Fans of The Beatles are saying their White Album release has a “slightly creepy” feeling throughout.
The sinister suggestions were shared by longtime listeners, who took to r/beatles on Reddit and shared their thoughts on the off feeling found on the album. One user asked: “Does the White Album give anyone else a slightly creepy and offputting feeling?” Several said the album does give off a sinister feeling, with one user suggesting it provides the album some crucial context. They wrote: “Absolutely. There are so many moods on the album that they all amplify each other, and the creepy songs make the happy and whimsical ones feel unsettling in the context of the whole album.
“A song like Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da or Martha My Dear is not at all sinister in isolation, but put them on the same album as Helter Skelter and Revolution #9, and they start to feel a bit haunted. The overall effect is an album that seems like a funhouse fever dream where you can sort of grasp the overall shape but it never comes fully into focus. I think it’s the greatest album ever made.”
Another agreed, adding: “You got it exactly right with your comment about Martha My Dear. It’s sort of like the end of The Shining where it’s upbeat big band and swing music playing, but it’s incredibly creepy music in the context of the movie.” A third says the “disjointed” tracklist may be the reason for such a creepy sensation.
They wrote: “It’s the kind of album that looking at the tracklist kind of feels ‘disjointed’ with all the different kind of songs, but it all comes together, it’s truly more than the sum of its parts (even if many of its parts are incredible). I feel the same about something like Bruce Springsteen’s The River.”
Another added: “The album feels disjointed, disconnected and schizophrenic at times. I think it the murky production during some of the songs adds to that off-putting feeling. I definitely get what you mean. I feel that way listening to it at times.”
Does the White Album give anyone else a slighty creepy and offputting feeling?
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A third wrote: “It’s dreamlike and otherworldly in places. The random sort of vignettes (such as the flamenco guitar before Bungalow Bill or Can You Take Me Back) add to the weird dream-ish quality.
“I always found it far darker than the sunshine that preceded it on Pepper. Maybe that’s a consequence of knowing their headspace at the time. Revolution 9 is straight up a bad trip.”
Another suggested the calmer moments are what gives it a darker tone. They wrote: “It’s a scary horror album at times. Dear Prudence, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Helter Skelter, Long Long Long… and Can You Take Me Back, which in another context was recorded during a party of a session along with Los Paranoias of all things, turns into the dark locus of the nightmare here, leading into a glass of claret and an apology and then the end of the world. They tap into some eerie energy on this one for sure. And I love it.”
