Hey Bulldog - Reviews

Reviewed by Ian MacDonald, in Revolution in the Head:

Convened for the purpose of filming a promo for LADY MADONNA, this session evolved into a new track. Lennon had a half-sketched idea entitled 'Hey Bullfrog' which he showed to McCartney - upon which they finished it and spent the day recording it for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. Based on a variation of MONEY, the song is bluesy after the fashion of LADY MADONNA, and follows THE FOOL ON THE HILL in moving to the minor for its chorus. The lyric, which Lennon claimed to be meaningless and which was to some extent rationalised during the session [1], is actually, like that of I AM THE WALRUS, rather menacingly pointed (possibly at McCartney). The unbalanced mix emphasises an overspontaneous bass-line, but the rest, particularly Lennon's scathing delivery of the rising augmented chorus, is rawly exciting. Showing how fast he could snap out of introversion, HEY BULLDOG signals the end of his dissociated acid phase. It also opens the final phase in The Beatles' career in that present throughout the day's recording was his future muse, Yoko Ono.

Notes:

  1. The line 'measured out in you' began as 'measured out in news'. (McCartney made this improvement by affecting to have misread Lennon's handwriting.)

Posted: 15 mei 2011

Other reviews by: