Day 42 – Hollywood and Blue
The continuing adventures of “Eric’s Trip Around the Sun”. One final trip with the iPod.
Author’s Note: We are in the midst of an iPod failure, one at which the iPod is currently in on partial life support. The hard drive is intact and in good shape but the audio abilities appear to be in jeopardy. Stay Tuned.
Beyond all the hits and #1 singles of the Beatles, I’ve always been fascinated at moments that they pushed the boundaries of psychedelic rock in at weird moments. Consider the track Blue Jay Way, which btw, was written by George Harrison, as being one of the more underrated tracks in the Beatles canon of work. It’s definitely the best song on the Magical Mystery Tour EP.
As is often the case, I’m privy to providing a copy of a live performance or something that gets my fancy. I am in agreement with one of the commentators on YouTube, that this song is so good, that you cannot ruin it.
It was not the song that inspired me to buy the CD; that would be ‘Strawberry Fields’ and ‘I am the Walrus’. It was not the first track that I buried my head into when first listening to the album but I do remember about 15 years ago listening to this track on repeat, admiring it’s subtle beauty among some relative all-stars.
It’s contained on an album that is a mish-mosh of material. Half of the album, a soundtrack to a fairly experimental film project that was trying to feel “Fellini-esque”, although I do have to admit to getting a kick out of it when my wife and I watched it with our son Dylan about a year ago. He had immediately fallen in love with “Coo Coo Ca Choo”. The second half of the album is a collection of singles that the Beatles released in 1967.
It might be that about the time that this song was being played on repeat was about the same time that I was dabbling into the music of ‘The Olivia Tremor Control,’ the Elephant 6 experimental psychedelic band from Athens, GA. You could make the argument that the band took this song and made an entire career deconstructing this song for their liking; using that feeling that the songs were recorded underwater.
It’s not just the music but the lyrics as well, which for Blue Jay Way, which just give that illusion that they were influenced by drugs.
For me, this song is another reminder of the brilliant career of George Harrison.
• Radiohead – Blow Out
• Elvis Costello – Blue Chair
• Darker My Love – Blue Day
• New Order – Blue Monday