Starr is only credited with lead vocals on eleven songs throughout his career with the Beatles, with all but two being written for him by Lennon and McCartney or covers. A majority of these songs expand the childlike and naïf Starr persona into the musical world of the Beatles from their films. This process is exemplified in three songs, written by Lennon and McCartney, for Starr to perform: “With a Little Help from My Friends,” “Yellow Submarine,” and “Good Night.” “With a Little Help” sees Starr assume yet another persona in Billy Shears, but is still useful in understanding the Ringo Starr persona. The song has a “rather purposefully over-simplified musical vocabulary, … a more advanced antiphonal vocal arrangement, and a much more serious …show more content…
Musically, it is a simplistic, “but this simplicity provides the firm platform needed to support the campy-yet-futuristic collage of sampled sound-bites overlaid upon it” (Pollock 97). The song only uses five chords and the tune is very simple (Pollock 97). In addition to the simplistic music, the Beatles added a myriad of sound effects that add to its childlike feel, including waves and mechanical sounds, with the help of a large number of friends and family (MacDonald 206-207). For the instrumental and third verse, “Lennon and McCartney went into the studio’s echo chamber to yell meaningless nauticalisms, Lennon remaining there to repeat Starr’s lines, Goon-style, throughout the final verse” (MacDonald 207). The song ends with a repeating chorus, sung by all four Beatles, their families, and their roadies, one of whom walked around the studio banging a bass drum, which can be heard fading in and out through out the repeat as he walked near the microphones. This is the first example of Starr singing a children’s song, a genre, which will be visited multiple times. This is one of the first extensions of the Starr persona into the Beatles music, as Starr sings these goofy lyrics about living in a submarine with his friends in the ocean. It is a fun, catchy tune befitting a children’s song, which helps to extend Starr’s childlike …show more content…
The song could be considered “schmaltzy based just on its chords, tune, and phrasing” (Pollock 156). It has jazzy chords and is in G major, while the backing track, written by George Martin, “uses a string section that would be on the small size even for a Mozart period orchestra, plus a sparse complement of woodwinds and brass; ditto for the small choir” (Pollock 156). A “very slow and dreamy Lennon ballad” it ends the White Album and follows “Revolution 9” (MacDonald 294). “Revolution 9,” an avant-garde piece filled with terrifying noises and shouts that may leave the listener scared and confused, is contrasted sharply by “Good Night” (Pollock 156). If any other song from the album were chosen to follow “Revolution 9” it “would sound a combination of anticlimactic, stylistically repetitive, underwhelming, or too weird” (Pollock 156). Following “Revolution 9,” “‘Good Night’ has the simultaneous virtues of providing musically arch-conservative ballast, a change of style as refreshingly surprising as anything else on the album, and a clever, self-referential of telling you the music’s over; turn off the lights” (Pollock 156). The listener is in need of Starr’s calming vocals after the jarring impact of “Revolution 9 and Starr’s childlike innocence and naïf persona add an extra sense of calm. Starr’s childlike persona can calmly lull us to sleep
I personally never heard this song before writing this essay but I actually really like it, especially after watching “The end live in LA” on YouTube, the performance was really good. What I like most was the guitarist who played the best tones throughout the whole
The first song played is “The Sounds of Silence,” which is somber and melancholy with its soft voices and instruments. The song plays along with a dull and repetitive recording while Ben stands alone on the moving walkway at the busy LAX airport. The song’s lyrics reinforce Ben’s feeling of isolation, “And in the naked light I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening” (Nichols 00:01:34). Right away the unhappy music and lyrics give the feeling that Ben is absent from his life and is surrounded by people that have nothing important to say. The song establishes the anxiety that Ben will experience throughout the film which is that of not being able to connect with the generation above him and worrying that his own generation is becoming a superficial and apathetic culture. Later, there is a montage that uses “Sounds of Silence” and transitions into “April Come She Will.” The montage shows Ben going through his monotonous daily routine and then meeting up with Mrs. Robinson for their loveless affairs. The music reminds the audience how detached Ben is even in an activity that should be intimate. “April Come She Will” plays while Ben walks back and forth between the worlds of Mrs. Robinson and his parents, neither of which he is pleased with. This song is about a love burning
When this song comes on it is to show the poverty of the Johnstons. The song that I remember the most is the game when Mickey, Sammy and their friends are all children and they are shooting each other. The words of the song are very childish and it’s just a game.
...ughout the film Good Night and Good Luck, music is a defining quality in how the movie progresses in the fight against communism, and McCarthy, and helps in the development of characters as well as the emotion that the audience is meant to feel. With the country’s safety being put into question America needed an advocate against unnecessary accusations and Murrow was that advocate. These three songs presented give an acceptable representation of the growth of media, the fear of having not only an enemies “eyes” on you but having friends “eyes” on you as well, the instability that the country has faced over the years and of 1950s America.
This album is my go-to, despite whatever mood I am in. He sings about “making banana pancakes” and how it's “better when we’re together”. Happy lyrics with a happy tune. I must admit, however, like Sannah, I have always been indifferent about the song “Good People”. Like his other songs, “Good People’s” catchy tune automatically makes me happy, but as I listen to the lyrics, I realize that it is a protest song, questioning, “where’d all the good people go?”. Johnson’s use of this rhetorical question emphasizes his point and makes his audience think. As a listener, I find myself questioning, “where did all the good people go?” It is such a harsh question that is simply unanswerable, which helps to further convey his
They sound soft and gentle as they are singing in a major key and harmony with each other. This creates a positive, calm and peaceful atmosphere for the audience. Gradually a sound appears in the background of the song. It is a man reading the news but it’s very quiet and drowned out by the silent night melody. His voice is in monotone and has no emotion in it.
The album begins with the hard-rocker “Come Together”. The song is a perfect example of John Lennon’s rock influence in the Beatles. “Come Together” is a song that’s popularity has been revived due to its appearances in many commercials. Its trademark chorus, “Come together right now over me”, is known just about everywhere. Ringo’s heavy drums and John’s deep poetic lyrics drive the song, while Paul’s voice and George’s sharp guitar contribute to the body of this song. John Lennon was well known for his creative lyrics. His mind provided lyrics for such insightful songs such as “Across the Universe” and “A Day in the Life”.
Many say that music has evolved over the years. This essay shall explore the elements of two versions of one song. It shall discuss the correlations and disparities of these songs and confer how it has been revolutionised to entertain the audiences of today.
They were physically attacked in Japan and their records were burnt in the Bible Belt after John Lennon made a passing comment, that “Christianity was in decline and the Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus’”. The Beatles ' lack of interest in public live performances resulted in them being focused on studio recordings and cease all touring. “With a little help from my friends” is from Beatles’ counterculture album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was released in June 1967. Now a studio only band, the Beatles were free to experiment with sounds, ideas, instruments, and style. This album was a game changer- the counter culture album was a precursor to psychedelic rock. Drug references, Indian music, and layered studio effects contributed to the different nature of the album. The album was a concept album that set up the idea of community- the opening song was Sargent pepper acknowledging the listener to come take a part of this experience. The album was conceived as a performance, even though the Beatles did not intend to play live again. The sound experimentalism had no rules of melody or harmony and used sounds of nature, instruments, and voices on the tracks. The song itself was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney specifically for Ringo Starr to sing. Due to Starr’s nasally limited vocal range, the song is a simple tune with a limited range. John Lennon and
“Come As You Are” and “Polly” showcase that Nirvana were not only a band interested in seeing people jump up and down and scream at shows. Many people, fans and celebrities alike consider “Polly” to be Kurt Cobain’s most well written song. “Polly”, number six, is a story of a girl who got molested and tortured and sexually abused.
Music has been around since the dawn of time, ever since man first inhabited this planet we have learned to communicate in ways other then conventional speaking. Different Cultures all have there own specific way of communicating through music. Music is basically broken into two specific groups Eastern Music and Western Music. Eastern music is mainly derived from the orient and India. While, Western music first emerged from Europe. Western music has developed in many ways since the middle ages through its form, sound, and message.
In each stanza different sound effects are repeated to give you a feel of what sounds are being made in the night club. In stanza one line one “Drum on your drums, batter on your banjoes” was referring to the sound made on the drums and banjoes when they are hit and played. By the author saying words like drum and batter gives you an idea of what they could possibly be hearing in there atmosphere.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary the Eleventh Edition states that music is “The science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity. It can created by vocals, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody or harmony.”
"I hope some day you will join us, and the world will live as one" Simplicity combines with deep meaning when John Lennon expresses his thoughts in his song "Imagine." This song was a huge hit in the 70’s, the time in which the Vietnam War was occurring. John Lennon’s “Imagine”, was a protest song that questions the morality of war, shows anti-war statements and emphasizes the importance of world peace. In America, every civilian has the Freedom of Speech. For this, artists have every right to compose a protest song. Even if the government is not fond of it, anyone could potentially write a song going against his or her beliefs, which is exactly what Lennon did with "Imagine," in a peaceful way. At the time Lennon’s song went against most beliefs, for people believed that violence in war was the answer to everything. Amongst passive resistance, the refusal to cooperate with legal requirements, strikes and angry mobs, Lennon chose the much calmer approach and simply composed a protest song. A protest song is simply a song that argues a point and tries to encourage one thing against another. In his song "Imagine", Lennon protest that the World should live in peace; keep in mind the Vietnam War was occurring at the time. It was then that protest songs were created to try and make points across, without the actual violence of rioting in protest.