“Helter Skelter” Towards Tragedy

During their reign as the most successful pop group of all time, the Beatles recorded songs that were  ground breaking, songs that were influential, and songs that were wildly controversial.  But probably none of them achieved the notoriety of “Helter Skelter.”

With its stuttering, dissonant guitars, relentlessly smashing cymbals and shouted vocals, “Helter Skelter” was a true departure from form for the Beatles.

It was also ahead of its time: in style and tone it resembled nothing so much as punk, which was not to gain prominence until almost a decade later. Somewhat surprisingly, The Beatles song “Helter Skelter” was composed and sung by Paul McCartney, who is usually associated with the more melodic and commercially accessible aspects of the Beatles’ music. Many fans believed that this raucous, chaotic, raw song had really been composed by John Lennon; for his part, Lennon consistently stated that “Helter Skelter” was completely Paul’s creation.

But these quirks pale in comparison with the tragedy at the heart of the recording.  In a twist that would probably be rejected as too far-fetched if it were to appear in a Hollywood movie, “Helter Skelter” was appropriated by Charles Manson, a psychotic criminal who incited his followers to commit a series of savage murders in the Los Angeles area over a 48-hour period. At the second crime scene — where grocery store owner Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, were found stabbed to death – the song’s title, misspelled “Healter Skelter,” had been scrawled on the refrigerator in the victims’ blood. A murder spree by Manson’s followers on August 9^th, the day before, had taken the lives of six people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski, and their unborn son.

McCartney reportedly wrote “Helter Skelter” in an attempt to compete with the Who, after hearing guitarist Peter Townshend exult about the level of volume, “raunchiness” and “dirtiness” – or audio distortion – in the song “I Can See For Miles.”   His fellow Beatles quickly got into the chaotic spirit of the experiment, with George Harrison reportedly setting a fire in an ashtray and racing about the studio holding it over his head.

The song, released on the Beatles album known as the ‘White Album’, was initially recorded on July 18^th, 1968, then re-recorded on Sept 9^th. “Helter Skelter” required 18 takes to reach the proper level of frenzy, triggering RIngo’s notorious howl of protest: “….I’ve got blisters on me fingers!”

According to Paul, the song’s lyrics were inspired by the plunging, spiraling Helter Skelter ride, a popular attraction at British fairgrounds. There were also vague allusions to the toppling of a power structure, namely, the fall of the Roman Empire. Nowhere, of course, did McCartney even hint at the bloody scenario later espoused by Manson; the Beatles – along with the rest of the nation – were deeply horrified by the events of August 9^th and 10^th.

In Manson’s bizarre and ludicrous theory, the song contained hidden references to an apocalyptic future in which the United States would be torn apart by a race war between Caucasians and African-Americans, a war which Manson himself would help incite. Manson predicted that African-Americans would completely exterminate the Caucasian race, but would be incapable of governing themselves. In the chaos that followed, Manson and his disciples would emerge from an underground sanctuary to rule as kings over the new America.

Regardless of its sinister history, the song has been critically acclaimed, with many experts considering it a “grandfather” to punk, thrash and heavy metal.

In addition to being covered by Motley Crue, Oasis, Bon Jovi and Pat Benatar, “Helter Skelter” was given the a capella treatment by The Bobs. Phish has also covered the song live; in their notable version, Ringo’s “blisters” lament is rendered in four-part harmony.

Paul McCartney has performed the song live on every tour he has undertaken since 2004; he also performed it at the 48^th Annual Grammy Awards.

In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Helter Skelter” at Number 52 in their list “100 Greatest Beatles Songs.”

For many, however, the song will be irrevocably and ultimately linked with violence. Along with the events in 1970 at Altamont, in which a man was murdered by Hell’s Angels who had been hired by the Rolling Stones to provide security, a madman’s interpretation of “Helter Skelter” seemed to signal the end of The Summer of Love and an end to innocence for so-called “hippies” and “flower children” everywhere.