The Beatles – Yellow Submarine (1969)
“All the world is birthday cake.So take a piece, but not too much.”
Produced by: George Martin
4. HEY BULLDOG
There’s almost no reason to get this one unless you really like the four “new” songs on it. But, as I’m a completist (and three of the four songs are actually pretty great), I own it and love it.
First, a little history. This album doesn’t fit in the timeline where it was released. The songs were recorded in 1967-68 mostly during the Magical Mystery Tour and White Album sessions. They were throwaways that didn’t mean much to The Beatles. But when it came time to give songs to the new animated movie based on an older song, they threw them to the makers. The only truly “new” song on the album was George’s “Only A Northern Song.” He was told that they needed another song, so he rushed into the studio and wrote one really quickly. Strangely, his two songs are the best ones.
The movie, which none of The Beatles really wanted anything to do with, was actually awesome. It’s still my favorite of their movies. The story is great and the animation is really fucking trippy. And it uses so many great songs that I always thought it was a shame to not have them all on one album.
Well, when they remastered the movie in 1999, they remedied the situation. Not only did we get a great DVD release of the movie, but we got the Yellow Submarine Songtrack, featuring every Beatles song featured even for a second in the film. (Which is why we get “Think For Yourself.” It’s only in there for, like, five seconds. But it’s enough.) The sound was completely remastered, too, so the songs sound better than ever. If you need the four new songs (which, in my opinion, you do), buy that version. (It’s a five star release, absolutely.) Skip the original CD release. All you’ll get are the four new songs, two old songs and a side’s worth of George Martin’s score, which, as good as it is, isn’t really worth the $16.99 price tag.
The one that George wrote specifically for the movie, and probably the strangest track here. It’s dischordant, confused and, well…just strange. But it’s also good. And it’s a pretty funny joke on John and Paul. Northern Songs was their publishing company. “It really doesn’t matter what chords I play, what words I say or time of day it is. ‘Cause it’s only a Northern Song.” No matter what John and Paul write, it’ll be a hit. And it was true. And George always felt (especially at this point) that he was never given a chance to really show his worth as a songwriter.
LISTEN FOR: All of those really strange chords throughout the song. They make it almost hard to listen to.
The worst song on the album, even if you count all of the George Martin score bits. Paul just strung some words together and the rest went along. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and it’s not meant to. It’s a kid’s song, much like “Yellow Submarine.” Except that one at least made a little bit of sense. This is just a nursery rhyme set to music. It did, however, provide the only part of the movie where the actual Beatles showed up.
Whatever. Moving on.
LISTEN FOR: The constant horn honking. Annoying song.
I actually love this song, but it’s one that John never thought too much of. It’s the song they were recording when Yoko paid her first visit to the studio. John was pretty embarrassed that they were doing such a meaningless song. Oh well. It’s a good rocker and is a lot of fun to sing along to in the car on long road trips.
This song, also, was inexplicably cut from the American version of the movie. No reason for it. Just snipped out. American audiences didn’t get to see it until it was re-released on DVD in 1999.
LISTEN FOR: Where the song got its name. George started barking at the end. Before then, no bulldogs were mentioned in the song.
George’s second and best song on the album. More strangeness, but it doesn’t matter. More of his mysticism going through this one without the Indian music. “The more I go inside, the more there is to see.” “The more I learn, the less I know.” Not particularly deep, but it still makes for a great song. I especially love “Show me that I’m everywhere and get me home for tea.”
This song got some snipping, too. There’s a verse that was in the movie, but not on the original album. When they released the Songtrack in 1999, they fixed that problem.
LISTEN FOR: At the end when everyone is chanting “Too MUCH too MUCH!” The more they chant, the more it changes. At one point they’re chanting “Tu-BA, Tu-BA, Tu-BA!” Then it changes to “Cu-BA, Cu-BA, Cu-BA!”
When George sings, “With your long blonde hair and your eyes of blue,” that’s a line from a song called “Sorrow.” David Bowie covered it on his Pin-Ups album in 1973.
There’s also the part where George says,”We are dead.” Of course, it was taken from Hindu holy books, but people saw it as another clue that Paul was dead.
