#A lot of Feelings in this one!! Oughh.... Bugs.....

[shinygoku]

Abbey Road (1969)

It's always bittersweet when things come to an end. Especially when the times were good, you want more of that! But nothing can last forever, and sometimes the best one can do is to go out on a high, a tribute to and capping off of the fun had over a decade of creating music as such a close unit. I'm not going into the ins and outs of the foregone conclusion, partly as it's too sad and messy, yet oddly commercial lol, but this Album helps soothe the pain.

Obviously this picture needs little introduction, it's possibly their most iconic of album covers... maybe even of any band! No shade meant to Revolver or Sgt Pepper, but THIS is one I'd like upon my wall~ It's also more impressive that only a handful of potential snapshots were taken in about 10 minutes, and they happened upon this near-perfect sync! While Paul's irregularity has painful resonance in the band's breakup and tedious conspiracy theories, there ain't a thing I'd change in the picture even if I did have the godly power to do so. It's incredible in its simplicity and the symbolism of them no longer facing the crowds, but walking on into the next stage of their lives. Though many people imitate this at the real Abbey Road crossing, this is yet another instance of The Beatles bottling a bolt of lightning.

SIDE ONE

Come Together: Yes, they were fully aware of the dirty reading of the track name and they lean into it. Also a very funky, catchy song~ There's a theory that the four verses describing "Ol' Flat Top" correspond to each Beatle, though debate rages on the first two being Ringo and George, the John (Walrus gumboots, Ono sideboards) and Paul (Got to be good looking cause he's so hard to see) are clear. How many of us hear the "hold you in his arms, yeah, you can feel his disease" as "hold you in his armchair"? I can detect both and I think the latter has been accepted retroactively lmao. The near-whispered "Shoot me" parts have aged poorly, probably another heroin reference but oof...

Oh! And there's also a cool official music video on yt with Low Poly Beatles grooving around, but if you're photosensitive you may find the flashing colours and strobing effects are pretty overwhelming. The comments have funny snowclone memes too. All in all I dig this number~

Something: Quite possibly George's Magnum Opus, his abilities as a songwriter having been a slow burn with incredible payoff. I've been pretty lukewarm of most of his numbers doing these reviews, but that's partly as I had Something in mind of what he could really do ^^;; The guitars, bass and percussion are all fantastic, with George's gentle but powerful vocals and the mesmerised lyrics. No wonder it even caught the attention and approval of so many, like Frank Sinatra! His cover is fine but kinda blurs into Sinatra-esque sameness, featuring "Jack" (and he missed the memo that George wrote it, oops!)

This also has a very nice music vid with the Bugs and their Girls that can be seen on yt, though it's also painful as it's both after the band split up (Paul's footage clearly being on his farm when I think the others are all in the same, different location) and each and every one of these pairings went awry in the following years either with divorce, death, or both. But uhh, don't let that distract you from the beauty of the song itself ;w;;;;

Maxwell's Silver Hammer: A notoriously controversial song, at least among The Beatles themselves. It's Paul's baby and he made an upbeat, jolly ditty about a serial killer. The other three remember it being a massive pain to record and not worth all that effort (George's critique of it being "fruity" isn't far off though lmao). In my opinion, the song is fine but also far from Paul's best, and it seemingly needed fewer Takes than a lot of their other songs, so I think the JGR distaste isn't with the song itself, but it became a heat sink of their tension with Paul. Anyway, with audiences this seems to be a popular one, at least in tumblr circles, where it's cited as one of their funniest songs. The piano and other instruments are all really strong, too.

Oh! Darling: Paul belting out his anguished declarations to another party that he won't harm them, and please don't leave him. His vocals get extremely intense and raw, nicely counterbalanced with instruments. John was impressed with this song, but annoyed he didn't get a go as it's more a Him Style performance, possibly oblivious or choosing not to see that he's very obviously the other party that Paul is pleading to. Also Ringo's drumwork here is really great~

Octopus's Garden: :D 🐙🌻💐🌷💙

I absolutely loooove this song!! Partially inspired by the real life behaviour of Octopus...s for assembling a nice arrangement of odds and ends in their patch, which Ringo learned during his break from the band in the White Album era. It's not just my Ringo bias, it's such a pretty and charming bop with somewhat profound metaphorical resonance (I'm gonna say indeed influenced by The Conflicts within the Band, ough) and funky, unorthodox instruments like the bubbles lol. Both a groovy Country & Western flavour and a song that works nicely for children, joining the likes of Yellow Submarine (hey, a theme!) and All Together Now. Additional shout out to George for his part in making this song happen and ooohh, what instrumentation there is too! That the Super Mario 3D World main theme seems to have similar key changes(?) is another W I'm giving this song~

I Want You (She's So Heavy): This one gets a lot of praise, and I do dig the shredding, building guitar riff and slowly increasing drama and Oomph of this song, but I also think it maybe goes on a bit longer than it needs to. The abrupt cutoff is a cool moment but my then my brain has usually disconnected some focus, so the effect isn't quite as profound on me ^^;;

SIDE TWO

Here Comes the Sun: In case Something wasn't enough, here's George's optimistic masterpiece. Now, I think this is slightly overplayed (similar to ELO's Thematically The Same Song of Mr Blue Sky ...which is even more overplayed in movies and such maybe due to Royalties being less pricy lmao) but I also like that this one is something like The Most Streamed Song Ever. And it's easy to shrug off the lyrics in summer but when you get weeks and weeks of dreary, overcast, drizzly, dark-at-3pm ass winter weather, a clear sky and bright sun really DOES perk one up! (Remember, The Beatles are from Liverpool, which is in England!) That also works as a metaphor, and indeed it seems George had skived off work to have a day off in the garden when this song came to him, haha

This also has a lovely Video on yt, with animated sequences of a heron flying around as The Beatles cross the road and stand for the Last Photoshoot. The latter of which seems kind of ironic, but I'm not opposed to framing the events as more Sweet than Bitter. Don't be sad it's over, be glad it happened, type of thing :'3

Because: A baroque kind of piano or harpsichord backs the ethereal harmonies, musing about nature. Their harmonies were always a strong part of their songs, and this feels like a logical conclusion. A song I don't have much to say for, but I really like it all the same :)

(...The next songs are officially a Medley, but I'm still talking about each individually...)

You Never Give Me Your Money: This in of itself feels like a seamless mash-up of three distinct songs, and the whole this is such a bop! I'm inclined to doubt the official story that it's directed at the Beatle's then-Manager, who was notoriously awful and scumbaggy, just as this song seems to lack the venom that would be appropriate for such a case of vagueblogging. But maybe Paul's taking the high road here, and WOW it's got a nice view from that path! The three "parts" of it have been theorised to correspond to the other 3 Beatles in yt comments, which doesn't appear to be the case but it's still a fun observation. All that theorising aside, absolutely fab piano with the building addition of guitars, bass and percussion, pivoting to a more ragtime arrangement and then calming down and building up again for the last stretch with much more optimistic (if potentially Ironic) lyrics and a very front-and-centre guitar fading into spoken chants and bells.

Sun King: Starting with the chirping crickets that were faintly heard before (yeah, medleys be like that lol), we have a very mellow and pleasant instrumental. Then we get more harmonised "Ooooohs" and "Here comes the sun ....king" before spoken words and the return of the harmonies. The song closes after a mixing of Romance Language Words, with Ye Olde Liverpool slang mixed in.

Mean Mr. Mustard: The tempo quickly steps up a few levels for a rather dry dragging of some miserly Dirty Old Man (he's not very clean, this one!) with prominent piano and in later years, comparison to the Thomas the Tank Engine theme. Though it seems that may be more based on a bridge of a different song Paul would make, but I digress... - Mister Mustard here cuts off abruptly, perhaps one note early?

Polythene Pam: Strong electric guitar introduces this woman who "is so good looking she looks like a man", which reminds me of Lovely Rita XD;; - John really leans into a Leeverpull accent and there's tambourines, heavy drums and strong guitar, though I find it harder to parse the lyrics due to the loudness. But she was previously mentioned as the sibling of Mister Mustard. What a Beatles Characters Universe we have going!

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window: This gives me strong echolalia pretty much any time going in or out via a window is mentioned ^^;; - It seems to be a wistful kind of song about a "dancer" who needs more money and tries to gain extra cash via breaking and entering, but is less than effective at it. A cool musical assortment but not an all-timer for me.

Golden Slumbers: "Once there was a way to get back homeward" would already deal pretty heavy psychic damage to me, given how that links to multiple songs obliquely about the split, but this is also backed with beautiful (yet tasteful! very much unlike the LIB album!) and powerful instruments. Seemingly partially based on an existing lullaby but as none of the Beatles can read sheet music it still stands up as original and lovely, my main complaint only being that it's short and when not in the Medley, it cuts off too sharply. But that's to lead into...

Carry That Weight: BOOOOY! I love it when Ringo is so audible... and oh god, the You Never Give Me Your Money reprise with new verses!! This song is beating me up, especially with the Reality Subtext again, like if the use of YNGMYM is alluding to Paul being the odd one out (who was later proven Correct) but he still lost the band and the heaviness of that continues into this present day?! ...Or, as that's written with the aid of hindsight and my mind quick to make theories, it could also be about the whole group and their Impact, impossible to ignore (though people still try to downplay it ¬¬;; ...lol) and their legacy continues. They were amazing but also Patient Zero for much celebrity culture these days, exposed to absolute horrors as no one knew what to expect or how out of hand things may spiral... I'm rambling. The song itself is also another groovy bop, but the Meanings are maybe a bit more powerful for me =w=;;

(...Oh god the voices in this are Paul and Ringo and not John or George, oh god this song saw the future, paaaaaaain)

The End: This has a very welcome surge of energy and ooohhh man I've not talked enough about the drumming Ringo's done in this album, but I'm glad the others got him to do a solo here, even if he doesn't Need to prove his skills in isolation lol. The following 3 guitar solos are bringing such a cool rock flavour (sorry I can't tell whose is whose yet though, haha), then the climactic, calm, harmonised declaration that closes the song, the album, and even the Band itself.

...

Her Majesty: Well, other than this coda! The last note from (iirc) MMM startles one into waking up after having been so thoroughly carried by the power of the previous numbers, and then a cute little ditty postscript. I'm mixed on how much I like this being after The End, which I'm pretty sure is a common take. I will say though, that the Boys doing a little cheeky prank on their way out feels perfectly in character for them, and they liked it as a secret bonus track, so fair's fair.

CONCLUSION

Best 3: How in the hell do I pick just 3 here? Maaaan! I'm gonna hafta go with... Here Comes The Sun, You Never Give Me Your Money and Golden Slumbers. I hope you know how hard it was to not have Octopus's Garden up here!!

Blurst 3: Inversely, finding 3 duds is harder than normal here too lol. I'm gonna say Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - but only Polythene Pam is actually weak to me, the others just haven't got the same effect or Oomph as the rest of the album.

So... here we are, at the end of the (Abbey) Road. Once again I rue and shake my fist at the stupid corporate bullshit that had Let It Be come out after this, because if anything has a perfect ending, it's Dragonball GT and This Album for their respective franchises. If Her Majesty is contentious for coming out after The End, then that goes 100x more for such a limp noodle assortments of songs with meddling all over it. I'm going on a tangent here, but my point is this:

While the Beatles story ended sadly, this album is a beautiful farewell.

I genuinely wonder how they managed to pull it together for this, but I'm so grateful they found a way. If only the circumstances weren't so dire, they could have made more like this, which sounds selfish of me but it's also, like, something the boys loved to do. If they'd been allowed time and breathing room, and not being manipulated by bean counters and jackasses, if such and such could have been avoided, and so on. Blegh. Sorry for these derailings, the irl lore is too messy and sad for me to cover properly but it's an elephant in the room! Why else would a band shut up shop when they were reaching new heights? But well, they sure did leave an amazing legacy.

Abbey Road truly is the pinnacle of this. The Best album. Firing on all cylinders, no misses, every gear and cog running smoothly for a complete experience.

🪲🪲🪲🪲

So, now what? Well, I've only covered the Albums, and I was quite jammy that there was one for each month XD - However, there's tons of incredibly famous songs that I haven't got to, like She Loves You and I Wanna Hold Your Hand. These are the singles! And while I'm not sure how I'll group them for write-ups like this (by era might be sensible but there's like, a Lot! Hmmm...) there's other Beatle Material I wanna discuss, like their Movies and the previously skipped Yellow Submarine Album (which I actually love, but I feel it'd be better grouped elsewhere~).

What I might do first, though, is a bit of a retrospective on these retrospectives, as I've noticed a slight drift in my style of writing, and having listened to most of the songs again since, some of my opinions may've moved a little bit in transit. This won't be as in depth but should be Fun ^w^

[hairscare]

That'd be helpful, I wanna draw fanart

after many grueling hours they are finally done! ofc their outfits change but these ones give a good idea of how they dress. some design notes and inspiration underneath. im gonna redo their bio sheets at some point soon too so look out for that

in order of the height chart:

dumois: i wanted to make her look kind of like a little kids nursery and also incorporate her astrology interest into her design more so i gave her more charms in her hair and a cute quilt-inspired victorian nightgown. oughh shes so cute i love her sm <3 i think her colors turned out a lot more comprehensive compared to her old design where i threw a bunch of different purples at the wall and they kind of looked bad. now shes so prettyyy and i think the naptime sleepy cowsheepgirl aesthetic has definitely been captured

zubi: their fashion is usually the hardest for me to conceptualize because its like a weird mix of beachy clothes and emo rave... i think this outfit turned out good though, and i really like that the pops of coral/salmon evoke the beach while the dark fishnets evoke deeper dark water. i also almost gave them longer ponytails (think like miku has) bc i thought it would look pretty in water but i decided not to bc everyone else besides gaglug has long hair and i think the weird hair they have now has a good unique silhouette. i also turned their fins the other way so that they would actually be helpful in water

paezel: hes finally buff!!!! the crowd goes wiiiiiiild. he also has his pact tattoo on his arm (its supposed to look like a plant bc thats maeves thing) i feel like the tail kind of went from bovine to almost dragonlike but i actually really like that. i dress him like in the second spongebob movie when theyre in the apocalypse and i love it. not much else to say but i think he definitely looks a lot better

aureus: ok so her design turned out so elaborate that i had to go back and redo the designs i did before hers (dumois, lumiloriol + zubi) so that they wouldnt look lame asf which overally definitely helped their concepts. aureus is supposed to be way more over the top than everyone else but still i mean i cant let the others be flops. shes soooo pretty though i used a reference for her rococo style and it definitely helped a lot. my princess my darling i love youuu

lumiloriol: i usually try to keep their clothes kind of simplistic to highlight their own natural beauty, but i did give them the scarf kind of thing and the train for some layers. for lumiloriol i usually take a lot of inspiration from gothic art especially john martins paradise lost art (because of course) and i definitely feel like i was able to incorporate it. i also think they look super androgynous which i loveee bc angels usually are... they really do look like a fallen angel even if they technically are a step removed

concupiscence: connie i luv uuuuuuuu <3 concupiscence has gone through a lot of different inspirations over the years but ive settled into a britney spears/paris hilton smashup for him and so i based his outfit on various outfits both wore in the early 2000s. shes also got the striped tongue now which i decided to give her a while back bc i think its a fun addition to her design, reminds you that shes a creature. my girly <33333

gaglug: yeah um i got rid of four of its arms... they were making the design wayyy too busy and hard to draw. now it has funny little weird grubby arm thingies though so its okay its still buggy. umm not too much to say here since it doesnt wear clothes but i do love its bug hooves so much :)

anyways i love you my silly 400 year old 20 year olds

[yvesbuprofen]

random questions<3

my beloved @moonshapedbox tagged me in this <3

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav color - big fan of green!

: ̗̀➛ how long have u been on tumblr for - probably twelve years, I got into it because a girl I liked had one, and I wanted for us to have something in common lmao

: ̗̀➛ wheres a place u always wanted to travel to - brazil, I think it's such an interesting country, and I love the climate, and china, because I want to try all the yummy food, and go see the northern plains.

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav clothing brand(s) I mostly just thrift my clothes, but I love sketcher sneakers, they are so comfy.

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur fav singer/band(s) I'm a big fan of loona as most of you have seen and ichiko is up there at the top with them.

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur current phone lockscreen - it's a forest, and on my table it's that iconic photo of yves with the loop t-shirt.

: ̗̀➛ most recent/current hyperfixation - I'm currently compulsively reading saw 2004 fic, oughh the angst it's too good 🙂‍↕️

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur relationship status - very single, and just existing tbh, idgaf about having a relationship rn, I have radioactive levels of trauma I have to go through just to feel safe enough to get into one.

: ̗̀➛ what’s ur dream job - probably any kind of job where I don't have to talk to people (goes into teaching like an idiot)

: ̗̀➛ outside of tumblr, fav social app pinterest and spotify !! I'm really into neko atsume 2 rn

: ̗̀➛ do u have pets - nope, I live with my parents and they don't like animals :( I would like to have some kind of bug if I could though

: ̗̀➛ if u do have pets, what kind/how many - none

: ̗̀➛ do u prefer tea or coffee - big fan of tea, any kind, give it to me, I also drink lots of mate 🧉<3

: ̗̀➛ whats ur fav ice cream flavor - pistachio, since I was a child, I tried it because it was green lol

: ̗̀➛ tag at least three other tumblr accounts @sleep-tight-pupper @daerly-beloved @a-moth-to-the-light @kdramamilfs ! no pressure babes <3