Mike Darretta's Blog forThe Biblical Relevancy Series: The Beatles and the Bible

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.