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Beatles forums => Songs => Topic started by: real01 on September 28, 2004, 02:51:17 PM

Title: Number Nine
Post by: real01 on September 28, 2004, 02:51:17 PM
So, in Revolution #9 John says at 6:01

6:01
JL: "Dogs were dogging, cats were catting. Birds were birding, Fish were fishing. Thence Pwllheli, went swimming"
[Pwllheli, pron. "per-thelly", in Northern Wales. An odd little poem!]
(from http://www.pootle.demon.co.uk/beatles/rn9.htm)

And page
http://www.geocities.com/hammodotcom/beathoven/r932.htm
says this:

6:01      "Geoff" starting with Bulge and clarinet
      JL: The dogs were dogging, the cats were
      catting, the birds were birding,
6:05      JL: Wounded sounds
      JL: the fish were fishing, the men were
      mennning, the when for wimming [sic??]


Surely, a crazy little poem in one non-song (or anti-song), but hard
to distinguish what does he relly say in the end.


Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: The End on September 28, 2004, 03:03:48 PM
Thanks for that Real :)

I must admit, I've never noticed that before - I'll have to give it another listen.
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: real01 on September 28, 2004, 03:06:13 PM
[quote by=The_End link=Blah.pl?b=songs,m=1096383077,s=1 date=1096383828]Thanks for that Real :)

I must admit, I've never noticed that before - I'll have to give it another listen.
[/quote]

I didn't notice myself either; I was always thinking that the Revolution #9
is not really a song.... and that there is not much in it except for strange
sounds and talking. But, as you can see, there are some interesting things
in it!
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: The End on September 28, 2004, 03:11:18 PM
Yeh, this track fascinates me - I seem to hear something new everytime I listen to it!

Here are a few other bits taken from the "What Goes On" site http://www.pootle.demon.co.uk/wgo.htm


1:00
JL: "Mrs Welsh wearing a pair of sun brown underpants"

1:10
JL: "about the shortage of grain in Hertfordshire. Everyone one of them knew that as time went by they'd get a little bit older and a little bit slower .... This was on the air force set thing"

1:20
JL: "manufacturing person who was always umpteen types of 'umpty dumpty ???? finders, yep ah diddly ... Peak District was leaving intending to pay for ..."

1:59-2:06
GH: "Who's to know? Who's to know?"
JL: "colours for the season. Everybody who knew ..."

2:16
JL: "Pakistan ... also spoken for"
GH: "every day through the business terms"
JL: "had informed him on the third, and I, that unfortunately he was"

3:07
GH: "Every few days ..."
JL: "in a pair of brown under" [edited away, clothes, pants?]

3:26
GH: "local doctors that are ??? this may seem"
JL: "I have nobody's ..."

3:46
GH: "on Eaton, with the situation"
JL: "They are standing still"
GH: "upon a telegram from the"

4:04
GH: "to us played it false as the headmaster reported to"
JL: "who could tell what he was saying, his voice was low and his eye was high and his eyes were glowing"
GH: " ... Sunday, He really ... became a great deal ... "

4:22
JL: "on fire, his glasses were in t'safe, this was"
GH: "into, which enabled him to move his"

5:03
JL: "certain, so the wife told him he'd better go to see a surgeon .... or what with the price .... yellow underclothes".
JL: "So, any road, he went to see the dentist instead, who gave him a pair of teeth, which wasn't any good at all. So ... so instead of that he joined the bloody navy and went to sea."

5:37
JL: "in my broken chair, my wings are broken and so is my hair. I am not in the mood for wearing"

6:01
JL: "Dogs were dogging, cats were catting. Birds were birding, Fish were fishing. Thence Pwllheli, went swimming"

[Pwllheli, pron. "per-thelly", in Northern Wales. An odd little poem!]

6:18
GH: "only to find the night watchman"
JL: "onion soup"
GH: "unaware of his presence in the building"

[Note: JL interjects "onion soup" at the point where GH says "unaware". I think (speculation) that this was some JL wordplay on what GH was about to say. In fact, I think you can hear GH begin to smile, esp. through the "presence" and "building"]

6:34
JL: "Industrial output, financial imbalance"
GH: "Thrusting it between his shoulder blades"
JL: "The Watusi, The Twist"
GH: "Eldorado"

6:54
JL: "Take this brother, may it serve you well"

7:04
YO: "Maybe, it's not that, it's .... maybe, even then, expose yourself ..."

7:26
YO: "It's almost like being naked"

7:54
YO: "if ... you become naked"
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: real01 on September 28, 2004, 03:17:26 PM
JL-John
GH-George
YO-Yoko
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: The End on September 28, 2004, 03:18:49 PM
[quote by=real01 link=Blah.pl?b=songs,m=1096383077,s=4 date=1096384646]JL-John
GH-George
YO-Yoko[/quote]

Yep :)
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: The End on September 28, 2004, 03:21:35 PM
There's a spoken word bit at the very beginning too:

AT = Alistair Taylor, GM = George Martin

AT: ...bottle of claret for you if I'd realised. I'd forgotten all about it George, I'm sorry.

GM: Well, do next time.

AT: Will you forgive me?

GM: Mmm.. Yes

AT: Cheeky b****!


You can listen to it here:
http://www.pootle.demon.co.uk/beatle_audio/rev9nr2.mp3
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: zipp on September 28, 2004, 05:38:10 PM
[quote by=real01 link=Blah.pl?b=songs,m=1096383077,s=0 date=1096383077]So, in Revolution #9 John says at 6:01

6:01
JL: "Dogs were dogging, cats were catting. Birds were birding, Fish were fishing. Thence Pwllheli, went swimming"
[Pwllheli, pron. "per-thelly", in Northern Wales. An odd little poem!]
(from http://www.pootle.demon.co.uk/beatles/rn9.htm)

And page
http://www.geocities.com/hammodotcom/beathoven/r932.htm
says this:

6:01
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: The End on September 28, 2004, 05:45:57 PM
I actually like this track, not as a musical piece but as a sound collage - it's fascinating. Have you checked out the site that Real01 posted - it's amazingly detailed and well worth a look. I would love to have heard sound-clip illustrations of the points, but that is being VERY picky! :)

http://www.geocities.com/hammodotcom/beathoven/r932.htm
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: zipp on September 28, 2004, 08:53:32 PM
OK T.E.
I've read most of the detail from the site though I didn't understand much.

When I listen to Rev 9 I mainly concentrate on the words you can pick out.

So ... I was very surprised to see a glaring mistake in the middle of all the wisdom :

George doesn't say 'upon a telegraph from the late colonel' but 'upon a TELEGRAM...'


This mistake leads me to be wary of some of the complicated conclusions... ;)
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: The End on September 28, 2004, 10:22:51 PM
I think you should let the guy know :)
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: zipp on September 29, 2004, 07:51:02 PM
OK.
I hope he's receptive to criticism!
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: Mendips on September 29, 2004, 08:11:33 PM
I would never listen to this alone when I was a kid, it just spooked me.
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: The End on September 29, 2004, 10:33:05 PM
[quote by=zipp link=Blah.pl?b=songs,m=1096383077,s=11 date=1096487462]OK.
I hope he's receptive to criticism![/quote]

I reckon he will be - judging by the time he's obviously spent on that site I'm sure he'll be more than happy with any amendments; I know I would be :)
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: real01 on September 30, 2004, 01:22:42 PM
Another one:


Dogs for dogging, hands for clapping
Birds for birding and fish for fishing
Them for themming and when for whimming

Only to find the night-watchman
Unaware of his presence in the building
Onion soup


Taken from:
http://beatlesnumber9.com/number9.html

Not very reliable, I think.




Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: real01 on September 30, 2004, 01:25:00 PM
from the same web-page:

This is an analysis of the Beatles' sound montage, "Revolution #9". I endeavor to show that John would consider it among his best works, and show what I feel are the autobiographical elelments of the piece.
From "Lennon Remembers" (1971), pg. 29: Jann Wenner: "Let me ask you again, are you pleased with the new album (PLASTIC ONO BAND)?" John: 'I think it's the best thing I've ever done. I think it's realistic and it's true to me...that has been developing over the years from "In My Life", "I'm a Loser", "Help", "Strawberry Fields." They're all personal records. I always wrote about me when I could. I didn't really enjoy writing third person songs about people who lived in flats and things like that...' 'The only true songs I ever wrote were "Help" and "Strawberry Fields." I can name a few...I can't think of them offhand, that I always considered my best songs.'

Now, the way I remember it, John had wanted to release "Revolution #9" as a single, but the other guys wouldn't allow it. In this alone, you would think John considered this a "best song". Add this to the fact that the song is very biographical, which by Lennon standards qualifies his best work. You can set a biographical time span on the song by zeroing in on the time Beatlemania makes it appearance in the piece. This is a good place to plot the song's timeline from:

At 4:02, a clip of an actual Beatle audience awaiting the arrival of the group is introduced. The fans are all excited, you can kind of sense a "hey, Beatles!" attitude among the guys, and the female fans are obviously ready to start screaming. At approximate 4:06, you get a tune up, like a group preparing to go on: a tone of an instrument, and a singer warming up like a "mi, mi- mi- mi, mi-mi". This is the Beatles at their moment. What follows at 4:18 is the sound and feel of their tours.

John on touring: "[The Hunter Davies book] was really bullsh*t...there was nothing about the orgies and the sh*t that happened on the tour... I mean we had that [innocent] image, but man, our tours were something else...you know, the Beatles tours were like Fellini's SATYRICON." (Ibid. pg. 84)

At 4:18, after you hear the shrill screaming of the female admirers (remember, an actual Beatle sound clip), we are introduced to the sounds of a debauched, orgiastic event, with John "licking his lip's and smecking", so to speak, perhaps the most insidiously powerful moment in the piece. Notice the sound of the crashing cymbal, like a whip cracking over everything. The Beatles on tour. The Beatles marketing phenomenom. The height of Beatlemania! The whip cracks over everything. This mounts until..

4:50. Public acclaim from both (all) sides, sounds like an audience applauding after a show. The boys have done it, they're a universal success. John is on a crazy ride. At 5:00, the "hold that line" tape is introduced. The only thing I can make of this is that in England, you have the "firms" of the football crowd, blokes and birds that go and get crazy over their teams. Drunkenness, fights with rival firms, etc. are common at these bashes. They are known as very violently loyal fans. This could imply intoxication, or something going on in the streets...

5:28. The Sgt. Pepper period is introduced, with the final note of a "Day in the Life" (again, actual Beatle sound clips, LSO recordings from the Pepper sessions). This is repeated three times (5:28, 5:42, 5:48), and once more at 6:24. The war sound effects in this section might be a comment on VietNam; they could refer to "How I Won the War".

At 6:25 the whip starts cracking again. But by 6:30, the song starts moving out of the past, and into the present (at least the present when the song was made). We hear a miltary band (Pepper playing for the fans?), then jump from the past to the present at the immediate "Take this brother, may it serve you well", 6:47. We are present at the moment of artistic creation, so to speak...

6:50. Inside with John and Yoko. We are witness to an true autobiographical moment, getting so close to John and Yoko that it feels like we're in their bedroom. Yoko is expounding, John is waking up, and starts droning something as in the backround, a crooner parody of Paul singing a period-piece song goes on ("Good fishes again in the kettle?" Paul as the Walrus? Just what is he saying?). This part ends with Yoko inviting us to get naked with the Lennons: John's life has been laid bare, so to speak, in an experimental musical piece... This is just an outline; it's a little more difficult plotting the timeline from the begining of the 'song' to the the emergence of Beatlemania, but not impossible. A baby crying - John's youth? "Every one of them knew that as time went by they'd get a little bit older and a little bit slower" - John growing up? How about the honking horns of the first part of the song? Is this a memory of the accident which claimed his mother's life? &c. As you see, there's a good case to consider this one of John Lennon's best pieces, in my and probably in his own opinion. Don't let the experimental nature of the work alienate you.

I have a strong feeling this song will stand the test of time and will someday be considered a Beatles masterpiece, brushstrokes and all... As this piece deserves more credit than it usually gets, it gets my vote for Most Underrated Beatles Song ever.

Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: on September 30, 2004, 04:08:57 PM
I've got this on my pc, and the first time i heard it, i was sitting here late at night, it was dark outside (sounds creepy already dont it lol) my pc is in this old Conservatory type room with windows on all sides.  And i seriously was scared.  I mean the first time i heard that laugh and the car crashing it just completely freaked me out!



Also u all know about the "turn me on dead man" when played backwards right? That really freaked me!

http://kingtet.com/number9.htm
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: zipp on September 30, 2004, 04:33:37 PM
Thanks Mat.
I've now listened to the whole thing backwards.
It's surprising how similar some passages sound!
So there must already be a lot of stuff backward on the original!(The piano and the orchestra for example).
But none of the dialogue seems to be backwards.
The 'turn me on deadman' is a freak coincidence in my opinion and you have to be looking for it to hear it.
One bit I prefer to the original is when Lennon shouts 'All Right' he sounds like a demented cat!
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: SieLiebtDich on September 30, 2004, 11:32:11 PM
:o wow nice, i am goin to listen to #9, and pay close attention to all of this ;-D
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: Mrs.Nicholson on October 18, 2004, 02:13:29 AM
What is that sound in the song? Water? That tickleing sound
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: jeanie on October 25, 2004, 11:16:32 PM
wow, poor me had never heard this song...I've been wanting the White Album for ages!
Title: Re: Number Nine
Post by: Revolution_9 on November 25, 2004, 11:36:06 AM
Ha! I've listened to Revolution 9 so many times, it doesn't scare me anymore. Besides, the first time I listened to it was on our computer, and the right speaker's broken.