{"id":6877,"date":"2017-01-25T19:27:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T00:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=6877"},"modified":"2017-01-25T19:31:56","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T00:31:56","slug":"what-price-is-fame-the-message-of-and-your-bird-can-sing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/what-price-is-fame-the-message-of-and-your-bird-can-sing\/","title":{"rendered":"What Price is Fame? The Message of &#8220;And Your Bird Can Sing&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The most overlooked and misconstrued song on <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Revolver<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is \u201cAnd Your Bird Can Sing.\u201d Far-flung explanations for John Lennon\u2019s seething lyrics point to John\u2019s purported jealousy of Frank Sinatra or his irritation over some failed one-night stand. But a deeper examination of the song reveals a more practical root for \u201cThe Leader Beatle\u2019s\u201d ire. Let\u2019s take a look.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">No one &#8220;did anger&#8221; the way John Lennon did it. (To wit, &#8220;Run for Your Life,&#8221; &#8220;You Can\u2019t Do That,&#8221; &#8220;I\u2019ll Cry Instead,&#8221; and &#8220;How Do You Sleep&#8221;). When provoked, John had no problems articulating indignation. He had &#8220;a chip on his shoulder that [was] bigger than his feet,&#8221; and John was never reluctant to let those who irked him &#8220;have it,&#8221; with both barrels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In &#8220;And Your Bird Can Sing,&#8221; John is not only angry and frustrated; he\u2019s deeply hurt. In this second song on Side Two of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Revolver<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, John is speaking directly (and harshly) to someone he knows \u2013 someone very close to him, someone whom he feels has betrayed his trust. We know this is the case because John vows in the bridge that no matter how cruel the person is to him,<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Look in my direction,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019ll be \u2019round; I\u2019ll be \u2019round.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In other words, John has no intention of turning his back on the offender. Despite his perceived disloyalty demonstrated by the former friend, John will always be there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, who is the &#8220;bad guy&#8221; in this scenario, and what did he\/she do? Well, as the song unfolds, John gives us numerous (though cryptic) clues to the betrayer\u2019s identity:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The person has &#8220;everything he wants.&#8221; (i.e.: He\u2019s well-to-do: living in a chic locale and driving a prized car. He\u2019s making headlines, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous, and succeeding in his powerful career.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The person has &#8220;seen Seven Wonders.&#8221; (He\u2019s well-traveled. He\u2019s seen the world from the Spanish Riviera to the width and breadth of North America to exotic Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Australia. In John\u2019s eyes, this person has seen it all, done it all. He\u2019s far more cosmopolitan than John, far more polished and experienced).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The person <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">purports<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to &#8220;have heard every sound there is.&#8221; (This tidbit clues us into the fact that the individual in question is involved in the music industry. However, John\u2019s legendary sarcasm here hangs on two words: &#8220;you say.&#8221; John is smirking as he hisses, &#8220;<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You say<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> you\u2019re a music expert. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You say<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> you\u2019ve heard every sound there is.&#8221; We get the feeling that the individual to whom John is singing has made unwelcome suggestions to John about his compositions or performances).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The person has quirky, idiomatic tastes. (Well, after all, his bird <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> green\u2026which leads us to perceive him as exotic and singular for his day).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finally (and most significantly), this individual is extremely important to John. In fact, according to the lyrics, at an earlier point in their relationship, John wrongly assumed this person, &#8220;got him,&#8221; understood him, &#8220;heard him,&#8221; &#8220;saw him.&#8221; Now, in the sunless backlash born of faithlessness, John is striking out via verbal attack.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So\u2026who can it be now? Who fits this five-point profile?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who had a very intimate relationship with John \u2013 so deep that he shared John\u2019s secrets and trusted John with his own? Who had been so close to John that it was rumored by mutual associates such as Yankel Feather and Joe Flannery that a possible love affair might exist between the two? Who had been John\u2019s advocate before possessions, world travels, the myriad demands of business, and the intricate web of power struggles set in? If your answer is &#8220;Brian Epstein,&#8221; then we\u2019re on the same page. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is the reference to the &#8220;green bird&#8221; that really highlights Brian\u2019s identity for us. In Liverpool\u2019s Scouse lingo, a &#8220;baird&#8221; is a term for a girl or a girlfriend. And &#8220;to swing,&#8221; in the 1960s, meant &#8220;to step out from the norm sexually.&#8221; Thus, John\u2019s reference to his friend\u2019s unusual &#8220;green bird&#8221; \u2013 a bird who &#8220;swings&#8221; \u2013 was, in all likelihood, a Lennonistic dig at Brian\u2019s gay relationships. \u00a0On <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Anthology<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> version of this song, when Paul and John sing, &#8220;and your bird can swing,&#8221; they snicker naughtily at their sly double <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">entendre<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Wicked schoolboys both, they are being naughty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If we agree that John is, in fact, addressing &#8220;Eppy&#8221; in this song, a second question immediately arises: what on earth would have caused John to become angry enough with Brian that he penned this attack \u2013 a song only slightly less hostile than &#8220;How Do You Sleep?&#8221; Well, let\u2019s think back:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By 1966, John yearned to stop touring. All of The Beatles did. And although they had expressed that sentiment to Brian over and over again, he had completely ignored them, turned a deaf ear to their pleas. While this was frustrating for Paul and George, it was a personal wound for John.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You see, in December of 1961 \u2013 upon assuming management of The Beatles \u2013 Brian had pledged to Mimi Smith that no matter what happened to the other boys, he would always protect John. He had vowed to work tirelessly to defend her nephew\u2019s best interests. Always. But now, John feels that Brian has stopped putting him first. Consumed with desire for wealth, fame, and power, Brian (John thinks) is pushing The Beatles too hard \u2013 callously demanding new films, tours, singles and LPs, interviews, radio shows, television programmes, and personal appearances. As John might have phrased it, &#8220;He wants work without end, amen!&#8221; And once upon a time, long, long ago\u2026Brian had promised better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hence, &#8220;And Your Bird Can Sing.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;You don\u2019t hear me!&#8221; &#8220;You don\u2019t see me!&#8221; &#8220;You don\u2019t <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">get me<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">!&#8221; John lashes out with real invective, linking each verse with the string of repeating accusations. John sees Brian\u2019s refusal to address his needs as an infidelity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This song, therefore, fits snugly into the &#8220;broken relationships&#8221; theme of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Revolver. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Originally entitled, &#8220;You Don\u2019t Get Me!&#8221; it shatters the giddy mood of &#8220;Good Day Sunshine&#8221; and shoves us back into <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Revolver<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2019s agonies. Track Two, Side One gave us &#8220;Eleanor Rigby.&#8221; Here, in Track Two, Side Two, John and Brian are &#8220;the lonely people,&#8221; standing in a church of broken promises, surrounded by memories from May of 1963, when they vacationed on the Spanish Riviera. During those days, John and Brian had formed a bond &#8212; a friendship born of shared vulnerabilities rarely voiced to anyone else. They had reached out to one another in mutual trust. Now a mere three years later, John is spewing fury over his perceived loss of that trust while Brian steadily continues to pursue the course he feels The Beatles must follow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But for John, having &#8220;everything you want,&#8221; &#8220;seeing Seven Wonders,&#8221; &#8220;knowing every sound there is,&#8221; and owning an exotic green, swinging bird means nothing if, in the process of garnering such success, you sacrifice a friend. Frustrated and fuming, but promising to &#8220;be \u2019round&#8221; when Brian finally hears him, sees him, and gets him once again, John and the others are (for the moment) hanging on. However, the unresolved chord at the end of this song reminds us that in the future, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">anything<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> can happen. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sadly, by August 1967, anything did. Fame exacted its price. And the birdsong fell silent.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.johnlennonseries.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.johnlennonseries.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations &#8212;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/910PubRel\" target=\"_blank\">@910PubRel<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/910pr?_rdr\" target=\"_blank\">910 Public Relations<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The most overlooked and misconstrued song on Revolver is \u201cAnd Your Bird Can Sing.\u201d Far-flung explanations for John Lennon\u2019s seething lyrics point to John\u2019s purported jealousy of Frank Sinatra or his irritation over some failed one-night stand. But a deeper [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[124,98,117],"class_list":["post-6877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baby-boomer-beatles-blog","tag-and-your-bird-can-sing","tag-jude-southerland-kessler","tag-the-beatles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6877"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6883,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6877\/revisions\/6883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}