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During his career John Lennon adopted several public "alter ego's" in his songs, most notably those of the rebellious teenager and the working class hero. In this article Daniel Beller-McKenna focuses on a les inviting and more aggressive alter ego behind the wit and affability (and despair) of Lennon in two early Beatles' songs: "I'll Get You" and "All I've Got To Do". Both songs were recorded in 1963, the year of the Beatles' first great success. To the extent that they are discussed in the literature at all, these two songs are usually cited for their ostentably positive feel-good lyrics. But, as Beller-McKenna argues, musical details in each — some on the surface, some more deeply embedded — bring to the fore a manipulative and obsessive ego that is obscured by the apparently naïve sentiment of their texts. Of special interest is the manner in which rhythmic features in these songs interact with other structures — harmonic and melodic — and style expectations to depict the controlling ego as one who hides beneath a calm exterior, surfacing only occasionally. |
