DM's Beatles forums
Beatles forums => Songs => Topic started by: Kevin on February 22, 2010, 12:38:08 PM
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Boo. The run of magnificent, daring, innovative singles comes to an end. Good one John.
This song sounds so twee it'd make the Partridge Family blush. To me it sounds like an advertising jingle. Lazy and second rate.
I guess it's saved a little because it was knocked off for a special occassion, but they were due a single anyway.
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OH mate...I love your posts...OK lazy maybe but with this tune I have to stick up for the way they at least changed the meter of the song so it wasn't a droll 4 on the floor all the way. That's got to be one redeemer Kevin, come on? lol
I still find it emotional.....There's a big part of The Beatles in that recording. You could argue that that was the peak moment of the whole Beatle machine. The substance of the song though....hmmm Well this ties in with John's '3 blind mice' writing strategy but I think the fanfares, the hark back to the old day of 'she loves you' chant & yesterday. They could have ended it all right here really. It's wrapped up in Beatle trademarks. The Love harmonies through the verses are gorgeous....The only jingle bit I don;t like is the 'It's Easy' but it makes the perfect dip for either another verse or a chorus.
I always will dig the low cello's motif on the outro aswell. Brimming to the hilt this one. I guess they managed to overdub themselves as they recorded over it again for the TV backing track. It marks a special moment in Beatle time for me.
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They could have ended it all right here really.
Maybe they should have and in a way -Epstein's death- it did end here. It's the Let It Be of its time. I understand Rick's feelings with this song and I admit it is perfectly placed in the Beatles history. As a song it has never worked for me tho. I find it a bit dull.
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I never liked this song much either.
Most Beatles songs are little pop music masterpieces. Great verse, great chorus, great bridge, perfection from start to finish. AYNIL on the other hand is IMO little more than a clever hook (which it definately is) that was expanded into a full song. It's a bit of a gimmick tune. This approach might have been perfectly fine for 90% of all other pop groups, but for the Beatles it was a bit below their class.
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Great production, poo song is the vibe then. heheheh
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Great production, poo song is the vibe then. heheheh
Well, poo by Beatles standards that is. I guess it would've been a great tune for, say, The Tremloes. They were doing simple, cheerful singalong songs like 'Even The Bad Times Are Good' and 'Here Comes My Baby' at the time, 'All You Need Is Love' would've fitted in nicely.
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I'm gonna step outta the box here from the rest of you guys... I love this song. It's just something about it, listening from a non-technical point of view, just one of those songs that makes me happy? "Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be"
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I agree with HeyJude.
This is just one of those songs that makes me happy and feel good, especially if I'm in a bad mood. Now, I can't listen to it over and over again like I can with some Beatles songs, because it can get old. However, I've found if I listen to it sparingly, it has the ability to just brighten up my day :)
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It's an OK song I guess, but I feel like it's an idea that hasn't really been expanded on. The song could have been so much more than what it is.
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OH mate...I love your posts...OK lazy maybe but with this tune I have to stick up for the way they at least changed the meter of the song so it wasn't a droll 4 on the floor all the way. That's got to be one redeemer Kevin, come on? lol
.... It marks a special moment in Beatle time for me.
I think the song is made special by the occassion it celebrates. It was kind of their zenith - loveable moptops morph into wise Guru's before our very eyes with Pepper and appear before the world - a bit like New Kids On The Block knocking out Dark Side Of The Moon (well not really, but you get my drift.) But perhap[s a simple message song was the best way to go. They were sending out the hippy message to the world and something Dylaneque might have been lost on many. at least no one could say they didn't understand the point.
Shame it had to be with such a sh*tty song. Give me Yellow Submarine any day. :)
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I thought some more about this...
A John masterpiece nursery rhyme but with unarguable lyric. As musicians, there's not much for them to do and it shows. It was Martin's orchestration...maybe he feared this was A Beatles last single amongst the obvious occasion and task that a worldwide largest ever live audience would present. He proper done a job here. It's optimistic message is enough to warrant it being a single and look how it's set a precedent for charity anthems today.
Your a rare gem Kevin...you dare tread, it engages my neurons and my status aside, I love it.
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Something I thought of today: aren't All You Need Is Love and Give Peace A Chance in a way very similar? They're both songs that mostly revolve around on single slogan and (like Kevin said) are almost commercial jingles. One for love, one for peace. You hear jingles for commercial product all the time, but John wrote perhaps the best-known jingles for love and for peace. That's pretty cool if you think of it.
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I hate this song. As a matter of fact, I cant think of many songs that get under my skin more than this one. This is one of those songs that I feel they knew they could get away with just because they were the Beatles. Nothing works on it for me. From the dull, simple, plodding chorus to the botched guitar solo to the lazy lyrics. Even watching them perform the tune grates on me with all the gum chewing and everything. I expect better from them even if it was a hurry up job. Terrible.
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Something I thought of today: aren't All You Need Is Love and Give Peace A Chance in a way very similar? They're both songs that mostly revolve around on single slogan and (like Kevin said) are almost commercial jingles. One for love, one for peace. You hear jingles for commercial product all the time, but John wrote perhaps the best-known jingles for love and for peace. That's pretty cool if you think of it.
Yeah - I'm swaying now. Maybe in this modern age we've forgotten what a big deal that broadcast was. Here were The Beatles, the newly appointed Kings of the Counter Culture, with a chance to speak to the world. And why not choose the most simplest and direct means possible. Maybe an advertising jingle for love was exactly what was needed here. It was an oppotunity not to be missed. They could have gone all Pink Floyd and done I Am The Walrus, gained plenty of critical kudos, but missed the chance to let millions of middle class families sat in front of their tellies around the world, more used to images of Vietnam and The Middle East, know that perhaps Love was all you needed.
As a song though it still blows.
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^ Good thing I'd just swallowed my coffee when I read that last sentence. ;D
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i was reading somewhere that when the orchestra comes in after george's guitar solo, it's a remix/fix to cover a mistake george made that was broadcast in the original performance.
talk about pressure ! !
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song=
good vibe / cheerful
unusual time signature
self proclaimed publicity stunt
the marketing of the love generation
co-opted by every hippie idiot who doesn't want to think deeply
a musical victory for george martin
john lennon's lewis carrolesque lyrical phase
paul playing the backgroud yet in total musical control during the live performance
ridiculous clothing
AND ULTIMATELY . . . . .
a political soundbite . . . (and a good one !)
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and would this song be as good without the 'she loves you' reference at the end ?? ??
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i was reading somewhere that when the orchestra comes in after george's guitar solo, it's a remix/fix to cover a mistake george made that was broadcast in the original performance.
talk about pressure ! !
In my opinion, theres no excuse for a screwed up guitar solo. Especially on this song. George is only human, but he's supposed to be a professional musician too. Lets be honest with ourselves, musicians improvise all the time (they have to) and this wasnt exactly the most technical song in the world. Major fail in my opinion.
and would this song be as good without the 'she loves you' reference at the end ?? ??
No, its the only interesting part of the song.
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In my opinion, theres no excuse for a screwed up guitar solo. Especially on this song. George is only human, but he's supposed to be a professional musician too. Lets be honest with ourselves, musicians improvise all the time (they have to) and this wasnt exactly the most technical song in the world. Major fail in my opinion.
No, its the only interesting part of the song.
:) If you were a woman I'd have your babies. No, wait, that's wrong.....
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They could have gone all Pink Floyd and done I Am The Walrus, gained plenty of critical kudos, but missed the chance to let millions of middle class families sat in front of their tellies around the world, more used to images of Vietnam and The Middle East, know that perhaps Love was all you needed.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_owoXClFgJgY/SyRnFm4r6_I/AAAAAAAAKLI/SfWLnEpB8iM/s400/wonderyears.jpg)
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I don’t know why exactly – the more or less sloppy structure and melodics – but All You Need Is Love reminds me of Help. To me, it simply commemorates the pinnacle of Summer of Love – on a Beatles perspective, than anything else. I have to admit that I have never heard a nekid version, nor earlier sketches of it.
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:) If you were a woman I'd have your babies. No, wait, that's wrong.....
Ahhh, the camaraderie that only DM's provides. :D
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I'm gonna step outta the box here from the rest of you guys... I love this song. It's just something about it, listening from a non-technical point of view, just one of those songs that makes me happy? "Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be"
Agree! The song is amazing. The words are powerful. Emotions get high, and you are HAPPY!
How is it possible? Simple. John is a genius!
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I have to say that no one else other than John can carry the sincopation of the first verse in particular. All the cover versions are ghastly for that reason alone. I wonder if John knew that it would be that hard to sing when he put the line in about nothing you can sing that can't be sung! I wince whenever anyone else attemps it.
George's solo... hmm, love George but frankly what was that one all about???
And I agree with tkitna, the gum chewing is a bit over the top!
Yes, Kevin, indeed they could have gone all Pink Floyd and done I am the Walrus, and everyone would have switched the telly off, like they did with MMT a bit later. They could even have gone loony and done Carnival of Light, and shot the entire Beatles' project in the foot there and then! Surely even George Martin couldn't have turned Carnival into Baroque and Roll.
On the whole, I have a soft spot for All you need is Love, I like to think they meant it, if just for a short time. And it was worth it just to have the Rutles do Love Life as a spoof.
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([url]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_owoXClFgJgY/SyRnFm4r6_I/AAAAAAAAKLI/SfWLnEpB8iM/s400/wonderyears.jpg[/url])
Thanks Mairi. I needed that. God I can be a sanctimonious, pretentious tosser sometimes.
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Love you anyway.
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Love you anyway.
And that's all you need, Kevin.
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:)
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I'd take the B-side of that single over the A-side any day.
I think that BYARM is a much better song by John - though not as commercial as AYNIL, I suppose.
I think AYNIL has a good vibe to it on record but it isn't much of song - not a great one to sing solo with an acoustic guitar because the melody seems to hang on a few notes for most of the verse and the chorus.
But, then again, I suppose it is kept simple because it's meant to be appealing to a worldwide audience - the repetition of the title throughout the chorus makes it easy for non-English-speakers to learn. And it certainly works if you can get a few people to sing along ...
Elvis Costello - All You Need Is Love (Highest Quality) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ysvNzGLzcE#normal)
I like that Lennon time-shift thing in there at the end of the verse - did he put those things in on purpose, or was he just doing things his way and totally unaware that there was even a change in time signature?
At the end of the day there are much more interesting songs from 1967, but I think it does its job as the UK's contribution to a global TV show and the A-side of a single.
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(http://www.rarebeatles.com/photopg3/cd5sing/cd15918.jpg)
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I think All You Need Is Love is just one of those notsobrilliant songs that has a beautiful concept behind it, so people can just love it for that.