Given my existence as a 21 year old college student
with a fairly active social life, I encounter pop music. Currently part of this
encounter includes the songs “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction and
“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. Now I do enjoy these songs for they are: songs
to be listened to in social situations. They are fun to sing along to while
riding in the car with friend or to shout at the top of your lungs at a party.
But personally I feel like I would enjoy them in a whole new way if one my
favorite bands could cover them. More specifically I think about how they would
sound if The Beatles covered them. Unfortunately there are number of factors
which prevent such renditions from ever being recorded. Amongst these road
blocks are the unfortunate deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison, the event
which was The Beatles breaking up in 1970, and the simple fact that The Beatles
existed almost fifty years before these songs were even thought of. However it
is my belief that if The Beatles were around today, they would cover these
songs and possibly even put them on an album.
The Beatles are justly praised for their innovation
and originality. These qualities are what make them a landmark group in the
history of Rock N Roll. In seven years that they released albums, their style
grew almost as much their hair. Their music became as complicated and detailed
as their lives. The arrangement of their songs became as thoughtful as their
personal philosophies. The songs they recorded at the starting point of this
growth were standard and average pop music. What made them stand out was the
fact that they wrote the songs themselves. During the recording of their first
album, Please Please Me, the record’s
producer George Martin was struck by their ability to write. However, The
Beatles also participated in a practice fairly common for their time: the
recording of songs already made famous by another artist or group. Some of the
covers they did are their most famous songs. For example, “Twist and Shout”,
which concluded their debut album was a cover. It was originally by The Isley
Brothers, who were a doo-wop group. The Beatles would go onto cover other songs
by doo-wop groups and Motown artists. They understood that as much as cover
could work as a means of paying tribute, something they did by covering Buddy
Holly’s “Words of Love”, two Carl Perkins songs, and a Chuck Berry tune, they viewed covering a song as a way of
reinventing a song and reimaging its musical landscape. It is for this reason that
I believe that The Beatles would cover the two aforementioned songs.
Let’s start with “Call Me Maybe”. I can understand
there may be doubt about The Beatles covering this song given the fact that is
sung by a girl from a girl’s perspective. But that never stopped them before.
An example from the career of The Beatles standouts as an examples of the group
playing a “girl song”. It comes on Please
Please Me and is fittingly named “Boys”. The chorus of the song is “Well I
talk about Boys/ don’t you know I mean boys… / What a bundle of joy.” In order
to convey a heterosexual message, Ringo Starr who sings on the track switched
some of the pronouns. For example he declares “My girl says when I kiss her
lips/ Gets a thrill through her finger tips”. The Beatles recognized that they
could have fun playing this song and they gave it to their most light-hearted
member to sing. Paul McCartney is quoted as saying that when they played this
song in concert it was always a crowd pleaser. When I first thought about the
idea of The Beatles covering “Call Me Maybe” I envisioned Ringo taking lead
vocals. Given the job he did with “Boys”, I could see him sliding into the
shining role for this song.
As for “What Makes You Beautiful” I feel that it would be a group effort in regard to vocals. Just as in One Direction where there more than one singer, so was the make-up of The Beatles. Each member had a distinctive singing personality which was reflected in their singing voice. During the verses of One Direction’s hit, a different singer takes the lead. I have given it much consideration and I have mapped out which Beatles would sing each verse. Coincidently, every time I indentified a shift in Beatle, there is a shift in One Direction member. Also the moments when I believe a certain Beatle would return, the corresponding member of One Direction returned. The song would open with John. I can see him having a lot of fun setting the scene for this song. He would do it in a half serious/ half silly tone. Meanwhile George would enjoy reinterpreting the opening guitar riff. I envision him turning to the style of guitar he was pioneering around the time of their albums Rubber Soul and Revolver. It was distinct mid 60’s Harrison. Paul would sing the bridge. The whole gang would come in for the chorus. The second verse would be George’s turn to sing. Interestingly enough, the subject of that verse is similar to a song Harrison wrote with The Beatles called “I Want To Tell You”. George penned the lyrics “I want to tell you / My head is filled with things to say / When you’re here / All the words they seem to slip away”. Overall in that song George has things to tell his love interest. The same sentiment is found in this verse: “So c-come on / You got it wrong / To prove I’m right / I put it in a song.” It only makes sense that he would step up to the plate on this one. Paul would come back in with the bridge. Then another round of the chorus, followed by some “Na Na Na” courtesy of John. The middle eight would be all Paul and then rest of the band would come in to finish the song off.
I hope that my points make sense and add to the
listening experience of these two songs by providing some perspective on them
and their connection to one the greatest groups in Rock N Roll history. It may
just be a musical fantasy of mine but is sure fun to think about. Take it for
what is and please enjoy.
