Revolution 9 by The Beatles
by Steven McCabe
0:00 – 0:56
0:56 – 1:12
1:12 – 2:10
2:10 – 3:06
3:06 – 4:02
4:02 – 4:58
4:58 – 5:54
5:54 – 6:50
6:50 – 7:46
7:46 – 8:23
You can silently enjoy
the Beatle’s sound collage
Revolution 9
by following the time code
between images
above
(a Dada/Fluxus action)
or
this link
to
the full
eight minutes +
of inspired mayhem
on their White Album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJeqOoc4HmI
Amazingly
within five years
The Beatles traveled artistically
and sonically
from I Want to Hold Your Hand
to
Dada / surreal poetry
and a psychedelia infused with literary and cinematic
overtones.
As 2014 begins
you may find yourself
beginning or ending
travel
into or out of
cyclical spheres.
Like
a comet.
Like
comet #9.
poemimage 
brilliant conceptual fun Steven…Rev#9 so embedded in what remains of my brain i could hear it as i scrolled through your evocative images and time code as text…yes, totally…never thought of that and now connections sparking all over…Cage, time as silence and White album, white noise, ambient sound etc etc…thank you my friend for this trip in my night…
John thank you for this visit. White noise from the White album. This didn’t occur to me. Brilliant. Thank you. And like you this ‘song’ is some sort of marker in my brain (what remains of mine also) signifying those days and hours of youth with the arrival of yet another dazzling moment filling the void. Or when another dazzling void filled the moment. That might work better. Time code as silent text is Cage… territory… as you say. I kept thinking of these 9s as like some sort of TV station logo. Very glad for your comments.
You’ve captured something quite extraordinary here… I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you’ve harnessed a Dada sensibility that works exceeedingly well with this brilliant song. Striking, as always, Steven. xo
Hi Stephia,
The idea of breaking up the song’s duration into segments and using the time code as text just sort of ‘hit me’ as I planned this.
I now wonder if I was influenced by Cocteau’s film ‘Orphee’ set in France in 1949. Orphee is sitting in the car turning the radio dial to a station that repeats (with gravitas) numbered sequences. Orphee is enraptured. He feels his poetry is nothing compared to these sounds or meanings.
Certainly Cocteau knew Dada and all related sensibilities. So that may have influenced what you are seeing.
Yes this song is quite brilliant I agree. And firmly in that Dada tradition of dead serious nonsense.
Thank you Stephia as always for your observations.
(should mention I’m a Postmodern junkie… almost everything filtered through this lens)
Yes I can see this would relate to how you approach any form of retelling or telling. In this case (above) certainly we see an interpretation of the intellectual spirit of the song ‘replayed’ using associated forms. You’d probably be better at explaining it than me!
Oh I doubt that darling! Brilliant your being influenced by Cocteau’s film ‘Orphee’… I haven’t seen it but you describe the scene well and yes, it is quite fitting. Have you read ‘The Posthuman Dada Guide’ by chance? Really quite good…
I watched it so many times something had to sink in. Great film, really, Orphee. I think you would appreciate where Cocteau is going. I’ll look for that book…thank you for the suggestion.
Very well done and thank you for that. I have been The Beatles fans since I was 12, and White Album has always been my favourite.
Thank you. A great album. Mixed bag: beauty, lightness, heavy grinding. But a great one. When I hear you say 12 I think ‘so young’ forgetting that I was not much older when I first saw them on a black and white TV.