'Let It Be' film question

[thefadedline]

I saw a friends copy of the 'Let It Be' film a few days ago and I was wondering, on the part where Macca's practicing 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' in the piano, does he sing, "Bang, bang, Maxwell's silver hammer made sure that Johnny was dead," or am I just hearing that?

If so, why, and was he on about Lennon? If so, was it because of the tension at the time? Or was it a joke? Am I taking it all too seriously? Am I asking too many questions?

I found it quite harsh!

[pc31]

i never noticed......if he does it maybe because the tension during let it be was monumentous...everyone was pissed at paul.the concept of let it be was to be a four man band again,no symphonies or over dubs no tricks of the trade.if the rest showed pauls enthusiasm then let it be would have been a masterpeice that would never have an equal....but it was paul pushing ahead alone....don't you think he treats the rest horribble????tell them what to play....

[tkitna]

if the rest showed pauls enthusiasm then let it be would have been a masterpeice that would never have an equal....but it was paul pushing ahead alone....don't you think he treats the rest horribble????tell them what to play....

I think the first part of your quote might answer the last part.

I think anything that has one particle of John being dead, gets blown way, way out of proportion. To Wit: the picture of him on the ground with the other 3 around him. Was this a premonition in 1968. No. It's a fucking picture. If Paul said 'made sure John was dead', was he hoping John was dead. No. It's a line. So what? If you ask me, the shit John said in songs and magazines was tons more harsh than anything Paul ever said.

[raxo]

I think anything that has one particle of John being dead, gets blown way, way out of proportion. To Wit: the picture of him on the ground with the other 3 around him. Was this a premonition in 1968. No. It's a fucking picture. If Paul said 'made sure John was dead', was he hoping John was dead. No. It's a line. So what? If you ask me, the shit John said in songs and magazines was tons more harsh than anything Paul ever said.

If that picture is a fucking picture is because what happened later and that's what I call a premonition ... what other thing a premonition is, then?  ??)

When Paul sings it's just a line ... Paul couldn't make sense out of his lyrics, of course, so there's no meaning in anything he has wrote in his whole career ... despite he'd been trying to explain the meaning and inspiration for almost all his songs with the guys, silly Paul!  

Curiously it was John who often said he understood some of his own lyrics many years later ... not at the moment he was writing them.  

I suppose the whole "Paul Is Dead" thing is a huge premonition because it had everything from lyrics, to pictures, to playing things backwards. So when Paul passes, people can say that way back in '69, they knew he was going to die? Ridiculous. It's hard to imagine that during that photo shoot with John on the ground, they consciously or subconciously knew that he would fall mortally wounded. It's a bunch of bullcrap.

[raxo]

I suppose the whole "Paul Is Dead" thing is a huge premonition because it had everything from lyrics, to pictures, to playing things backwards. So when Paul passes, people can say that way back in '69, they knew he was going to die? Ridiculous. It's hard to imagine that during that photo shoot with John on the ground, they consciously or subconciously knew that he would fall mortally wounded. It's a bunch of bullcrap.

"Paul Is Dead" it's not "Paul's Gonna Be Dead" ... the clues said that he was already dead, where's the premonition there?

About the moment of taking the pic: hard to imagine they/he knew ... felt that ...? ... who knows? Even John said once that he felt  -two years before- that death was waiting for him on 66 american tour because of a gunman ("bigger than Jesus" thing) ...

I know: ridiculous!

[thefadedline]

i never noticed......if he does it maybe because the tension during let it be was monumentous...everyone was pissed at paul.the concept of let it be was to be a four man band again,no symphonies or over dubs no tricks of the trade.if the rest showed pauls enthusiasm then let it be would have been a masterpeice that would never have an equal....but it was paul pushing ahead alone....don't you think he treats the rest horribble????tell them what to play....

I just think he had an idea of how the songs should sound way before the filming started and took a bit of a power trip in order to get them sounding like he wanted?

[zilch]

If infact Paul does sing this line, I think  we have to remember that some of the songs included in the film were not finished. Quite often they would make up words 'on the spot' to fit the melody - some of which could remain in the finished song.

[raxo]

I'm with you on that.

Welcome to the forums, zilch. Enjoy them.  

[Sondra]

I always thought he was saying, 'be sure that George is dead.' Oh well.

As for Paul treating the others horribly, I just do NOT see what everyone else is seeing. So he's working out a song with George. Do you think that was the first time? George was the one being defensive.  Also, what else does he do that makes him seem controlling? What am I missing? Seriously.

[adamzero]

I agree, Sandra, I don't see Paul (at least in the film) being that bossy either.  The band just seems directionless.  I guess you need a George Martin there to sit them all down with guitars and say, alright, boys, what have you got?  When they lost that mediator, they lost alot.

Clearly Paul was overbearing at times.  But damn, if I could have the nub-nuts singing backup to me, playing incredible bass and coming up with cool vocal and instrumental parts I'd learn to deal with him.  Paul's harmony singing brings songs like "Come Together" and "Ballad of John and Yoko" to life.  His bass-playing in "Something" is nothing short of amazing.   The piano riff at the beginning of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" a great lead-in.

But the problem's the old "ego-thing" as George summed up "I Me Mine"--a song which features some ferocious Paul contributions on vocals and instruments.

I think one of the real problems with Let it Be as a film/album project is that it played to the band's weaknesses in terms of writing original music.  They were a tight live band back in Hamburg, but they were playing every day and refining mostly covers.  

By the time they were a studio band, they developed these strengths.  George, in particular, could come up with great guitar parts, given the chance.  I think Let it Be made him write instant-parts--and that's asking too much.  You think he sat down and wrote the great part to "And Your Bird Can Sing" in five minutes?  In between take 41 and take 42?  

George Martin taught them to construct songs architecturally like mini-cathedrals, but Let it Be was about making tepees.  It's a shame too.  Because many of the songs could have been performed and recorded much more effectively with a little of the group "editing" that was part of their 66-67 period.

I think it would have made a far more interesting film, showing all the work that went into writing and recording a masterpiece like Strawberry Fields Forever.

Too bad.  

It's clear