The Beatles. The biggest band in the entire world. I often wonder why their songs are so memorable. Is it that each song is a two and a half minute masterpiece or that their entire catalog has been played so often on radio? It's probably a bit of both, but more so the masterpiece. As a songwriter I am amazed that The Beatles were able to put out so many songs that sounded so unique, yet so cohesive.
"Helter Skelter" is a far cry from "I Want To Hold Your Hand" but you can tell they come from the same band. That's what was so beautiful about their talent - each could contribute a song, sing lead, and put their own mark on another member's track.
I particularly love "Helter Skelter" because I can hear the effect it had on subsequent genres. It seemed right for the time -- political unrest, youth revolt, the birth of garage rock. You can sense all of that in the song. But when I listen to it I hear the early stages of metal in the heavy guitar riff and the scream vocals later found in grunge.
Does any of this matter to kids? Absolutely not. They'll probably want to hear it for two reasons alone:
1) it's a great song to go crazy to
2) they can mimic Ringo Starr at the end of the song, when he shouts "I got blisters on my fingers!"
neal
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