The Rewind Button: The Beatles’ Revolver

It’s week three of the Rewind Button and this week it’s Revolver by the Beatles. Released in 1966, this album has quite a few of the classics – extra classic classics, if you will – from the foursome. There’s Eleanor Rigby and Yellow Submarine.

I remember hearing Eleanor Rigby on television when I was very young and it was so depressing. There’s this poor woman who is all alone and she dies alone. Father McKenzie didn’t bother me too much. He was a priest and priests’ work tends to be solitary in nature when not tending to their congregation.

But back to Eleanor Rigby. The name was made up by the band but it turns out that there is a woman named Eleanor Rigby who is buried in Liverpool in the Woolton cemetary.

I listened to the album on my way to work today. The songs themselves are compact – short but packed with a lot of imagery in the lyrics, enough to justify an English course analysing the lyrics of the Beatles. I’m not going to comment on the music itself as I’m not a music expert but I noticed the use of a sitar in Love You To, heralding the band’s move into psychedelia.

How did I feel about listening to this album? Kind of meh, I have to admit. I’ve heard some of the tunes so many times before I didn’t feel like I was exploring or listening to anything new.