Social Graffiti:
“The Beatles (The White Album),” The Beatles

By Charles Young
George Washington High School

When I was 8 years old, I bought my first Beatles record - “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” I instantly fell in love with it, playing it repeatedly. Soon afterward, I began to explore the rest of the Beatles’ catalog, devouring each album in turn before moving on to the next.

Finally, I came to “The White Album.” It blew me away like nothing else I had ever heard. It was raw, passionate, warm, welcoming, hateful and blistering with emotion.

If you know anything about your Beatles history, you know that “The White Album” was made at the beginning of the end — right when the band started falling apart. All the members of the group were warring amongst themselves, and each was working on his own individual projects.

The album was made in bits and pieces, and then strung together by long time producer George Martin. So even though the songs were given the traditional Lennon/McCartney credit, most were written and recorded without the other person. Because of this, every song on the album sounds completely different.

Each one is a 180-degree turn of emotion, spanning bitterness, desperation, depression, love and acceptance. As with every other Beatles record, I identified most with the songs written by John Lennon.

Lennon’s music is the closest thing to an exact embodiment of my thoughts that I have ever experienced. His writing and melodies speak to me and live inside of me. His words and sounds engulf me like a wave.

On “Dear Prudence,” Lennon crafts his lyrics of longing love around a breathtaking melody. On “Revolution 1,” he paints his vision of the future and the end of the love generation. “So you want a revolution?” he asks. “Well, you know, we all want to change the world.”

“Yer Blues,” Lennon’s song written from the bottom of his drug-induced madness and depression, is a beautifully bleak minimalist noise experiment of blues distortion. And his “Happiness is a Warm Gun” is the pinnacle of the album, filled with slow-burning guitars, wailing choruses and sly lyrics.

Paul McCartney’s work is not without merit, either. His 50’s surf-rock throwback “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” which opens the album, is vintage Paul — full of sunny optimism and witty pop sensibility. And his “Helter Skelter” — full of writhing, hard rock madness — blends well with Lennon’s noise experiments but sticks out among his own soft, pop numbers.

“The White Album” is a swirling kaleidoscope of sonic feeling and lovely, joyous expression. The record is a punch to your outlook on life, forcing you to change your perspective and see things in a whole new light.