The Beatles BibleJohn Lennon’s most emotionally-revealing moment on the White Album, ‘Yer Blues’ was written in Rishikesh, India. Balanced deftly between parody and earnestness, the song anticipated the raw, revelatory and confessional spirit of Lennon’s solo work – …
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WikipediaYer Blues is a Lennon composed song from the White Album. As the title suggests it is the Beatles doing a kind of blues (something they didn’t really attempt elsewhere). Some sources seem to say it is a parody, but I am not sure what the evidence for that is. At the time there was a vogue for British artists (such as Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones) to play blues, but this was taken pretty seriously, even if it’s sometimes said that they could not truly connect with the cultural basis of the blues (being founded in Black, American experiences). It’s my impression that the Beatles were doing something similar, but that they were less practiced at it.
The production has a lot of the dense, stark quality that Lennon was to perfect in his early solo projects including Cold Turkey and the Plastic Ono Band album (e.g., I Found Out; Well, Well, Well). At this time, he seemed to be playing more prominent guitar parts himself and he has a distinctive jagged style.
Importantly Lennon said he was sincere about the bluntly suicidal lyrics – which he wrote while during the meditation retreat in India. I don’t think there’s any reason to doubt this – he seems to be incomplete mental turmoil during this period.
Overall, I have the impression that the Beatles achieved what they intended with this song. It’s pretty powerful, but it doesn’t make easy or pleasurable listening.
One thing that mars the song a bit for me is the heavy use of the Leslie modulation type effect on the lead guitars. This is a feature of far too many tracks on the White Album and Let It Be. Probably just me, but I don’t like the sound at all.