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The Beatles mean the world to me. Their lyrics are literally tattooed on my arm. For this review, I’m going to explore one of the greatest albums of all time. In 1967, The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and it immediately shot up the charts. This album spent 27 weeks at number 1 in the UK and 16 weeks at number one in the United States. This album I will always hold near and dear to my heart. Below, check out my track-by-track album review of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band:” Just a quick track to introduce the album. It’s got a lot of interesting sound effects and beats going on in the background. This is The Beatles way of kicking off the album in a funky way, and I’m a fan.
“With a Little Help from My Friends:” I think we all have those moments in our lives when things are not going the way we had thought it would. Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote this song specifically for Ringo Starr, who was lead vocals on the track. This song by The Beatles has pulled me out of some lows in my life. It’s a great melody with some powerful lyrics. Best line: “Would you believe in love at first sight? / Yes I’m certain it happens all the time.”
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds:” There are so many different myths about why The Beatles wrote this song. Somewhere the rumor was started that it was Lennon’s version of an LSD trip (which McCartney has repeatedly denied). Lennon, before he passed away, claimed he wrote it about Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books, something McCartney has also confirmed. It’s a beautiful daydream that takes you to another place and inspires your imagination. I love this song by The Beatles. Best line: “Picture yourself on a train in a station / With plasticine porters with looking glass ties / Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile / The girl with kaleidoscope eyes.”
“Getting Better:” This song is one of my favorite songs by The Beatles. It gives you almost a contradictory version of someone’s mind. While the song itself is pretty upbeat and has the lyrics that things are getting better but it has some pretty awful lyrics about beating women. Lennon admitted he had some issues with abusing women in previous relationships and that these lyrics are from his diary. The reason I like it is because of the back and forth between good and bad. Not everything is good while not everything is bad and this song clearly identifies this. This is one of the most controversial songs on the album. Best line: “It’s getting better since you’ve been mine / Getting so much better all the time.”
“Fixing a Hole:” Another song that’s widely debated about what McCartney actually wrote it about. Some say it’s written about him quite literally fixing a hole on his farm roof in Scotland, but another claims it’s an ode to Marijuana. Both stories are ‘confirmed’ as true so I guess you’ll have to make your own decision on what it was actually referring too. I like the musical accompaniment that features so many different instruments that give just an overall eclectic sound. Incredible. Best line: “I’m filling the cracks that ran through the door / And kept my mind from wandering.”
“She’s Leaving Home:” McCartney found a story in the paper about a girl who had left home at 17 and her parents had reported her missing. McCartney wrote it from her perspective while Lennon filled in lyrics from the parent’s point of view. It’s one of those songs by The Beatles that tells a very clear story that if you close your eyes you can follow along with. This ballad by The Beatles has some impressive lyric prowess from Lennon and McCartney. It’s truly beautiful. Best line: “Silently closing her bedroom door / Leaving the note that she hoped would say more.”
“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!:” This song by The Beatles makes you feel like you’re at the circus. It has a very circus melody playing in the background with different sounds that you’d hear if you were in fact at the circus. It’s not surprising that Lennon said the inspiration came from that of a, you guessed it, circus poster. It’s definitely not one of my favorite songs by The Beatles, but still an interesting track. Best line: “The Hendersons will dance and sing / As Mr. Kite flies through the ring, don’t be late.”
“Within You Without You:” If I had to pick a favorite member of The Beatles, it would be the highly underrated member, George Harrison. Harrison wrote this song, which has strong Arabic vibes musically, about metaphysical space that exists if people could just open their minds to see it. The song is one that I love to lay on my back and just let my mind expand and think about those out-there ideologies I often am closed off to. Best line: “We were talking about the space between us all / And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion.”
“When I’m Sixty-Four:” McCartney was said to write this song when he was just 16 years old. The lyrics are a love note from a man to his lover about growing older together. It has an upbeat tempo with fantastic instruments like clarinets that are just not heard nowadays. It’s just a great additional song to this album. Best line: “Give me your answer, fill in a form / Mine for evermore.”
“Lovely Rita:” I think this song is one of those ones where McCartney was like ‘you know what’d be funny…” This song is about literally a meter-maid that had given McCartney a ticket. It’s a funny and cute upbeat song that basically talks about how he just accepted the fact that he was given a ticket. Best line: “Lovely Rita meter maid / Nothing can come between us / When it gets dark I tow your heart away.”
“Good Morning Good Morning:” As many animals you can fit into a song have been fit into this one. Lennon wrote this song after seeing a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes commercial. It’s a really weird, upbeat song that I can’t really go into too much. It just is what it is. Best line: “Everyone you see is half asleep / And you’re on your own / You’re own street.”
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Reprise:” With additional guitar riffs, this song is not really different from the first. Just something pretty random that The Beatles added to the almost end of the album.
“A Day in the Life:” This song is actually quite a sad way to end off the album. Lennon and McCartney come together to write this song together. While many of The Beatles songs are attributed to Lennon-McCartney for writers, usually it was one or the other who actually wrote it. Lennon said this one he and McCartney definitely wrote together. It starts off with the lyrics speaking about something that had happened in the news that was rather sad. In the middle, it changes to a narration from a commuter who is having an uneventful ride into work so he starts to drift. Then it goes back to Lennon speaking about something else that happened in the news. This is all while there is a beautiful orchestra in the background. This song is a journey in its own. Best line: “A crowd of people stood and stared / They’d seen his face before.”