Helter Skelter Lyrics



Lennon/McCartney


When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again.

Do you, don't you want me to love you
I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you
Tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.

Helter skelter helter skelter
Helter skelter.

Will you, won't you want me to make you
I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.

Look out helter skelter helter skelter
Helter skelter

Look out, cause here she comes.

When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
And I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
And I get to the bottom and I see you again

Well do you, don't you want me to make you
I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.

Look out helter skelter helter skelter
Helter skelter
Look out helter skelter
She's coming down fast
Yes she is
Yes she is.

I got blisters on my fingers...

 
Lead Singer: Paul

Recording: 7/18/68, 9/9/68, 9/10/68
Mixing: 9/17/68, 10/9/68, 10/12/68
Length: 4:30
Take: 21

Anomalies

0:31, 1:43
Squeaks
0:50
Bottle rattles for about two seconds.
1:35-1:45
John singing "Ri-i-ight" like on Rev 1/Rev 9 - faint in Left
2:29
Paul sings "Yes she is, coming down fast" and then (closer to the mike) "Can you hear me speaking? Whoooo"
2:36-2:46
Assorted "Yeah Yeah"'s and "Look out's"
2:49-3:09
Paul sings "Can you hear that silly bugger...Neeee..." then says "Come here son, I saw you do that you little bugger... Get yer bloody hands on your head, c'mon". Hard to hear, again OOPS helps to remove the loud guitar part that masks this.
The "blistery shout" seems to be prompted, again it could be printthrough as you hear "hahaha <I've got> I'VE GOT BLISTERS ...". The shout itself is from Ringo, who played until his hands were blistered in the 27 minute take that this is condensed from. As to the prompting voice? Who knows! ..."

Paul McCartney wanted to write the "loudest, nastiest, sweatiest rock number we could" after reading a Pete Townshend interview describing a Who track as "the most raucous rock 'n' roll, the dirtiest thing they'd ever done." This was the result.
The first version was a 27 minute jam that was never released.
Charles Manson's followers wrote "Helter Skelter" in blood when they killed actress Sharon Tate and her friends. He interpreted the title as being about an imminent race war and apocalypse.
John Lennon was called as a witness in Manson's trial (even though Paul wrote this), but refused to attend. In John Lennon's 1968 Rolling Stone Interview, he was asked about Manson and he got a little irate, saying that he didn't know anything about it, and if he did, wouldn't he say something? (thanks, Natasha - Chico, CA)
At the end, Ringo screams: "I've got blisters on my fingers."
The song is named after a slide at a British amusement park. The first line is a joke about this: "When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide, where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride."
The recording session was particularly raucous.


The White Album Lyrics   

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