Greatest Songs Ever #1: A Day In The Life
This is my first post about music. I love The Beatles. I promise not to go on about The Beatles. I am going to focus instead on the purpose of this post, which is to talk about the best song of all time: A Day In The Life, by The Beatles. I kid about it being the best song of all time, I do not feel worthy to designate such a mantle. I am generally averse to declaring favorites when it comes to my indulgences, I like ‘em all. However if asked to select the greatest song of all time, at this moment, A Day In The Life would be it.
A Day In The Life is worthy, more than I am to nominate it so, more than any other song that would fill its place. The song employs the classic LenMac combination in writing, singing, playing as well as in theme. The first and final sequences, written and sung by Lennon, envisage daily occurrences that John read about in the newspaper. With light percussion in the background, Lennon’s ghostly, echoing voice sings over a rhythmic piano, slowly melting into harmony. Then, against the harmony backdrop, the song lifts into a cacophonous crescendo.
The bridge emerges from the orchestral crescendo as a piano, a bell and a voice. The voice is Paul’s and the bell, the lyrics divulge, is that of an alarm clock. Paul’s part takes us further into a day in the life; thematically bridging from a day in the life of the world to a day in the life of a man. At its very essence, the difference between John’s verses and Paul’s bridge is indicative of the difference between the two men. John’s pursuit of personal happiness was clouded by the troubles of the world, reflected in his protest songs and defiant persona. Paul was not ‘of the world’ in the same way John was. Paul was more reflective on the intricate universalities of human emotion, as opposed to the current realities of world events.
To get the full effect of this dichotomy, listen to the song through stereo headphones. I just got my first iPod and so hadn’t done so until recently. The voices of the singers change sides. John’s intro verse comes primarily from the right ear, then drifts left. Paul’s voice, during the bridge, comes from the right. John’s voice cuts in at the end of the bridge in an undulating underscore to the second crescendo. His resonating, “aaaaah” drifts from right to left, and then back again, as his pitch rises and falls.
A Day In The Life is a study in The Beatles, its members, and the world in which they lived. The song merely recounts the headlines and tells you what someone did when he got up in the morning. But the song is so much more. By examining the smallness of life, contrasted with the bigness of world events, the song is at once universal and intensely personal. Through creativity, dynamism and deep inflection, A Day In The Life is a 5 minute and 33 second opus. Of which the Beatles have many.
Tags: a day in the life, Beatles, John Lennon, Pael McCartney, sgt. pepper, song
