The Beatles in India and The White Album

Ian Debono

The Beatles were one of the greatest and most influential bands of all time.

On their rise to fame, they reached groundbreaking record sales, releasing 12 studio albums in the span of 10 years. Ever expanding their sound, The Beatles departed from their early rock ‘n roll love songs and extended into psychedelics and even newer genres. However, they did not reach these new territories all by themselves; they drew directly from the environment around them. During the period of writing their self-titled album, The Beatles, often referred to as The White Album, they took the liberty to write songs that were more raw and responded directly to people, the press, and political issues.

In 1965, The Beatles’ were first introduced to Indian culture during their filming of Help! In one of the scenes, they were in an Indian restaurant with corresponding musicians playing their instruments, and George Harrison was so enthralled by the sound of their music that he bought Ravi Shankar’s record. Harrison later got his own sitar which he described as “real crummy” (The Beatles and India, 1), which first appeared in their song “Norwegian Wood.” In 1967, Harrison’s wife at the time, Pattie Boyd, went to see Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an Indian guru, lecture about Transcendental Meditation at Caxton Hall in London. Inspired, she encouraged Harrison to see him speak at the Hilton Hotel, so Paul McCartney and John Lennon accompanied them to the Maharishi’s lecture on August 24, 1967. Boyd described the Maharishi as “every bit as impressive as I thought he would be, and we were spellbound” (The Beatles and India, 1-2). The next day, they went to Bangor, Wales to attend his ten-day seminar series which they left prematurely due to their manager, Brian Epstein’s, death (The Beatles and India, 1-2).

In February, 1968, The Beatles traveled to Rishikesh in India to learn under the guidance of the Maharishi. Lennon and Harisson, along with their wives, landed there on the 16th, while McCartney, Ringo Starr, and their partners arrived on the 20th. Their daily routine consisted of 90-minutes lectures and several meditation sessions that grew increasingly long. According to Boyd, Lennon and Harrison were the most invested in the camp, meditating for hours at a time. Meanwhile, Lennon grew very distant from his wife Cynthia, all the while pursuing Yoko Ono who was writing to him from England everyday (The Beatles and India, 3-5).

In Rishikesh, due to Starr’s sensitivity to spicy food and aversion to the insects, Starr and his wife left ten days after arriving. Soon after, McCartney and his girlfriend left after a month of their stay. Lennon and Harrison, on the other hand, stayed until April 12th when Alexis Mardas, a friend of The Beatles, claimed that the Maharishi was “behaving improperly” with one of the women at the camp. Enraged, John and “the whole gang of [them,] the next day[,] charged down to his hut” and he said, “We’re leaving[...] If you’re so cosmic, you’ll know why” (The Beatles and India, 6). Not only was he upset about the supposed scandal, he had felt that the Maharishi had used The Beatles to draw publicity “[feeling] that, for a spiritual man, the Maharishi had too much interest in public recognition, celebrities and money” (The Beatles and India, 6). As Susan Shumsky explains,

“I mean, just imagine this contract being signed behind your back, and you don’t even know about it. Early in the morning, bed-headed, bleary-eyed John Lennon opens the door to his bungalow, and there’s a cameraman and a director yelling, ‘Action!’ And now you’re supposed to be a two-bit player in someone else’s film, and meanwhile, your crew is sitting in Delhi waiting to come to Rishikesh to do your film, and there’s another crew that shows up, ‘Lights, camera, action,’ you know. … I think they really felt they were being used…. They felt that Maharishi had been using them for publicity all along” (Sokol).

She confirms that it is true that the Maharishi used them “because he became very popular as a result of his association with a little help from his friends, the Beatles. But Maharishi became massively

more famous in the 1970s, years after the Beatles walked out on him” (Sokol). From this rage birthed a new song from Lennon as he was waiting for his ride out of Rishikesh. He sang, “Maharishi, what have you done? You made a fool of everyone.” Harrison thought these lyrics were absurd and suggested he change the lines to “Sexy Sadie.” After some convincing, Lennon recorded and released the song as “Sexy Sadie” on The White Album (The Beatles and India, 6).

While there in Rishikesh, Lennon learned a fingerpicking technique from Donovan, a singer and songwriter, which he would use in future Beatles songs including “Dear Prudence,” “Julia,” “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” and “Octopus’s Garden.” In “Dear Prudence,” this fingerpicking style “was the first ingredient necessary[.]” The song begins with Lennon’s newly learned fingerpicking pattern where each sequence of notes descends in pitch each measure until it reaches the sequence of notes that repeat. However, here the bass note in the pattern descends each measure and repeats every four measures, setting the foundation for the song. With the addition of bass, drums, and lead guitar, the song steadily builds in energy, reaching a climax when the drums explode and depart from its former structural pattern. After this climax, the song resolves with the same fingerpicking pattern from the introduction of the song.

However, not only is this song beautiful in structure but also in its personal message embedded within lyrics. At the camp, Lennon had attempted to persuade another individual in the program, Prudence Farrow, to take a break from her excessive meditations and enjoy life outside of mediation. Prudence herself explains,

“I was very focused on getting in as much meditation as possible, so that I could gain enough experience to teach it myself. I knew that I must have stuck out because I would always rush straight back to my room after lectures and meals so that I could meditate” (Rybaczewski).

She had meditated so much that she had reached a catatonic state and couldn't recognize anyone besides the Maharishi, so Lennon and Harrison were asked to persuade her out of her room. Lyrics such as “Won’t you come out to play,” “Won’t you open up your eyes,” and “Greet the brand new day” are examples of how Lennon had tried to persuade her out of her room (Rybaczewski).

Later in London, around the time of the recording session for “Dear Prudence,” feeling insecure and left out, Starr quit the band. Without a proper drummer for the band, McCartney drummed in Starr’s absence for a few songs including “Dear Prudence” (Dear Prudence). However, Lennon, Harrison, and McCartney soon realized how much they needed Starr and sent him a telegram message expressing their appreciation for him and asking for his return. When he came back to the studio, he found his kit decorated with flowers spelling out “Welcome Back, Ringo” (Lifton). Though there is no record of Starr working on ”Dear Prudence,” I firmly believe that his playing appears as an overdub at the climax of “Dear Prudence” where the drum fills and playing style sound strikingly similar to that of Starr’s.

“Helter Skelter,” by McCartney, was a song written in response to an interview of Pete Townsend about The Who’s song “I Can See For Miles'' which had been described as “dirty, gritty, and unlike anything of its time” (Hollerith), and “they’re screaming their heads off” (McGuinness: Helter Skelter). However, after listening to the record, McCartney was left discontent as the song was not as “dirty and gritty” as he had thought, so he decided to write his own “screaming record” (McGuinness: Helter Skelter). Often called “the first-ever heavy metal song,” “Helter Skelter” was a project to create “the heaviest Beatles track yet,” which underwent many different versions with their longest jam lasting 27 minutes. However, still lacking in its energy and sound, they cranked up the volumes of the guitars and drums to as loud as they could. As Paul explains,

“We got the engineers and [the producer] to hike up the drum sound and really get it as loud and horrible as it could and we played it and said, ‘No, it still sounds too safe, it’s got to get louder and dirtier’” (McGuinness: Helter Skelter).

During the recording sessions, Starr had drummed so hard that he yelled, “I’ve got blisters on my fingers!” which can be heard in the stereo release of the song. This song is a great example of how The Beatles constantly pushed the sonic limits, inspiring the next generation (McGuinness: Helter Skelter).

Next, “Blackbird” is a song that was written after McCartney’s stay in Rishikesh. Featuring dyads, or two notes played together, in intervals of thirds and an octave apart, this fingerpicking song was inspired by a classical work by Bach (Blackbird). In this song, McCartney’s lyrics sing in compassion towards black women during the civil rights movement. In his words, “this was really a song from me to a black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: ‘Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope’” (Blackbird). However, the lyrics are metaphorical, using a blackbird as a symbol of a black woman “so you could apply it to your particular problem” (Blackbird).

“Revolution” is a song that was written by Lennon in response to all the political turmoil that occurred while The Beatles were away in India. In Paris, student demonstrations took place causing president de Gaulle to leave, turning to military generals for “[fear of an] all-out civil war.” Civil reform movements occuring in Czechoslovakia were “destabilizing the country.” Demonstrators against the Vietnam war in London “clashed with riot police.” And in the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robbert Kennedy’s assassination led to an uprise in anti-war and civil rights protestor’s battle with the police (McGuinness: Revolution). By this point, Lennon had felt that The Beatles’ political voice had been contained for too long by their manager, Brian Epstein, so in his song “Revolution,” he decided it was time to speak up. As Lennon says,

“For years, on The Beatles’ tours, Brian Epstein had stopped us from saying anything about Vietnam or the war. And he wouldn’t allow questions about it. But on one of the last tours, I said, ‘I am going to answer about the war. We can’t ignore it.’ I absolutely wanted The Beatles to say something about the war” (Revolution).

In this song, with lyrics such as, “but when you talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out,” and, “don't you know it's gonna be alright,” it is clear Lennon stood against the violence, and carried an optimistic view of “God will save us,” likely stemming from the culture at the Maharishi camp (Revolution).

There were three versions of this song which Lennon described as, “two songs and one abstract” (McGuinness: Revolution). The original version, titled “Revolution 1,” was a slower and “bluesier” version of the song that appears on The White Album. Lennon had wanted it as a single, however McCartney and Harrison were opposed to it saying that it wasn’t fast enough (Revolution). To satisfy their demands, Lennon sped the tempo of the song making it more upbeat and more rock. In his own words, “On the one I released as a single, we did it in a much more commercial style” (McGuinness: Revolution). Additionally, the original lyric from “Revolution 1” was sung, “don’t you know that you can count me out,” abruptly followed by an “in.” However, this was taken out to avoid backlash. As Lennon explains, “I left out the ‘count me in.’ Because I’m a coward – I don’t want to be killed” (McGuinness: Revolution).

It is evident how much The Beatles pulled from their experiences by looking at the songs that appear in The White Album. With rich stories behind their songs, they were able to push

Though many would consider The White Album inconsistent and incohesive, this album is a substantial collection of experimental works including some considerably groundbreaking songs. Certainly, it is evident how impactful The Beatles were through these songs’ stories. Channeling the experiences from Rishikesh as well as the events stirring up around the rest of the world, they pushed their sound to new limits and created more personal works that responded to people and their ideas. These are the stories that helped craft this album and make for an even richer listening experience.

Works Cited

“The Beatles and India.” The Beatles Bible, 30 Sept. 2020, www.beatlesbible.com/features/india/.

“Blackbird.” The Beatles Bible, 12 Jan. 2021, www.beatlesbible.com/songs/blackbird/.

“Dear Prudence.” The Beatles Bible, 12 Jan. 2021, www.beatlesbible.com/songs/dear-prudence/.

Hollerith, Elizabeth. “Behind the Song: The Beatles, ‘Helter Skelter.’” American Songwriter, 27 Nov. 2019, americansongwriter.com/behind-the-song-the-beatles-helter-skelter/.

Lifton, Dave. “When Ringo Starr Temporarily Quit the Beatles.” Ultimate Classic Rock, Ultimate Classic Rock, 21 Aug. 2020, ultimateclassicrock.com/ringo-starr-temporarily-quits-the-beatles/.

McGuinness, Paul. “Helter Skelter: The Story Behind The Song: UDiscover.” UDiscover Music, 9 Sept. 2020, www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/helter-skelter-story-behind-song/.

McGuinness, Paul. “Revolution: The Story Behind The Beatles' Song: UDiscover.” UDiscover Music, 9 July 2020, www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/revolution-story-behind-song-beatles/.

“Revolution.” The Beatles Bible, 14 Apr. 2020, www.beatlesbible.com/songs/revolution/.

Rybaczewski, Dave. “‘Dear Prudence’ Song by The Beatles. The in-Depth Story behind the Songs of The Beatles. Recording History. Songwriting History. Song Structure and Style.” BEATLES MUSIC HISTORY!, www.beatlesebooks.com/dear-prudence.

Sokol, Tony. “Maharishi & Me: The Secrets of The Beatles Guru.” Den of Geek, 13 Feb. 2019,