1968 The Beatles: Lady Madonna

By 1968, the main instigators of the psychedelic movement had turned their backs on the genre to return home to some more basic roots. Dylan had already released the folk influenced 'John Wesley Harding' (and would shortly go all out country on 'Nashville Skyline'), The Byrds pioneered country rock on 'Sweetheart Of The Rodeo'. The Rolling Stones, never comfortable with psychedelia in the first place, produced the raw blues of 'Beggars Banquet' before heading into darker waters still while The Beatles decamped to India to follow the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi before releasing the stripped down double 'The Beatles/The White Album'.

Before that though came 'Lady Madonna', which in itself was a conscious move toward the style of music that inspired the band to pick up guitars in the first place. McCartney is on record as saying he was aiming for a Fats Domino, deep south rolling rhythm in writing it and on that level at least it succeeds. But that's part of the problem I think - 'Lady Madonna' sounds more a studious exercise in songcraft than the sound of a band with anything on its mind. McCartney knew the sound he wanted, but then having nailed it had no set plan on what to do with it. So rather than let it coast on a boogie woogie groove, 'Lady Madonna' gets embellished with the usual fattening studio trickery including the band mimicking a brass section by blowing through their cupped hands (really).

And that's fine as an exercise with something with the throwaway nature of 'Hello, Goodbye', but 'Lady Madonna' comes with a central narrative that presents a curious mix of sympathy and meanness - is McCartney expressing admiration for the put upon the mother juggling life's problems, or is there a snide, Daily Mail put down ("Who finds the money when you pay the rent, did you think that money was heaven sent?") of such feckless lifestyles? In fairness it's probably neither; McCartney is celebrating motherhood in the round and like 'Eleanor Rigby' before it, 'Lady Madonna' is purely song as observation, albeit not observation drawn with sufficient clarity that we know exactly what it is we are looking at. Which, taking on board it's already aping tone, makes it a lazy release with only McCartney's still functioning ear for melody keeping it afloat.