Counting Down the Beatles by Jim Beviglia

Author:Jim Beviglia
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2012-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

46. “Glass Onion” (from The Beatles, 1968)

the Beatles have nobody but themselves to blame for the birth of rock-and-roll criticism. They wrote and performed songs that deserved to be picked apart and analyzed, and there was an audience clearly hungry for deep inspection into their words and music.

So John Lennon’s frustration with overzealous interpretation of his work, while understandable, should have been directed inward, right? And if the professional critics and amateur musical detectives hadn’t come to the fore, and he hadn’t become exasperated with their occasional silliness and wrongheadedness about his work, the world might have missed out on the gloriously mysterious “Glass Onion.”

Found on the White Album in 1968, “Glass Onion” flings clues left and right at fans looking for every possible scrap of information in their attempt to unravel a mystery that wasn’t really ever there in the first place. And no, we’re not referring to the “Paul Is Dead” insanity that gripped a few zealots back in the day (and, it must be mentioned, still burdens many a website today), although that is the most extreme manifestation of the phenomenon.

The nonexistent mystery in this case is the one that supposedly hid behind every morsel of the Beatles’ lyrics, the one that, if properly solved, might either reveal the meaning of life or the preferred breakfast habits of Ringo Starr, depending on the aims and predilections of the sleuth in question. What those would-be Sherlocks tend to miss is that lyrics can often be interpreted in myriad ways, none of which is necessarily completely right or wrong. And sometimes lyrics hold no deeper meaning than the fact that the words sound real good when jumbled together.

Another problem is that somebody focusing solely on the lyrics of “Glass Onion” would miss out on one of the band’s best grooves on record. Rarely have Ringo Starr’s drums ever snapped with such force and precision, nor has Paul McCartney’s bass often locked in quite so tightly with those drums as it does here. Lennon keeps a solid strum going on acoustic guitar underneath it all, while George Harrison chirps away at the margins with occasional stabs of electric guitar.

This rock-solid foundation seamlessly intertwines with the string section, which brings a little James Bond intrigue into the song. Meanwhile, Lennon’s vocals strike conspiratorial tones, as if he’s letting his listeners in on some profound secret, although he barely manages to hide the tongue lodged in his cheek.

Lennon name-drops several of the band’s recent classics in the lyrics, including “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I Am the Walrus.” They make sense as choices for inclusion, since their nonlinear lyrical structure and dependence on imagery and stream of consciousness instead of a coherent storyline made them perfect fodder for fanciful interpretations. To these he adds some new red herrings, including “bent-backed tulips,” “dovetail joints,” and a “cast iron shore.”

He even brings his bandmates into the strangeness, confessing that the walrus was not him but rather his buddy Paul. Had he known this throwaway line would have convinced many that McCartney was dead, Lennon might have thought twice about it.

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