Bevan Beat(le)s

(Bevan Beats #9) by Ciaran Marchant 

Welcome to Bevan Beats! This is a fortnightly article and accompanying playlist from us at the Explosion Network. It aims to enable us the ability to share the music we love, discuss a certain theme, or share what we are simply listening to in our everyday lives. You’ll be able to find the playlist on Youtube and on Spotify.

During my weird years of High School as I was finding myself, I found this amazing band of boys from Liverpool, The Beatles. I owe a lot to The Beatles, their music took me on adventures and helped me understand the world in its own way.

For one band there are such diverse sounds between albums and songs which comes from the four members each putting their own flair into their music. Take an adventure through the Beatles discography with me as this playlists contain my favourites from the band. Their music ascends generations and time, I hope you can appreciate their effect on music today through this collection and maybe even fall in love with it a little bit.

1.) Helter Skelter

When people try to tell me that The Beatles do not make rock music I tell them to shut up and listen to Helter Skelter. There is something raw about this song that makes me feel like the band is getting out their frustrations with various things in the music world. Between the thrashing guitar and Ringo’s hard-hitting drums, it is hard not to appreciate how diverse The Beatles music was.

2.) Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

The world has always wanted to know is this song about LSD? Lennon always denied it and referred to a drawing his son had done for him but the magical story that is told throughout the piece lends itself for other to question its meaning. Whatever the meaning is this song transports you through to another world that the music of Sgt Pepper’s does so well throughout the entire album.

3.) A Day In The Life

As I said previously, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band does a fantastic job of taking listeners on a journey. The vocals seem to float and hang in the air until the song begins to build before the day begins as if truly in a dream.  The ‘day’ that is traversed throughout the song is magical but in true Beatles fashion, it contains links to real-life tragedies and memories from the band’s lives.

4.) Help!

The fact that the self-titled album started out with the sudden harmonised “Help” is a magical way to start an album but for this to be a Beatles album makes it even more unique. Trying to harmonize throughout such a fast-paced song adds a manic tone that reflects the feeling of desperation when asking for help in any situation.

5.) Yellow Submarine

Any song with Ringo on the lead vocals has a unique and almost wacky element to them, this may be due to the public perspective of Ringo’s role within the band but no matter what, it is truly loveable. It’s easy to see the appeal of the various books and movies that were released because of this song, even in a musical form it brings you on a fantastical journey in a purple washing machine… i mean Yellow Submarine.

6.) I Am The Walrus

This song add so much character to the person that was John Lennon. John wrote this song in an attempt to mess with those music analysts that would try and find meanings within every song. He strived to write a song without any meaning and if you listen to the lyrics you will understand that he has very much succeeded at this in every way possible, but of course even without meaning this is a fantastic piece of music filled with a magical imagination that transport you to a rather nonsensical world of fun.

7.) Don’t Let Me Down

The guitar alone for this song is worth listening to. The song shows Lennon’s vulnerability in terms of his relationship without Yoko Ono. Despite many fans blaming her involvement in the bands eventual collapse it still can bring a sense of happiness from seeing Johns faith and trust in their relationship.

 8.) While My Guitar Gently Weeps

The pain that radiates from this piece is a testament to George Harrison’s masterful writing to weave emotions throughout both the music and lyrics of the piece. This song is made even better once you realise that George’s close friend Eric Clapton added his own flair by playing lead guitar for the song.   

9.) Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club

The fact that Sgt Pepper’s kicks of the album of the same name set the scene for a very interesting album where the band used a fictional band to begin creating new forms of music and trying new things. This song combines the musical creativity of the band with their amazing ability to tell a story, almost as if they were opening a show.  

10.) Come Together

Honestly, I almost forgot about Come Together and I feel like a true idiot for it. The moment I hear the opening baseline filled with memories of first discovering this amazing bands music, probably like many people throughout the world. The solo in the closing moments of the song is a true highlight but would not be the same with Ringo’s crashing cymbals that contrast the finesse of the guitar solo.

11.) Eleanor Rigby

From the opening harmonies to the dramatic strings that are played throughout the song, it succeeds at making listeners of all ages feel the loneliness that the characters of the song feel. Paul strove to write this song on a style that opposed the trends of pop music for the time and it pays off, the string quartet that is led by George shows the bands masterful use and knowledge of a whole range of Instruments.  

12.) Hey Jude

This is one of the Beatles most icon songs, which is impressive when you look back at their catalogue of iconic music from their time together. The fact Paul wrote this song for John’s son Julian as a way to support John’s Ex-wife Cynthia in a time where she lost a large part of her life. The fact Paul wrote this in a car while driving to see them and would stop along the way to play it in random English villages is a true note to his character. No matter if your name is Jude or not, I believe everyone can find solace in this song and I can promise you that Paul Mccartney’s lyrics have helped me through plenty of tough times.   

13.) Here Comes The Sun

This is probably the most commercial of the Beatles music as you will probably have seen at least one movie containing this song. Here comes the sun is George Harrison’s legacy. After avoiding some Beatles business affairs to write this song you can feel the relief and the escape he is feeling throughout the song. The music world lost an amazing talent with George’s passing, and honestly, I think that many people overlook George quite a lot, he is pretty fantastic so please go check out his post Beatles career (he does a backflip it’s pretty cool).

14.) The End

The weight of this song never really hit me until I finished the career mode of  Rock Band: The Beatles. This was the last song that the Beatles ever recorded together in the same studio. The song is a true farewell to the history of the band and some closure for its fans. I honestly feel a sense of sadness each time I listen to this song but also there is a feeling that even in an ending you can find hope and happiness for the future.

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Bevan Beats is a fun project about sharing and curating songs to share with one another. If you’d like to put together a playlist and article for Bevan Beats you can contact mail@explosionnetwork.com