Octopus’s Garden –
Esther Ku
Octopus’s Garden
Roger 3.0 Version recorded March 13, 2011; original version recorded 1969.
Esther Ku: Vocals
Roger Greenawalt: Ukulele
Recorded Live On The Beach in front of Ken Murray’s house, Palm City Florida.
Essay by Roger Greenawalt
About the Song
Sometimes you do things in bands that are exercises in group solidarity which come at the expense of absolute quality control. Maybe the rhythm guitarist is not really a good enough musician to be in the band. Plus he’s fat and dresses badly. But he owns the van, has a kick ass PA, and his sister is super hot. So not only is he in the band, he needs to take a featured extended solo at some point in the middle of the second set. And hard as this is for an art snob like me to admit, living human beings are ultimately more important than the grim pursuit of abstract solipsistic creative excellence. And apparently, other people actually exist. They must be cared for. And fed.
So in a sense, Ringo Starr, by dint of being such a great hang, solid drummer, and possessing a winning, self deprecating, and appealing personality, in a sense, owned the van. His following and status demanded a bone be thrown his way on every album. That he had bandmates who were the best composers of popular song ever with the best most believable voices ever makes the comparative weakness of his contributions in both areas all the more acidly clear.
Bone throwing explains the existence of the very worst Beatles song, a Ringo original, Don’t Pass Me By, from The White Album. Another thrown boner, Octopus’s Garden is right up there, a close contender for Beatles song with the highest what the fuck cringe factor. And to be fair, by being about an animal and having a borderline retarded and simple melody and chord structure, it does function as serviceable children’s entertainment. O.G. is dumb enough for a toddler to comprehend. But for me it is such a drag, that along with Maxwell’s Silver Hammer it is occupying space on what is otherwise the most accomplished and advanced Beatle Album, Abbey Road. SO HERE I AM ON AN AIRPLANE FLYING TO SXSW WRITING ABOUT THIS PIECE OF SHIT IN 2011. The drag that never dies.
Heading to the Bible Belt reminds one that The Beatles in their way have a lot in common with Jesus. Not just the superficial truth that art and science now replaces the explanatory and transcendent function that religion formerly occupied in Western Society, that is true enough and is becoming truer everyday. The essential similarity between Beatles and Jesus is that the reaction to their respective brief ministries has been so crucial and important to the lives of millions. It is the ongoing perpetual influence of a scant few years work that is the real miracle.
OK I’ve put the tune on repeat until this essay is done. Why don’t you put on headphones and listen along with me on repeat. Go ahead take a minute.
Darlings one note, if you are listening along on headphones, always put the side with the wire on your left ear. It matters what is left or right, as much in music as in English.
Here’s a question. When did the trope of tremolo become the sound effect for watery? Underwater sound is weird in a different way in real life, it does not exhibit tremolo. And yet tremolo is universally accepted as the water effect. What was the first usage of this? Similarly, we in the studio racket describe reverb or echo on an element as “wet”. Here again, water does not create reverb, it is hard, large physical spaces, churches and mountains that create natural echo. This has nothing to do with water. These and other technical questions trouble me on a regular basis.
Let’s listen tougher. I do like the actual bubbling liquid sound design. That is ahead of it’s time. The production is slick, as is true on every Abbey Road song. The background harmonies in verse two are superb, their entrance is the best moment. John’s voice in falsetto, his emerging signature vocal sound, is predominant. Now an alternative version of Octopus’s Garden is playing, marginalia from one of the Anthology records. I really don’t want to listen to this version, but it is instructive. Stripped of the excellent pop production this song just stinks. It’s dirty old man creepy to boot. No charm whatsoever.
OK thank god we are back on the Abbey Road version. Great piano sound, very Rocky Raccoon. Busy bass, so typical of McCartney on this album, he really was full of himself. Awesome, but full of himself. The squishiness of the snare drum splat is so satisfying, the kick drum is pretty thin, but present and clear. The entire drum kit is compressed hard, probably on a Fairchild. Very unnatural, and beautiful. Good guitar sound and part at the top. Lucious reverb on the vocal, left channel arpeggio guitar also wet, and very chorusy. John’s tremolo vocals in the bridge pan from left to right and back again. Sounds should move around more in mixes, they have souls, they have free wills, they should be free too and explore the world like us. Not just sit in the right speaker because they were born there. Or because you are trying to emulate the sound of a real world room as opposed to just getting on with making loudspeaker paintings and accepting the reality that you are in an magical imaginary electronic sonic landscape where anything can happen. Another concept that the Beatles team basically invented.
I love English, there are so many funny words in English. Like OCTOPUS.
I also love the story about the Paul The German Octopus who correctly predicted the winner of last The World Cup. So early Internet Era. That is to say, the current era. And you know what is an also an Octopus’ Garden?
Alison Clancy’s* mouth!
* major early internet era star, front person of Electric Child, post modern dance pioneer, circa 2011-2069.
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Esther Ku is a comedian, actress, and musician. Ku recently wrapped filming on The Cookout 2 with Ja Rule, Wendy Williams, Charlie Murphy, Vivica Fox, and Faizon Love. For more on Ku, click here.