When God Drops Acid, Does He See People?

One album I've always enjoyed listening to, my third favorite Beatles album, is Magical Mystery Tour. As I knew Sgt. Pepper's would be the first Beatles album I'd ever review the second I'd heard it, and as I knew A Hard Day's Night would be the second I'd review the second I heard it, I also knew this would be the third... the second I heard it. You know what I just realized? Seriously? For the first time ever? Second, the number, and second, the time measure, are the same word. I never noticed that.

blonde statement of the day

Anyway, while I can't say this album is "expletive deleted" amazing, I must say that it is pretty amazing. The music is unusual compared to other Beatles records- so unusual that Rolling Stone wouldn't waste their time putting it on their 500 greatest, since really, its not that great... but it is amazing. And it screams the word ACID. Scroll to the top of this page and look at that cover. Colors like you've never seen. All of the tracks on the front. The Fab Four dressed as a donkey, a rabbit, a parrot, and a walrus. This weird orange cloud looking thing (with a silver lining). Stars in many assorted colors. And McCartney admitted to taking it: "LSD opened my eyes. We only use one-tenth of our brain. Just think of what we would accomplish if we could only tap that hidden part. It would mean a whole new world if the politicians would take LSD. There wouldn't be any more waste or poverty or famine." Hm... I wonder who he voted for ;)

she was a daaaaaay tripper

For the sake of all of you kids who just LOVE to read about drugs and the what not, I think I'll cut to the chase and tell you all of the most drugged songs. The opener is one, to start with. Magical Mystery Tour, which of course is also the name of the album, is a fast, booming, could-be-Outkast-beat song, perhaps my favorite. Its rather rockingly brilliant, you see- but its full of more acid then perhaps any song on here- I'm talking like PH 20, and that's (expletive deleted)ing unheard of. While at a glance it seems a bit normal, just listen to it, and you'll smell (and hear) the acid. Only someone under that kind of influence could have written this song. And then you have Flying (PH 19), which probably came to John and Paul from the God of Drugs or something- there's no lyrics, but the title, and the feeling (which is "flying") had to have come from acid. Paul was probably just sitting there, tripping out, and then he started flying in his trip. And thus, the song came to him. But this is a great, great song- if I ever did acid, it'd be the first song I'd listen to. Then I'd soar. Yeah... and the same has to go for "Blue Jay Way" (PH 17- still in that unheard of zone). Its weird enough for my brother and his girlfriend to have asked if its Pink Floyd- you know it has to be pretty crazy then. But (expletive deleted), this is a good song- its so weirdly haunting and mystifying- I love it. When I'm really tired and I'm driving down North Fairfield, I tend to pop this song, and "Flying" on. Its all fun. Strawberry Fields Forever (PH 14- finally something we're all familiar wth), the universally (or at least scholastically) most beloved song on MMT, also had to have come from a "drugular" source. It booms with totally cool drums, an oddly beautiful tune, and knowing fame- plus, the song has a big part of the long-lived PAUL'S DEAD conspiracy theory- near the end of the song, you hear a voice, in a very deep fashion, like the brother on Everybody Loves Raymond, saying "I buried Paul". Wink!

Then you have... I Am the Walrus. Everybody's going to disagree with me, but I really don't think this song came from drugs. I think it came from a bunch of kids screwing around and wanting to weird people out- one day John just thought, "I want to scare people! So... I am the walrus! Haha!" And thus, the song was created. You know, I really used to hate this song, but after a billion listens... its really, really cool. What were they really thinking? No clue.

But its all good.

Now we get into the more... non-druggy songs. First (or second on the album), you have The Fool on the Hill. If the lyrics were different, this could be one of those sweet little songs that makes girls go, "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww", as it is a sweet little song, but its not about something sweet. Instead, its about a fool on a hill. The song, as much as I like it, really seems to not care- John seems like he telling one of those stories that he's apathetic for. Sweet little song... yes... and hey, the exact same kinda goes for Your Mother Should Know, my favorite of the non-acidic songs- you know, I don't think there's a single song on this album that has a point. This little one carries the tradition- all it is... is "Your mother should know, if she's really old," and... that's it. I like it. But there's nothing to it. I'm not complaining.

Though I like Hello Goodbye, which has one of the most unoriginal titles I've ever seen, I tend to skip it when I listen to this album. There's something good about it that you don't want to see wasted away, so I tend to skip it. It contains some more of that classic unoriginal Beatles lyricism ("You say yes, I say no"), but its really a decent, clean song. Good stuff, I say.

Then you have the three closers. These are good songs, particularly Penny Lane, but they're all the weakest on the album to me- Penny Lane has a likable, playful, jumping tune, and the song passes by with remarkable speed. Then there's Baby You're a Rich Man, and the closer, All You Need is Love. These songs are so alike, they're practically the same song. They're both just soft, sweet, and simple- I hate describing songs, but I mean, that's all there really is to it. The closer announces itself with some patriotic tune, but then it just ends up being very much the same thing, a very dull rant about love, and then, the lovely chorus, "all you need is love." The Beatles aren't ones for complexity, "as you can see". -Sam Cooker

If you're offended by blatant drug use, an album that has had acid INJECTED INTO ITS VEINS, Magical Mystery Tour is not the album for you. But suppose you like drugs. Or all your friends do them, and you just don't really care. Well then, its highly recommendable. Especially if you're high ;)

Rating: A-