Category: Personal Story

I wrote this for Dave’s Turntable Talk back in April. Now I’m glad I waited to post it myself. The Beatles have remixed the song (along with the Anthology) and smoothed out this great video. This is my favorite post-Beatles song they did.

Dave wanted us to pick a favorite video of theirs and tell us a bit about it, or why they love it. 

In the 1990s, I kept reading about the Beatles Anthology coming out and the three surviving Beatles getting back together to release some unheard-of older music as well as new. They would take a John Lennon demo and add something to it. This was beyond exciting for me. I was too young to remember a new Beatles song coming out.

It had an older feel, but sounded modern at the same time. George Harrison’s distorted guitar playing brought an edge to it. It even had a strange ending like some of their other songs. I got an early release of the Anthology CD from a friend of mine who worked in a record store, and he said…don’t tell anyone. I sat glued to Free As a Bird because for once I was listening to a new Beatles song… I was one year old in 1968, so I missed them when they were originally out. I liked the song and still do. I have talked to Beatles fans who don’t really like it that much, but the song has stuck with me. Real Love…the second release didn’t do as much for me because it was basically a solo John Lennon song.

Was Free As a Bird the best song in the Beatles’ catalog? No, not even close but just to hear something new was fantastic. The Anthology videos and CDs jump-started their popularity all over again…and it hasn’t stopped since then. I had cousins who were teenagers at the time who never had an interest in them until Anthology came out. All I could say to them was…I’ve told you for years.

The video of Free As a Bird is fantastic and still my favorite music video. It told their history through the different eras of their career. Every time I watch it I always notice something I didn’t notice before. I just wish they would go in now (and they did!) and smooth it out. In some spots, it can be a bit bitmappy, but it’s still great.

 Apple Corps commissioned the services of Joe Pytka, well-known in the U.S. industry for his TV commercials. His task was to assemble a video based on Iyrical themes from the band’s songbook.

‘Free As A Bird’ was the result of discussions between Pytka and his team, the three Beatles and Neil Aspinall, who agreed that archive film of the band members should be added into new footage shot in Liverpool, London and Los Angeles, bringing to life song titles like ‘Paperback Writer’, ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘She’s Leaving Home’.

Though the video has been described as a “post-production nightmare”, producer Vincent Joliet is more upbeat about the project. “It wasn’t easy but we did exactly what we set out to do. There weren’t many surprises on our part,” he said.

Location work began in Liverpool on October 23rd 1995. Joliet comments: “We shot the location scenes knowing that something was going to be added later. We had to find the right footage. With the accident scene, for example, we selected the best take and then looked at all the old footage for the shots of John’s head and body movements that would fit best. The post-production itself took about three weeks from the moment we finished the location shoots to the moment we delivered the tapes.“

Little did he know that day in 1977 when John made a demo of a song idea on a cheap cassette recorder… it would be a future Beatle song. Not to mention that the tape itself would be part of the song.

The song did win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal…

After reading the mixed reactions, one thing dawned on me. The Beatles did the right thing by not reuniting when John was alive. There is no way they could have made anything that would have lived up to the expectations of everyone…You cannot compete against a memory because you lose every time… But yea… I still would have loved to hear it.

Here is the new version of the video. Still not perfect but, it looks MUCH better!

Here is a cheat sheet from Beatlesagain.com

BEATLE REFERENCES IN “FREE AS A BIRD” VIDEO

***Obvious references***

:07 - portraits of Beatles as children on mantle (from left to right,

      John, George, Paul. Ringo in front)

:14 - more portraits (left to right, Paul, John, Ringo, George)

:38 - Beatles walk through dock workers

:48 - Cavern Club (club where Beatles played many shows before becoming

      famous)

:52 - Beatles performing at Cavern Club

1:06 - Strawberry Field ("Strawberry Fields Forever")

1:18 - Eggman appears ("I Am the Walrus")

1:27 - Beatles begin to walk off curb behind eggman

1:33 - Pretty nurse selling poppies from tray ("Penny Lane")

1:42 - Barber shop, with pictures of every head he's had the pleasure

       to know, including the Fab Four ("Penny Lane")

1:47 - Sign on wall reads "Help" ("Help!")

1:49 - Boy holds up hand to whisper to girl ("Do You Want to Know

       a Secret?")

1:50 - Ringo jumps from doorway

1:54 - Beatles stand by car

1:56 - Window has Beatles montage. First third looks like

       Anthology 1 cover.  Other panels may be covers of other two

       volumes. [They Are, ed.]

2:02 - Birthday cake ("Birthday")

2:02 - Cake has a 6 and a 4 on it ("When I'm Sixty-Four")

2:07 - George appears on street

2:13 - George walks into office (In reality, Apple headquarters) with

       sign that reads "Dr. Robert" ("Dr. Robert")

2:18 - Ringo runs by

2:22 - John in crowd scene at car wreck, craning neck while others

       turn away ("A Day in the Life")

2:26 - Car wreck of Tara Browne ("A Day in the Life" definitely, "Don't Pass Me By"

       possibly)

2:27 - Fire engine ("Penny Lane")

2:29 - Policemen in a row ("I Am the Walrus")

2:32 - Fireman ("Penny Lane")

2:38 - Helter Skelter slide (It looks like a lighthouse, but you can

       see the slide circling the building. "Helter Skelter," of course.)

2:38 - Kite ("Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite")

2:42 - Children run by in pig masks ("Piggies")

2:43 - Someone enters house through window from ladder ("She Came in

       Through the Bathroom Window")

2:51 - Writer working at desk ("Paperback Writer")

2:54 - Beatles walk behind children in pig masks (It's small, but it's

       obvious it's them)

3:05 - Beatles on TV

3:06 - John sitting in chair

3:08 - Copy of Daily Mail on table ("Paperback Writer")

3:08 - Bowl of green apples (reference to Apple Corps, Ltd.)

3:08 - Box of Savoy Truffles sits on table (kind of hard to make out,

       but that's what it says: "Savoy Truffle")

3:10 - Picture of Chairman Mao in window ("Revolution")

3:13 - Workers repairing hole in roof ("Fixing a Hole")

3:13 - Blue Meanie pops his head through hole (the film

       "Yellow Submarine")

3:18 - Newspaper taxi appears ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds")

3:22 - Woman leaves home ("She's Leaving Home")

3:22 - Picture of Mao being carried across street ("Revolution"

       definitely, "Carry That Weight" possibly)

3:22 - John and Yoko waltz by (taken from film "Let It Be" and

       probably representing "The Ballad of John and Yoko.")

3:23 - Blue Meanie pops head up from out of sewer (the film

       "Yellow Submarine")

3:25 - Magical Mystery Tour bus passes in far background (Hard to see,

       but it's there)

3:31 - Big game hunter leads procession, including elderly lady and

       elephant, out of party ("The Continuing Adventures of Bungalow

       Bill," who always went hunting with his elephant and gun and

       always took his mum.)

3:33 - Ringo at table near door

3:45 - Brian Epstein begins to put on his scarf

3:47 - Head of Stu Sutcliffe on body of James Dean from "Sgt Pepper"

       cover

3:48 - Flowers, drum and tuba from "Sgt Pepper" cover

3:49 - H.G. Wells and Lawrence of Arabia from "Sgt Pepper" cover

       chat (I know other guests are supposed to be rest of people on

       the cover, but they aren't as clearly identifiable as these two)

3:58 - Eleanor Rigby headstone ("Eleanor Rigby")

4:00 - Priest walks from grave ("Eleanor Rigby")

4:01 - Sheepdog runs through cemetery ("Martha My Dear" definitely,

       "Hey Bulldog" possibly)

4:04 - Long and winding road in background ("The Long and Winding Road")

4:05 - Paul romps on hill ("The Fool on the Hill")

4:12 - Crosswalk from the cover of "Abbey Road"

4:14 - Meter maid with bag across her shoulder steps onto curb

       ("Lovely Rita."  She's definitely wearing a uniform and

       carrying a little white book.)

4:30 - Beatles walk into theater (taken from "A Hard Days Night")







***References with more than one possible interpretation***




:01 - Bird flying. (Interpretations range from "Blackbird" to

      "And Your Bird Can Sing" to "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has

      Flown)" to even "Blue Jay Way." The flapping of the wings,

      though, sounds like the intro to the original version of

      "Across the Universe" which I think it's meant to represent.

      The entire concept of flying in the whole video could be

      taken to represent "Flying.")

1:27 - Children run by holding hands ("Lady Madonna" is most likely,

       but "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" is another possibility.)

1:45 - Woman appears in plastic-appearing coat (Some say, and I

       agree, that she is "Polythene Pam," but others have suggested

       she is "Sexy Sadie," or that her companion in the white coat

       is "Sexy Sadie." Since I can't locate a "Sexy Sadie" anywhere

       else in the video, I'll play it safe and place it in this

       category.)

1:53 - Couple kissing in car (may be banker on corner with a motorcar

       from "Penny Lane" or amorous couple from "Drive My Car." Most

       likely, though, it's "Why Don't We Do It  In The Road?")

2:45 - Sunflowers. (I lean toward saying they're "the flowers that

       grow so incredibly high" from "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

       Other interpretations are "I'll Follow the Sun" (since that is

       what flowers do), "Sun King" and "Here Comes the Sun," hence

       its inclusion here.)

3:08 - Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II sits on floor ("Her Majesty" or

       portrait of the Queen from "Penny Lane," though it's hardly

       pocket-sized)

3:53 - Statue in cemetery turns head (Statue could be of the Madonna

       ("Lady Madonna") or could be Mother Mary ("Let It Be")



***Reference that may not actually *be* references***




1:18 - Marketplace (Could be reference to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," but

       since I see no one with a barrow in the marketplace, I'm

       unconvinced.)

3:38 - Last boy in Bungalow Bill's entourage looks very much like

       Sean Lennon. Could be a cameo or just a coincidence.

3:50 - Sun through panes in roof (It's the only intentional shot of

       the sun in the whole video. It could be meant to represent

       "Here Comes the Sun," "Sun King," "Good Day Sunshine" or

       "I'll Follow the Sun.")

4:06 - Woman walks down road with suitcase (could be "She's Leaving

       Home," but since we already had that song done with the woman

       leaving home in the newspaper taxi at 3:22, would she need to

       appear again?)

4:06 - Car heads up long and winding road ("Drive My Car"? Not many

       other cars in video, and one of few that's moving)




and let us not forget ...




***The Voice***




4:36 - Voice at end of song. It sounds like backward masking, and it

       is definitely John's voice. Interpretations I've seen include:

      

       "Turned out well at the end"

       "There's that noise again"

       "Turned out nice again."




       Strangely, though, the backward tape sounds like John saying

       "My name is John Lennon" to me. It's possible the Fab Three put

       the tape on the end not only because it's a throwback to their

       backward tape use in the '60s, but also because it SOUNDS like

       "My name is John Lennon" when it's played backward.