The Beatles Seargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album was first released in 1969. Widely accepted as a new phase for the band, it was daring and experimental in its time. Considering the relatively primitive equipment, the whole album is a tour de force, with the engineers and production staff using and abusing the equipment available to produce sounds never before recorded.
For this month's deep dive, I have chosen the final track on the album, "A Day in the Life"
The Beatles had given up trying to play live before this album. This lent a new freedom to Lennon and McCartney, the principal writers of the tune. It is fairly accepted that, as well as experimenting with music, both were also experimenting with recreational drugs, and there are many references in many of the songs to these. This song is clearly inspired by some crazy out-of-mind experiences, and although there are many interpretations of the lyrics, some of these are contradictory. Unfortunately, we are not able to ask John Lennon, and Sir Paul's memory seems to be variable!
The track begins with a smattering of applause from the previous track for continuity. An acoustic guitar and heavily processed piano are joined by a surprisingly untreated bass guitar as John Lennon sets the lyrical scene, "I read the news today, oh boy!" he sings with lashings of reverb. At 45 seconds, a drum break introduces Ringo to the listener. I have always felt he was and still is an exemplary drummer. Often putting his breaks and intros where others wouldn't, as is the case here!
The heavy reverb on just about everything gives the track an ethereal quality, dream-like and gentle. As John sings "I'd Love to Turn You On", which may or may not be attributable to the popular supporter of psychedelic drugs, Timothy Leary - "Tune in, Turn on, Drop out!" stringed instruments bubble up from low in the mix, joining an ascending bass scale. The strings and other orchestral instruments grow in volume and craziness while ascending beyond the bass note that is now being held.
I can clearly hear a ten count under this. At 2:14, the noise ends abruptly, and the song enters a new and different phase. Bass, piano, and drums are joined by Sir Paul's vocals. Much of the reverb has been removed, which brings the listener back into the room, as the lyrics describe a hectic morning of being late for a bus. The piano breaks are extraordinary, and I would suggest these are played by Sir Paul, who is self-taught. At around 2:35, there is some heavy breathing which supports the narrative of being late and having to run for the bus - It also perhaps reveals where a similar bit in ELO's Mr Blue Sky came from. At 2:45, Sir Paul went upstairs on the bus and "had a smoke, somebody spoke, and I went into a dream".
The ethereal quality from the beginning of the track returns as we are treated to an "aaahs and oooh's" break from John Lennon. He is quickly rejoined by the full orchestra, and then at 3:17, the second verse begins, and we are counting holes in Blackburn, Lancashire! The end of the verse features the same ascending passage of bass then orchestra, which carries on for longer this time, reaching a crescendo before a manicured pause and then the biggest chord ever played on a piano. In fact, I now know that the chord was played simultaneously on three pianos, each using a different voicing, which is why it sounds so big! Let the chord die away to complete silence before attempting to move on, it really is the ultimate full stop! At 4:48, if you raise the volume high enough, you will hear someone shifting on their piano stool, causing it to creak - a brilliant artefact to have left on the recording!
Watch out for the rude wake-up at around 5:10, however, as it comes in at a loud level. It is a bit of sonic nonsense that was inscribed on the run-out track of the vinyl pressings. I have woken up many times to that track, which would just repeat until I went over to the deck and lifted the stylus!
A genius piece of music in every respect. Hope you enjoy revisiting or hearing it for the first time!
Image Credits: @thebeatles on Instagram