Beatlings!

Beatles' Animal Songs (after 'Revolver')

Revolver vs. Pepper: Which album is better?

A Day in the Life in Beatlesville

I love the Beatles! Not only has their music entertained and uplifted me, but the unique persona of the band and its legacy has inspired me as a visual artist. In these three illustrations, dozens of songs are referenced; how many can you spot? Counting repeated references (the Yellow Submarine appears in all three) I count more than 40. Have fun exploring!

A Menagerie Mystery Tour II

Let's take a menagerie mystery tour

through the animal songs of the Fabulous Four!

T'was one of the Beatles' most endearing features

to pen many songs about non-human creatures

So, here they are! Paul's, George's, Ringo's and John's

critters who crawled in and out of their songs!

Man's Best Friend; there's a fine place to start,

so let's meet the sheepdog who melted Paul's heart;

Martha, his love, always kept him delighted,

and yapped from on high when the good Sir was knighted

on The Beatles' White album, a black bird gets mentioned

it's Paul's allegory about racial tensions

And then there is Rocky, the feisty raccoon

who finds his salvation above a saloon

John gives us Henry the Horse, and his waltz

in his whimsical circus song, laden with shmaltz

"I Am The Walrus!", obscurely sang John

causing listeners to ponder just WHAT he was on

curiouser and curiouser the song's lyrics grow

till penguins are kicking poor E. Allen Poe!

Before "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"'s refrain

a lizard slinks by on a slick window pane

and later, to prove he was nobody's flunky

John sang that he'd nothing to hide, nor his monkey

George, feeling righteous; t'was often his wont 

penned 'Piggies', the rich upper classes to taunt

while Ringo's no wordsmith, he (begging his pardon)

still managed an octopus tending his garden

and still there were more of their animal cronies;

George followed a Blue Jay, while John dug a pony;

Elephants, tigers, a bulldog or two

The Beatles bequeathed us a musical zoo!

And though it was love songs that gave them their fame

let's recall that a crawler provided their name!

A Menagerie Mystery Tour

Aw, two of my favorite subjects brought together, The Beatles, and animals (not The Animals, sorry Eric Burdon)! I remember reading a review of The White Album in The Rolling Stone magazine's 10th anniversary issue opining that not since Aesop's Fables, or Toba Sojo's rabbit and frog scrolls of the 11th century, had animals commingled their lives with humans so revealingly. Although that might be a bit of a stretch, it is certainly part of the legendary Liverpudlians' charm and appeal that they spiced up their repertoire with such whimsical oddities as "Octopus' Garden" and "Hey, Bulldog!" More so than other bands of the time, and perhaps before or since, they were fabulists at heart, and that is a key part of what makes them so endearing and enduring.

Dylan was cleverer. Hendrix rocked harder. Pink Floyd was weirder. And the Stones were just plain badder! But The Beatles captured the energy of their time better than any of their manifestly talented rivals. With titles such as "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Come Together", they seem to have clearly, almost mystically, understood and embraced their roles as cultural guides through a period of mystery and excitement and wonder. The times were fraught with peril, but The Beatles, accompanied by their animal familiars, were charging out in front, wanting to hold our hands as they guided us on a journey that included herbs, gurus and revolutions.

So, here then, is my tribute to the Fab Four and their four legged (or eight tentacled, etc.) companions. Fans will have fun picking out the songs the critters are culled from, and will also be aware of what is about to befall poor Edgar Allan Poe!