Helter Skelter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Helter Skelter (song))
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about The Beatles song. For other things with this name, see Helter Skelter (disambiguation).
"Helter Skelter"
Song by The Beatles
Album The Beatles
Released 22 November 1968
Recorded Abbey Road Studios
9 September 1968
Genre Hard rock, Heavy metal
Length 4:30 (Stereo LP)
3:38 (Mono LP)
Label Apple Records
Writer Lennon/McCartney
Producer George Martin
The Beatles track listing
Sexy Sadie
(5 of disc 2)		 "Helter Skelter"
(6 of disc 2)		 Long, Long, Long
(7 of disc 2)
Music sample
"Helter Skelter"
Problems? See media help.

"Helter Skelter" is a song written by Paul McCartney,[1][2] credited to Lennon/McCartney, and recorded by The Beatles on The White Album. A product of McCartney's deliberate effort to create a sound as loud and dirty as possible, the clangorous piece has been noted for both a "proto-metal roar" and "unique textures."[3][4] It was one of several White Album compositions taken by Charles Manson as elaborate prophecy of a war to arise from racial tensions between blacks and whites.[5][6]

Contents

McCartney was inspired to write the song after reading an interview of The Who's Pete Townshend where he described their latest single, "I Can See for Miles," as the loudest, rawest, dirtiest song the Who had ever recorded. McCartney then "wrote 'Helter Skelter' to be the most raucous vocal, the loudest drums, etcetera" and said he was "using the symbol of a helter skelter as a ride from the top to the bottom—the rise and fall of the Roman Empire—and this was the fall, the demise."[1] (In British English, the term helter-skelter not only has its meanings of "confused" or "confusedly" but is the name of a spiralling amusement park slide.) McCartney has used this song as a response to critics who accuse him of only writing ballads.[7]

Lennon was rumoured to be upset that McCartney could write something so audacious without involving him. This sentiment is possibly reflected in his quote that Helter Skelter is "Paul's completely ... It has nothing to do with anything, and least of all to do with me."[2]

The Beatles recorded the song multiple times during the The White Album sessions. During the 18 July 1968 sessions, a version of the song lasting 27 minutes and 11 seconds was recorded, although this version is rather slow and hypnotic, differing greatly from the volume and rawness of the album version[citation needed]. Another recording from the same day was edited down to 4:37 for Anthology 3. On September 9, eighteen takes of approximately five minutes each were recorded, and the last one is featured on the original LP.[8] After the eighteenth take, Ringo Starr flung his sticks across the studio[9] and screamed, "I've got blisters on my fingers!"[1][8] The Beatles included Starr's shout on the stereo mix of the song (available on CD); the song completely fades out around 3:40, then gradually fades back in, fades back out partially, and quickly fades back in with three cymbal crashes and Ringo's scream. (Some sources erroneously credit the "blisters" line to Lennon; in fact, Lennon can be heard asking "How's that?" before the outburst.[10]) The mono version (on LP only) ends on the first fadeout without Ringo's outburst. The mono version was not initially available in the US as mono albums had already been phased out there. The mono version was later released in the American version of the Rarities album.

According to Chris Thomas, who was present,[11] the 18 July session was especially spirited. "While Paul was doing his vocal, George Harrison had set fire to an ashtray and was running around the studio with it above his head, doing an Arthur Brown."[8] Starr's recollection is less detailed, but agrees in spirit: "'Helter Skelter' was a track we did in total madness and hysterics in the studio. Sometimes you just had to shake out the jams."[7]

On the version that appears on the Anthology 3 album, McCartney occasionally sings "hell for leather" instead of "helter skelter".

The song has been covered by a number of bands (see below) and praised by critics, including Richie Unterberger of the All Music Guide. Unterberger called it, "one of [the] fiercest and most brutal rockers done by anyone" and "extraordinary."[4] Ian MacDonald was critical, calling it "ridiculous, McCartney shrieking weedily against a massively tape-echoed backdrop of out-of-tune thrashing." His other remarks indicate a lack of appreciation for heavy metal music in general.[12]

In March 2005, Q magazine ranked "Helter Skelter" number 5 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

Main article: Helter Skelter (Manson scenario)

The infamous Charles Manson told his followers that White Album songs including "Helter Skelter" were the Beatles' coded prophecy of an apocalyptic war in which racist and non-racist whites would be maneuvered into virtually exterminating each other over treatment of blacks.[13][5][14] Upon the war's conclusion, after Black Muslims would kill off the few whites they would know to have survived, Manson and his companions, having ridden out the conflict in an underground city, would emerge from hiding and, as the actual remaining whites, rule blacks, who, as the vision went, would be incapable of running things. Manson employed Helter Skelter as the term for this epic sequence of events. Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi, who led the prosecution of Manson and the killers who acted on Manson's instruction, named his best-selling book about the murders Helter Skelter. The book was the basis for two films of the same title.

  • In 1981, Pat Benatar released a cover of "Helter Skelter" as the final track on Precious Time.
  • In 1983, The Bobs released an a capella version on their eponymous album. It earned them a 1984 Grammy nomination for best new arrangement of an existing song.

In 1985 Sonic Annihilation covered this. Featured on the first release Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. The band was a brain-child of Rob Creighton (drummer) and Czar who is now the singer of Season of Mourning.

  • In 1987, rock band U2 recorded the song in concert for their Rattle and Hum movie and album which was released the following year. Bono's introduction to the song was, "This is a song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles. We're stealing it back." Also noteworthy of this cover is that Bono reworked McCartney's original line "You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer" and sung it as (in a kind of double-negative) "you ain't no lover but you ain't no dancer" (this occurs throughout the performance so one assumes that, while he was "stealing it back," Bono's reworking of the lyric was intentional and not simply a live flub).
  • In 1988, Japanese Heavy Metal band Vow Wow released an album entitled Helter Skelter which included a cover of the song.
  • From 1990 to 1994, Marilyn Manson used vocal samples of a Charles Manson interview and lifted McCartney's lines "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, come on tell me the answer", and "You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer" on various live and studio versions of their song "My Monkey", along with other various Beatles samples. The full cover of Helter Skelter was played on their Smells Like Children tour in 1995.
  • In 1991, Aerosmith released a version of "Helter Skelter" on their Pandora's Box collection. The song was recorded in the 1970s.
  • White Zombie often played this song live (circa 1992) and it appears on the bootleg Resurrection Day.
  • In 1994, Alice Donut released an instrumental version of the song on their live album Dry Humping the Cash Cow, in which drummer Stephen Moses plays the melody on the trombone. At the end of the song, Moses cries, "I've got blisters on my lips!"
  • On October 31st, 1994, Phish covered the song as part of their "Musical Costume" performance of (almost) the entire White Album. This version contained heavy dischords; it concluded with the line "I've got Blisters on my Fingers" sung in four-part harmony. This concert was released as Live Phish Volume 13.
  • Soundgarden played a slowed down version with added lyrics during their 1996/1997 Down on the Upside tour. It was never officially released but is available on bootlegs and through file-sharing. Also available as a medley with the song "Bootcamp".
  • In 1997, Noel Gallagher of Oasis wrote the song "Fade In-Out" for their 3rd album, Be Here Now. The song is similar to "Helter Skelter" and includes the line, "Get on the helter skelter" among its lyrics. During the recording sessions for Be Here Now, the band recorded a studio cover of the song. It wasn't released until 2000, as a b-side to "Who Feels Love?". The band also performed the song live in some shows throughout 2000, one of which was included as a bonus track on the audio versions of their live album, Familiar to Millions.
  • Arizonan post-hardcore outfit the Bled covered this song at the end of their set on many of their UK and European tour dates.
  • Dana Fuchs performs the song for the film and soundtrack of Across the Universe, a dramatic musical story narrated using the music of The Beatles.

  • In 1971, Don McLean uses the line "Helter Skelter in a summer swelter" at the beginning of the fourth verse of American Pie, a song which purportedly features many other references to The Beatles.
  • In an episode of ALF, ALF, after singing his alternate lyrics to Camptown Ladies and receiving complaints, responds with the remark, "Okay, so do you wanna hear how I changed the words to Helter Skelter?"
  • In 1989, sound collage artists Negativland created a false press release saying that they could not go on their long-planned tour because their song "Christianity Is Stupid" may have triggered a real-life murder. News channels and media sources picked up the story and broadcast it without checking with the proper authorities, and Negativland created the album Helter Stupid about it to show the irresponsibility of the media as well as the media's obsession with sensational stories such as murder or scandal. The album samples Helter Skelter, as well as samples of Charles Manson speaking about the murder.
  • In 1989, Skinny Puppy used vocal samples of Charles Manson's rendition of the song in what is now a legendary track Worlock from the album Rabies. Lifting both McCartney's line sung by Manson "You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer" and a sampled guitar riff from the original Beatles song.
  • In a 2005 episode of South Park, Randy Marsh's alarm goes off in the morning to a DJ saying, "The Beatles' White Album, "Helter Skelter"."
  • In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Yoko Factor", cyborg villain Adam says that he likes the song "Helter Skelter".
  • The band Dog Fashion Disco mentions Helter Skelter in the song Headless on the album Anarchists Of Good Taste. "Like Helter Skelter. And son of Sam. By the days end you'll know who I am. I spill your blood on the Hollywood Boulevard."
  • The band Black Label Society mentions Helter Skelter in the song What's in You? on the album Mafia. "Oh, what's in you now? Helter Skelter running through my veins. Satan's coming, on his way"
  • The Powerpuff Girls featured an episode entitled "Helter Shelter". Creator Craig McCracken is a vocal Beatles fanatic, having also written and directed the "Meet the Beat-Alls" episode of the same show, which featured a nearly non-stop stream of Beatles songs and cultural references.
  • An issue of The Amazing Spider-Man mentions the character Ezekiel having a Muzak version of Helter Skelter play in his office buildings, as it "keeps the employees on their toes."
  • The Anime Eureka Seven features an episode titled "Helter Skelter". The show has repeatedly named episodes, characters, and other important things after someone involved with music, music artists, or the title of a song. The Anime makes multiple musical references in regards to naming.
  • The Beatles parody group The Rutles (on the Archaeology album) ends a particularly raucous track with one of the members shouting, "I've got sudden cramp in me pinky!!!" in a parody in the "blisters on my fingers" line.
  • The band Papa Roach mentions a 'Helter Skelter' romance in their song titled "Forever".
  • In an episode of The Simpsons Homer and Flanders enter a homeless shelter called "Helter Shelter"

  1. ^ a b c Barry Miles (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 487-488. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6. 
  2. ^ a b David Sheff (interviewer) (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press, 200. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. 
  3. ^ AMG Review of White Album Retrieved on 2007 April 20.
  4. ^ a b AMG Review of "Helter Skelter". Retrieved on 2007-02-28.
  5. ^ a b Charles Watson autobiography as told to Ray Hoekstra. Retrieved on 2007-04-17.
  6. ^ Bugliosi, Vincent with Gentry, Curt, Helter Skelter -- The True Story of the Manson Murders 25th Anniversary Edition, W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. ISBN 0-393-08700-X. Pages 240-7.
  7. ^ a b The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 311. ISBN 0-8118-2684-8. 
  8. ^ a b c Mark Lewisohn (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books, 154. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. 
  9. ^ Bob Spitz (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, 794. ISBN 0-316-80352-9. 
  10. ^ Brown, Mike. What Goes On: Helter Skelter. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
  11. ^ According to Lewisohn (1988), 154, Chris Thomas has the producer credit on recording sheets for the 18 July "Helter Skelter" session.
  12. ^ Ian MacDonald (1994). Revolution in the Head: the Beatles' Records and the Sixties. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 239-240. ISBN 0-8050-2780-7. 
  13. ^ Testimony of Paul Watkins in the Charles Manson Trial. Retrieved on 2007-02-28.
  14. ^ Bugliosi, 240-7.

v • d • e
The Beatles
John Lennon · Paul McCartney · George Harrison · Ringo Starr
Management Allan Williams · Brian Epstein · Allen Klein · Lee Eastman · Neil Aspinall · Peter Brown · Mal Evans · Alistair Taylor · Apple Records
Production George Martin · Geoff Emerick · Norman Smith · Ken Scott · Phil Spector · Jeff Lynne · Abbey Road Studios
Studio albums Please Please Me (1963) · With The Beatles (1963) · A Hard Day's Night (1964) · Beatles for Sale (1964) · Help! (1965) · Rubber Soul (1965) · Revolver (1966) · Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) · Magical Mystery Tour (1967) · The Beatles (The White Album) (1968) · Yellow Submarine (1969) · Abbey Road (1969) · Let It Be (1970)
Post-breakup albums Live at the BBC (1994) · Anthology 1 (1995) · Anthology 2 (1996) · Anthology 3 (1996) · Yellow Submarine Songtrack (1999) · Let It Be… Naked (2003)
Compilations Hey Jude (1970) · 1962–1966 (1973) · 1967–1970 (1973) · Past Masters, Volume One (1988) · Past Masters, Volume Two (1988) · 1 (2000) · Love (2006)
Filmography A Hard Day's Night (1964) · Help! (1965) · Magical Mystery Tour (U.K., 1967 / U.S., 1976) · Yellow Submarine (1968) · Let It Be (1970)
Videography The Compleat Beatles (1984)  · The Beatles Anthology (2003) · The First U.S. Visit (2003)
Discography Bootlegs · Discography · Outtakes
Related people Pete Best · Stuart Sutcliffe  · Klaus Voormann  · Harry Nilsson  · Derek Taylor · Yoko Ono · Linda McCartney · Cynthia Lennon · Billy Preston · Tony Sheridan · Chas Newby · Andy White · Jimmy Nicol · Astrid Kirchherr  · Ken Mansfield
See also Line-ups · Love (Cirque du Soleil) · Lennon/McCartney · Influence · Beatle boots · The Quarrymen · The Beatles' breakup · London · Beatlemania · Fifth Beatle · Paul is dead · The Beatles (TV series) · British Invasion · Apple Corps · Northern Songs · The Beatles Anthology · The Rutles
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helter_Skelter"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.