BEATLES: Revolution 9 - Their Craziest Song Explained 

Revolution 1 is a kinda fun, really catchy way of asking the listener "Are you sure you want a revolution?" Revolution 9 drops the smile and asks again.

Okay, you made me go listen to Revolution 9 again for the first time in about 120 years. And it still seems to be what it always was: vaguely interesting for its weirdness, kinda fun to listen to once in a blue moon, but ultimately not really all that good. In terms of interpreting it, I tend to think it's best to not be too linear. It's not really a song that screams linear narrative, especially narrative buried so deep in the mix that you need special technology to retrieve it. And I don't see it as a call to revolution. The Revolution song that it's coupled with also doesn't seem a call to revolution, despite its title. It's more saying, calm down, things are complicated, we're all good people doing the best as we can, everything's going to be alright, you're just going to make things worse with violence and/or extreme revolutionary ideology. I've always interpreted Revolution 9 as fundamentally being about conflict. There's the constant quick hard panning back and forth, saying that there's this side and that side. The sides are in opposition, but both use the same football chants, suggesting that there's no fundamental difference between them notwithstanding their conflict. It's also an observation of how we use mock conflict as entertainment, how it's enjoyable to us vicariously identify with a tribe that does battle with against another. Similarly, neither of the voices is saying anything remotely intelligent, and yet they're just stepping on each other, neither listening to the other, just barreling ahead with their pointless points. And there are the military noises, which of course point to real actual war, rather than make-believe war. And I kind of see little digs at consumerism here and there, like in the enumeration of the dances punctuated with El Dorado, which can be seen as the dream that happiness can be achieved through wealth. The bit at the end about becoming naked makes me think about the idea (which was quite popular in that era) that sexual liberation would resolve society's problems. You know, make love, not war. It could also refer to the psychotherapeutic idea of letting go of our defenses in order to achieve personal growth. I really wouldn't read all that much into this sound collage. After all Lennon wrote I Am The Walrus as a mockery of those who were trying to discover profound meanings within his songs.

At the end of Revolution 9 you can a hear a crowd chanting 'block that kick..block that kick'. When John's death was announced by Howard Cosell on MNF right afterward there was a field goal attempt that was blocked...And the kicker was an Englishman named John Smith....who was the only English field goal kicker in the NFL....

This is amazing! Please do more Beatles stuff. It’s amazing how much symbolism and meaning can be found in this band. Maybe the two sides are communicating via Telegram, as in the messaging app? A premonition!

if you think Revolution #1 and Revolution #9 are completely unrelated, go listen to Revolution #5

Love your vids James and always looking forward to the next one

I've listened to it many times and have always loved it. It's a sound collage, exciting, intriguing and just part of that magical group The Beatles. There's nothing crazy about it.

It's fucking brilliant. To others it sounds like a random collage of noise. To me it sounds very planned and carefully constructed. A genuine masterstroke and one of the most groundbreaking pieces they did.

Would love a third part to The Masterplan Theory with Noel's first solo album

there's a long history of experimental music that most beatle fans (or people in general) are aware of. R#9 has a place among the great experimental pieces of the 20th century. I've always found it amusing when 'fans' hate it because it's not "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".

Number Eight BUUURRPP Number Eight BUUUURRPP Number Eight BUUURRRPPP

One of the best pieces of work John did. Brilliant. Great video too. Well done!

This is quite good. Honestly, I’ve always felt it’s pretty great so many who own the white album also own a piece of avant-garde art I this track. Although I tend to skip it, I suppose I’m still glad it’s there.

I’ve always felt the same way about the number 9 starting with being born on the morning of February 9 1964. My father bought me my first Beatles album when I was 9 years old. I’ve always found the number fascinating like the integers in any multiple of 9 add up to 9 and when I was a child there were 9 planets ( I still consider Pluto a planet)

James I love the way your head works. I you are deep lad , I wish I still had your insight . P.S my mission is to get Lee M to speak with you . Seen him twice over Xmas.

Really enjoyed this! I believe that Russia has invaded Czechoslovakia during this very same time? And I also want to say, that there is a passage here of a Syrian Lebanese song, that I believe was first recorded in 1951. I am very proud to say that I have found this record Inside of my grandmother’s 78 record collection from the Middle East. I’m trying to find out what the translation would be, in respect to your story and timeline!

Back in 1969 in Detroit I listened to local FM radio where well known DJ had a special program where he played a special recording of revolution 9. I remember hearing the part of John and George reciting poetry and telling the story of someone being in a car crash and getting burned, loosing a lot or all of their hair and going to the hospital. It was a clear recording as I remember, without all the covering noise. This was in 1968 or 69 and I never ever heard any of that version again. The best guess I came up with was back in the 1960s pre- recorded reel to reel tapes were available, I was only a kid but I remember seeing them in revord stores. I think even 4 channel versions were available but very rare and that disc jockey must have had connections. The program was basically the start of the ' Paul is dead ' hoopla.

Always sounded to me like John and George were reading snippets from newspaper articles and ad libbing on them. It would be interesting if someone collected the papers from the days before the recording to see if there was any match-up. By the way, during the Yoko/outro section, they're playing a record in the background -- Farid El Atrache's "Awel Hamsa." Anyway, nice to see this track analyzed. People might not like it, but it's the kind of thing that kept them from being just another pop band. Who else would put a sound montage on a record expected to sell millions?

I've never listened hard enough to this track. I thought it was just a fill the groves of the record kind of thing. You've just unveiled to me the work that went into this track. Thanks a ton.

Guitarist George, proudly shouting out the name of a model Cadillac, El Dorado, though he liked cars, he mostly only owned cars from the UK and Europe.

Fantastic video! You've brought up ideas that need to be further explored. I'm always learning something new about the Beatles, even after being a fan for 60 years.

Excellent and informative video once again. Revolution take 20 is somewhat different to take 18 and gets a little more out there. It is also the final recording made in the studio of Revolution according to the recording sheet you can see in the background when you play take 18 on Spotify. Weirdly there is no mention of take 18 though. Take 20 is definitely worth seeking out.

I’ve appreciated your analyses. This one is particularly brilliant. For my money I am the Walrus captures the zeitgeist of the middle sixties as well.

I still think that Ian MacDonald wrote the best analysis of this track than any other person. His writing of it really made me value this particular piece as the climax and culmination of the Beatles' entire personal evolution. It's like the final boss of the Beatles discography. "Let It Be" and "Abbey Road" are the post-game content.

Fantastic job James, ripping this crazy song apart ! There's a lot of great videos on the Y-tube this one stands among the top 10... Fabulous Job....

You are talking about events in the US and France, and forget 'The Battle of Grosvenor square' on the 17th March 1968, with some 80k people protesting the Vietnam war and a violent group of Maoists attempting to break into the American embassy. 'Revolution I' is fairly critical of *these* events, and the Maoists are clearly identified ('If you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao / you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow'). But the rest of the movement is patronized in the song as well. So I'd say that Revolution 9 is neither prophecy nor call to arms, but just a depiction of what was happening. Per Revolution I: When you talk about destruction Don't you know that you can count me out? Don't you know it's gonna be all right?' And yeah, for 'the revolution' that seemed to work so well in France, exposure to London proved to be a difficult thing.

Fascinating. Thanks James. I recall reading about John’s fixation with the number 9 in a Beatles book years ago. I love the White Album, but Revolution 9 is where I always turn the record off. It’s just not pleasant to listen to, no matter what it means 😂 Cheers

Great breakdown...if you want the rest of the story, you need to do a Manson/White Album video. Charlie, thought John was screaming "Rise!" instead of Right, which reinforced his idea that the blacks would Rise up and start a race war *(taken from Blackbird-'You were only waiting for this moment to Arise'-and Rise was one of the words they wrote as a message in their victims blood...scary shit down this rabbit hole!!!

Got to say, this is a very brave subject to tackle! A hard track to analyse, I don't think there's any logic in it, just John & Yoko messing about in the studio, with help from George, and stealing some of the extended musical passages of Revolution, such as John's yelling "alright!" But I wouldn't put any weight in Sean's birthdate, because Yoko was induced so that he would be born on the same day as John.

I love your videos! Fascinating insight! One thing I always heard different was the Broken Wings part. I always thought it ended with, "I'm not in the mood for Wording". I took it to mean, "I'm not able to say anymore." See what you think.

I've always felt that Revolution Number 9 is a highly underrated masterpiece which, over time, will be considered among the greatest of works. John said, at one point, that is was just a picture of what he thinks will happen. But, as I weave all three songs together, I interpret it to mean that we are in the middle of a ninth Revolution. That revolution being the cultural revolution of the era. We hear what sounds to be a guitar lic with cheering crowds very similar to Beatlemania. We hear social unrest. We hear of financial imbalance. We hear outakes of the 1968 national Democratic convention where riots occurred. The slow version, Revolution 1, says, "we all doing what we can" followed by guitars and 50's rock and roll, doowap sounds. My interpretation of all three versions is that we are in the middle of a social revolution, throwing out the old establishment and ringing in the new. "Christianity will die", Lennon said. The sexual revolution, whose anthem is rock and roll (originally referring to fornication, according to Little Richard and others) is underway. John can be counted out now but in later, for the final climax of a social, violent revolution. "Don't you know, it's gonna be alright". In other words, it will all take place in it's own time. The church is eerily chanting in the background with serene vocals in Revolution 9. Happy Christmas, OUT SPELLS OUT! Like a child being punished..be out of here, now! "A Spaniard in the Works" was a foretelling of John's antithesis to Christianity, just as pepper is an antithesis to "ye are the salt of the earth". Interestingly, Magical Mystery Tour precedes the white album and Yellow Submarine follows, both with references to magic in song and story lines. (And, of course, the infamous witch Allister Crowley showing dead center in the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band". Personally, I have felt that John's revolution began at an early age where he would purposely try to divide families, such as Paul's family, as he admitted in his Rolling Stone interview. His revolutionary tendencies spread into the culture and influenced an entire generation around the world. The Beatles are now a vital part of our world's history, for better or worse, or both.

I just realized that I watched this video today January 9......oh.....my......Gosh.....

You should consider creating a video on the topics of 'abstraction' & 'apophenia' at some point

I like the way your brain works! I would have never attempted to find the meaning in the seemingly nonsensical mess of lyrics in this track, let alone find a common theme linking them together in a way that makes sense. Nice interpretation. I know many will argue that the White Album would have been better off without "Revolution 9", but there really is a good reason for it to exist. Knowing what was going on in the world at the time, this would have been an appropriate soundtrack. It's 1968 in musical form - it's the sound of pure chaos.

You missed the “9” reference in the First Region of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Hymnen” (for Concrete and Electronic Sound).Stockhausen’s electronic music influenced the sound elements of Revolution #9 more than any numeral reference. As a genre Revolution #9 is classic concrete music (started in the 1950s to early the 1960s) where the composition is derived entirely from previously recorded sounds. Stockhausen was used as a reference for Frank Zappa’s “Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny” from “We’re Only In it for the Money” LP which was a parody of the Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” album which features Stockhausen on the cover, to which Zappa made an audio response with Kontake-type electronic sounds at the conclusion of “Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny” Revolution…in music via electronic technology!

I first heard Revolution 9 when a friend played it for me not long after he had purchased the White Album. I was a teenager at the time and I found it not only strange but a little disturbing. After I got my own copy of the album, I would pick up the tone arm of my stereo when it reached this track as I simply didn't want to hear it. As the years went by however, I came to not only appreciate Revolution 9 but was fascinated by it. To me, it was like tuning through the band of an AM radio late at night. Although its meanings are very open to interpretation, I think the part in which Lennon discusses someone getting teeth and then going to sea, he's talking about his father, Alfred Lennon, who was a merchant seaman. Thank you for posting this James and thank you for all of your hard work helping to make some sense of Revolution 9.

John didn’t take over the world again in 1982. On the other hand, an album Paul appeared on did take over the world starting that year.

Very interesting take and your work on it is appreciated...

9:49 Shops opening at 9am, what madness is this?! 🙄

That bit after George says Eldorado is the first note of while my guitar gently weeps. Then quickly stopped and a cymbal crash. Used to listen to it over and over in the 1970s. Often tripping on acid with a quad system (kinda like surround sound ) the whole thing would just move around you. I think the laughing at the beginning was from an old movie from Ealing Studios. Just a guess. Cheers from Montreal

An interesting but overthought diagnosis. It was recorded in the same time frame as ‘What’s The New Mary Jane’ and ‘Two Virgins’ which both draw on similar structures and really just boil down to experiments with tapes and mixers. I personally love Revolution 9 and have lists it so many times I know what is coming and when it is coming . There is much more to unearth in the track than just speech . There is backwards loop which sounds like bass and drums and could be part of an unreleased song 🤷🏻‍♂️. Also , in one part, there is a tape rewinding which is definitely music. I intend to isolate this and slow it down to see just what it sounds like . Some have suggested that the track has snippets of Carnival of Light in it but I am not convinced on this

James we need your thoughts on the Liam/Squire colab!

First off, there was a second mix of this made that shed's more light on some of the things heard and said. I've always heard John saying, "I'm not in the mood for words". I've often wondered if George was actually saying, "Odorono", the name of a British deodorant. He DOES sound like he's rattling off a list of things to get at a store. As for the football crowd, I'd think that was a British crowd, not an American one. I don't know of any American football crowd that would keep chanting, "Block that kick!" or "Hold that line!" which also appears in the Harry Nilsson song, "Poli-High". There's was a British movie back then, I'm not sure when it came out but, it WAS about a revolution carried out by a bunch of students in a school. It was called, "If...". Could it be that some of John's inspiration for R9 be that movie? If you listen to take 20 of R1, you SHOULD be able to clearly hear that a large part of the chaotic second half is in R9.

No wonder John Lennon was fittingly born on October the 9th.

Could you make a documentary style vid like the oasis one on Kula shaker, how they formed and stuff

Side note: Before the CD of the White Album - with its presumably official banding - came out, I always thought of Paul's snippet "Can you take me back...?" as the beginning of "Revolution 9," rather than as the end of "Cry Baby Cry." I thought of this brief musical bit as a gentle lead-in by the crowd-pleaser Paul to the more demanding sounds of John's "musique concrète" in "Revolution 9." Nevertheless, placing the two disparate tracks next to each other makes for an intriguing contrast.

Nine is a mystical number. The ninth card in the Tarot is the Hermit. Nine is the highest single digit. It represents the accomplishment of wisdom and mystical understanding. Even mathmatically nine is a strange number. All the factors of nine equal nine (9 x1=9; 9 x 2=18 (1+8=9) 9 x 3=27 (2+7=9) 9 x 4=36 (3+6=9) 9 x 5=45 (4+5=9) 9 x 6=54; 9 x 7=63; 9 x 8=72; 9 x 9=81; 9 x 10=90) Also, see how the answers are mirror images: 09/90; 18/81; 27/72; 36/63; 45/54! You excellent critique aside, may this song also be a comment on the great LSD revolution: it is like an LSD Trip that gets psychologically intense until the peak of bliss? Intellectual revolution, a revolution in consciousness reflected in the chaos of 1968. LSD was first given the the Beatles by a Dentist. "Take this brother, may it serve you well..." could be a friend giving another friend a tab of acid no?

Numerology does for horseshit what Stonehenge did for rocks. No doubt John was obsessed with it. But Numerology works like this. If something is not on the right number day, you add the month, if that doesn’t give you the answer, you add the year. Chances are that you will get the number you want about half the time. By the way, Yoko had labor induced on John’s birthday so he would form a bond with him. She popped Sean out, handed him to John and said, “He’s your responsibility! Now go bake some bread” Then went to sleep for about a year. John may have had all the talent in the family, but he didn’t have the pants. I think that last comment may be misogynist. I’m gonna go cancel myself and stare at the corner for 5 years. Maybe I’ll learn my lesson. Hey you kids, get outta my yard! And NO you can’t have your ball back. Rant over.

Didn’t he live on Menlove Ave with Mimi when he was starting The Beatles?

12:45 That's not typically how stories go though, the climax happens and then the last act is the results of the climax, not just an immediate, that's it, the end, 'thanks for reading'.

Love the meticulous analysis. Lennon, " I always had a gang..."

Yessssss... starts with Back in the USSR, ends with #9, I see where you're going with this. LOL, can't wait!

Another great episode , I always thought it was about the French Revolution myself , ever since I first heard this in the 90s . I didn't even realise the dates of the recording and the Revolution matched up so well . Thanks for all you do with your analysis , always very interesting

Rev 9 was supposed to be similar to the recordings of Stockhausen, such as” Song of the Youths.” I think Paul got interested in Stockhausen, actually. The number 9 is very interesting. Look into it.

Just a thought. They were into the occult. Talking about revolution, the tower. Injured people. Angry man joining the navy etc...And many other possible references...Love the beatles. Dont want to dampen them or the song. But could it be worked theoretically as a vision of 911. Satan worked within and without these unsuspecting minstrels. And many songs over the years by dozens of artists write and sing as if they see into the future and have knowledge beyond. And inadvertently painted these visions in music. But I love your analysis. And anyone's guess. That's what makes interpretation so interesting. Fantastic job!

Just an aside...Hoping James analyses / reviews the Gallagher Squire Song "Just Another Rainbow"... in the meantime... Here's some of my analytical thoughts on it, feel free to discuss 😊 To me the song (written by Squire) is all about his disappointment with the Roses Comeback post 2016.. becoming a treadmill (windmill gong through the motions on a fixed point) of the Greatest hits etc. I hear it in the lyrics, But also in the Guitar Solo / instrumental ( it starts with a kind of 'Grand Build.Up / Opening", then a duel between light and heavy, which eventually fuses together, but then spins away again at the end, and ends with 7 very 'high pitched notes' (musical rainbow) and then Liam starts singing again. That instrumental is telling the story of the Roses 2011-2018 ish .(to my ears)...I really like the.way. its done. Also I think the rather odd choice of simply listing the Colours of the rainbow, then the next line is "We Crossed The Line" is makes me think Squire is saying that The Roses were kind of taking the mickey at the end, getting away with an almost satirically childish single (Awful One) and just playing the same old hits again and again in Football Stadiums.

This is cool I usually don't like stuff like this that over-interprets music but it actually makes sense to me...*With regards to destruction he said " you can count me out, in" -that's really genius writing: it's saying he was not sure just like many people, including myself, on the left are.

I still have a hard time with the song, but you helped lot

I admire your tenacity with splitting up the tracks! However, Lennon was notorious for deliberately writing nonsense to confound anyone trying to interpret his songs.

I'd never heard Revolution 9 before. Never wish to hear it again.

How about this. John Yoko first day on as Co host in the usa Mike Douglas program was September 11, 1971😮

Take this brother, may it serve you well...

Listening to this in bed trying to sleep. James: ‘Lennon’s voice is the loudest so that’s the one I’ve attempted to transcribe..’ “Have you been scammed, call CEL solicitors”. Turns out it was an unfortunately placed ad.

Back in the 80's, we would eat LSD and Revolution 9 would be one of our trip songs on the acid mix tape 😁

Thanks for deciphering and highlighting some/most of the words and trying to put them together into a plausible story! In that context even the short excerpt of a Shakespeare play seem to make sense. However we shouldn't forget to take it all in with a pinch of salt😅 PS. in mudical terms I never cared for Revolution 9 and side 4 is my least played. However what do you make out of the differences between the superior mono mix that involved the Beatles and the later stereo mix without them?

very nice vid-I love the White album but oh how I wish Take 18 (I love it) was there instead of Rev 9 😀 I do replace it in my playlist and flows much better imo The outro to Take 18 sounds almost like Krautrock-one might imagine Neu or Can doing it.

To me it's a great story you have hit the nail on the head,,only I always have thought that the crowd chanting BLOCK THAT KICK and then the chant of EVERTON EVERTON EVERTON 😮 XX.

Where do the images come from?

I fall asleep to revolution 9 every night, I’ve become a lot less startled

Love this... fuckin’ bonkers. Me and me mates used to take mushrooms back in the 90’s. We’d turn the lights off and play Rev 9 as we were all coming up... fuck me, don’t tell me kids 😂

Chuck Berry however, collected in mass many Cadillac El Dorado motorcars.

About 29:40 … after the "What tusi the Twist" …(four things are verbally listed … including two dances) then somebody to me sounds like Paul , maybe George , Maybe John in a somewhat gender bent expression; answers; " oh they're all allright" I think the bosses were away from the controls Even though they always edited alot . Imagine what you what you would dream if you were use to standing up on stage before large audiences it would be really easy to dream of a congregating in the streets . Maybe they had just watched Dr. Strangelove , Im thinking … #9#9#9#9№9

I would not call it a song. Sound painting wood explain it better. As an American, I didn’t know what block that kick meant until recently. 9 is the largest or highest single integer.

4:51 - John was mistaken about his own birthdate. He was born in the TENTH month, October. Shame he was so superstitious as well.

Lennon's "Rie of Spring."

Now do 'The Murder Mystery' by The Velvet Underground.

My favorite track on the album.

Always liked it, even though its the one piece of Beatles music you are not supposed to like.

Perhaps George and John utilized the William Burroughs "cut up" method of writing. ???

I lost my virginity to this song..........twice. Then, as now, I realized love is a cruel mistress.

If only Lennon could have said nein to Yoko!

I think your going a tad Charlie Mason, in your interpretation of the song, but it was well, presented...???

Really streatching the 9...

Number 9 very Number 9 good Number 9 work Number 9 well Number 9 done😮

This video with its revealing of the #9 in Lennon's life reminded me of the Dec 8 1980 Monday night football game the 15 yr old biggest Beatle fan ME was watching but fell asleep missing the sad news. It also reminded me that John was brought to hospital ER 11:15 and pronounced DOA but that I'd read at some point over the years a Dr. Had John's heart in his hands massaging it for 45 mins. after he was pronounced dead. I looked it up and confirmed it. So wouldn't that mean that when Dr gave up after 45 min, it would make John Lennon's death REALLY OFFICtALY be midnight Dec NINTH?!?! Just askin....

This is interesting, but the AI art is so distracting to me. I keep noticing all the extra fingers and backwards knuckles

Nearly died on the 9th Dec too! Edit.. I watched the rest of video 😅

I wonder whether his irrational obsession with the number nine had anything to do with the Beatles breakup. I had not heard all this previously and thought Revolution Number 9 on the White album which I bought in the late 60s was some far out trip experience of some sort. Nothing was said about all this in the Let It Be film IIRC. When I first listened to it around the age of 11 it was just a collage of sound to me. When I listened to it during one of the first times I got stoned nearly a decade later I couldn't stop laughing. And now? I don't know what to think. It's too bad George Martin is no longer alive. It would have been interesting to hear what he could have told us about it.

They recorded Revolution 1/20 and 9 the day I was born.

McCartney has 9 Letters

You got there eventually. It was what happened in Paris and the fact that they'd been drinking too much tea 😊

8:55 it's nice to know that period of his life of taking care of Sean and being a stay at home husband was motivated by superstitious nonsense.

John ate 9 pieces of toast when he was creating this track .

katt williams said the other day that ludacris took the illuminati deal and he had to marry someo e they chose. i can totally see the same with john and yoko.

Charlie saw Revolution 9 as Revelation 9...he saw it as the end...or the beginning of the end. What a twisted little man

I'm sorry but to me, Revolution #9 is nothing but audio nightmare fuel. To me, this is what happens when you get so "whipped" that you have to have your lover leave her imprint on the work of your band... a band that YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS STARTED over a decade prior... back when you didn't even know of her existence. No... Yoko didn't break up The Beatles... but dammnit dafuq she didn't help either.

A group called The Shazam did a great musical interpretation of Revolution 9 -Check it out👍

Hmmm. Great video sir. Seems ELO may have the answer with ELDORADO😂

As a kid, I skipped this song. As an adult, I love listening to this cacophonous masterpiece! Musique Concrete. Of course, it's predominantly Lennon.

@2:59 - Number 9 was NOT John's "Lucky Number". He said it was his Spiritual number!! Certainly a BIG difference in description. number 9 number 9 number 9 number 9 number 9 number 9 number 9 number 9 number 9