Ah, Ah Mr. Heath

Edward Heath, former Conservative prime minister of Great Britain*, is dead at age 89.

The obits are all touting his chief accomplishment as his early '70s bringing Britain* into the Common Market, which evolved into today's European Union.

But a generation of Americans (and, one suspects, Brits too) who can barely recall a pre-Margaret Thatcher leader of England but many Beatles tunes doubtless remember Heath as one of the bad eggs from the lyrics of George Harrison's "Taxman."

*: Corrected re: Hakluyt's remarks in comments section.

Bonus material: Go here for why we remember the Beatles more than their home country's politicians. Go here for my thoughts about George Harrison's artistic slide.

Comments

[Hakluyt]

Nick Gillespie,

Britain got into the Common Market because de Gaulle was no longer President of France. 🙂

And he brought Britain in, not just England. 🙂

[Mr. Nice Guy]

A bit of trivia:

Paul McCartney plays the lead guitar on that Harrison tune. His arguement was pretty much "Well, you're lead on all MY songs". Even though George only got one or two tracks per album.

Poor George.

[Dave Straub]

George chafed for years under Paul's command. It was that master vs. servant relationship that made George walk out on the band during the creation of the Let It Be film and album. No surprise, then, that George's first proper solo album, All Things Must Pass, was six LP sides and almost entirely excellent, if a bit overproduced by Phil Spector.

Unfortunately, except for a couple of glimmers in the mid-late 70s, it was clear that was the brief peak of George's ex-Beatle output.

[joe]

C'mon, Dave, who DOESN'T want to here the phrase "I've got my mind set on you" repeated seven hundred times consecutively?

[Phil]

Other great Paul McCartney lead guitar moments in the Beatles ouvre:

Another Girl
Ticket To Ride
Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite (that loopy section just prior to the last verse that sounds like a trumpet or Mellotron)
The End

Dave, Living In The Material World is a pretty good album too. "Give Me Love," "The Lord Loves The One" and "Sue Me, Sue You Blues" are as good as the stuff on All Things Must Pass.

[Phil]

JFTR, "Got My Mind Set On You" was a cover of some obscure '60s R&B tune. That album wasn't without its merits, either; "Just For Today," "Devil's Radio," "Wreck of the Hesperus" . . . all good tunes.

[Hakluyt]

Nick,

Sorry about the pedantry. After I read the write-up I could just see all my Welsh and Scottish friends howling in pain. 🙂

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Also, "The Ballad of John and Yoko" is all Lennon and McCartney on instruments. They locked George and Ringo out of the studio.

[Jesse Walker]

And the orchestra in "A Day in the Life"? Yoko played every single intrument, except for poor Ringo's triangle.

[Evan McElravy]

And he brought Britain in, not just England. 🙂

Also N. Ireland, which is not in Britain at all, Great or otherwise.

[David]

C'mon, Dave, who DOESN'T want to here the phrase "I've got my mind set on you" repeated seven hundred times consecutively?

Thanks a lot, Joe. Just the song I needed to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

[Hakluyt]

Evan McElravy,

Well, traditionally Ireland is part of the "British Isles," but I wouldn't tell anyone from Galway that. 🙂

[joe]

Hell, don't tell anyone from Boston that!

[Leo Strauss]

Not to be picky, but the country's official name is neither England nor Grat Britain, but the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, UK for short.

[Aram]

If we're going to be precise about names, wouldn't it be the United Kingdom (of Great Britain AND Northern Ireland) since it, rather than Great Britain alone (i.e., without Northern Ireland) joined the EU?

[SR]

"C'mon, Dave, who DOESN'T want to here the phrase 'I've got my mind set on you' repeated seven hundred times consecutively?"

Weird Al's parody of "I've Got My Mind Set on You" really nails it, although he gets the number of words wrong:

This song is just six words long
This song is just six words long
This song is just six words long
This song is just six words long

Couldn't think of any lyrics
No I never wrote the lyrics
So I'll just sing any old lyrics
That come to mind, child

You really need words
Whole lotta rhyming words
You gotta rhyme so many words, mm-mm
To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it
To do it, to do it right, child

This song is just six words long
This song is just six words long
This song is just six words long
This song is just six words long

I know that you're probably sore
'Cause I didn't write any more
I just didn't get to complete it
So that's why I gotta repeat it

This song is just six words long (six words long)
This song is just six words long (six words long)

Oh I make a lotta money
They pay me a ton of money
They're payin' me plenty of money
To sing this song, child

I gotta fill time
Three minutes worth of time
Oh, how will I fill so much time, mm-mm
I'll throw in a solo, a solo, a solo
A solo, a solo here

This song is just six words long
This song is just six words long
This song is just six words long
This song is just six words long

This song's got nothin' to say
But I'm recording it anyway
I know if I put my mind to it
I know I could find a good rhyme here

Oh, you gotta have-a music
You need really catchy music
This song has got plenty of music
But just six words, child

And so I'll sing' em over
And over and over and over
And over and over and over, mm-mm
And over and over and over
And over and over and over again

Six words long, six words long
Six words long, six words long
Six words long, six words long

This song is just six words long
It's just six words long
***

[angrycelt]

Anglo-Saxons out of Prydain, roight now!

And take the Jutes wit' ya!

[The Wine Commonsewer]

Nick, good obit, didn't see it before. Harrison did okay with the Wilburys, but yer sure right about the rest of that crap. And who can forget the sign on his gate that essentially said fuck all americans.

[Eric D. Dixon]

Weird Al's parody of "I've Got My Mind Set on You" really nails it, although he gets the number of words wrong:

I'm late enough in responding that very few people will likely see this, but... the number of words is right if you contract "Song Is" to "Song's, as Weird Al did in the title of his parody:

"This Song's Just Six Words Long"