(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer down below)
The Beatles - "Help!"
Hit Number 1: September 4, 1965
Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks
If someone were to hear "Help!" for the first time, they might assume it's a love song. Hell, a million years ago when I first heard the song, I thought it was. That's what most songs are about right? Well, "Help!", to this point, is probably the most well thought out song by the Beatles to hit #1. It has a way deeper meaning to it, and is a closer look into John Lennon's personal life. In 1964, the Beatles invaded America by storm, becoming the first British group in the long line of British acts to form the British Invasion. The country lost their minds. The Beatles were experiencing a whole new kind of popularity that not even Elvis Presley could compare to. However, that popularity could put some serious wear and tear on the artist(s) in question.
Lennon wrote the song after feeling intense levels of stress after the Beatles' fast rise to super-stardom. He revealed that the song, indeed, was just a cry for help. He was having a hard time dealing with everyone knowing who he was. It turned out to be one of Lennon's favorites, if not his MOST favorite Beatles song that he had written, for that reason. He felt that "Help!" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were his most genuine songs, and weren't "written to order". ("Strawberry Fields Forever" made it to #8 on the charts. It's a 4)
But what better way to write a song about your personal feelings, than by turning it into an ultimate banger? "Help!" commands your attention by jumping right at you from the get-go. The song starts by the Beatles yelling "Help!", followed by Lennon pleading "I need somebody!" with its listeners, before diving into a full on hook-inducing frenzy for the rest of the song. The story of the song goes; when Lennon was younger, he didn't need anyone to help him out with anything. He thought he had life figured out, even when the Beatles' popularity started rising. But there came a tipping point, where he was getting annoyed by it being impossible to ever be anonymous. He was tired of people knowing him as one of the dudes from the Beatles, instead of knowing him for who he truly was. He was also stressed from the everyday life of being one of the most popular musicians in the world. It's a story some of us have probably heard before, where celebrities are stressed out by the crazy lives they live, and they wish for their days of privacy and anonymity again.
The song is, like many other Beatles' hits, catchy as hell. The rest of the Beatles echo Lennon's cries for help throughout the song, as if they're stressed out by the celeb life too. Lennon reaches for the stars, belting out an almost falsetto "PLEASE! PLEASE! Help me!" at the end of the chorus. That part acts as a boiling point for Lennon, and it gives me the impression of a man who truly does seek help. So, "Help!" accomplishes something that's not very easy to do. It is fun, catchy, and memorable, while also delivering emotion that is anything but happy. The sound of "Help!" is still everything we've come to get used to from the Beatles, but it has an entirely different meaning. It teaches us that even the Beatles were human.
GRADE: 9/10
10 ALERT!!!:
Bob Dylan's highest charting single and total masterpiece, "Like a Rolling Stone", peaked at #2 behind "Help!" It's a 10.
MY INSPIRATION / MORE INFORMATION:
SONG REFERENCED:
"Strawberry Fields Forever" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtUH9z_Oey8
Comments