The Beatles should not have written "Helter Skelter"

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

Look at what happened. I know it was not intentional, but they should have been more responsible. That is what can happen when you are constantly on dope.

[democracyindanger]

1. They inspired Oasis?

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

16. Oasis did not kill anybody

They may be tough guys and get into fights, but I'm pretty sure that is the extent of it.

[democracyindanger]

19. Neither did Manson

And i think Liam and Notliam only fight each other.

[KFC]

24. I thought Manson was in for murder

Mabye it was just inciting murder. :shrug:

[democracyindanger]

26. Yep

I don't know what they call it specifically, but he's in the clink for masterminding the murders.

[Aristus]

2. But what would Don McLean have used to rhyme with

"summer swelter"? :shrug:

[RetroLounge]

5. Fallout Shelter?

Oh, wait, he did...

RL

[RandomKoolzip]

7. "Iron Smelter?"

[RandomKoolzip]

8. "Butter Melter?"

[ArkDem]

3. The lyrics are truly inflammatory....

When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again.

Do you, don't you want me to love you
I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you
Tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.

Helter skelter helter skelter
Helter skelter.

Will you, won't you want me to make you
I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.

Look out helter skelter helter skelter
Helter skelter

Look out, cause here she comes.

When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
And I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
And I get to the bottom and I see you again

Well do you, don't you want me to make you
I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.

Look out helter skelter helter skelter
Helter skelter
Look out helter skelter
She's coming down fast
Yes she is
Yes she is.

[4_Legs_Good]

6. Isn't it weird that such a nonsense song inspired such crazyness

Hilarious, actually.

david

[El Fuego]

17. Actually "Helter Skelter" is Brit-speak for a carnival ride

The lyrics make sense if you know that.

[4_Legs_Good]

20. Totally cool

I didn't know that.

Makes it even more odd.

david

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

21. It was mostly the drug-induced screaming and howling that did it

Although, clearly, there are code words in the lyrics.

[RandomKoolzip]

4. If you listen closely to Helter Skelter backwards, you can clearly

hear one of the Beatles (George?) say, "Charlie....make sure Patty brings the rope."

[NightTrain]

9. That song was about a playground ride. Simple as that.

Now would you mind getting off this Beatle-bashing kick? Christ almighty...!

[XNASA]

10. True enough, but for none of those reasons.

It just a bad song. A response to "I Can See for Miles" is what I've heard. It's just very wrong, on many levels.

[jpgray]

12. It was actually a response to a review of "I Can See For Miles"

With Paul thinking "I can top that." The review made the song sound much cooler than it really was, too. :D

[XNASA]

15. There ya go.

Even worse than I thought.

[last_texas_dem]

11. Hey, they were just using their clout

It was their responsibility as mega-world famous celebrities to speed up the occurrence of the late-sixties racial war Charlie talked about. They were just providing the soundtrack for the rising-up; it wasn't their fault the Manson family had to go and get caught and screw up the whole plan.

I hardly think it's the Beatles' fault; they were just as about the black panthers rising up to slaughter the white "piggies" as the rest of us were!

[LoZoccolo]

13. I think it even had ill effects on Paul's own music.

Though I don't think he ever apologized directly, you can see that he freaked out and felt guilty and overreacted or something and ran the other way with songs like "Band On The Run", "What The Man Says", "Let 'Em In", and "Jet".

[Eagle_Eye]

14. You're right, Helter Skelter should have been

written by Bob Dylan. The reason the Beatles wrote it was because of the imperfect alignment between Jupiter and Mars.

[jswordy]

18. Oh give me a break! DUMBEST POST EVER.

[AntiCoup2K4]

22. The song is about a fucking SLIDE for Christ's sake!

Strictly speaking, "Happiness is a Warm Gun" should have been more inspirational to a failed musician drug wasted psycho murdering nazi cult leader who thought he was Jesus Christ.

Actually, Manson's true inspiration probably came from those late 60's Beach Boys albums where Carl & Dennis did most of the songwriting. Those records would make anyone homicidal.

[Squeech]

25. Charlie contributed to one of those albums

"Never Learn Not to Love," on... uh, Friends? 20/20? I forget... had lyrics adapted from a Manson song called "Cease to Exist." According to one book, he and Dennis almost came to blows over the adaptation, because Charlie thought it fucked up his message.

[progmom]

23. humor?

Joke, yes?

[benny05]

27. Sorry, I prefer Intellectual and Artistic Freedom

For me, hearing that the Beatles should have not recorded (not written) "Helter Skelter" is analogous to any modern artist who has mixed media not to paint or create. Does that mean Van Gogh shouldn't have painted a self-portrait with a bandaged ear because of a quarrel with Gauguin? He was considered a little off at the time.

While it's true that you don't hear McCartney sing it at his concerts, it was still an interesting, if not titilating song. Personally, I always thought it bringing out his alter ego, which was very sexual at the time, but that's just my opinion, especially when you think of "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?". I was only 9 years old when the White Album was released, but to this day, it is still one of my top 10 albums whereby I have heard the entirity of it at least 30-40 times and probably more.

I used to dance to this album when I was a child because I loved the diversity of songs on it, and for fun, my sister and I would have dance contests in the house when the weather was unkind on the weekends--and we had a captive audience of my mom and my older brother, who was the one who bought Beatles' albums. They were our critics or judges on who won. It was a tie most of the time. :thumbsup:

I also recognized the Beatles were changing as they got older...and their music portended that I would too, which is why my brother got so interested in what they produced.

The White Album:

:yourock: