Help!

Today is the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles fifth LP, Help!, which was in turn a soundtrack album of their second film, also called Help! In this post, I'll discuss both the record and the movie.

First I need to clarify which Help! I'm talking about, as two different versions were released in the U.K. and the U.S. The U.K. version had the songs from the film on Side 1, and other songs on Side 2. The North American release was a true soundtrack, with instrumentals filling in between the songs, and the songs that were on Side 2 were scattered on other U.S. releases. For example, I've always known "I've Just Seen a Face," to be on Rubber Soul, but in the U.K. it was on Help! For the purposes of this blog, and since my CD Beatles' collection is of U.K. versions, that's the one I'll write about.

To me, Help! is the bridge between the "early" Beatles and the "late" Beatles. These guys were still not yet 25, but with Help! reached a kind of maturity, and the songwriting is much more sophisticated. It begins with the title track, which John Lennon wrote because he was told that was the name of the movie. The result was, sonically, a very good pop song, but when the lyrics are examined, one can see the pain he was in:

"When I was younger so much younger than today
I never needed any help in any way
But now those days are gone I'm not so self-assured
Now I find I've changed my mind
I've opened up the door"

Lennon later spoke of the song being a cry for help, that he was in his "fat Elvis" years and really needed assistance. The music also gives the impression of someone sinking into despair, as the George Harrison guitar riffs before each line give the song the quality of descent.

The Beatles had obviously been influenced by Bob Dylan. Supposedly he turned them on to marijuana, but that's probably apocryphal. He did, consciously or not, get them to write songs with a more serious bite. No longer was love puppyish and optimistic--now we got songs like "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," which has Dylan all over it. Lennon also composed one of my favorites, "Ticket to Ride,"  another song about lost love. The Beatles, who were so cheery, were now seeming downright cynical.

Paul McCartney was also writing songs with more bite. "Another Girl" is a kiss-off song where he brags about his new girlfriend to an ex. This is kind of harsh:

"She's sweeter than all the girls and I met quite a few
Nobody in all the world can do what she can do
And so I'm telling you, "This time you'd better stop"
For I have got another girl"

Also on the U.K. version of this album is McCartney's "Yesterday," which is the most covered song in the history of popular music (2,200 covers). He recorded the song without any of the other Beatles, just him and a string quartet. The melody came to him in a dream, and before he wrote lyrics the place-holder title was "Scrambled Eggs." It became a number one hit and perhaps more than other Beatles' song established them as more than just pop idols.

As for the film, it's kind of a glorious mess. They stuck with Richard Lester, who had masterfully directed A Hard Day's Night. This time they had more money and more time, so the film was shot in three different countries. It was an attempt at a kind of humor that the combined elements of the Marx Brothers and The Goon Show, but to me it tries way too hard and the humor is coarser and dumber than A Hard Day's Night.

There are a lot of sight gags, mostly in the Beatles' flats. They all enter through separate entrances, but on the inside we see that it's one large space. Ringo has an automat, Paul has some kind of exotic Wurlitzer-type organ, and George has a carpet made of grass, and a gardener who trims it with Chattering Teeth.

The plot concerns a murderous eastern cult who needs a ring to complete their sacrifices. It happens to be stuck on Ringo's finger, so they chase him for it. Two bumbling scientists (the wonderful Victor Spinetti and Roy Kinnear) get in on the chase, and the Beatles end up in far-off places like Austria and the Bahamas.

They seem to be enjoying themselves during the film, and therein lies the problem: they were stoned throughout the making of it. The filming was described as being shot through a "haze of marijuana." There's not as much banter between the lads as was in the first film, and what there is of it seems sluggish. Too much emphasis is put on the villains than the Beatles, which led John to say that they seemed like extras in their own movie.

Still, the film is groundbreaking in some ways, particular in the evolution of the "music video." Lester, to his consternation, has been called the father of the music video. This all links back to his short film, The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film, which the Beatles admired. He used the techniques of jump cut and unusual framing to insert the songs into the film. The best example is that of "Ticket to Ride," set on the ski slopes of Austria. The Beatles, who didn't know how to ski, are shown frolicking in the powder while the song plays. It set the standard for many videos to come.

Some parts of Help! are torturous to watch, especially for a Beatles fan, but overall it's a pleasant way to kill an hour and a half. There is too much anarchy and too much absurdity (but who can't love that the closing shot is a dedication to Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine--very Pythonesque) but there are great songs and we get to see these great artists when they were young and nearing the peak of their creative powers.