Why do I bring this album up? Well, I love Beatles music. The songs of the Fab Four from Liverpool, England are so revolutionary and monumental in scope. 2012 also marks the 45th anniversary of Magical Mystery Tour. It features a handful of memorable songs. I absolutely love this studio album because it combines various genres (Rock, Jazz, Classical, and Indian music”), yet is still focused. Here are some of my favorite tunes from the album:
“Fool on the Hill”– The instrumentation blends really well. I especially like the piano and woodwind parts, which add to the musical depiction of the rather strange individual in question.
“Blue Jay Way”– While I am fully aware that this song was inspired by a drug trip, that’s not why I like it. It’s because of the fusion of British Pop and traditional Indian music. This song also uses a Flanging technique in electronic music to give it that airy,”mystical” quality.
“I Am the Walrus”– Yes, I know this song is rather weird, but that’s the beuty of it. To me, this song is like Lewis Carrol’s poem “Jaberwocki.” The lyrics make no sense, but everything blends together. I especially like how this song uses electronics and random voices (as in the laughing crowd in the third verse), The end result is a blurry, surreal landscape.
“All Need is Love”– I really like the use of musical quotation (from the French national anthem, to a Bach Invention, “In the Mood,” “Greensleves,and an early Beatles tume: “Se Loves You.”) The use of changing meter and rhythm also throws me off guard, but in a good way.
Actually, Magical Mystery Tour is more of a soundtrack to the movie of the same name. Although I was familiar with several Beatles films (I love the animated feature, Yellow Submarine.), I was not familiar with this one at all. That was untill I found it on YouTube. If I remember correctly, I think that it is on the Beatles channel.