The Beatles Bible - Topic: Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

PeterWeatherby on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:40:19 +0000

Joe said:

Ram has a few references to John and Yoko (Too Many People preaching practices, "We believe that we can't be wrong" etc), and of course John got his own back on How Do You Sleep.

I remember Carlin made the same point in his book, drawing out several lyrics from various songs on Ram and showing how they applied to John, but in his 1984 Playboy interview, Paul seemed to narrow the scope a bit and indicated that only the song "Too Many People" was specifically directed at John:

PAUL: ... I was looking at my second solo album, Ram, the other day ...

MadiYasha on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:23:53 +0000

Joe said:

And did Ringo do any songs about the others?

On Y Not (which I bought the day it came out because I'm a 'tard) Ringo has a song called 'Peace Dream', and while not being directly about John, it has a lyrics that goes like...

"Just like John Lennon said,

In Amsterdam from his bed

One day we'll all wake up

to see the reality."

Elsewhere Man on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:51:11 +0000

In regards to "Let Me Roll It," (which sounds like Paul imitating John's recording style - particularly on Plastic Ono Band) I find it rather amusing that John quoted the riff from that song in "Beef Jerky," his instrumental number from Walls And Bridges.

Joe on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:00:27 +0000

I'm pretty sure that's not the case. They reversed the tape from the earlier verse where May says "John... John... John" ("Somebody calling my name...") - it sounds like "Norj". You can reverse it back and hear it.

Alissa on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:51:41 +0000

In John's #9 Dream, during the second bridge before the chorus, you can hear May whispering "George, hare krishna." I read about it, and after a little closer inspection you can hear it's definitely there.

Giovi on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:00:50 +0000

In "Boys", John sings "Alright, George".

And there's a Ringo's song, that was written for George, as SugarPlumFairy said, called "Never Without You".

Barry Cappi on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:09:16 +0000

In the spoken outro to the reprise of Just Because on the 'Rock n Roll' CD, John says 'Hi to Ringo, Paul & George & everyone back home in England'.

Similarly, in the spoken outro on the final track of the 'Ringo' album, (You & Me Babe), Ringo name checks George Harrison, John Lennon & Paul McCartney.

mjb on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:20:12 +0000

Amphion said:I always thought that Paul's 'Let Me Roll It' from the Band On The Run album was a response to John's 'How Do You Sleep.' In fact, I always thought 'Jet' made certain obscure references to Yoko. In fact, I always think that most of Paul's solo lyrics of the 70's were probably written with John in mind!

I thought How Do You Sleep? was in resoponse to Too Many People.

mjb on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:16:43 +0000

George's Living In The Material World:

"Met them all there in the material world
John and Paul here in the material world
Though we started out quite poor
We got 'Richie' on a tour
Got caught up in the material world"

Amphion on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:08:36 +0000

I always thought that Paul's 'Let Me Roll It' from the Band On The Run album was a response to John's 'How Do You Sleep.' In fact, I always thought 'Jet' made certain obscure references to Yoko. In fact, I always think that most of Paul's solo lyrics of the 70's were probably written with John in mind!

SugarPlumFairy on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:32:51 +0000

Ringo is still at it! And on the song Liverpool 8 from a couple of years back, he actually did mention all three of his ex-bandmates by name, in a verse about playing in Hamburg. And the following verse mentions playing Shea Stadium as well. There's also his tribute to George, Never Without You, which manages to include a couple of his song titles in the lyric.

Von Bontee on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:48:32 +0000

And did Ringo do any songs about the others?

Ringo's "Early 1970" is a nice little song about the breakup, and the willingness of his former bandmates (none of 'em mentioned by name, as usual) to jam with him when they come to town. (George is always willing and able to play; John's making plans to do so; as for Paul, he's hopeful but unsure.)

Joe on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:37:13 +0000

Thanks all (though I'm not so sure about any of BeatleMark's!). And here's another Q for you all:

I was listening to All Things Must Pass yesterday and noticed the line "Let me roll it to you" in I'd Have You Anytime. So I started thinking about solo Beatles songs which reference the other members.

Paul's Let Me Roll It was presumably a tribute to John, as it sounded a lot like a Plastic Ono Band song, but the above line could well have been a nod to George. He also wrote Here Today after John's death. Ram has a few references ...

BeatleMark on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:21:46 +0000

Yawn, Paul, in "I'm Only Sleeping". Ring, my friend I said you'd call..."Dr. Robert". Paul is dead man. Miss him, miss him, miss him! Backwards at the end of "I'm So Tired".

skye on Mentioning The Beatles by name in song

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:51:39 +0000

Yeah he does, he also refers to John in that song before the guiter bit. (Wow that lyric looks wrong written out.)