Balarama Music

Beatles Countdown #76: Yellow Submarine

Nov 07

Doug1960s paul mccartney, ringo starr, the beatles No Comments

Starting back up with #76 on our countdown here, Paul McCartney’s uniquely original composition for Ringo Starr who would tell us of his life in “Yellow Submarine!”

A now signature Ringo Starr song, it was initially conceived by Paul McCartney in the dead of the night at his then-fiancée Jane Asher’s parents house. That was an interesting phrase. Anyway, he would later say he wrote the children’s song with Ringo in mind specifically making it not too rangy for the drummer’s limited vocal skills. He then began to craft a story out of it stating, “…sort of an ancient mariner, telling the young kids where he’d lived.” Perhaps being inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 And #35,” Paul was enthusiastic with the song for both the idea of a children’s song and the idea of Ringo singing it. The song aligned itself well with the carefree & childlike attitudes that made up much of the rising psychedelic era. Paul would later describe Ringo as good with children in an uncle way. Coincidentally, Ringo would also later lend his voice to Thomas The Tank a few decades later making Paul’s description correct. After finishing the song with minor lyrical help from John as well as Paul’s neighbor & folk artist Donovan (who is credited with the “Sky of blue, sea of green” line), they presented it to Ringo who was thrilled. Being constrained to mostly covers throughout up to that point, Ringo would relish the opportunity to sing the unique song which would also become Ringo’s first lead vocal credit on an official Beatle single. Single aside, I don’t think any of them could have seen it becoming one of their most adored songs as well as one of the most iconic children’s songs of the modern era.

In the studio, the recording seemed to be as fun and carefree as the song itself portrayed. A spoken word poem inspired by a 1960 charity walk by Dr. Barbara Moore was originally attempted to start the story. Recorded over marching feet, the poem read: “And we will march to free the day, to see them gathered there, from Land O’Groats to John O’Green; from Stepney to Utrecht, to see a Yellow Submarine.” The poem was only recorded in one version which was quickly scrapped for unknown reasons, but that “lost” version later popped up as part of the single release for 1996′s “Real Love.” Perhaps the band was having too much fun with other stuff to worry about perfecting the poem intro though and it’s not hard to see why. At one point, the studio cupboard was hijacked for any & all special effects which included chains, a ship’s bell, tap dancing mats, a tin bath filled with water, whistles, wind & thunderstorm machines, and a cash register. That cash register would later become royalty in pop music when it was later used for the recording of Pink Floyd’s “Money.” They used all of it to create some of the more memorable moments of the iconic song. Lennon would blow through a straw in the tin bath of water to create a bubbling effect. Both McCartney & Lennon talked through tin cans to create the captain’s uniquely voiced orders. Ringo stepped outside the doors of the studio and yelled “Cut the cable! Drop the cable!” to emulate the sailor. Random Abbey Road employees twirled chains in the tin bath to create water sounds. Geoff Emerick even used a slightly modified brass band recording (rumored to be a 1906 composition titled “Le Reve Passe) to follow the “and the band begins to play” lyric. They were just doing anything to have fun by this point. And to cap it off all the insanity, Mal Evans grabbed a bass drum, began banging on it, and led everyone in the room (including George Martin, Neil Aspinall, Marianne Faithfull, & Pattie Harrison) in a conga line while they sang & recorded the final boisterous chorus. Forget the recording of any top 10 song in history, I want to go back in time and visit them recording this gem in their childlike-rave! Who’s with me?

Some might see the song coming in at #76 on the countdown as a let-down, but “Yellow Submarine” has actually become a very divisive song to fans. While some appreciate the whimsical sing-along, others hold it as a weak point in The Beatles’ creative stride especially coming on the otherwise flawless record Revolver. Don’t be too surprised either; the song had some more troubles besides that. Released in the middle of Lennon’s “Bigger Than Jesus” controversy as well as the backlash from their infamous “Butcher” cover, the song actually did not perform nearly as well as people today would think and never reached number one on any American chart. It would hit number one in Britain and also won the highly coveted Ivor Novello Award, but even in Britain, the controversy around the band shrouded the matchless single. We’re not done yet either. Despite the childlike nature of the song, people still felt the song had a deeper meaning about drugs, just like most of their releases at the time. About a month after Revolver was released too, a barbiturate known as a yellow submarine started to become popular. McCartney denied the allegations and the frustrations from the so-called “hidden meanings” from this & other songs would fuel The White Album‘s “Glass Onion.” To give the song some peace though, it was used a few years later as the title song and basis to the 1968 animated film about The Beatles fighting the Blue Meanies in Pepperland. The soundtrack, released as an official Beatles’ album, was a let-down but included some great hidden gems such as “Hey Bulldog!” Instead of telling you how much I love this song too, I’ll just share a memorable moment with you. When The Beatles: Rock Band was released, my old roommates & I played it incessantly and at most of the parties we had. Showing just how great the song was, people always wanted to play it. And no matter who was in the room, everyone always began to sing along to the famous children’s tale. I’m sure you guys will too when you check it out below:

Song: Yellow Submarine
Album: Revolver
Year: 1966

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