“My fat Elvis period”: How John Lennon accidentally wrote his most personal song in 1965
As much as The Beatles were everywhere and meant everything, they were never hugely vulnerable. It wasn’t as if you’d see John Lennon having a breakdown, or Paul McCartney bursting into tears.
Of course, let’s not be fools about this: it was the 1960s, and people simply didn’t have the language or understanding to talk about mental health in the way that we do freely now. In this sense, you had to look for the clues, and John Lennon saying 1965 was his “fat Elvis period” was the closest admission to struggle that you’d get.
It might sound like a partly flippant expression, but the point was that when Elvis Presley began to lose his suave and completely let himself go, all the warning signs were flashing until it ended in total disaster. But that idea of the alarm bells ringing was something that Lennon could all too easily relate to, and worryingly, at a relatively early time in his career.
By 1965, The Beatles were transitioning from merely famous stars to something totally beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. As such, they were tasked with creating their second-ever feature film, following the storming success of A Hard Day’s Night. Yet when Lennon sat down to write a song to fit the agreed title, Help!, he found everything starting to unravel on the page.
The lyrics were deceptive, even for him. “I didn’t realise it at the time; I just wrote the song because I was commissioned to write it for the movie. But later, I knew I really was crying out for help. It was my fat Elvis period… And I am singing about when I was so much younger and all the rest, looking back at how easy it was.”
Indeed, through the shiny ruse of the jangly melodies and upbeat turns, many would be forgiven for not listening to ‘Help!’ that deeply. But do the words, “In oh so many ways/ My independence seems to vanish in the haze/ But every now and then/ I feel so insecure/ I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before,” scream of someone who is entirely mentally stable?
Perhaps not, but the repercussions of being so open about that back in 1965 wouldn’t have exactly been met with the supportive reaction it hopefully would now. Instead, somewhat tragically, Lennon was left to mask his spiralling thoughts over pop inflexions and guitar strums, making his cry for ‘Help!’ more of a smiley romp than anything else.
In a way, it’s scary to think how Lennon could retrospectively see his life barrelling towards destruction just like Presley’s, even if in real time he was the one to be heading on that path first. The years that followed obviously brought him some stoicism and strength – but also a terrifying clarity in which he realised the bullet he had dodged.
It’s hard to listen to ‘Help!’ in the same way now. Yes, it’s a ‘60s pop classic, but beneath the surface, it speaks to chaos, mania, and fear of the future that the shining, happy people motto of the decade tried so desperately to mask. They may have been the leaders of that cause, but ironically, it was possibly one of the most tumultuous times for The Beatles.
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