Saturday, September 19, 2015

Final Songs: Good Night

Album: The Beatles (informally but universally known as the White Album) by the Beatles


Now it's time to say good night
Good night, sleep tight
Now the sun turns out his light
Good night, sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me (Dream sweet)
Dream sweet dreams for you

Close your eyes and I'll close mine
Good night, sleep tight
Now the moon begins to shine
Good night, sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me (Dream sweet)
Dream sweet dreams for you

Mmmmmm
Mmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm

Close your eyes and I'll close mine
Good night, sleep tight
Now the sun turns out his light
Good night, sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me (Dream sweet)
Dream sweet dreams for you

Good night, good night, everybody
Everybody everywhere
Good night

"Are they serious?"

By late 1968, the Beatles had only been in the public consciousness for about five years, but it's safe to say that they'd had an adventurous recording history. At the beginning were souped-up rock 'n' roll songs that sounded live-in-studio even if they weren't. Eventually in came more ornate sounds and heady lyrics on the concept album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band and the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack. So, an established track record for challenging their audience and their role as pop stars.

Yet The Beatles was different. The front cover was a jokey concept art piece, declaring the idea of "The Beatles" without showing the Fab Four themselves, or any imagery associated with them, or for that matter anything at all. The back revealed song titles that sounded facetious ("Back in the USSR", "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey") or plain at least more esoteric than normal ("While My Guitar Gently Weeps"), Fans could be forgiven for asking if this were all an elaborate joke.

Of course it wasn't just that. The music was still important, and they were still quite able to excel in producing it. But the Beatles themselves had their own questions. Nobody would have them all answered by the album's end.

"Good Night" begins with a sedate swoop of strings, soon joined by woodwinds and angelic backing singers. While the Beatles had done classical music pastiches in the past (Paul's "Eleanor Rigby" for one) this was something different. It was more the orchestral schmaltz associated with TV variety shows and easy listening albums. You might picture the singer as a man with pomaded hair, the bow tie loosened on his tuxedo.

Or, once you hear that it's Ringo Starr, maybe not. Ringo is the one familiar element in the song, at least familiar in the Beatles context. The other Beatles don't play on it, although John Lennon did help with the arrangements.

And this song comes from John. He wrote it as a lullaby for his five year old son Julian. The fact that he wrote it for his elder son, the one he had with unlucky first wife Cynthia, and with whom he'd have a fraught relationship for the rest of his life, adds an extra layer of poignancy to the song.

On the other hand, the fact that it follows the Dadaist tape experiment "Revolution 9" right at the end makes it more surreal. Following Stockhausen/Cage alienation with Nelson Riddle sentiment doesn't bring things back to normal. It makes you question whether normal exists.

So how much of this is a joke? The question may never be answered.

2 comments:

susan said...

We both agree this is a very well considered and fascinating take on 'The White Album' as a whole and this song in particular. You've raised some very interesting questions. By 1968 the group had reached an almost transcendental status as spiritual, political, and strategic leaders of the youth movement. Ultimately it wasn't a position they were interested in maintaining and this song may have been a signal.

Ben said...

An "it was fun while it lasted" attitude, perhaps? I could see that. It does seem like from this point forward they were looking toward their post-Beatles lives, even as they continued to make Beatles songs. There may have been some regrets, wishes to hold onto what they had, but never all of them at the same time.

Thank you again. :)