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Is "Revolution 9" by The Beatles their most visionary "song"?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNdcFPjGsm8&list=RDSNdcFPjGsm8&start\_radio=1
"Revolution 9" by The Beatles is one of the most unique, odd, and polarizing tracks in their discography. I, like many people, used to hate it and always treated it as an easy skip when listening to The White Album. Recently, however, I have developed a newfound appreciation for it. I would now argue that "Revolution 9" is one of the most innovative and visionary pieces the band ever created. How can a track so universally disliked become a respected piece of art to an individual? And I am certainly not the only one who defends it.
I think of "Revolution 9" as less of a traditional song and more of an experience, acting as a sonic and atmospheric painting. Of course, music is subjective, and this perspective doesn't mean you have to enjoy it. I will be the first to admit that I don't listen to it the way I would a regular track. You can't just listen for melody, chords, or a standard beat. Instead, it is much closer to visual art. I would compare its ambient, atmospheric walls of sound to modern post-rock and electronic artists like Boards of Canada, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Aphex Twin.
A great conceptual parallel to this track is the album Everywhere at the End of Time by The Caretaker. This project refuses to be simplified into basic pop music. The album sonically mirrors the ongoing battle with dementia, charting the incremental degradation of a mind through fleeting memories and building confusion. As it progresses, the audio becomes hollow, fractured, and decayed. You don't casually say, "Hey, I want to listen to that dementia album." You sit with it as if you were staring at a painting.
To me, "Revolution 9" evokes a similar, heavy conceptual weight. It sounds like the auditory experience of suffering a traumatic brain injury, or perhaps the final moments of dying. It captures a consciousness becoming fragmented, overwhelmed, and completely detached from ordinary reality. You hear the fleeting final moments of life through distorting voices, repetitious loops, and abstract thoughts. It sounds like a mind fleeing from life, being forgotten, and degrading back to its primordial self. In my opinion, that makes it one of the most visionary "songs" in The Beatles' entire catalog.