Some of the songs Paul McCartney wrote for The Beatles White Album drove his bandmates crazy. The other three universally hated “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” with a passion, especially since Paul requested they keep working on it. The Fab Four did dozens of takes of the game-changing “Helter Skelter,” a song Paul wrote because he was jealous about The Who’s bragging.
Paul McCartney admits he was jealous of The Who when he wrote ‘Helter Skelter’
The Beatles’ self-titled 1968 record (commonly known as the White Album) had everything except the kitchen sink. Twisted blues/surf-rock/R&B hybrid on “Back in the U.S.S.R.” The Jamaican dancehall-esque tone of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.” Gentle folk on “Julia” and “Blackbird.”
“Helter Skelter” was an uncharacteristically brutal song that Paul wrote out of jealousy, as he told GQ (via YouTube):
“How it came about was, I had read in a music paper that The Who had done a really heavy track, and Pete Townshend was quoted saying, “We’ve just made the dirtiest, loudest, filthiest song ever!
“So I was kind of jealous. I didn’t hear their song. I still don’t know what song he was referring to, but I went into the studio, and I said, ‘Guys, we’ve got to do a song that’s dirtier and filthier and louder than The Who.’”
Paul Mccartney
Paul has always maintained that “Helter Skelter” was his attempt to outdo The Who. Yet the GQ interview was possibly the first time he admitted that Townshend’s bragging made him jealous enough to write the song with the specific goal of being louder and dirtier than The Who.
Mission accomplished, Paul.
The Beatles ‘Helter Skelter’ outclassed The Who’s ‘I Can See for Miles’
Paul’s jealousy over The Who likely stemmed from their song “I Can See for Miles.” (Beatles Bible notes that Townshend bragged about that song to the music press). It reached the top 10 in England in November 1967 for Townshend’s band. The Beatles recorded much of the White Album in the summer of 1968.
Macca needed some time to turn his emotions into “Helter Skelter,” but his song outdid The Who.
Townshend played some dirty and fuzzy chords on his guitar throughout “I Can See for Miles.” He performed a scuzzy, chord-heavy solo roughly halfway through and moved up the fretboard to play piercing notes during the outro. Yet Roger Daltry’s clean and somewhat restrained vocals gave “I Can See for Miles” a certain brightness. The guitars in the bridge weren’t dirty at all, and Townshend was at a disadvantage since he was the only guitar player in his band.
“Helter Skelter” was nasty from the get-go. The biting guitar riff of the intro set the tone The Beatles maintained throughout the song.
That angry guitar sound remained throughout the tune, and George Harrison layered in solo runs on top of it. John Lennon played a thick and dirty bass, and his riff repeatedly hit like a sledgehammer. He also mirrored the descending guitar riff of the chorus to make it sound even heavier. Paul’s screamed “Helter Skelter” vocals made Daltry’s performance on “I Can See For Miles” sound like a choir boy. The sax squeals on The Beatles’ song added to the chaotic din. Ringo Starr didn’t necessarily attack the kit like his friend Keith Moon (that was never Ringo’s style), but his playing on the hard-to-record song gave him blisters (which he proclaimed right before the song ended).
Paul said he was jealous of The Who’s “I Can See for Miles” when he wrote “Helter Skelter.” The Beatles outdid their contemporaries with the proto-heavy metal song they released on the White Album.
It was probably the heaviest Beatles song
“Helter Skelter” was The Beatles’ heaviest song, and it’s not particularly close. There weren’t many English bands who sounded like that in 1968. Within a year, American bands such as The Stooges and MC5 used that song as a blueprint for their own versions of what became heavy metal.
John’s “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” from Abbey Road built to a sonic cacophony by the end of the song, but listeners had to wait more than seven minutes to hear it. “Helter Skelter” stepped on the gas immediately. Plus, “I Want You” had quieter jazz-like moments throughout the song.
The extended outro on George’s White Album gem “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” included some heavy moments, but nothing close to the vitriol of “Helter Skelter.”
Paul McCartney’s jealousy over Pete Townshend’s bragging led him to write “Helter Skelter.” The White Album song outdid The Who and became The Beatles’ heaviest track while inspiring new bands to lean into their heaviness.
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