{"id":691,"date":"2025-05-19T12:43:50","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T12:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/?p=691"},"modified":"2025-07-14T12:18:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T12:18:37","slug":"93-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/93-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"93: Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Revolution was the B-side of the Beatles’ Hey Jude single, written by John Lennon, released in August 1968. A different version of the song, Revolution 1<\/a>, was included as a track on the White Album. Revolution 1 was the first version to be recorded, but the single was released before the album. Revolution 9<\/a>, which also appears on the album, developed as a sinister and chaotic sound collage based on an extended coda of Revolution 1.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"BeatlesThe Beatles Bible<\/span><\/div>

\u2018Revolution\u2019 was John Lennon\u2019s response to the popular calls for uprising in the US and Europe. It was a revision of a version already recorded for the White Album, and became the b-side of the \u2018Hey Jude\u2019 single.<\/p>\"RevolutionContinue reading on Beatles Bible \u2192<\/a><\/div><\/div>

\"Wikipedia\"Wikipedia<\/span><\/div>
"Revolution" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon\u2013McCartney partnership. Three versions of the song were recorded and released in 1968, all during sessions for the Beatles' self-titled doub…<\/div>Continue reading on Wikipedia \u2192<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

The most striking differences between Revolution 1 and the single version of the song are the tempo and the tone. Revolution 1 is a very laid back blues shuffle (98 BPM) with soft backing vocals and horns, whereas Revolution is much faster (121 BPM) and much more raucous, with its signature distorted electric guitar; the distinctive introduction sounds like a motorcycle revving up for a race. These musical features give the single version an energized, angry, rebellious feeling; you could almost be forgiven for thinking the song was actively advocating revolution. In contrast, the lazy relaxed groove of the album version is more aligned with the lyrics which are, although nuanced, fundamentally opposed to violence and destruction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distorted guitar<\/a> came to play an important part in rock, heavy rock, punk and indie, so its conceivable the Beatles relatively early adoption of the sound in Revolution (and other songs such as Helter Skelter, for example) played a part in these later developments. Of course (usually mild) distortion had featured in some blues and rock and roll records from the 50s onwards, and by 1968 many other guitarists had been experimenting with more heavily distorted sounds, notably Jimi Hendrix. Still I think you can hear echoes of the Revolution for example in the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy In The UK, where it fulfils a similar function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revolution was, if not a turning point, then a significant step in Lennon’s writing. His early songs had been about relationships and dealt with archetypal boys and girls falling in love, or at least lusting after one another. Later, in the period between 1964 and 1966, he developed a more introspective approach which he would retain throughout his life, with songs that dealt more directly with his own life, emotions and experiences, including negative and self-critical feelings. Coinciding roughly with the beginning of his relationship with Yoko Ono, Lennon also began to write songs that were concerned with broader social, philosophical and political themes – about what he perceived was wrong with the world or how the it could be put right. It seems likely that Yoko was a big influence in encouraging Lennon to develop this strand in parallel with their anti-war activism. The idea that art could be disruptive and challenging resonated strongly with Lennon and this resonance seems to have been close to the core of their relationship from the outset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Yoko’s influence is clear, George Harrison had also played a role in developing this direction, even before Ono and Lennon came together; in 1966 his Taxman had been the first Beatles song to address an overtly political topic, but more importantly his enthusiasm for Indian music had connected the Beatles to its spiritual and philosophical underpinnings, with songs like Within You, Without You<\/a>. Lennon’s All You Need Is Love followed from this trajectory; although it can’t be described as a political song, it is expresses a sort of humanist idealism that was to become a feature of many of his later songs, including Revolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lennon was increasingly frustrated that the Beatles had been pigeon-holed (or marketed) as light entertainment<\/a>. The Beatles were being seen as leaders of their generation, but had been largely silent about the political direction of the counterculture<\/a> and indeed had flirted with the British Establishment<\/a> (for example receiving MBEs and appearing at the Royal Variety Performance). Lennon felt that they had been muzzled. He had decided that it was time to speak out politically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I wanted to put out what I felt about revolution. I thought it was time we fucking spoke about it, the same as I thought it was about time we stopped not answering about the Vietnamese war when we were on tour with\u00a0Brian Epstein\u00a0and had to tell him, \u2018We\u2019re going to talk about the war this time, and we\u2019re not going to just waffle.\u2019 I wanted to say what I thought about revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had been thinking about it up in the hills in India. I still had this \u2018God will save us\u2019 feeling about it, that it\u2019s going to be all right. That\u2019s why I did it: I wanted to talk, I wanted to say my piece about revolution. I wanted to tell you, or whoever listens, to communicate, to say \u2018What do you say? This is what I say.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Lennon was driven to say something, but what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was outspoken by nature, but his political beliefs, however strongly and coherently they might be expressed at any given moment, were always changing as he encountered new influences and rejected old ones. He may have been rather conflicted having had a bookish but conservative upbringing and a strongly antagonistic side to his character. He had a lot of anger and always wanted to kick against something, but he also craved stability and peace of mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lyrics of Revolution bear the traces of these conflicting drives – the song argues in favour of change but against violent revolution. To understand the thought that were driving him at the time he wrote the song, it’s interesting to read this article from johnlennon.com<\/a> which includes interviews from late 1968, after Lennon had been criticised for the perceived complacency of the lyric by some on the radical left:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Musically, \u2018Revolution\u2019 was superb \u2013 Lennon at his best \u2013 but the lyrics were a bitter disappointment. Instead of identifying with the rebellious ferment among the young, he was hostile to it. He complained about \u201cminds that hate\u201d. He said, \u201cWhen you talk about destruction, don\u2019t you know that you can count me out.\u201d Above all, he said: \u201cYou tell me it\u2019s the institution, you better free your mind instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those sentiments might have fitted the previous year and the dreamy mind expansions of the \u201cSummer of Love\u201d, but things had moved on and they now seemed entirely off the mark. (John Hoyland, Guardian, 2008<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hoyland had written an open letter to Lennon in the pages of a new radical magazine, Black Dwarf (for context, Lennon and Ono had just been arrested for a drugs offence):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I hope this experience will help you understand certain things that you seemed a bit blind to before. (That sounds patronising but I can\u2019t think of how else to put it\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Above all: perhaps now you\u2019ll see what it is you\u2019re (we\u2019re) up against. Not nasty people Not even neurosis, or spiritual undernourishment. What we\u2019re confronted with is a repressive, vicious, authoritarian system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now do you see what was wrong with your record \u201cRevolution\u201d? That record was no more revolutionary than Mrs. Dale\u2019s Diary. In order to change the world we\u2019ve got to understand what\u2019s wrong with the world. And then \u2013 destroy it. Ruthlessly. (John Hoyland, Black Dwarf, October 1968)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This attack clearly stung Lennon, and he was not someone to take criticism lying down, so he wrote back:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Your letter didn\u2019t sound patronising \u2013 it was. Who do you think you are? What do you think you know? I\u2019m not only up against the establishment but you, too, it seems. I know what I\u2019m up against \u2013 narrow minds \u2013 rich\/poor. All your relationships may be poisoned \u2013 it depends how you look at it. What kind of system do you propose and who would run it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t remember saying \u2018Revolution\u2019 was revolutionary \u2013 fuck Mrs Dale. Listen to all three versions (Revolution 1, 2 and 9) then try again, dear John. You say, \u2018In order to change the world we\u2019ve got to understand what\u2019s wrong with the world. And then \u2013 destroy it. Ruthlessly.\u2019 You\u2019re obviously on a destruction kick. I\u2019ll tell you what\u2019s wrong with it \u2013 People \u2013 so do you want to destroy them? Ruthlessly? Until you\/we change your\/our heads \u2013 there\u2019s no chance. Tell me of one successful revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look man, I was\/am not against you. Instead of splitting hairs about the Beatles and the Stones \u2013 think a little bigger \u2013 look at the world we\u2019re living in, John, and ask yourself: why? And then \u2013 come and join us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love, John Lennon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PS \u2014 You Smash it \u2013 and I\u2019ll build around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(John Lennon, replying in Black Dwarf, January 1969)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

He says \u201cRevolution\u201d was no more revolutionary than Mrs Dale\u2019s Diary. So it mightn\u2019t have been. But the point is to change your head \u2013 it\u2019s no good knocking down a few old bloody Tories! What does he think he\u2019s gonna change? The system\u2019s what he says it is: a load of crap. But just smashing it up isn\u2019t gonna do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the statements I make are in my songs or in the things that I do. You can change people you know, change their heads. I\u2019ve changed a lot of people\u2019s heads and a lot of people have changed my head \u2013 just with their records, apart from anything else they do. I believe in change. That\u2019s what Yoko\u2019s and my scene is: to change it like that. (John Lennon interviewed by Maurice Hindle, December 1968<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Revolution was the B-side of the Beatles’ Hey Jude single, written by John Lennon, released in August 1968. A different version of the song, Revolution 1, was included as a track on the White Album. Revolution 1 was the first version to be recorded, but the single was released before the album. Revolution 9, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8,6],"class_list":["post-691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-song-a-day","tag-b-side","tag-single"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":692,"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691\/revisions\/692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomhartley.me.uk\/beatles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}