# Beatles Revolution 9 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2001, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102 "2001-02-27T20:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/1 "2001-02-27T20:53:03Z")
I am listening to the Beatles “White Album” while viewing the boards and the thought struck me - does anybody in the whole world like “Revolution 9” or is it just a piece of pretentious rubbish.Since I brought the original album back in 1968 I have been of the opinion that out of the two disks one decent one can be edited out of them.I was suprised to the group’s manager,George Martin,say on the radio recently that No.9 is one of his all-time Beatles favourites.Opinions please. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/2 "2001-02-27T21:00:45Z")
I recall reading an interview with John Lennon and when he was asked about Revolution 9 he said, “Well, when it happens this is what it will sound like.” When asked what “it” referred to, exactly, he replied, “‘It.’ When these events occur in conjunction with one another, this is what it will sound like.” I don’t know if he was trying to conjure up “found music” (music that occurs from random sources) or if he had just taken some blotter acid. A little bit of both I suspect. Give me “Rubber Soul” or “Revolver” and day of the week. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/3 "2001-02-27T21:14:03Z")
Slight hijack: I went out to buy _The White Album_ on CD a couple of weeks ago (I think I have it on vinyl somewhere in my parents’ basement.) $46! $46 for a 30 year old album! Inconceivable! I looked for a second-hand copy, but was told they basically don’t exist. Or more precisely, they leave the same day they came in. I agree - it should have been a single album, not a double. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/4 "2001-02-27T21:31:10Z")
I agree Revolution Number 9 is so much noise; however, I think the best commentary I ever heard on the White Album was Paul McCartney, on that long Beatles documentary that came out with “Free As A Bird:” (paraphrasing as best I can remember): “People talk about the White Album, and they say, ‘it should have been one record instead of two, or it should have been this, or it should have been that.’ It’s the bloody White Album. Shut up.” ---
**Author:** ![rockstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockstar)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/5 "2001-02-27T21:42:34Z")
Hey! I kinda like Revolution 9! Of course, I have always had somewhat of an appreciation for pretentiousness. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2001, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/6 "2001-02-27T21:43:39Z")
At least on CD version I have now I can do my own editing. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/7 "2001-02-28T00:06:52Z")
I vote for pretentious rubbish. I know a rabid Beatles/John Lennon fan who insists that it’s art. However, in lieu of defending his statements, he regales me with trivia [sub]Did you know that it’s not John Lennon saying “Number 9, Number 9…” ad nauseum but the producer? Do you care?[/sub]. Occupational hazard of the die-hard I guess. **Pipeliner** , I believe that there was a recent, re-mastered, limited edition release of the White Album and that might account for the price. FWIW, I love The White Album. Except for No. 9, of course. I don’t think it works as a coherent album such as Sgt. Pepper’s… or Abbey Road but is rather just a buncha really cool songs. Cheers, Hodge ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/8 "2001-02-28T00:34:23Z")
It was _not_ either the producer saying “Number Nine.” A lot of those found sounds are from BBC tape archives. The “Number Nine” phrase was from a recorded examination, an AV thing from some long-forgotten course. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/9 "2001-02-28T00:47:27Z")
I listen to the White Album quite frequently (I’m a well-known Beatles fanatic among the SDMB community), and I never, ever skip “Revolution 9.” I do enjoy listening to it. I don’t assign any greater meaning to it than what it is – John, George and Yoko drunk and high, messing with tape loops – but I enjoy listening to it nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/10 "2001-02-28T01:09:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*It was _not_ either the producer saying “Number Nine.” A lot of those found sounds are from BBC tape archives. The “Number Nine” phrase was from a recorded examination, an AV thing from some long-forgotten course. \*\* Excellent! **Jomo** , Do you have any cites for this? I’d love to put the final nail in that coffin of a conversation. Of course, the guy will probably insist that was what he _meant_ to say. Cheers, Hodge ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/11 "2001-02-28T02:51:03Z")
Forget “Revolution 9”–I can take it or leave it (but I’m still pissed about it being used in that Nike commercial). The reason I’ve never bought the White Album–on vinyl or CD–is because of songs I actually hate, like “Rocky Raccoon” and “Obladi-Oblidah” and “Happiness is a Warm Gun”. On the other hand, it also contains “Julia” and “While my Guitar Gently Weeps”, so there is quite a variation. ---
**Author:** ![rockstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockstar)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/12 "2001-02-28T03:18:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*It was _not_ either the producer saying “Number Nine.” A lot of those found sounds are from BBC tape archives. The “Number Nine” phrase was from a recorded examination, an AV thing from some long-forgotten course. \*\* I have absolutely no idea where I heard this and I’ll try to find a cite but I am pretty sure that it _was the producer_ who was saying “Number Nine”. He said it once to say what track they were doing next and John liked it so much they put it in the song. Or I’m full of crap and don’t know what I’m saying. That’s happened before. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/13 "2001-02-28T03:33:12Z")
**Rockstar** was closer to the truth than I was. Here is what Lennon told Jann Wenner: > [@](#): > > “The thing was made with loops. I had about 30 > loops going, I fed them into one basic track. I was > getting like Beethoven and I’d go upstairs, > chopping it up and making it backwards and > things like that to get sound effects. And one thing > was an engineer’s testing [tape], where they’d > come on talking and say [in a robotic voice], 'This > is EMI test series number nine.” So I just cut up > whatever he said, and I had ‘number nine.’ Nine > is — I don’t know, it turned out to be my birthday > and [my] lucky number and everything, but I didn’t > realize it. It was just so funny, the voice went > ‘number nine.’ It was like a joke, bringing ‘number > nine’ in all the time. That’s all it was." It was a recording test, not an academic test. My point was that it was “found sound” leftover from some other EMI activity, not specifically spoken for the White Album. Lennon no doubt felt a mystic connection between himself and the number 9, starting with his birthday on October 9. And “#9 Dream.” ---
**Author:** ![hypergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@hypergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hypergirl)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/14 "2001-02-28T03:36:39Z")
I kind of liked it. I think that it’s a bit odd, and it does get annoying after a while, but I worship the Beatles, and therefore everything done by them. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/15 "2001-02-28T03:38:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Rieux \* > \*\*Forget “Revolution 9”–I can take it or leave it (but I’m still pissed about it being used in that Nike commercial). The reason I’ve never bought the White Album–on vinyl or CD–is because of songs I actually hate, like “Rocky Raccoon” and “Obladi-Oblidah” and “Happiness is a Warm Gun”. > > On the other hand, it also contains “Julia” and “While my Guitar Gently Weeps”, so there is quite a variation. \*\* Ahhh… but that’s the point. The entire album is a self-indulgent hodge-podge of solo efforts, yet perhaps it was this indulgence that allowed them to continue to push the envelope. I enjoy listening to #9, but perhaps this is because it’s so deeply ingrained in my childhood. I bought it when it came out (I was 10) and remember several attempts at spinning #9 backwards on my parents’ turntable. (Somehow “number 9, number 9…” became “Turn me on, dead man, turn me on, dead man” or some such thing.) It remains my favorite Beatles album, and I agree with McCartney’s view of it expressed above. ---
**Author:** ![craiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@craiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/craiger)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/16 "2001-02-28T04:06:43Z")
“Revolution #9” was not used for a Nike commercial. “Revolution” was used but not the version found on “The White Album”. “Rocky Racoon” is the greatest Beatles song ever. That’s all I’ve got to say ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/17 "2001-02-28T04:08:56Z")
Revolution No.9 is the culmination of concepts of ‘living in the moment’–the thing is that we are, with this song, experiencing a multitude of happenings at that same moment. If you think abut it, it is like how we live today, doing and having to pay attention to multiple happenings at once. One takes it for granted today that we would work on the computer, look out for an important fax, listening to the person on the other side of the cell phone, and watching traffic at the same time (ok, so not watching traffic thanks to the new laws). But the point is that ‘Revolution #9’ demonstrates how sometimes it is silly to try to listen and pay attention to so many things at once. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/18 "2001-02-28T16:28:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by craiger \* > \*\*“Rocky Racoon” is the greatest Beatles song ever. > \*\* {thoughtfully} No…no…that would be “Ticket to Ride.” ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/19 "2001-02-28T16:50:03Z")
In the sense that one could say that it’s one of the earliest examples of sampling – which lead to techno, which I like – in popular music, I apprechiate it. In the sense that it is a longass bunch of noise with no coherant point, I usually skip past it. Usually on my way to Blackbird or Everybody’s Got Something to Hide, 'Cept Me and My Monkey. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102/20 "2001-02-28T17:12:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > [B > > {thoughtfully} > > No…no…that would be “Ticket to Ride.” \*\* No…no…that would be “Strawberry Fields Forever” or “In My Life”. I also don’t mind Revolution 9. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s art, or even a great track, but it doesn’t drive me screaming from the room like it does many whom I’ve subjected to it. In fact, that’s probably one reason I don’t mind it. If you ever want to get rid of unwanted guests, just put on “Revolution 9” and you should clear the area in no time. If that doesn’t work, follow it with Husker Du’s “Reoccurring Dreams” or Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music” - these are beyond the pain threshold of most mere mortals. Thank Allah for modern music. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-revolution-9/56102.md?page=2)