Here’s one of the most fun Beatles podcasts out there!
“Ranking the Beatles” with husband-wife team Jonathan and Julia Pretus gave us a terrific interview about our interpretations of Yellow Submarine in our new book.
They invited us to guest on their episode about “Only a Northern Song” and we are delighted to share it with you here. We come on about 5 minutes in.
How could anyone possibly pick the “best” Beatles song?
Well, these two folks from New Orleans are attempting to do just that and sharing their countdown with special guests to make for some juicy listening.
Here’s a link to their website, RankingtheBeatles.com, so you can binge-listen to all the back episodes!
Here’s how they describe our episode:
“There’s no shortage of songs in the Beatles’ catalog in which the listener can project their own lives and stories into the lyrics.
A song complaining about being on the short end of a bad publishing deal may not be one of those songs, but that’s just what “Only A Northern Song” is.
George’s first attempt at a track for Sgt. Pepper is a droney, somewhat monotone diatribe about the needlessness of writing lyrics with meaning, or singing a song in tune, because at the end of the day, it’s a Beatles song and people are going to buy it.
And George is only going to get 0.8% of the royalties, even if he wrote the song.
After being sent through a psychedelic–Summer-of-Love–acid-soaked–journey, it found a new life with the Yellow Submarine soundtrack where it gets suitably trippy treatment in the film.
It’s a track that, as a song, may not have too much to offer or connect to, but as a record, there’s lots to grab on to and something new to hear every time you listen.
It may not be George’s finest moment in the mid-’60s, but it’s not a dud by any stretch.
Joining us this week are Dr. Bob Hieronimus and Laura Cortner, authors of the new book, It’s All In The Mind: Inside The Beatles Yellow Submarine, Vol. 2.
A studier of esoterica, Dr. Bob has been on a long journey of deciphering deeper meanings behind the film, and behind the band’s works in general, and how they’ve impacted the world.
He and Laura spent years interviewing and talking to creators of the film to get the most in-depth story of the creation of the film, and the meaning behind so much of it.
We touch on all sorts of different subjects, from gaining higher consciousness, studying the deeper meaning of symbolism with Jimi Hendrix, behind-the-scenes stories from the creation of the film, and a striking story about Ringo’s kleptomania.”
Pick up a copy of their book at YellowSubmarineBook.com, mention that you heard about it on Ranking the Beatles, and they’ll send you some bonus Yellow Submarine goodies for free!