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Obladi Oblada, Why all the hate?


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Okay. Ob La Di Ob La Da always gets a TON of negative heat from everybody from magazines to VC posters and I'm just not understanding why that is. Obviously this song was not written to be a musical masterpiece, but more of a fun, throw away type of song and everybody gets down on it regardless, calling it stupid and talking about how horrible the lyrics are. Is it just because people need to find some sort of "weakness" in the Beatles catalog so this is where they come? I've never understood it.

 

I quite like the song, and especially the story how the piano intro was developed. It's okay for artists to have fun and not have to make every single song a masterpiece of deep emotional depth. I'm sure if you asked Paul McCartney about it, he would say it was a fun song, and nothing more.

 

I'm tired of people shitting all over Desmond and Molly. That's all.

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Guest Speed Racer

I don't care if it's a supposedly weak song or not, I just don't care for it a whole lot. It's not Leave Me Like You Found Me bad, and it's not Rhett Miller's The Believer bad, it's just Rhett Miller's The Instigator bad.

 

It doesn't help that, by and large, I only care for a handful of Paul's songs.

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I don't care if it's a supposedly weak song or not, I just don't care for it a whole lot. It's not Leave Me Like You Found Me bad, and it's not Rhett Miller's The Believer bad, it's just Rhett Miller's The Instigator bad.

 

It doesn't help that, by and large, I only care for a handful of Paul's songs.

i laughed really hard at this post. :lol

what did you think of the self-titled record? most of the songs grew on me after a while.

 

Obladi, Oblada has always been one of my favorite Beatles songs, just because of the story telling side of it. Plus it's fun to dance around the house to when home alone.

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If I were driving down the road and Oblidai Oblada was hitch-hiking, I'd not only pick him up, but I would make him crank himself real loud and we'd rock out. I like the tempo/beat/laughing quality to it. It's a happy tune.

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Guest Speed Racer

what did you think of the self-titled record? most of the songs grew on me after a while.

 

Not counting Mythologies, his solo albums have only deteriorated.

 

The other thing that bothers me about Obladi Oblada is that I always create a mash-up in my head with The Offspring's "Get a Job." ("lemme tell you 'bout my other friend now!")

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I was 13 when I started listening to The Beatles and I think this particular song was especially appealing to a kid. My best friend and I spent that entire summer obsessing over the group, and among other things we attempted to act out various songs. I believe Obladi Oblada involved two stuffed hippos. For that reason alone I will always love it.

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I love the White Album era for managing to take what would be throw away songs for anyone else and turning them into classic. This is no different.

 

I also love how silly they were during this period, and how much of that sneaks into songs.

 

"Desmond lets the children lend a hand

(Arm!)

(FOOT!)"

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Alternate take? Never noticed it.

 

It's actually "Arm, Leg" at that part. When "Molly let's the children lend a hand" John(?) says "foot". I misremembered it, but nonetheless it is there.

 

 

1:42

After the line "lets the children lend a hand", the first time George says "arm", John says "leg"

2:33

After the line "lets the children lend a hand", the second time John says "foot".

 

 

You'll probably appreciate this website:

 

http://wgo.signal11.org.uk/wgo.htm

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I'd probably take it over any Rhett Miller song but that's just me.

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Alternate take? Never noticed it.

 

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

 

It talks about how that came to be in the Beatles Complete Recording Sessions book. I have not read the book in a while, but I also seem to recall that the song was worked on and re-done quite a few times. I want to say that the rest of the band did not get into as much as Paul, but I could be wrong about that.

 

To me, all Beatles songs are magic, some are just more magical than others. I think Paul had heard some ska/reggae music and tried to create a version of that for the band. I think he got the title from some musician he knew, who later went on to sue Paul over the title.

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It's actually "Arm, Leg" at that part. When "Molly let's the children lend a hand" John(?) says "foot". I misremembered it, but nonetheless it is there.

 

 

1:42

After the line "lets the children lend a hand", the first time George says "arm", John says "leg"

2:33

After the line "lets the children lend a hand", the second time John says "foot".

 

 

You'll probably appreciate this website:

 

http://wgo.signal11.org.uk/wgo.htm

Huh. I had always heard those, but had never listened? I never knew that's what they were saying, I just figured they were random shouts.

 

I also only realized recently that John was saying "In" in Revolution, after he sings "don't you know that you count me out (in)." I think I had always assumed he was saying "anyway" with the rest of the word trailing off.

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Huh. I had always heard those, but had never listened? I never knew that's what they were saying, I just figured they were random shouts.

 

I also only realized recently that John was saying "In" in Revolution, after he sings "don't you know that you count me out (in)." I think I had always assumed he was saying "anyway" with the rest of the word trailing off.

 

Yeah, I'm with you Winston. Never realized thats what they were saying on Oba-Di.

 

As for Revolution though, I knew he was saying "in" and frankly I think that's what makes the song for me. When John says "out (in)" I just about lose it every time.

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Guest Runaway Jim

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

I think he got the title from some musician he knew, who later went on to sue Paul over the title.

 

PAUL 1984: "A fella who used to hang around the clubs used to say, (Jamaican accent) 'Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on,' and he got annoyed when I did a song of it, 'cuz he wanted a cut. I said, 'Come on, Jimmy, it's just an expression. If you'd written the song, you could have had a cut.' He also used to say, 'Nothin's too much, just outta sight.' He was just one of those guys who had great expressions, you know."
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