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Author Topic: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles  (Read 5888 times)

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Normandie

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Re: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles
« Reply #20 on: May 01, 2021, 02:03:25 PM »

I can see the connection between I Can See For Miles and Helter Skelter in that both songs rely heavily on their instrumentation, mainly guitar and drums.

You make a good point, zipp. As a layperson (i.e., non-musician), I was focusing more on the vocals: To me, Roger's vocals sound almost dreamy, whereas Paul's shrieky rendition of the Beatles' song comes across as much creepier. So that muddles the connection for me.

Incidentally, I've just noticed that 'miles' also feature in Helter Skelter:

"I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you."

Good catch. I never noticed that.  :)
« Last Edit: May 01, 2021, 02:28:55 PM by Normandie »
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Moogmodule

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Re: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles
« Reply #21 on: May 01, 2021, 10:22:38 PM »

Has anyone ever actually seen an original quote by Pete on whether he said that  about I Can See for Miles? I’ve only ever heard Paul quoting him but is Paul verballing Pete? Did he say anything like that? The Wikipedia entry for I Can See for Miles just says Paul saw a review which said it was the heaviest song the reviewer had ever heard. At other sources it’s either Paul read an interview with Pete about the song or that Pete told him directly. Enquring minds (well at least mine) would love to know.
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zipp

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Re: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles
« Reply #22 on: May 01, 2021, 10:48:27 PM »

Has anyone ever actually seen an original quote by Pete on whether he said that  about I Can See for Miles? I’ve only ever heard Paul quoting him but is Paul verballing Pete? Did he say anything like that? The Wikipedia entry for I Can See for Miles just says Paul saw a review which said it was the heaviest song the reviewer had ever heard. At other sources it’s either Paul read an interview with Pete about the song or that Pete told him directly. Enquring minds (well at least mine) would love to know.

Apparently Paul saw a contemporary review in Melody Maker which said "This marathon epic of swearing cymbals and cursing guitars marks the return of the Who".

In later years he kind of exaggerated the story, but the motivation for Helter Skelter would definitely seem to come from this song.
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Moogmodule

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Re: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles
« Reply #23 on: May 01, 2021, 11:56:06 PM »

I have no doubt HS was inspired by ICSFM. But yes Macca has enhanced the story a bit.
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Hello Goodbye

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Re: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles
« Reply #24 on: May 02, 2021, 12:14:15 AM »

Yes.  Paul meant it as a blues piece...


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoK3HyIL0eo" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoK3HyIL0eo</a>




Then he tried it a different way...


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wlCSucknn4" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wlCSucknn4</a>
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Normandie

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Re: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles
« Reply #25 on: May 02, 2021, 01:34:17 PM »

Has anyone ever actually seen an original quote by Pete on whether he said that  about I Can See for Miles? I’ve only ever heard Paul quoting him . . .


I can't believe I missed this <face palm>. The quote I was referring to was, of course Paul quoting Pete. I assumed that it was a direct quote from Pete himself. I also was under the impression, from what I read, that this was part of a direct exchange between Pete and Paul. I should have followed up and checked the documentation.

The following excerpt is from  https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-who-creepy-song-meaning-i-can-see-for-miles/:

Rumour has it that Macca was unimpressed after reading an interview with Townshend who described The Who’s ‘I Can See For Miles’ as “the most raucous rock ‘n’ roll”, lit a fire in him and he decided to do one better by getting even more raucous.

“Just reading those lines (of the Townshend interview) fired my imagination,” McCartney told Mojo in 2008. “I thought, Right, they’ve done what they think was the loudest and dirtiest; we’ll do what we think. I went into the studio and told the guys, ‘Look, I’ve got this song but Pete said this and I want to do it even dirtier.’ It was a great brief for the engineers, for everyone- just as fuzzy and as dirty and as loud and as filthy as you can get it is where I want to go. I was happy to have Pete’s quote to get me there.”


Later in the article, the author also adds this statement:

Whether the song’s meaning is rather creepy to read now in 2020, it is hard to deny that it is still a barnstorming anthem and the fact that it inspired Paul McCartney to better it with ‘Helter Skelter’ proves that it deserves a place in rock ‘n’ roll history.

This annoys me. ICSFM is an excellent song in its own right and thus deserves recognition for that and not only for the fact that it inspired "Helter Skelter." But then, I'm wildly defensive about the Who.

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Moogmodule

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Re: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles
« Reply #26 on: May 02, 2021, 10:47:15 PM »


This annoys me. ICSFM is an excellent song in its own right and thus deserves recognition for that and not only for the fact that it inspired "Helter Skelter." But then, I'm wildly defensive about the Who.

I actually prefer ICSFM. Helter Skelter is a fun wild song but it’s not in my top tier Beatle songs. ICSFM is one of my fav Who tracks.
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zipp

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Re: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles
« Reply #27 on: May 03, 2021, 08:32:47 AM »

I actually prefer ICSFM. Helter Skelter is a fun wild song but it’s not in my top tier Beatle songs. ICSFM is one of my fav Who tracks.

Same here.

I'm still not sure if the article in question was an interview or a record review. Has anybody ever found the actual article? It may have been in Guitar Player ...
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Normandie

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Re: Classic 60's songs: I Can See For Miles
« Reply #28 on: May 03, 2021, 08:36:00 AM »

I actually prefer ICSFM. Helter Skelter is a fun wild song but it’s not in my top tier Beatle songs. ICSFM is one of my fav Who tracks.

Same here.

 icon_good  It's one of my favorites, too. One of Roger Daltrey's favorites as well, he says, although that was a live interview I heard, and I can't document it.

I'm still not sure if the article in question was an interview or a record review. Has anybody ever found the actual article? It may have been in Guitar Player ...

I intend to try to track this down once my workload eases a little, unless someone else finds it first.
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