10 Bands That Fell Out Over One Song
1. Revolution 9 - The Beatles
After Sgt. Peppers, the Beatles had started to go in different sonic directions. While the Fab Four had started to work independently from each other, The White Album was the first time where it felt like a bunch of songwriters coming together to make one album. Although everyone brought something to the table that worked, Paul McCartney took issue with Revolution 9 being included on the final edition.
More of an experience than a song, Revolution 9 is John Lennon’s follow up to the Revolution single, sprawling out over 8 minutes and talking about what revolution means to him. While the idea behind the song may have been interesting at the time, hearing this on a Beatles album really broke up the flow, leading to George Martin and McCartney thinking that it should be scrapped. Lennon didn’t make a song like this just to throw it away, and insisted that it be included on the White Album, sounding like a cacophony of noise through its entire runtime before segueing into Good Night from Ringo Starr to close out the album.
Though each Beatle had a respect for the avant garde, this song is a good thought experiment being put in the exact wrong place. The White Album may have been tension fueled for most of the sessions, but the fallout over this one song signaled the beginning of the Fab Four going their separate ways.