The Beatles and the Bible: Sexy Sadie, What Have You Done? (1968-1970)

While Revolver and Sgt. Pepper introduced us to the more spiritual side of The Beatles, The White Album provides us with the band's complete journey in a super-sized, self-titled masterpiece.

Nicknamed The White Album due to it's colorless, artless, exterior, the self-titled The Beatles is a two disc work that is the true test of Beatle admiration. Worshipped by fans and panned by outsiders, The White Album (ranked #10 on the RS500) contains some of the most avant-garde, original and daring work the band would ever produce. From McCartney's risque Why Don't We Do It In the Road to Harrison's moody While My Guitar Gently Weeps to Lennon's eight minute experiment in sound, Revolution 9, The White Album provides a incredible mixture of musical genres, lyrical depth, and of course, spiritual experience. Recorded during the band's more tumultuous times (the members often recorded in separate studios), The White Album defies definition. There is no cohesive theme (illustrated well by the bland cover). There is no definable genre. (How do you define an album with tracks that could be on either a Guns 'n Roses or Lawrence Welk album?) There are songs that cannot even be defined as songs (see Revolution 9, or to some degree, Wild Honey Pie.) There is even one song that isn't a song at all (the "hidden" track Can You Take Me Back at the finale of Cry Baby Cry).

Despite the rather haphazard pot-pourri of tracks, there is an eerie cohesion as well. Lennon's unique acoustic work is repeated on several tracks (Dear Prudence, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, Julia). The three "animal" tracks are presented back-to-back-to-back (Blackbird, Piggies, Rocky Racoon). Some songs share titles (Wild Honey Pie and Honey Pie, Revolution 1 and 9) as well as verses (Savoy Truffle references Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da.) Most eerie is that the number of tracks on each album side correspond to the number of letters in each Beatle's name!

Disc 1/Side 1 - 8 Songs (Harrison - 8 Letters)
Disc 1/Side 2 - 9 Songs (McCartney - 9 Letters)
Disc 2/Side 1 - 7 Songs (Starkey [Starr] - 7 Letters)
Disc 2/Side 2 - 6 Songs (Lennon - 6 Letters)

To the outsider, The White Album is pointless and difficult to listen to. To the religious Beatle fan, it is art at its finest.

The eerie cohesion of the album augments the spiritual tone throughout. In fact, the album itself can be summed up by three different religious themes: the inane, the insane, and the ever present Indian influence that defined many of the tracks.

The inane is represented by McCartney's ditty Rocky Racoon - that jealous Old West gun slinger who would experience revival by reading from Gideon's Bible. The insane is a by-product of the infamous Charles Manson, who considered the album an apocalyptic call to his "Family" to proceed on their murderous spree of the late 60s. Taking his cue from both the album and the Bible, Manson saw The Beatles as the fulfillment of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rev. 6:1-7), took on the song title Helter Skelter as the theme song for his attacks, and considered Revolution 9 to be a reference to Revelation 9, which depicts various plagues upon the earth during the End Times.

It is the Indian theme, though, that most defines the album as a whole. In fact, it is in India itself that many of the songs found their genesis.

Sexy Sadie

After listening to a lecture by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton, the band, along with their wives, girlfriends and other friends, decided to spend much of the Spring of 1968 under the Yogi's tutelage at his campus in Rishikesh, India. There, they practiced transcendental meditation and even renounced psychedelic drug use. Most important to this discussion, though, is that many of the songs from The White Album were based on experiences during this period.

Starting with Harrison, his melodic Long, Long, Long depicts his feelings of finding inner peace with God, whatever that meant to him. (Harrison's three disc solo effort, All Things Must Pass, and the song My Sweet Lord in particular gives credit to all sorts of spiritual leaders, from Jesus to Hare Krishna, to a variety of other mystic figures.) Unlike his previous spiritual songs (as well as the subsequent The Inner Light), this work didn't use Indian music as its framework, but instead blended a mixture of waltz, folk and rock to create a very peaceful, as well as solemn, tenor.

Two tracks prior we find Sexy Sadie. Originally titled as Maharishi, the song depicts the Maharishi's supposed hypocritical sexual advances toward some of the women in the group. (The Maharishi taught sexual restraint.) This background gives new meaning to the lyrics:

"Sexy Sadie what have you done
You made a fool of everyone
....
Sexy Sadie you broke the rules
You laid it down for all to see
...
Sexy Sadie you'll get yours yet
However big you think you are
...
We gave her everything we owned just to sit at her table
Just a smile would lighten everything
Sexy Sadie she's the latest and the greatest of them all."

Lennon would later regret obfuscating the title. Bad religious experiences such as this may be part of the reason he would later declare all gods as idols in his solo work. (See the lyrics to God near the end of this blog.)

John's experience at Rishikesh was also chronicled by Dear Prudence, written for Mia Farrow's sister Prudence Farrow, who was with him at the campus. (Some reports depict her as an object of the Maharishi's advances.) Many of songs on The White Album are acoustic (or partially acoustic - e.g., Blackbird, Julia). This reflects the fact that the only Western instrument available to the band during their India visit was the acoustic guitar; songs were therefore written acoustically, and stayed true to their original arrangement.

Future Works

The White Album was the apex of spiritual experience for The Beatles. Subsequent works, like the aforementioned The Inner Light, Harrison's Here Comes the Sun, as well as McCartney's Let It Be (which is ironically similar to Luke 1:35 - "Then [Mother] Mary said, 'Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word'") provide glimpses of spiritual experience and yearnings. Lennon's contributions ranged from meditative (Across the Universe, with its refrain taken from Indian meditation) to near blasphemous (The Ballad of John and Yoko, which compared the couple's media-laced honeymoon experience to Christ's crucifixion). (Note also John's I Am the Walrus from 1967, in which he makes a comical reference to Hare Krishna.)

After recording Abbey Road in 1969, The Beatles split to pursue their solo careers. Albums such as Harrison's choir-like All Things Must Pass and Lennon's dark and revealing Plastic Ono Band continued to reveal the spiritual thoughts of the artists. Sometimes, the lyrics seemed to cut to the heart of biblical Christianity:

"You don't need no passport
And you don't need no visas
You don't need to designate or to emigrate
Before you can see Jesus

If you open up your heart
You'll see He's right there
Always was and will be
He'll relieve you of your cares"
(Harrison, Awaiting On You All)

At other times, they completely rejected biblical truth:

"God is a concept by which we can measure our pain
...
I don't believe in Bible
...
I don't believe in Jesus
...
I just believe in me
Yoko and me
And that's reality"
(Lennon, God)

It is not surprising that John Lennon would be the most vocal atheistic (or at least agnostic) voice of the The Beatles. Wasn't it he who proclaimed that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus? What might be surprising is that my favorite Beatle was and always will be John Lennon. As a teenager, Lennon was my hero; my idol. I learned openness and honesty from John Lennon. I learned art appreciation from him. I also learned that one need not be constrained by popular thought, but should expand his or her horizons to see things beyond what is either apparent or acceptable. I can still get emotional every December 8 - the anniversary of his fatal shooting in 1980. I have that fateful moment etched in my memory when Howard Cosell announced to an shocked Monday Night Football audience than an "unspeakable tragedy" had occurred that evening in New York City. Lennon was, for my teenage years, my inspiration.

So, it seems appropriate that almost two years to the day after Lennon's death - December 10, 1982, to be exact - I made the decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ. From that day forward, my hero worship shifted from John Lennon to Jesus Christ. I am now a follower of Jesus Christ...though I still enjoy the music of John Lennon and The Beatles.

I will always find artistic inspiration from The Beatles. There are some things, though, that they will never convince me to do. John Lennon challenged all of us in 1971 to "imagine there's no Heaven." That's something I find impossible to do.

Kindle Sales Have Been Very Solid

Last month, I had to suspend selling the Kindle edition of God Is Closer for 1 cent, and instead up the price to Amazon's mandated minimum of 99 cents. Prior to the change, GICTYT was selling over 500 copies a month! (Not bad for a publish-on-demand book.) With the price hike, sales have dropped a bunch (as expected). But I'm happy to report that the Kindle edition is still generating over 40 downloads a month. My immediate goal is 60 per month...which is well within reach.

Kindle Edition Now 99 cents

Due to recent minimum price requirements from amazon.com, the Kindle edition of God Is Closer Than You Think is now 99 cents - the lowest allowable price for a Kindle eBook. Remember, you can always read or download my book for FREE at www.biblicalrelevancy.com.

For those who have had issues with purchasing the 1 CENT Kindle version of "God Is Closer Than You Think", there was a glitch in the Kindle handling system. The book should be available again for 1 CENT in a day or two.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Blessings!
Mike

Get "God is Closer" for 1 CENT!!

Friends,

You can now purchase the digital version of "God Is Closer Than You Think" for just 1 CENT! Search for the Kindle version of the book at amazon.com or go to the following link:

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You can then download the entire book for one penny. Note that you need either a Kindle Reader or iPhone/iTouch to download the book.

The Beatles and the Bible - Surrender to the Void (1966-1967)

Revolver – The Beatles Unleashed

Imagine a rock album that combines gritty guitar work, symphonic ballads, psychedelic meanderings, Eastern influences, ultra-soft love tunes and silly sing-alongs. Now, imagine that these are found in the first six songs on the album! Add a little ragtime, a few blaring horn sections and some dissonant chords, and you have the December 1966 classic Revolver.

Artistically speaking, Revolver may be The Beatles finest moment. As the second in an amazing string of three legendary works, Revolver is one of the most distinctive and appreciated albums ever conceived. (It is ranked #3 on the RS500.) Rubber Soul represented The Beatles departure from the predictable, pop-rock genre to a more sophisticated level of song-writing. Revolver broke all the modes of what a rock album could be. It was The Beatles bold statement that they were the masters of their artistic destiny.

The name Revolver refers to the spinning of a record on a turntable. It could just as easily, though, represent the spinning of one’s mind while trying to harness the meaning of this album. George gets us started with the simple, yet gritty, Taxman. Then, he catches us off-guard with the first of his Eastern-inspired songs, Love You To. (We’ll talk more about this one later.) Paul employs a full orchestra (and nothing else) to help us empathize with two very lonely characters in Eleanor Rigby. (In this song, Paul makes reference to “Father McKenzie” and his sermons “that no one will hear.” This is one of Paul’s occasional neutral references to Christianity that sort of summarized his gentle song-writing.) Next, he lets us in on the sweet inner thoughts of a man enamored by his lover in Here, There and Everywhere. Then, for good measure, he takes us on a gentle stroll between love-birds with Good Day Sunshine, reminds us how love can grow cold with For No One and makes us dance with Got To Get You Into My Life (which Paul later confessed was about his unfortunate decision to use drugs).

But what would a legendary Beatles album be without the unrestrained song-writing of John Lennon. Though there is not a single song of John’s on Revolver that would be deemed a “hit”, his efforts basically defined the album. First off, I’m Only Sleeping uses backward guitar tracks, sped-up vocals and rather hypnotic arrangements to induce a sleep-like tenor to the entire work. She Said She Said and Doctor Robert represent the very real influence of drugs on Lennon’s life. (It’s no secret that drugs represented much of The Beatles work during this era.) Then you have And Your Bird Can Sing – possibly the weakest track on the album, but still a fairly humorous hit at egotists.

John provides the most memorable, and definable, track of the album in Tomorrow Never Knows. Structurally, the song is very simple, employing slight variations on a single chord. In regards to arrangement, this song is one of the most complex The Beatles ever wrote. (You need to reference I Am the Walrus to exceed this one.) The song was inspired by an evening John spent, in a typical drug-induced state, reading The Tibetan Book of the Dead, translated by Timothy Leary in The Psychedelic Experience. To recreate this rather mind-bending state, John required producer George Martin to use several sound effects, tape loops (a single loop of tape playing continually to create a recurring rhythm), backward guitar tracks (supposedly the solo from Taxman in reverse), and even demanded that he be hung upside-down from the ceiling, swaying back and forth, to record the vocals. (The latter was understandably denied.) With a three minute song, John managed to create an aura that he defined as “the Dalai Lama screaming from the highest mountaintop.”

Love it or hate it, Tomorrow Never Knows is a prime example of The Beatles and their quest for higher consciousness and meaning in life. George with Love You To began to introduce the youth culture to Eastern religions, particularly transcendental mediation. Using lyrics sometimes borrowed from the Bible, George’s Indian music portrayed a growing religious hunger and willingness to rethink the value of riches, fame and selfishness. (Ironically, lust and drug use were not condemned in any way.) With Tomorrow Never Knows, John himself delved into the world of subconscious reality. With lines such as “lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void”, John was wondering out loud if the world around him was ultimate reality, or if something else (especially “the meaning of within”) could bring greater peace inside and harmony outside.

Sgt. Pepper – The Defining Moment in Rock

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, released in June 1967, is ranked as the number one album of all time on the RS500. I believe Rolling Stone magazine got this one perfect. Sgt. Pepper may be the greatest album of all time, yet it’s only the fourth best Beatles album (behind Abbey Road, Revolver and Rubber Soul.) You see, Sgt. Pepper isn’t the quintessential listening experience. Remove Lennon's masterpiece, A Day in the Life, and you have a pretty good album – but hardly a work of art. Yet, the influence that Sgt. Pepper had on the music world makes this the undeniable king of the hill. It spawned reactionary works from other artists (The Rolling Stones, in particular). The blurb from the RS500 summarizes well Sgt. Pepper’s influence – “The final thundering piano chord [the 40-plus second conclusion of A Day in the Life] concluded the Sgt. Pepper's album and made rock music seem like it had infinite possibilities.”

While the album itself represents little regarding religious thought, there is one glaring exception. Harrison’s Within You Without You is the meditative, Indian work that rebukes self-indulgent people and asks the question, “Are you one of them?” Using only Indian musicians (no other Beatle appears on the song), George methodically breaks down the façade of those who “gain the world and lose their soul”. Here is an abridgment of the lyrics – see if you can find any allusions to biblical teachings:

"We were talking…about the people
Who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse of truth
Then it's far too late
When they pass away
…
With our love
We could save the world
…
Try to realise [sic] it's all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small, and life flows on
within and without you

We were talking
About the love that's gone so cold
And the people who gain the world and lose their soul
They don’t know
They can’t see
Are you one of them?

When you've seen beyond yourself
Then you may find, peace of mind, is waiting there…"

Here, George echoes Jesus’ words in Mark 8:36 and Matthew 24:12. We also find illusions to Luke 12:20, Mark 4:12, John 13:35 and Philippians 2:12. It seems, like others who apply biblical truth to some degree, that George was finding life was more meaningful if lived for more than purely selfish purposes. Unfortunately, his quest would only brush shoulders with biblical truth, but never fully embrace it.

The Journey and the Destination

In the incredible seven months between December 1966 and June 1967, the world was introduced to some of the most influential music of all time. We also were allowed into the inner thoughts of the artists by their transparent lyrics, lyrics that sometimes defined a spiritual journey that seemed more important than its ultimate destination. Such was the spiritually-laced works of The Beatles. It was also the tenor of much of the youth culture of the day. The journey was personal, (supposedly) transcended traditional Christianity, and lead to an indefinable destination often promised by Eastern gurus and psychedelic drug proponents. This veered far from the biblical teachings that the ultimate destination of Heaven was gained through being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Though I deeply appreciate the artistry of The Beatles and their impact on popular music, I am saddened by some of their impact on modern culture. George’s introduction, and John’s delving, into Eastern thought opened up many doors of alternate religious thinking that has had a significant effect on us today. This journey, though, was only beginning. The pinnacle of The Beatles' spiritual journey would appear a year later in a rather bland package with a super-sized interior.

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Check out my book God Is Closer Than You Think at http://www.biblicalrelevancy.com.

The Beatles and the Bible - Spread the Word (1962-1965)

The Beatles are the best selling rock band in history. The Bible is the best selling book in history. Put these two together, and you have the best selling blog in history…or maybe not.

Whether this blog matches the success of either The Beatles or the Bible is up for debate. Regardless, over the next few weeks I want to focus on how the Bible, and spiritual teachings in general, helped shape the music of the most influential music group of my generation, and likely of all time. Though no one would ever confuse the music of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, or Richard Starkey (better known as Ringo Starr) as Sunday sermon material, we do find that spiritual issues, and the search for life meaning, are infused in much of their music – particularly in the latter four years. I have no intentions on criticizing the message behind the music. (Again, no one labels The Beatles as choir boys.) Instead, I will discuss how the music reflected spiritual thought, and do a little critiquing of the songs’ artistry along the way.

In these first two installments, we’ll take a brief look at the early years of The Beatles. We'll then move on to the more ground-breaking (and spiritually significant) albums of the mid-sixties.

The Early Years

On February 11, 1963, John Lennon completed a marathon recording session by shredding his sort-throat stricken vocal chords screaming out the ultimate rendition of Twist and Shout. Thus was born the album Please Please Me and the revolution had begun. Recorded in just under 10 hours, this album ranks at number 39 on the “Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” (from here on referred to as the RS500). Once Paul starts the album shouting, “One, two, three, four…”, and I Saw Her Standing There gets us going, the music world would embark on a three-year journey that would bring us such classics as Help!, A Hard Day’s Night, Yesterday, and (one of my personal favorites) Ticket To Ride.

From 1962 to early 1965, The Beatles would commercially release a total of five albums and 87 songs, including singles – a pretty significant feat in and of itself. (By the way, I am only going to refer to the original UK Beatles album releases. The Capital US releases are far inferior and compromised the artistic intent of The Beatles.) As classic as these songs are, anyone vaguely familiar with them would realize (as my 12-year old daughter quickly figured out) that they were pretty much “silly love songs”. Despite their resounding beats and beautiful harmonies, the early Beatles works lacked the depth of their future efforts. Consequently, we are hard pressed to find much spiritual significance to anything The Beatles released during this time. Beyond the occasional reference to “spiritual” things in Devil In Her Heart and prayer mentioned in Mr. Moonlight (both renditions from other artists), we are left with a seemingly unintentional reference to Proverbs 16:18 in I’m A Loser – “And so it's true pride comes before a fall”.

“Beatlemania” – a term used to describe the hysteria at Beatles concerts – drove the Fab Four to quit touring after their final concert at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. Without the pressures of an intense traveling schedule and with minds focused solely on the music, the latent artistry of the Fab Four could now be realized to its fullest. It was around this period, consequently, that the music of The Beatles began to take on a deeper, and often more spiritual, significance.

Rubber Soul – A Newer, Growing Beatles

George Martin, the famed producer often referred to as “The Fifth Beatle”, spoke of Rubber Soul as "the first album to present a new, growing Beatles to the world.” Ranked at number 5 on the RS500, Rubber Soul (released December 1965) moved past the genre of teen love songs into the adult world of confusion, drugs, disillusionment, contemplation, and even infidelity. It presents the mood changes, instrumental experimentation and lyrical depth that would become the hallmark for subsequent albums. Here, we find classics from Paul such as Michelle and I’m Looking Through You. George’s contributions begin to take on a more significant role, and even Ringo co-wrote the finger-pickin’ What Goes On. But it is John who makes this album his personal art gallery. His songs Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), Nowhere Man, and In My Life are the types of songs, as one person put it, that seem to have been a part of our lives as far as we can remember.

It is my least favorite song on Rubber Soul, though, that demonstrates the growing spiritual development of The Beatles. The Word was John’s initial plea for peace and love. While monster hits like All You Need Is Love and his solo effort Give Peace A Chance would become John’s anthems for his cause, The Word was his first attempt to declare love as the means for global tranquility. Coincidently, it was also his first release that revealed a growing detachment from religion, which he would later declare as blatant atheism in his solo efforts.

The Word is pretty much a goofy pop song with simple and somewhat juvenile lyrics. Yet, what makes it interesting is that it seems to contain some very clear references to the Bible, though presented in a secular context. Ironically, John the atheist seems to be recalling passages (possibly learned from childhood) from John the Apostle, who wrote the Gospel of John and three biblical letters. Virtually the entire song seems to reflect John the Apostle’s writings. I doubt this was accidental. Take a look at the comparisons taken from both The Word and the writings of John the Apostle:

So why is this significant? Was John Lennon trying to slight the Bible? Was he attempting to sway people from Christianity into secular reasoning? I’m not sure what John’s intents were, since his world view was still taking shape at this time. I do believe, though, that John Lennon’s understanding of spiritual truth began and ended with love for one another. Not a bad thought, after all, on solving the problems of war, strife and poverty. If we could only love one another, our world would be a much better place. (By the way, Lennon would later regret writing his threatening tone towards an unnamed “little girl” friend in Run For Your Life.)

Unfortunately, John’s message of love only provided half the solution for the human condition. Jesus Christ makes it clear that love is the answer. Yet, this love is not only horizontal in nature (man-to-man), but vertical as well (man-to-God). It’s the two-fold story that Jesus presents to a biblical scholar recorded in the Gospel of Matthew:

"[A teacher asked] which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses? Jesus replied, '"You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: "Love your neighbor as yourself." The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.'" (Matthew 22:36-40)

It seems that John Lennon’s spiritual journey started in the right vehicle, but he was using the wrong map. The vehicle called love truly is the way to curing human ills, but his map failed to mention that the most important love relationship is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. John Lennon would strive to love his fellow man. Yet, in failing to first love God (whom the Bible called love personified), John would find that his efforts often instead lead to strife and disenchantment. (We’ll examine this in a later article.)

Love Is the Answer?

Larry Norman wrote in his comical song Reader’s Digest, “The Beatles said ‘All you need is love’ and then they broke up.” It seems that we often try to love, yet things don’t always end up in a loving way. You marry the one you love, but then need to learn how to love the one you married. You love your children, but they run off and do the very thing that breaks your heart. You try and love your enemies, yet they continue to stab you behind the back and sometimes even smack you right in the face.

Well, to quote Lennon’s Mind Games, “love is the answer”. It doesn’t, though, start with love for one another. That’s the framework. The foundation is love for God. If you want to learn the way of love, you need to start with the source for love, God Himself. You do this by developing a love relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Then, the more you learn to love God, the more you’ll learn to love your neighbor.

In the next article, we’ll see how The Beatles' message of love began to take a more spiritual meaning as both John and George take a supernatural journey that would eventually lead to the “Summer of Love” and the new youth counterculture.

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Check out my book God Is Closer Than You Think at http://www.biblicalrelevancy.com.