In a message dated 3/4/01 3:32:33 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
> Why was John mad at Paul? Because he could write ballads? I recall that
> John tried to turn authorship of "Yesterday" into a crime of shallowness.
well, the answer to that question probably depended on what day of the week
it was posed. maybe the short answer is john wanted out of the beatles and
the prison that it had become, and paul wanted to keep it going. its easy to
forget the hysteria they provoked back in their day. sort of like michael
jackson did around THRILLER, only multiply it times 4. they literally could
not go outside without it becoming a security nightmare and lived mostly
behind walled estates and gated drives. (be careful what you wish for, all
you rockstar wannabees.)
but it never seemed to bother paul in the same way. he even had the insane
idea toward the end that they go back out on the road again (they had stopped
touring years before) and play in small clubs, like the old days. john
thought, correctly (at least as far as this idea went) that paul had his head
up his ass.
and then came yoko...who gave john the courage and probably the permission he
felt he needed, to just quit - walk away. "i was the walrus, but now i am
john. and so dear friends, you'll just have to carry on." to stop playing
that beatle game, which had always been, very much, a boys club...no chicks
allowed in the inner sanctum. but john started bringing yoko into the studio
with the rest of the blokes, and, legend goes, she even started making
suggestions! what cheek! none of them could stand her in there, but paul
found it particularly insufferable and the split that followed was bitter.
but it was paul who made it official and announced the breakup to the world,
and then, in a fit of pique (and what i always thought was pretty f-ing
clever) he included a small photo of two beetles doing the deed on the back
of his RAM album. they may have been japanese beetles, unless my memory is
embellishing. in any case, john felt it was directed at him and spewed out
"how do you sleep?" with such piercing lyrics as: "the only thing you done
was yesterday...and since you've gone you're just another day." paul, to his
credit, never really responded, and i think that photo on the back of RAM was
probably tongue in cheek. but john took it to heart and used it to write a
nasty little masterpiece. right up there with dylan's "positively 4th
street" (who was THAT about?) and joni's "not to blame." which we better not
even try and discuss. yeouch!
ric
ps. what other songs are known to be about joni mitchell? the only ones i
know are "our house", by CSNY - which is lovely. and "fountain of sorrow",
by jackson browne, which is even more lovely. and now this "stupid girl"? by
neil young, which i have never heard. doesn't sound too nice! can you
reproduce some lyrics for me?
