4 Bizarre Beatles Songs Made Possible by the ‘White Album’

It was the only double album in The Beatles’ career. And, as so often happens with such releases, many people debated then (and are still debating today) if The White Album would have been better served with a bit of editing.

Videos by American Songwriter

But this album wouldn’t have been quite the same without some of the bizarre musical detours taken by these songs. These four specific songs truly rev up the wackiness.

“Revolution 9”

John Lennon believed that “Revolution 9” was the wave of the future in music. Others, including bandmate Paul McCartney, thought it was nonsense. And, honestly, the latter assessment is probably closer to the truth. The problem is that anyone could have come in off the street, given they knew how to twiddle the knobs and feed the tape machines in the studio, and made something like this cacophonous collage. And maybe that was his point all along. In any case, this track certainly earns distinction as by far the spookiest song in the band’s history (although “Blue Jay Way” from Magical Mystery Tour would also get some votes).

“Wild Honey Pie”

Paul McCartney pushed the patience of his band members on The White Album with his material and his perfectionism. John Lennon and George Harrison both showed frustration with the endless takes done on “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”. And the old-timey style of “Honey Pie” was a far cry from what Lennon wanted the band to project. Maybe that’s why McCartney did the off-kilter, mostly lyric-free “Wild Honey Pie” all on his own, knowing he wouldn’t get any blowback from the peanut gallery. Less than a minute long and characterized by crazed vocals and reckless instrumentalism, this track delivers the wildness promised in the title.

“Long, Long, Long”

If you could separate the song from the recording, “Long, Long, Long” wouldn’t seem all that strange. In fact, the song stylistically anticipates some of what George Harrison would do in his solo career in that it’s a love song that could easily be heard as a paean to a higher power. What makes this song somewhat off-center is the way it was recorded. Harrison and the instruments dwell way down low in the mix as if covered by some sort of haze. The loudest noise that’s heard throughout the song comes at the end. That’s when you can hear the rattling of a wine bottle on a speaker triggered by one of Paul McCartney’s organ notes. They could have called this one “Soft, Soft, Soft”.

“Don’t Pass Me By”

Well, the other three members of the Fab Four have been represented so far on this list by songs that they spearheaded. Let’s get Ringo involved, too, shall we? “Don’t Pass Me By” went down as the first solo songwriting credit that Starr ever received with the group. He had it sitting around for several years before The Beatles actually got around to recording it. And they took an extremely offhand approach to doing so. The drunken fiddle works its way around a stumbling rhythm. Starr adds to the weirdness with lyrics like “You were in a car crash and you lost your hair.” Somewhere in there, you can hear Starr’s love of country music sneaking into the picture, although it gets muddled in the mix.

Photo by Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images