The Beatles — the semiotics
More than 50 years and numerous songs later, it still seems like yesterday, when 4 men from Liverpool embarked on a journey to take the world by storm. They were young, uncanny and they knew their craft. They were the Fab 4, John, Paul, George and Ringo, the Beatles. While a lot has been said and written about their music, this piece focuses on the influence of their album covers, the stories behind them and the secret language of semiotics*.
Back in 1960s, album covers were one of the few mediums for generating interest, it was both a form of advertising and marketing. The Beatles are considered to be the trendsetters in this form of art. They effectively made use of intentional placement and arrangement of messages to attract and retain the attention of their audience.
This analysis is an effort to study semiotics in relation to their journey. Each of these albums is an important milestone, showing their growth, their evolution, their adaptation to the changing cultural trends, their extraordinary success and the occasional failure.
The growing together
‘With the Beatles’ was the first Beatles album released in North America in 1963, it marks the early years of the band, of their fandom and influence. John Lennon was the oldest, most refined musician in the Beatles at that time and was promptly accepted as the leader of the band. The Beatles of 1963 were young and new to the stage, wore mop top hairstyles and complimented them with mod black suits. They were looking to win over America but in a completely non-American way. Passion for music had united this talented quartet, friendship however had not yet found its way.
The album cover here is black and white, the band name is not displayed anywhere on the cover, the title is displayed at the top in white. The layout here is horizontal; one enters the picture from the left, through John Lennon, following the trajectory from there, witnessing George, then Paul and finally Ringo, finishing at the bottom right hand corner. The illumination of the left half of the faces, the shadowing of the right half, is the possible representation of the first quarter of the moon, an indication of this group being ‘new’ and ‘young’. The black and white album cover and the absence of smiles, creates a sense of mystery, leaving one with a longingness to resolve it. While the slightly more illuminated face of Lennon makes him stand apart from the group, the horizontal layout of the frame and the similar suits, make them blend together.
The ride to the top
By the time, ‘St. Pepper’s lonely hearts club band’ was released in 1967, the Beatles had become comfortable with stardom; they had found their voices and had polished their craft. They were now equals and friends. This album is widely recognized as one of the earliest concept albums to have been produced, marking an era of maturity and musical prowess for the Beatles, an era that was defined by the critics as the ‘elevation of pop to the level of fine art’.
This album cover, when looked at closely is symbolic of ‘death’ or the end of the earlier Beatles era giving way to a new one. While the central position is occupied by the 4 Beatles in colored clothing, on the sidelines, the wax figure of Ringo is shown grieving looking at the flower bed with John consoling him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Flower bed in the cover pic is symbolic of the funeral of the previous era of the Beatles. While in the previous album cover, John comes across as the head of the group, in this album cover, no one member is at the lead.
In the same year, the Beatles made their famous visit to India. ‘The Magical Mystery Tour’ was released later that year.
Unlike the previous album, in this John is again at the front, retaking his position as the group lead. The four artistes are covered in different animal clothing, probably as a representation of their individuality. The four artists are dressed as animals, John as a walrus, Paul as hippo, George as bunny and Ringo as chicken. Here again the walrus is a symbol of death. The figure of death is repeated across various Beatles’ album covers, here and later in Abbey road.
The beginning of the end
The Beatles visit to India is said to have been instrumental in the progress of their music. It is said that each one of them went through varied spiritual experiences during this time, making them view their music in new light. After this, they could no longer settle within the confines of being the Beatles. Their creative differences became more profound by the day. During this phase the Beatles also lost Brian Epstein, the man who had discovered the Beatles and later on became their manager. His untimely death was a major emotional blow. Now without a manager, and a trusted friend, handling business affairs fell on the shoulders of the band members. Noncompliance in matters of creativity and finance were two reasons that eventual led to the fallout of the band.
The album, ‘The Beatles’, was released in 1968, in the wake of growing tension among the band members. Most of the songs in the album were written during the Beatles’ stay in Rishikesh. The creative differences became more apparent than ever before, their music however survived and blossomed even through the agony. The white cover once again showcases the Beatles to be unconventional in their approach, coming up with a concept that aptly represented the shift in the attitude of the society at large, a shift from the ‘fancy’ to the ‘elegant’. The white in the album cover is a fresh change from the earlier album covers of the band, moving away from the uncertainty of the rainbow colors, symbolizing purity and neutrality.
Another reason for the usage of the white album cover could be that the Beatles had wanted to wash away the failure of their previous album, ‘Magical mystery tour’, and start afresh.
‘The Abbey road’ was released in 1969 and is an iconic album for several reasons. One being that it portrays a funeral procession.
In the cover, John is in the lead wearing a white suit representing God, Ringo is next in line in his black suit, as the undertaker, he is followed by Paul who is barefoot representing the deceased, the last in line is George in rugged clothing representing the grave digger. At this time there were rumors floating of Paul being dead and having been replaced by a similar looking person. The cover shows Paul walking barefoot and being out of step with the others, which is considered to be a symbol for the deceased. Though this is said to have been unintentional, it sparked off conversations, adding fuel to fire.
Also, unlike the previous album covers, in this one the Beatles are in motion following one another. By this time relationships had deteriorated and the Beatles had lost all ambition. It is said that the Beatles felt they had seen it all, there was nothing left to prove, they had achieved it all. For this album, the group abandoned their original title of Everest, along with a shoot in the Himalayas, and were photographed instead walking away from the Abbey road studios and everything they had once shared. This proved to be their penultimate album.
‘Let it be’ was the last album the group recorded together. The cover doesn’t say much, it just pictures the Fab 4. The lack of voice and appeal here is more disheartening than any news of breaking up of the band. It is a strong statement that the band was no longer functional, that it was indeed the end of an era.
The Beatles might have walked away from all glory in April 1970 but no other band till date has been more celebrated, more loved. To say the least, the Beatles were fascinating; you didn’t have to be a music lover or hear their songs or be born in the same era as them to get wrapped up in Beatlemania. Their charm was undeniable and transcended boundaries. Millions of people around the world still fondly remember the times when the 4 men from Liverpool were the most popular men on earth.
The Beatles have had compliments heaped upon them from musicians and fans alike but no one has said it better than the man himself,
‘We’re more popular than Jesus now’ — John Lennon
*Semiotics — It is the study of meaning-making, the study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.
References-
http://www.slideshare.net/juliagiancola/beatles-semiotic-analysis-12732215
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beatles_-_Abbey_Road.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles
http://www.fizzy-fish.co.uk/bumpography/photodocs/dissertation.pdf
