Was ‘Revolution 9’ written to rid The Beatles of their teenybopper fans?
I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and I’m going to call it now: The Beatles‘ ‘Revolution 9’ is perhaps the most analysed track in musical history. It is intricately woven into the band’s legacy and deeply entangled in numerous conspiracy theories. This strange and experimental piece quickly took on a life of its own, overshadowing the four Liverpudlian boys who created it. In truth, they were simply seeking respite from Beatlemania, using the track almost like a musical mosquito alarm to ward off excessive attention.
Where to even begin with this song? Sitting at the end of their 1968 White Album, ‘Revolution 9’ served as the closing remarks to their most experimental era yet. Crafted when band tensions were high, neither member was willing to compromise on their tracks, so their run time and listing are fittingly chaotic. Ranging from lullaby ballads to roaring rock songs, the group once and for all cast off any and all expectations on them and seem just to do whatever they want.
In the eyes of more conservative listeners, what they wanted seemed to be satanism. When the record was released, ‘Revolution 9’ was utterly frightening. Still, today, if it ever catches me off guard on a shuffle, sending a shiver down my spine and has me looking over my shoulder.
There is something genuinely unsettling in the song. Perhaps that’s simply down to the repeated and spanning voices paired with the spiralling instrumentals, appearing like a soundtrack to a nightmare. Over time, the song’s creepy nature has been worsened by its mysterious conspiracy theories. The most well-known is the ‘Paul Is Dead’ theory, which definitely makes the piece feel more charged with fear.
The theory goes that Paul McCartney died in 1966, and the band had been covering it up since but leaving clues in their songs. It all culminates in ‘Revolution 9’ through the use of reversed and manipulated audio. When played in reserve, the sonics are switched back to their original, and some people claim to hear, “Turn me on, dead man”.
That would be creepy enough if the theory hadn’t fallen into the hands of Charles Manson, who took the album and ran with it to a grizzly end. It’s a well-known and utterly terrifying story in musical history as Manson used the album as motivation or even justification for his 1969 murders, instructing his followers to sprawl ‘Helter Skelter’ on the walls in blood. To Manson, ‘Revolution 9’ was a warning that a bloody revolution was coming, and the Beatles were sending him personal messages to prepare.
Considering the implications of those two theories, ‘Revolution 9’ has evolved into something increasingly unsettling over time. Even individuals who are typically sceptical of conspiracy theories or highly rational may find themselves somewhat unnerved by the eight-minute-long auditory barrage.
Indeed, that was precisely its intended purpose. To a certain extent, the track was crafted as a means to push back against the overwhelming presence of Beatlemania and the incessant clamor of screaming teenage fans. At that point in their career, the band was eager to explore new artistic avenues and move beyond their early rock and roll roots, which had garnered them a fervent global following. By 1969, the weight of that fan base may have felt stifling to their creative endeavors.
“I don’t know what influence ‘Revolution 9’ had on the teenybopper fans, but most of them didn’t dig it. So what am I supposed to do?” Lennon said of the song. It’s an attitude that many musicians will know well: the outright exhaustion of constantly being quizzed on fans’ feelings or expected to cater to their desires. As their continuous evolution would suggest, the Beatles were long since sick of singing the twee, clean-cut rock tunes of their early days. So the decision to include ‘Revolution 9’ as a final flow on a strange album feels like a desperate attempt to once and for all free themselves.
Even if they didn’t manage to shake off the fans, even just the act itself seemed freeing. “‘Revolution 9’ was quite similar to some stuff I’d been doing myself for fun. I didn’t think that mine was suitable for release, but John always encouraged me,” McCartney said of the track, suggesting that the song might have been a rare instance of brotherhood on a record dogged by tension. It might also have proved to be a deeply bonding number as it feels reminiscent of the work of John Cage or Yoko Ono, helping to connect the band to the musical world of Lennon’s wife.
Living on as the strangest and most fascinating track in the Beatles discography, ‘Revolution 9’ is a cultural phenomenon in itself, whether it was attempting to kill off the era of Beatlesmania or not.
