Understanding The Helter Skelter Phenomenon 

What band/artist should be next? 🎤🤘

This is one of those songs where you listen for the first time and something in you changes

*I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!*

*_IVE GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGAHS_*

I wish that Paul McCartney/the Beatles really explored this sound more. McCartney really had a good voice when pushing it like this. I can't imagine hearing this song for the first time back in the 60s.

DUDE I NEED TO HEAR THE FULL 27 MINUTE VERSION. It exists somewhere. i need it.

Melody Maker: "I Can See For Miles" is The Who's dirtiest song. Paul McCartney: Hold my beer.

6:40 "It was just a noise." Says the guy who married Yoko Ono.

people mention lots of bands here that made "heavy" music before helter skelter. but helter skelter in my opinion is on a whole other level. the vocals, the bass, the drums and the guitars are ALL exceptional. and that's what makes helter skelter so big. every part, every instrument is on 110%. it's extraordinary in every sense of the word.

'Helter Skelter' doesn't sound like the first metal song ever recorded as much as I'd say it sounds like the first punk rock song ever recorded.

*I GOT BLISTAS ON MAH FINGAS!!*

Everyone in the comment section angers me with their opinions on “who started metal music.” Personally, I don’t think anyone “invented” it - things like that just happen through influences and experimenting.

Even today in Britain the term 'Helter Skelter' is much more associated with the big slide before the Beatles song. The lyrics to the song seem pretty simplistic: a crazy whirlwind relationship with disorientating effects on the singer. It sounds like it's all about how this person is giving mixed messages and it's making the protagonist feel unsure of where they stand. Helter Skelter is literally used because it's a big slide that makes you feel dizzy. It's weird and kind of scary how differently something can be interpreted when someone projects a different cultural interpretation onto what is a fairly innocuous set of lyrics.

Understanding Why My Dad Left Me

I was listening to this song non stop for 3 days straight this week and the fact that you made a video about it terrifies me

I personally think "Revolution" is closer to heavy metal and the last three minutes of "I Want You" (She's So Heavy) clearly predicts Black Sabbath. However, The Beatles have a number of influential songs that influenced heavy metal from "I Feel Fine" to "It's All to Much". It was just a progression and "Helter Skelter" to many was the big bang of heavy metal because it combined all the elements.

Understanding The Doors

Understanding the Beatles' White Album (itself).

I've heard this song about a million times and every time I play it, it's on way too loud and I'm thinking to myself, this is f*cking awesome.

Cream and Hendrix were playing "heavy" before that

Notice in the interview Paul refrains from name dropping The Who, pretty classy.

The white album is one of the best albums ever to exist, change my mind.

You should do a video about "hurricane" from Bob Dylan

4:08 Pink Flord is my favorite band

Loaded with esoteric biblical references, HS paved the way for heavy metal. This song expanded the horizon of Rock n roll and inspired artists to explore the various landscapes of music in general. Absolute classic! And the video essay is great as always.

I had never heard Helter skelter but damn lowkey they started some metal with how heavy it was for it’s time

That voice change threw me off!

I know I’ve probably commented this already but I’d love to see a video on Brian Jones, Brian Wilson or The Wall. Great content as always👍

Please do a video on the doors my man

We still waiting death grips my man

It's interesting that bands such as the Beatles and Pink Floyd were so fascinated with, 'raw music', music that you could lable as simple and not to technacly complex and refined. But, sometimes just being srate forward is a much more impactful, and more importantly, enlightening way of music. Of corse, there needs to be complexity in every from of art, so just listen to Pink Floyd's, 'Great gig in the sky', to know what I mean in having a balance.

He kinda predicted whats happening in America today...

I love your videos. So informative in such a digestible way...it enhances my already-intense love for these artists ! Thank you for being you

Do Jeff Buckley. Unbelievably talented, haunting voice, underrated and tragic end before he bloomed. Also along with Donovan my of my favorite singer songwriters and favorite is the only qualifier there is since words like best should never describe art. Peace brother.

Bro your visual edits are impeccable. Whoever clips these up needs a raise. I'm tripping out to all the subtle wiggles and wavy layers. Brilliant.

fucking outstanding video. great job

Helter skelter was like a song from the future. It would sound modern, if it came out today

Helter Skelter is both my favourite Beatles and metal song.

I really want to hear that 27 minute version to be honest, I love long songs so that would be great to listen to

I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS !!

Charles Manson: Helter Skelter is about a race war 2020: aight *b e t*

I’d loved it if McCartney done a full album of all out hard rock n roll with his full throttled singing throughout. He had blackbird, ob-la-di-ob- li-da,honey pie, back in ussr, and heltar skelter plus others all on one album. No other songwriter can do that many different styles all at once . A musical genius no doubt .

Such cool effects!

Did I just watch a video essay that wasn't sponsored by Skillshare or some shit ? Wah, it has been a while.. Great video man, I am gonna look around your channel !

The thing about Helter Skelter and “heavy” music is that it defined what was missing in the attempts to get there, more than defining what developed into “heavy”rock or “heavy metal”. Thrashy guitar chords, harsh and trebly cutting timbre, screaming vocals, descending melody lines and repetition. Tick. But they had all been around in various combinations and as antecedents since You Really Got Me. The missing elements were unison riffing between guitar and bass, and much more prominence for the bass as the harmonic anchor of the song, working off the hi hat as much as the bass drum. That is what Zeppelin and Sabbath brought to the picture in equal measure, probably on the back of the musical prominence given to the bass by Cream. That orchestration of the bottom end of the rhythm is what defined heavy metal more than the top end of screaming vocals and guitar histrionics (textural or athletic). Jack Bruce got it right when he said that Bach was the heaviest musician of all, because the bass lines are contrapuntal; they reinforce and create tension and motion at the same time. It’s why rap music can sound “heavy”without any guitar at all. Ironically, in Helter Skelter the bass doesn’t really carry the effect, whereas in Paperback Writer or Rain it is singularly heavy and mixed way higher than in other contemporary rock music. Most punk guitar bands simple sounded thrashy and vigorous rather than heavy for this reason; they lacked bottom end cohesion. If you look for heavy metal precedents in the top end of the tonal spectrum you can find them in jazz as much as pop. Ornette Coleman or Cecil Taylor, anyone? But the bottom end really gels with Zeppelin and Sabbath, amongst others less commonly cited. What they might have in common is a pathway out of soul music, where the groove of the rhythm section was a fundamental. Anyway, my two cents after a couple or three decades of listening to this stuff.

Just a quick typo correction. At 6.58 (with the Lennon quote onscreen) you mistakenly have "balmy" (meaning a warm, somewhat humid and lazy summer day). The English expression "barmy" (the equivalent of "nuts" used as a slang word, meaning "crazy") is actually what Lennon meant. And you're right about 'Helter Skelter' being innovative because of how 'heavy' and loud it was at the time, even though it was considered a throwaway track by The Beatles (the audio of Paul you have here confirms that, as do other utterances of his about the song).

Just gotta say that I saw that live two weeks ago and it was soo amazing, so powerful and also funny to see the audience wondering if that was a Beatles song!

Amazing video buddy! looking forward to seeing​ more of beatles work!

Deer hoof or Cage the Elephant

You should do The Beach Boys!!!

Bless this editing! Really well made video

The lyrics of Helter Skelter always make me think of Nietsche's philosophy. "When i get tomthe bottomnk go back to the top of th slide..." Could be related to the Eternal Return. And "You may be a lover but you are no dancer" reminds me of "I would only believe in a god who could dance"

The Beatles beginnings of heavy metal imho. I bought my copy of the "White Album" in December 1968 when I was 16 years old. Manson was a dangerous screwball who was probably angry because the song he wrote for The Beach Boys was changed.

make video about kinks.not much people talking about them nowadays

Happy Birthday man!

That song is a good example of how powerful music can be

Nice to see the hollyhobs here

What do you mean The Velvet Underground weren't the heaviness of Helter Skelter? Listen to the record White Light/White Heat, released in 1968, the same year as Helter Skelter. One of the noisiest, dirtiest rock records ever.

Great video. I've always wondered about this whole phenomenon.

I absolutely love the song (melody & chord progression, lyrics) & the production. First of all, the progression is made up of notes forming chords that I like to describe as a symphony of chaos. Seriously, listen close to each chord change & u cannot miss the untraditional nature of these note groupings. Many r layered, but done so in a way where they change in time together & repeat just as a traditional progression does. A few other stand out moments for my ears r one, the intentional abstraction of the open note. Probably done so through more organic maneuvers than today (no pitch pedals or software affects) such as playing with the tuning key, applying pressure to the guitar neck & body in opposing directions, & maybe an early tremolo as we can see John playing during the Let It Be moment of Get Back! (peter jackson). The eq of Pauls voice, keeping it small while his performance is anything but, creates a really cool juxtaposition. In general, like all good art, the production relies heavily on contrast. Then, as a finale, the fade out/fade in…… This has been done so often over the years it may feel benign, but when we consider the era & trends of that time, this was creative on another level compared to most artists working in sound as their medium. I am an older man today than when I first found the Beatles, but sincerely, the longer I live & the more access we have to facts regarding their creative process, the more they blow my mind. What a group of individuals, huh? Who were constantly able to take risks, which in return always seemed to find a connection to pop culture. Many artists have done one or the other, rarely do they land with a foot in both.

Well that just about doubled my respect for Paul. I've never been a big Beatles fan and never listened to this song. Really ahead of its time.

Talking about artists that flirted with heavy metal and fails to mention JIMI HENDRIX!!! Come on!!

Great video, I will now forever associate that song with an amusement ride on a beach in the UK.

HS has my all-time favorite Beatle moment: when after what seems like it’s going to be a fade out, Ringo comes back in and only then does the song begin to fade out.

Understanding "Still Life" by Opeth? Pretty please

The madman makes an upload while he's live.

As someone who has been unwittingly drugged with lsd, I can totally understand how someone hammering that shit could get in their mind ideas like this.

Love your videos man 💙

This is my favorite Beatles song.

I love your videos man

Great video man awesome content, I just subscribed!

Also Charles Manson used the Beatles song sexy Sadie to describe one of his female followers and I think it was Susan Atkins. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't consider helter skelter as the first heavy metal song because cream and Hendricks had some very loud songs out in 1967 and the white album didn't come out til 1968 and blue cheer had a remake of summertime blue that was loud and proud and it was out before the white album. Don't get me wrong, I love the Beatles but if anything you can say this song helped ozzy create black sabbath and their sound. Ozzy was crazy about this song

One of multiple reasons why the Beatles are the greatest band that ever lived.

Brilliant video production

love ya vids man

its scary how right you were mr manson.

This came out a month after MC5 Kick Out the Jams. That is the first Heavy Metal album.

fucking fantastic research god damn. Favourite music history channel hands down

Great video, i listened often to the song lately

6:35 *Barmy British for crazy.

Melody Marker: The Who's dirtiest, grittiest and filthiest piece of music 'I Can See For Miles' Paul: Bitch please, also.... I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS RIP Ringo fingers TT

It’s the HollyhoBs! Dude is awesome.

Love The Beatles White Album, can’t wait to get the new released version that came out this year, I wish they would release that 27 min version!

Iron Butterfly

"They knew very little about how a certain man would interpret the lyrics on the album." The Beatles didn't know anything about how Charles Manson would interpret their lyrics. They didn't know who he was.

What sources did you get this info from? I doubt you'll respond, but it's all super interesting and I'd like to get a deeper dive.

Helter Skelter was and is my favorite Beatles song, i never knew about these things about it and is quite shocking!

A video on Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan would be interesting.

You see Charles face for a scene, and then Pauls little baby face and you’re like- damn how the hell did this happen

Yes, it was based off an amusement park ride that they called Helter skelter but when you listen to that album and the crazy things that were on it, there’s more to this than it just being a random song like that

I Love Helter Skelter ❤

Manson was charged and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. He did shoot a drug dealer known as Lots a papa, but the man survived and apparently was not the type to press charges. He may have been in on the murder of ranch hand "Shorty" Shea. For what it's worth, I did very briefly meet Manson in 1969 on Santa Susana Pass Road. Was screaming at my brother and I that we were trespassing on private property. I thought he was some deranged homeless guy but noticed he had a gun tucked under his belt. Could have been the infamous bunt-line revolver but can't say for sure. Were he not armed I would have told him to fuck off...

The Clash please

In three years, you've probably had this pointed out, but just in case: In 1968 it was CREAM and Vanilla Fudge who had recently set the high bar for the heaviest, loudest sounds in rock music. You're absolutely right to list the others -- Iron Butterfly, the Mothers, etc. -- but it was initially the heavy music of Clapton, Bruce and Baker which inspired the bands who came after.

Such a great track. Pure chaos.

you forgot the line "through the helter skelter morning" from the song "paper tiger" by beck.

The Who were still developing their craft as a live stage and recording band that turned out to be one of the most brilliant and dynamic bands in the world. I Can See For Miles is a wonderful song but indeed McCartney's Helter Skelter gets the hands down for being much louder and heavier at the time. The Beatles were still the head of the pack and still innovative.

Can you do a video about understanding Mr. Bungle? I would really appreciate it. Love your channel, keep up the good work!

Tbh I would love a "Pink Floyd,The Wall" video from you. The plot of that album is just so amazing.

Now THIS is podracing.