Today, continuing with my wonderful routine of sharing details, anecdotes, and experiences I've had over the years with my favorite band, The Beatles, I want to review one of my favorite songs of theirs. Well, one of many, but this one is special, and I'll tell you why below. The song is "Hey Bulldog," and it's on the 1969 album "Yellow Submarine," although the song itself was recorded between March and April of 1968 at EMI Studios in London.
This song, and the video in particular, is quite comical and unique to me. Lennon appears with hair, pills, and a hairstyle that I find very funny. Ever since I first saw that video, I've always been struck by Lennon's look—sideburns that looked more like a beard, or a short beard that looked like sideburns, hahaha. I found it, and still find it, very funny. This, combined with Paul's style of dress and overall appearance—casual, relaxed, as if to say, "You have to enjoy life however you can and to the fullest." It's important to remember that by that time and year, their manager, Brian Epstein, had already died, and he had, in a way, held them back and set certain limits. It's worth mentioning that their suit and tie look, as well as their forward-leaning hairstyles and certain other styles, were largely regulated by him. Now that he was gone, each of them developed their own style.
In my opinion, this song is a masterpiece, not only the song itself but also because of the exceptional and unique chords and notes. The opening piano riff played by John transports me to the early days of Rhythm and Blues, to the Black community in New York or other cities in the United States at that time. Of course, I wasn't born then, but I can imagine, based on the tone and what I've seen of that era, that the tone actually comes from that musical style—simply another level.
The electric bass played by Paul sounds incredibly rich and resonant to me, from the very first note to the final one—a truly exceptional and unique bass performance.
On another note, I also found it a bit funny in the video when they hand the rhythm guitar to George, sitting over there in a chair. The look on his face is like he's thinking, "Now what am I going to do with this?" Well, what he did was simply rip and absolutely smash that poor instrument with one of the best guitar solos I've ever heard from them. He literally "blew its life out of it," as we say here in Venezuela, and it was no wonder. Harrison has always been considered one of the best guitarists, and in this song, he proved it to the stratosphere and beyond! Just like Lennon, who was also a guitar virtuoso, both rhythm and lead.
And finally, the playful and charming Ringo completes the picture with his drumming, which was as synchronized as clockwork. We also see Paul playing the tambourine in the video. That's why I say this song is one of my favorites, musically speaking. Another detail is that this track was produced by George Martin and credited to Lennon/McCartney.
As for the lyrics and theme of the song, I find them quite abstract and psychedelic. Well, by that time Lennon had accustomed us to such lyrics, both difficult to understand and brilliant at the same time. Also, Lennon was already wearing the characteristic round glasses that so defined him in those final years of The Beatles. At the end of the song, you can hear some comical imitations of dogs and commotion, done by John and Paul.
Well, my dear friends, I hope you enjoyed this review, made with much love for all of you. I bid you farewell, but not before wishing you a happy end to the weekend. Blessings to all!
Original YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4vbJQ-MrKo
Original story by @cayitus63.
Screenshots from the "Hey Bulldog"/promo video.
Images from the era of singles, EPs and song promotions.
Separators created and edited by me in Canva: https://www.canva.com/
Translated with Google Translate: https://translate.google.com
Rating: 100/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/music.
