter Skelter") AND reggae ("Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"), both from the same album!

[@mrsbluesky8415]

The song paints a picture for me of a smoky dive bar and hippies gathered round getting high. A band up on stage just jamming away. It’s the 60s.

[@tmountain1]

They covered so many genres song by song, but this ONE song alone covers a whole gambit of genres - jazz, R&B, heavy metal, blues, and one or two Latin beats too. Just astounding. Oh, and the wind effect at the end (from a MOOG synthesizer) - ambient music too.

[@Bassman2353]

It's as avant garde as a Picasso painting - the same thought, seen through many dimensions of emotions. Both simple and genius - perfect John Lennon. And the band is as stunning as it ever was on any song. One of my top favorites.

[@anthonyorr8868]

The simple lyrics are quite meaningful to me when you interpret it with the sound of the music. I think its a song about obsession (perhaps addiction), about how simple longing can turn into something dark and terrifying, and the only words that can describe that feeling are "I want you" until longing becomes obsession with "She's so heavy."

[@stephenindc9102]

That background sound is a Moog synthesizer .... one of the first times it was used in a major song, I think. George Harrison. It's crazy good.

[@Andytheashton]

You nailed it. They don’t have a genre. They sound like the Beatles

[@gerrycoogan6544]

The Beatles created their own genre. Hundreds of artists afterwards are still regarded as "Beatle-esque".

[@jenscee7679]

The genius is that after the almost unbearable tension of the end of this song, you flip the album and Here Comes the Sun starts. Just astonishing.

[@daveman_50]

Yes. Agree 100%. Kids these days! They don't know about flipping an LP, or the art of sequencing a collection of songs in two "sides." Sheesh.

[@ryan43816]

@@daveman_50yes we do lol. we know what record players are. they aren’t extinct they are still out there i promise. our parents tell us about them don’t worry. seriously don’t understand where this idea comes from.

[@gribwitch]

The Beatles DID do reggae, Michael ( Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da ) and metal ( Helter Skelter ). You name it - they did it !

[@sourisvoleur4854]

This song shows yet again the Beatles can play whatever tf musical style they please.

[@rainerseeger4195]

White niose that John increased to indicate the beatles were fading out. NB Helter Skelter was, one of, if not the first heavy metal song 1968

[@drakebullet4509]

Nice review Michael - I usually skip to just before the outro of this song - the most mesmerizing ending I've ever heard. Apparently they weren't sure how to end it then on playback John Lennon picked the spot where it cuts out to silence.

[@bobblowhard8823]

This is on the famous Abbey Road album. You really have to listen to the whole album for the full effect, as each song is connected to the next. One of the best albums produced in music history. And that's Paul McCartney on bass, by the way.

[@gribwitch]

SIR Paul McCartney. And if anyone deserves such an honour for his contribution to music, it's him !

[@bobblowhard8823]

@@gribwitch You are correct, sir. It's Sir Paul McCartney.

[@garylee3685]

John told the engineers he wanted it to sound like the "end of the world" at the end. It may have an early synthesizer doing the whooshing sounds. The song ends abruptly for the simple reason there was no more room on the record. They filled it to the end as far as it would go.

[@Straydogger]

John Lennon - lead and harmony vocals, lead guitars, Moog synthesizer Paul McCartney - harmony vocals, bass guitar George Harrison - harmony vocals, lead guitars Ringo Starr - drums, congas, wind machine Billy Preston - Hammond organ

[@gerrycoogan6544]

They recorded the backing track onto a reel of magnetic tape. As they kept repeating the \heavy riff over and over, the tape eventually ran out. Lennon liked the effect of the abrupt ending and so it stayed like that and that's why we hear it that way to this very day!

[@strathman7501]

I believe the correct story is that John asked for the tape to be literally cut, so it was his conscious decision to do that rather than fade out. Also, the story of John requesting an "end of the world" finale seems to be a misplaced version of what they told George Martin they wanted for the orchestral crescendi in A Day In The Life.

[@garylee3685]

@strathman7501 it's pretty easy to figure out that Lennon was talking about this song for the end of the world scenario since there is an interview specicific to Abbey Road where he talks about this song.

[@strathman7501]

@@garylee3685 Ah, if there's an interview we don't need to figure anything out, the answer will be there. Maybe John did repeat the same words he is on record as having said to George Martin 2 years earlier in 1967 in respect of ADITL. That would be interesting. Do you have a link or a reference?

[@markfcoble]

My friend got the album first so we listened in his room. The end was fun.

[@albacore101]

Greetings from Oregon. Welcome to our generation. Even my 24 year old cat loves this music. Great reaction

[@therealEmpyre]

Helter Skelter is sometimes credited as the birth of metal. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is sort of Reggae, sort of.

[@queenrosered]

That evil tone you're hearing is them conveying the "weight" of heaviness. ( She's soooo heavy) They were very esoteric at times. 👍

[@JFFM730]

The huge sound at the second half of the song was achieved by Lennon and Harrison playing multiple guitar tracks and they were layered together when the song was being edited

[@mrjoepad1]

Actually the background noise near the end was created by the Moog synthesizer.

[@JFFM730]

@@mrjoepad1 yes i know i was talking about the guitars

[@gwilli9511]

Yes, they do metal. Their song Helter Skelter is said to be the first metal song.

[@philwillett9102]

"Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da"- Reggae "Helter Skelter"- Heavy Metal

[@terri2494]

Funny you should mention James Bond. Paul actually did the theme song for “Live and Let Die” (1973). The song and movie have the same title.

[@michaelwduffy]

Oh that’s so cool!!! What are the odds 🤣

[@gribwitch]

@@michaelwduffy One way or another the Beatles still surprise you. Even when they've broken up ! lol

[@johnrobb8435]

For me the best thing about this song is with repeated hearings trying to figure out when it ends.

[@sourisvoleur4854]

I know exactly what you mean! "Okay it's this time. Nope, well it's this time. Dang it, okay this time for sure. Nope." repeat.

[@raatroc]

If you want ro see this song being played live, do see The Analogues playing this song it sounds exactly the same and you see them play the original instruments!

[@haranbanjo8024]

This end of song is BIRTH OF PINK FLOYD (Shine crazy Diamond, Dark side of the Moon...).

[@SpaceCattttt]

The noise during the song's coda is white noise. I suppose it's supposed to sound like a wind effect, but it's a bit too crude for that, so it ends up sounding just like noise. It suits the track, though, I must admit that the first time I heard it, way back when, I thought my stereo had broken...

[@timothyhites7016]

Paul McCartney did a Bond song for Live and Let Die

[@luke9947]

You’re 100% right about the evil sound that it has, in fact many people say that that riff anticipated Doom metal. Fun fact: Dave grohl (foo fighters/Nirvana) said that it’s the darkest thing he has heard.

[@gribwitch]

He couldn't have heard "Revolution 9 " then......now THAT was scary and unsettling. But unlike most, I actually like the "song". "Number 9.... number 9..... number 9....." "If .....you become naked". "Take this brother, may it serve you well." "The Twist. The Watusi.....El Dorado" ! "Number 9.... number 9.... number 9....."

[@aBeatleFan4ever]

At 10:08 Michael says... "It seems like they can do any freaking song they wanted - aside from like metal... or like reggae...". Well Michael, you might want to check out "Helter Skelter" from their 1968 White Album. Some have called it the first metal song. And from that same 1968 album - check out "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". I think you just might hear some reggae influence in that one.

[@taragreenetarotastro]

One of my fave Lennon songs

[@JamesLachowsky]

Want metal? Try Helter Skelter. Or Why Don't We Do It in the Road. Or Birthday. Or Happiness is a Warm Gun. Or Revolution. Or even Twist & Shout.

[@thereisnospoon52]

The Beatles used just about every instrument, even introducing the sitar to the Western world for the first time in a pop song in Norwegian Wood. That instrument would come to represent the stereotype 60's sound that you hear in every movie trying to recreate music from the psychedelic era. One of the few instruments they didn't play was the bagpipes, which Paul McCartney and Wings used on their 1977 single release called the Mull of Kintyre. It was Paul McCartney's greatest selling single and one of the greatest selling singles ever in the UK.

[@gerrycoogan6544]

Three corrections: 1. The single was called "MULL of Kintyre" (not "Moll"). Mull of Kintyre is a location in Scotland where McCartney bought a farm in the sixties. (Fun Fact: the road to the Mull of Kintyre is a "Long And Winding Road" and it was while Paul was driving there in the late sixties that he got the inspiration for the song.) 2. It wasn't on his first solo album. In fact it wasn't on any album by McCartney or Wings. It was a single, released in the UK 1977 by Wings, and it became the biggest selling British single of all time, making solo Paul McCartney "bigger than the Beatles" at that time, at least in terms of record sales. It remains the biggest selling UK single apart from "charity" records such as the British Live Aid single or a subsequent tribute single to Princess Diana (a rewrite of "Candle In The Wind" by Elton John.) 3. England is not the same thing as Britain or the UK. "Mull Of Kintyre" may or may not have been a number one hit in England. We'll never know. There is no such thing as an English chart or English hit parade. We have a UK chart which combines England, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland.

[@thereisnospoon52]

@gerrycoogan6544 Thanks for the facts check. You were correct and I changed those things on my comment. Man I would have bet a lot of money that it was Moll and not Mull.

[@gerrycoogan6544]

@@thereisnospoon52 You are very welcome. Well done for making the corrections. 👍

[@keymack2477]

From here, from the same album, something completely different - "Something"! Or if you have already reacted to that one how about "Because"? Can't go wrong with any Beatles tune! Also, though there are only four members of the band Billy Preston was a guest artist on this one on the keys!

[@johnpbh]

That noise in the back is one of Robert Moog's very first synthesizers.... And different bits and pieces are peppered all over this album. He was trying to get Abbey Road studios to buy one at the time so of course the Beatles had to have a play....Keep on rocking

[@danacasey8543]

My kids gave a 16 x 20 picture of the Abbey Road cover. It's hanging in my home office next to my Led Zeppelin poster! Abbey Road and Revolver might be my favorite Beatles albums. Oh, the While Album too!

[@Codex7777]

You say they didn't do metal, (mainly because it didn't properly exist for another 10 to 15 years) yet they're often credited with the first metal track, 'Helter Skelter'. Also, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" has certain metal elements. It definitely has those 'doom chords'. :)

[@Codex7777]

P.S. The Beatles were also a huge influence on many early metal artists.

[@southernbybirth9147]

They can do metal. Some say Helter Skelter is the 1st heavy metal song ever recorded. You should check it out.

[@illstreamthat]

3:24 Funny you should say that...Paul wrote and sang the theme for the Bond film 'Live and Let Die'.

[@peterzimmer9549]

They were probably the first metal band as well. Try reacting to “Helter Skelter”.

[@riphopfer5816]

No, you’re right: the end of this song is incredibly sinister and, well, heavy-hence the title. It’s layers upon layers of guitars distorted in different ways, plus the Moog, plus orchestration, if I’m not mistaken. This is one of my favourite songs of all time. And lyrically, it’s still better than ‘W.A.P.’ or any of the tripe that’s popular today.

[@garyr8739]

If you haven't heard Helter Skelter by them then you wouldn't say they don't do metal. It was real close to metal and they could do it if they wanted to Take a listen if you haven't, then you would know they could do anything.

[@gistechrep3816]

@Michael, you have to remember that lots of listeners during that era would take LSD and spin-up albums like this one. To get the full effect, give that a try and let us watch and enjoy your Reaction.

[@jameshealy8402]

They do play Metal , they were one of or the first with Helter Skelter

[@dalejohnson4256]

Back in the day, Paul McCartney was my favorite Beatle. (Never could resist a good bass player!)

[@jeffreyjohnson7359]

I love John's guitar solo. All instruments are great.

[@queenrosered]

The Beatles ARE a genre 😂❤Thanks! McCartney is the bass!! Listen to his licks in Silly Love Sings! 😊

[@MrJimithee]

Oooh yeah, Pauls bass x

[@spitfirenutspitfirenut4835]

They are the best.

[@braudabo]

Funny. Abbey Road Studio has produced the music (among others, "Harry Potter" for example) for almost all of the Star Wars films... Maybe "I want you (she's so heavy)" was an inspiration. Incidentally, millions of fans and tourists have been recreating the Beatles' "zebra crossing walk" on this zebra crossing at Abbey Road since 1969. Not always to the delight of the ongoing traffic on the busy road...😄

[@narlycat]

Well you said they wouldn't do metal or reggae but they may have invented the first metal song called Helter Skelter and the closest to reggae would be Ob LA Di Ob LA Da. Both songs were on the same 1968 double album entitled The Beatles but commonly known as The White Album.

[@nelsonx5326]

The Beatles evolved before our eyes. They started out pop, the rock love songs people loved at the time. Then we watch them grow spiritually.

[@BaccarWozat]

Actually, with Billy Preston on keyboards they were a five-piece.

[@michaelwirth6843]

It´s 1000% creative to use a really ugly noise in such a powerful way! And the song, jikes. The word epic just doesn´t feel enough.