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The Beatles, Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite - Amy's First Listen and Analysis (Patreon)

Published:
2024-12-07 13:01:02
Imported:
2026-06
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Videos

Content

There are so many interesting things to notice in this song, but I especially love how effectively the poster image is portrayed alongside the “I’m really at the circus” feel!

https://youtu.be/UyDfN3XDBV8?si=W-WpY5UdB8bX9Lre

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Previews only

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Comments

George Brady

Regarding the continued accusations about Beatles songs so often being references to drugs - "I guess I'm kind of fed up [with that happening]" - Amy, thank you so much for this statement!

Lynn Poole

John: vocal with ADT, Hammond organ; Paul: bass, guitar solo; George: tambourine, bass harmonica; Ringo: drums, bass harmonica, tambourine. George Martin: Lowrey organ, harmonium, Mellotron, glockenspiel; Neil Aspinall: bass harmonica; Mal Evans: bass harmonica. There are no backing vocals. I have the box set and it includes a replica of the poster.

Lynn Poole

The flute is probably the Mellotron.

El Jimi

This song has always been a favorite of mine...watching Paul play it live was a very touching tribute to John

Lynn Poole

Paul has performed this on tour. When he is asked which song has been the most difficult for him to sing and play bass, he says it is this song.

Scott

Keep in mind that the version of the album you are listening to is the recent remix and remaster done by George Martins son, Giles. Among other things,the bass presence is considerably increased compared to the original releases. This is one of the factors in rising importance of Paul’s bass playing. He is also gaining confidence in his playing (he didn’t start playing bass until 1961) and is now beginning to take advantage of the superior Rickenbacker instrument he began using in late 1965. For another carousel related song, try Joni Mitchell’s Circle Game, which was a musical response to Neil Young’s lament about aging, Sugar Mountain.

George Brady

Amy, I was pleased and amazed at you addressing the unexpected emotional transition from She's Leaving Home to Mr Kite. As a teenager listening to this album, and trying to make sense of it, I began to think of it as a series of vignettes about life, as it begins with an introduction, and concludes with (what I saw as) a rumination about death. I envisioned the "She" who is Leaving the stifling "Home" - "stepping outside She is free" - encountering the thrilling but confusing new life she has entered, represented by the next song - Mr Kite. Fifty-some years later, it's still what I hear as this remarkable album unfolds. Thanks, Amy!

Lynn Poole

Genres listed on Wikipedia. Psychedelia, Circus Music, Music Hall. I wonder if there is any other "rock" song in the Circus Music genre?

Lynn Poole

This is not working as it should. I listen to these on my ipad using Safari and my iphone using google. When I click on the vimeo link above, it says I am not authorized to perform that action. I get the same on my phone and am told that I need to unlock. This is not occuring with earlier posts. As of now, I can't listen on either device (I could earlier) using any browser

Lynn Poole

I just checked "It's Getting Better" and it works as it should.

Lynn Poole
>>157594992

Now I can get into the video on my ipad via Safari but it is not presenting correctly. Comments there are not syncing. I did not leave a comment but someone else did and it is not showing in these comments. Now I can get into it via my iphone using google but if I try via Safari or Chrome, I am either unauthorized or locked. I want it to open it directly from the video and not have to click the Vimeo link which will take me to a different site that is not fully functional.

Virgin Rock
>>157594992

I am so sorry! This is Patreon's fault; I reached out to them tomorrow and I don't expect an answer before Monday!

Lynn Poole
>>157594992

Thanks Vlad. I did not think it was your fault. I'm sure it'll get fixed. As of now, I can hear it via one or the other of my devices.

George Brady

Vlad, in the Windows browser, I can watch, but for the last several posts it flips me to Vimeo and it must be watched on that platform instead of Patreon providing the seamless experience by connecting behind the scenes while the screen "stays" on Patreon, which it always has before.

Paul D. Hoffmaster III

I can watch this one, but it goes thru a couple of steps to get there. I would not be surprised that their so-called data base is messed up on who has rights to see videos. I guess that there are other of their memberships having the same problem.

David Taylor
>>157590133

People used to say someone ran away and joined the circus. The songs together are fitting.

David Taylor
>>157589388

Another one that makes you think of carousels or a circus atmosphere would be "the show must go on" by Three Dog Night.

Lynn Poole
>>157587477

When explaining it, he says it's like he has to use both sides of his brain, one for the bass and one for singing. It was as if he was trying to figure out how he could do it. What a brain!!! By this time, he was overdubbing the bass. This allowed him to be more innovative. I have read elsewhere that bass could be an elephant walking.

Lynn Poole

I have a replica of the poster. "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite and Mr. J.Henderson. Tuesday evening February 14, 1843". I omitted some of the subtext. "Mr. Kite will, for this night only, introduce the celebrated HORSE, ZANTHUS! Well known to be one of the best Broke Horses.". Wonder why they didn't use Zanthus? For decades we would have all been trying to figure out the hidden meaning.

Lynn Poole
>>157612216

Amy I posted this in another comment string. I have read elsewhere the bass being compared to an elephant walking.

Julian Ortiz

It still amazes me how the tail end of this song was created with the tape being cut up into little segments and then taped back together randomly. It sounds planned out, but if you take them at their word, it was a happy accident. In any case, it’s brilliant and never fails to blow my mind. 🤯 Loved Amy’s insight and analysis as always.

Lynn Poole

More text from the poster. "Mr. Henderson will undertake the arduous Task of THROWING TWENTY-ONE SOMERSETS, on the solid ground". "Mr. Henderson will introduce his extraordinary TRAMPOLINE LEAPS and SOMERSETS. Over Men and Horses, through Hoops, over Garters, and lastly through a Hogshead of REAL FIRE!". "Mr. Kite will appear, for the first time this season, On the Tight Rope, When Two Gentlemen Amateurs of this Town will perform with him". The lyrics wrote themselves. The punctuation and capitalization was from the poster. It seems somersets is a synonym for somersaults. Hope the two gentlemen amateurs did okay.

Rea Lavi

I never noticed the key changes from Cm to Dm - v cool

Rea Lavi

You asked which Beatles song had a guitar solo that repeated the main vocal melody. They did this quite a few times in their earlier songs. "And I love her" comes to mind.

Rea Lavi

Well, looking for references to heroin in 1967 Beatles songs is a pretty futile endeavor, but LSD is a different story.

Rea Lavi

I love just how unusual john could be as a songwriter and how George martin was able to work with John's wild ideas.

Lynn Poole

The predominant organ sound throughout the piece is the Harmonium. But there are other organ sounds. There is a Hammond organ, a Lowrey organ and the Mellotron. Very "circusy". On the box set disc, take 4 is the harmonium, the drums, bass, an organ and John singing.

Rea Lavi

btw, George Martin's accent was acquired, he came from a poorer background than any of them except perhaps for Ringo

Rea Lavi

the instrumental part is like the jovial cousin of Tomorrow never knows

Rick Lubbock

An organ-like instrument called a Calliope is commonly associated with circus performances.

RAD1

Paul was a good guitarist and piano player, but after Stuart left John and George nominated Paul for bassist, as Paul recalls: 'Bass was the thing that the fat boys got lumbered with and were asked to stand at the back and play…So I definitely didn’t want to do it.' Luckily Paul acquiesced.

Lynn Poole
>>159999671

When asked which song is the most difficult for him to sing while playing the bass, he says it is this song. Of course he does not sing on this track but has in his solo career.

DJ Marquis Marc Rambeau du Tacoma

@5:21 "Well, the genre is OFFICIALLY designated as "psychedelic rock," "circus rock," "and experimental rock." At the risk of sounding like another broken record... OH, REALLY? OFFICIALLY??? Please, tell me who this "official" is, and, while I might temporarily agree with such an AUTHORITY in this case... who set them up as an arbiter of aesthetics, anyway? @ 7:25 "I guess I'm kind of fed up with people trying to read... uh, you know, drug references into Beatles songs..." Well, Amy, I have two responses to this: 1) yes, of course, it's insane for people to project their own references (Henry being Heroin, for instance... John didn't try heroin, and have a problem with it, until the next year...) but, also 2) please, Amy, one cannot dissociate pot and psychedelics from Beatles music... it would be dishonest and it would miss an important component of what made up the Beatles experience. @7:50 "That actually, [Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds] had nothing to do, whatsoever, with any reference to LSD." Well, Amy, yes and no. I guess I'm just talking to the wind nowadays: you just can't take a reductionist view of the effect of pyschedelic drugs use among the artists of this era. It can't be done. It's a disservice to the whole era. But... I speak of this as one who had paid attention to it for decades... and you have not. I only implore you, Amy, to not make any hasty conclusions on the subject. AND, broken record again: beware of Beatles talking about their own songs. It's not a simple matter of "double-entendres" regarding drug use... I'm just saying, the counter-cultural 60s were a DIFFERENT time and had DIFFERENT ideas that were quickly shot down by the mainstream... and basically ridiculed... which was VERY easy to do... but it obscured the "true meaning of it" - as Smash Mouth said in their song WALKING ON THE SUN... which is a song that talks about what we're talking about here. @9:15 "It's SO innocent... so SWEET... and I'm really happy that they're pushing back upon some allusion to some drug or other..." (Heavy sigh.) I don't know, Amy, if anything I said is getting through, after hearing this... That innocence and sweetness is a CONSEQUENCE of their LSD use prior, and while LSD didn't DIRECTLY influence these songs... I mean, seriously... these songs would NOT have been written otherwise. Personally, I put all this down to the drug war that the U.S. has forced upon the world since the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937... it's a sordid history that I wish more people were aware of. Whew!!! All this commentary from me (and I'm not sure how appreciative anyone might be after reading it)... and we haven't even started the song yet! (I better sign off here... before I get myself into even deeper hot water!]

WayneC

Regarding people reading too much into The Beatles lyrics, John wrote a song to confound them. It was released as a single, but appears on the next album you will do. The REACT channel on YouTube has a few teenagers (at the time) working through the lyrics and trying to decipher them.

Allen Leong
>>157590686

Circus Rock music, let's see. "Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, "The Show Must Go On" by Leo Sayer, "Tightrope" by Leon Russell.

brovold72 .

LOL John was pulling everyone's chain -- of COURSE "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" is *about* LSD, whatever other influences may have inspired it. I think he just didn't like to have the critics or public downplay his own creativity or pigeonhole it as something more trashy and juvenile. Understandably.

Rob Reed

The use of a minor key is very common in British folk music (particularly English and Scottish) and traditiona British hymns. I'm sure this must of had an influence. It might be different in the USA, but it's quite common to sing hymns at school here in Britain as many of our primary schools are CofE. Here is an example of a minor key song arranged in the English folk style. https://youtu.be/V9qlI6hQYy0?si=UPsWZFde4E3g8oEa

JeffK

The music pundits really struggle here put this album (and song) into a rock genre; that's because it's not rock. It has elements of rock, but also equally strong elements of eastern and western classical, vaudeville, 1930's popular music, musical theatre, poetry recitation, electronic music (the final chord of A Day in the Life is pure John Cage) ... i'm sure there's more. To me, it's music theatre; not music written to back up a theatrical, but music which creates a theatrical response in your brain ... I can see the action, the characters, the scenes, the landscapes in my mind... no need to sing along, just sit back and watch! There are two notable exceptions which seem throwbacks to earlier Beatles compositions (IGB and WYWY) ... replace those with Strawberry Fields and you-know-what (I don't think Amy has reacted to that particular song) as i believe was considered at the time, and the music theatre impression is overwhelming. So right or wrong, thanks Amy for elevating my enjoyment and appreciation of this music.