One album to bind them all
5
By storyteller/educator
Before you walk away and say, “Blah, blah, blah. Old news!” this was the album that threw open the doors for all popular music before the Beatles and after them. The Beatles show us all what magic can be made when the musicmakers are freed from the contractual restraints of the three minute singles that sound just like the previous, three-minute singles.
There are songs from their viewpoint. There are songs from other viewpoints. There is chugging rock and roll and also ballads, ditties from when grandad was young and international sounds from unique instruments. They were pulling in all music like a syphon. Some songs were fun, others tragic.
And then there are the lyrics, so memorable that they made sure to write them all on the back of the album cover:
What do you see when you turn out the light? I can’t tell you but I know it’s mine
I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in and stops my mind from wandering where it will go
Got her home. I nearly made it. Sitting on a sofa with a sister or two
I’ve got nothing to say but it’s okay. Good morning! Good morning! Good morning!
She’s leaving home after living alone for so many years
Grandchildren on your knee: Vera, Chuck, and Dave
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
Some musicians turned Sgt. Pepper’s into a Pandora’s Box. Some saw it as liberation to raise the bar for pop music.
