"Magical Mystery Tour", By- The Beatles, 1967

Morrison Marketing

Review of "The Magical Mystery Tour" by the Beatles, 1967

Augusta, Georgia, USA

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Side one: Film soundtrack
No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Magical Mystery Tour"	McCartney	2:48
2.	"The Fool on the Hill"	McCartney	3:00
3.	"Flying" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney/George Harrison/Richard Starkey)	(Instrumental)	2:16
4.	"Blue Jay Way" (Harrison)	Harrison	3:50
5.	"Your Mother Should Know"	McCartney	2:33
6.	"I Am the Walrus"	Lennon	4:35

Side two: 1967 singles
No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Hello, Goodbye"	McCartney	3:24
2.	"Strawberry Fields Forever"	Lennon	4:05
3.	"Penny Lane"	McCartney	3:00
4.	"Baby, You're a Rich Man"	Lennon	3:07
5.	"All You Need Is Love"	Lennon	3:57
Total length:			36:35

     The Magical Mystery Tour is one of my favorite albums of all time, and my 2nd favorite Beatles album. The trippiness and intricacy in each song is so interesting to my brain. The sounds invoke such feelings and thoughts on a scale not matched by other musicians. There is some power in each song on this album and the agreeableness to it from the multitudes must mean it is truly a "Great Piece". I have met nobody yet, in person, who has listened to much of this album and not liked it. The psychedelic mix and the bass subtle messages are attractive to rock and roll fanatics, the simplicity and optimistic nature is attractive to many country music fans, the confidence and strength heard in the voices of the lyrics attracts hip hop music fans. In short, this album is something like our collection of music as a race. "the Magical Mystery Tour" will be a piece to study for future generations who want to understand how music changed with the Beatles. 

1. Magical Mystery tour (8/10)

     This song is so happy, fun filled and optimistic. the smile it brings to my face reminds me instantaneously of a scene of extreme happiness. The idea of waking in the morning in a cartoon setting next to super wife, putting on my super shoes and singing as I whisk off to my super-job is strong. The smiles that expose the most teeth and the swings of the head to flick your hair slightly also come to mind

     This is an example of "Beatles Optimism", its an invoking of a part of the human that is constructive, compassionate and of one another in a non-greedy manner. It is is they are holy and this is how they have fun, but being great. The ideas of the "English Knight" or the "Big American Hunk" come to mind. Good ole times, where its always morning, everyone is clean and nice and everyone smiles. It is if the Beatles were transplanted from a different planet on thrown into this world full of evil and spite.

2. The Fool on the Hill (10/10)

     This song is the deepest related to me and I feel slightly uncomfortable writing of it in such a personal tone. The song is very simple, the lyrics are as follows-

"Day after day,

Alone on a hill,

The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still

But nobody wants to know him,

They can see that he's just a fool,

And he never gives an answer,

But the fool on the hill,

Sees the sun going down,

And the eyes in his head,

See the world spinning 'round.

Well on the way,

Head in a cloud,

The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud

But nobody ever hears him,

or the sound he appears to make,

and he never seems to notice,

But the fool on the hill,

Sees the sun going down,

And the eyes in his head,

See the world spinning 'round.

And nobody seems to like him,

they can tell what he wants to do,

and he never shows his feelings,

But the fool on the hill,

Sees the sun going down,

And the eyes in his head,

See the world spinning 'round.

Ooh, ooh,

Round and round and round.

And he never listens to them,

He knows that they're the fools

They don't like him,

The fool on the hill

Sees the sun going down,

And the eyes in his head,

See the world spinning 'round.

Ooh,

Round and round and round"

     The first time I heard the chorus to this song was while listening to the full Magical Mystery tour  album video on YouTube.  I heard the chorus from a distance, but was pulled in almost instantly to replay that portion of the CD and listen more intently. I listened 2 more times straight through before declaring everything that I am about to write. It was a true rush of feelings from a work of art being transcribed and appreciated by another.

     The fool is an isolated man. His ideas are not accepted by the majority of those who do not reside on the hill. He is happy and solemn with his destiny and revels in the secret that is truly his. What does he know that everyone else does not? Who knows? The fool does, and to be the fool is rare, we may not understand even if he could tell us intelligibly.

     The wall from society has not bothered him, in the music video that accompanied this McCartney was jumping through a field like a little girl. Does McCartney know something we do not? Maybe so, he is quite a remarkably complex person himself. 

     The use of symbols is strong and dense in this song. The hill could mean a looking out positions, looking at the sun setting could be contemplation of a deep kind and the eyes spinning in his could be his own intellectual worries and angst's. He is forever scanning, analytical and precise, the fool is in full comprehension of what is truly going on. He can take the form of the impartial spectator and see viewpoints and ideas that oppose his in the truest light. The fool is so easily transposed onto ourselves, we all feel like the fool on the hill sometimes and maybe should enjoy the treat of the truth in solitude comprehension like McCartney did in the video. 

3.  Flying (7/10)

     This is one of the Beatles instrumentals that must have been so crucial in forming others music patterns in the future. It was not common to switch so fast from different styles, most artists knew who their target audience was and wrote to them, the Beatles broke that trend just 3 songs into this album, who knew who would like this song?

     This song gives a feeling of intense trippiness and psychedelia. I think there was a lot of drugs consumed during the making of this song and it turned out lovely and as a true ecstasy of the ears. 

4. Blue Jay Way (7/10)

     After the instrumental and spacey feeling of the previous track this one lures itself into a trippy melody, also with frequent changes in mode and tempo like "Flying". I imagine that drugs were very prevalent in this random order of associations in musical notes that invoke such feelings of agreeableness in quality. The future of chop and screwed may have also started with this song with the speeding up and slowing down of the chorus at different times, with a ghostly and eerie voice creeping through the speakers. It is a very confusing song. The song apparently is about George Harrison telling some friends how to reach his home in Los Angeles on a road named Blue Jay Way. It is hard to get there, so Georgia suggests they ask a policeman on the street.

5. Your Mother Should Know (5/10)

     This song is not that striking and relevant to me, I think it is the only song on the album that I would skip. It is to much to listen to it several times in a day due to the sound of being like many other Beatles pop songs similar to it. It feels like they made this song as a filler in between the creativeness that was going on at the time.

6. I am the Walrus (10/10)

     Back to the trippiness, sublime and subtle. This song stretched McCartney voice to the max in alteration. The song was wrote by Lenon and shows how hard both worked at making a good album. This song is nothing but pure fun and exemplification of the weird. to be the Walrus means absolutely nothing more than to be your fantasy. Once you are what you dream of I imagine that person shouting out "I am the ______" to prove their point and affirm who they are. 

     A walrus is quite a weird and abstract symbol, I guess it is just another testament to something we cannot even comprehend enough to put onto paper, but it is so interesting and fixating. This is the most interesting of the Beatles 3 trippy songs in a row starting with "Flying".

7. Hello, goodbye

     This is another very optimistic and tone setting song. To say hello or goodbye is so common an occurrence that we do not think about it much, but the coming and going of our company is the continuous story of our life. The song is very simple but packed with meaning, most of it not intentional to the Beatles  but present in their subconscious. It feels as though they are really aligned with the positive things in life in this song. This song is pure sing along melody.

8. Strawberry fields forever (10/10)

     The most organized of the trippy songs done by the Beatles.  Strawberry hills is obviously all of our dream place. Strawberries are feminine, soft and smell so good in a field. The thought of endless fields of strawberries, clean air and clear skies is attractive to me in a way. This is the land of no worries, only nice strawberry fields. 

     The melody and symphony in this song was revolutionary in the development of later and more digital sounds based away from musical instruments used for pre-electronic days. 

     The drum patterns is very hypnotizing, "Nothing is Real" is the perfect thing to say in this feeling. Nothing is really real, there is no need to explain it in this song, the acceptance of that is hypnotizing in the same sense  of the beating drums or rapid changes in the flutes notes. 

9. Penny Lane (10/10)

     If Strawberry fields is your favorite country setting in your imaginary world of perfection then Penny Lane is main-street in the perfect town. here there is a class of people all having fun and simply living life. The mundane life in of a fireman, banker and children is so attractive to how we envision the world ourselves. Again the feeling of sameness and togetherness is strong. I almost want to grab the person next to me and start swinging. 

     Again the hypnotic use of trippy sound effects and of very harmonious string instruments get you in the mind to understand the lyrics. The blue suburban sky's must have been a very relative line to the many American families in newly built subdivisions in this time period. 

10. Baby your a rich man (5/10)

     The use of Arabian and African instruments seems strong in this song. There is somewhat of a message in this song. It seems to speak to us to be happy with what we have. A saying among some Paki's I know is that no man is poor who has knowledge, this song may be indicating that. Although is is much clearer than other songs on the album it is still quite complex and intriguing. It took 3 listens to come to a conclusion to this song.

11. All you need is love

     A strong song to send the listener out into the real world again. The love we hold for each other is natural and in our heart. The Beatles were strong in the understanding and compassion for our fellow man. To say that all we need is love is somewhat of a true statement, taking love as meaning people wanting to please and be approved of by another person, checking each other in the process. This is usually associated with one person, but you could have that mindset with every person alive. to have love is very nourishing and the Beatles seemed to make this song with that thought truly in their head. It is so sad that musicians would never dare say something this blatant and powerful. 

     Overall this is an awesome album and transformed Rock & Roll more than any of us could know. This album is one of my favorites and I hope that you enjoyed it and the reviews. The Beatles are quite a complex group and their songs draw many different ideas, I recommend you listen to the album and write a review like this one

Thanks,

Michael G. Morrison

Morrison Marketing

Augusta, Georgia, USA