History Music / TheWhiteAlbum

* FourthWallGreeting: "Good Night"

* GainaxEnding: "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" is about a market vendor named Desmond and a singer named Molly. They fall in love, get married, and have kids. The second-to-last stanza describes Desmond and his children working in the marketplace while Molly still enjoys her singing career. But the final stanza switches their roles, putting ''Molly'' in the marketplace and ''Desmond'' (who is now apparently a woman) in the band. This was an accidental case. The band members weren't paying proper attention during the recording, and as a result Paul got distracted by John and George yelling "Arm!" and "Foot!" in the break after the first "lets the children lend a hand" and got their roles backwards on the last chorus. They decided to keep it as-is because they thought it was neat (and they were sick of working on the song).

''The Beatles'' is the tenth studio album by Music/TheBeatles, released in 1968. "The White Album" is the unofficial moniker for the album, owing to its [[MinimalisticCoverArt completely white album cover]]. Nowadays, most people -- including [[AscendedMeme the band themselves]] -- refer to this nickname rather than the official title, both because of the iconic nature of the cover and to distinguish it in discussions not only from the band themselves, but also the two self-titled [[GreatestHitsAlbum compilation albums]] released in 1973 (which themselves are respectively known as "the Red Album" and "the Blue album").

''The Beatles'' is the tenth studio album by Music/TheBeatles, released in 1968. "The White Album" is the unofficial moniker for the album, owing to its [[MinimalisticCoverArt completely white album cover]]. Nowadays, most people - including the band themselves - refer to this nickname rather than the official title, both because of the iconic nature of the cover and to distinguish it in discussions not only from the band themselves, but also the two self-titled [[GreatestHitsAlbum compilation albums]] released in 1973 (which themselves are respectively known as "the Red Album" and "the Blue album").

-> ''"I'm not a great one for that 'y'know, maybe it was too many' and that. What d'ya mean? It was great. It sold. It's the bloody Beatles' White Album. Shut up!"''

* PunBasedTitle: "Bungalow Bill" instead of "Creator/BuffaloBill". "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is a pun on "Happiness Is a Warm Puppy" from ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', although it was unintentional.

** "Back in the USSR": The line "and Georgia is always on my mind" is a reference to "Georgia on My Mind", a song from the 1930's, popularized by Music/RayCharles. Of course, the Georgia being referred to here is an Eastern European country rather than a state in the Deep South of America, so this also doubles as a {{pun}}.

* AlbumFiller: A subject of debate even before the album was released. George Martin asked the Beatles to trim it down to one album since he felt there was too much filler, but the band didn't listen, being eager to fulfil their album commitment to the EMI record label as quickly as possible, and being unable to agree which songs to remove (Harrison noted that by that point there was "too much ego" involved). Every listener will have his or her own list of which songs on this album are a case of ThrowItIn and there have even been bootleg editions of this record where the set list has been rearranged and songs that are considered filler have been removed. Music/PaulMcCartney for his part liked the album just as it was. (See the page quote.)

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Taken to levels all but unheard of on a record. It's an INTENSE roller-coaster lasting ''over 90 minutes long''...climaxing in "[[NightmareFuel Revolution 9]]"...before finally ending with [[SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel "Good Night"]].

** Hardcore Beatles fans are dying to get a hold of [[MissingEpisode the legendary 27 minute long version of "Helter Skelter"]], take 3 of the original downtempo blues jam version of the song. The 50th anniversary edition satiated some fans by including take 2, which runs a more manageable 13 minutes.

* GainaxEnding: "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" is about a market vendor named Desmond and a singer named Molly. They fall in love, get married, and have kids. The second-to-last stanza describes Desmond and his children working in the marketplace while Molly still enjoys her singing career. But the final stanza switches their roles, putting ''Molly'' in the marketplace and ''Desmond'' (who is now apparently a woman) in the band. This was an accidental case. The band members weren't paying proper attention during the recording, and as a result Paul got distracted by John and George yelling "Arm!" and "Foot!" in the break after the first "lets the children lend a hand" and got their roles backwards on the last chorus. They decided to [[ThrowItIn keep it as-is]] because they thought it was neat (and they were sick of working on the song).

** "Back in the U.S.S.R." starts with this, simulating a jetliner flying overhead.

** "Helter Skelter" is incredibly heavy, and has been called one of the first HeavyMetal songs on occasion. It's definitely the only Beatles song you can headbang to.

** On a more disturbing way, "Number nine, number nine, number nine..."

* MinimalisticCoverArt: The cover, designed by British Pop Art veteran [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hamilton_(artist) Richard Hamilton]], is all white, save for the name of the album embossed onto it, and on some LP printings, a unique serial number stamped on it (going for a bit of irony in something so plain also being unique from every other copy of it, as well as trying to emulate a limited edition abstract artwork or self-published book). Ever since, fans have called it ''The White Album''. In fact, this might be the UrExample or at the very least TropeCodifier, since most album covers until then looked more like advertising posters (not to mention some of the more artistic ones, like the Beatles' own ''Music/{{Revolver|Beatles Album}}'' and ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'', as well as Music/TheRollingStones' ''Music/TheirSatanicMajestiesRequest''). Some LP editions were made using white vinyl rather than the usual black, as well.

* IntercourseWithYou: "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?", which Paul wrote after seeing two monkeys doing it on the road while he was in UsefulNotes/{{India}}.

* {{Feelies}}: The albm is packaged with four photos of the individual Beatles and a poster that includes lyrics, credits and a collage of more photos.

Though not as popular as other Beatle records like ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' or ''Music/AbbeyRoad'', this album still a huge inspiration for numerous rock bands. When something gets compared to the White Album, it's almost invariably a shorthand way of saying "long album with huge [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly variety of styles]], inevitably will attract complaints about AlbumFiller". But everyone agrees it is an important and influential record. It generated hits such as "Back in the USSR", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", and "Revolution" (though the single version is a totally different arrangement). "Dear Prudence", "Helter Skelter", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "Don't Pass Me By", "Sexy Sadie", and "Blackbird" have become fan favourites, while "Revolution #9" is perhaps the most notorious and audacious track: exciting for AvantGardeMusic fans and AlbumFiller to most other people.

* {{Sampling}}: "[[MindScrew Revolution 9]]". The "number nine, number nine, number nine" is an old recording of an EMI technician testing the acoustics at Abbey Road Studios. There are also snippets of classical music and an Creator/ElektraRecords sound effects album (the source of the "block that kick" chant at the end, recorded at a UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball game).

The White Album became the Beatles' first and only[[note]]not counting their compilation albums[[/note]] double album. The songs feature a lot of variation [[GenreRoulette in style]] and [[MoodWhiplash mood]]. Overall the record sounds almost like a compilation record featuring the band members as solo artists instead of a unified work. The atmosphere at the sessions got so bad that the famously chill Music/RingoStarr grew frustrated and briefly quit the band (Music/PaulMcCartney took over on drums for "Back in the USSR" and "Dear Prudence", and Music/JohnLennon and Music/GeorgeHarrison also contributed to the "USSR" drum track). From this album on Music/YokoOno made herself present next to John in the studio and this certainly caused even more tensions, seeing that the band had always recorded with them four alone.

* TheDissTrack: "Sexy Sadie" was aimed at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a guru whom John felt had been a let down to them. The original lyrics specifically targeted him, but at the request of George the lyrics became more vague.

* AbsenteeActor: This album is remembered partly for being the start of the dissension that led to the break-up of the band. That's partly reflected in the track list being, to a certain extent at least, the product of four solo artists. Only 15 of the 30 songs on the album feature all four Beatles playing.
** "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "Dear Prudence" had Paul playing drums after Ringo temporarily quit the band.
** [=McCartney=] recorded four "solo" songs on the album in which no other Beatle appears: "Wild Honey Pie", "Martha My Dear", "Blackbird", and "Mother Nature's Son". John Lennon, who hated it when Paul recorded by himself, appears all by himself on "Julia", the only Beatles song which Lennon did solo.
** Ringo's "Don't Pass Me By" features Ringo, Paul on bass and piano, and a session violinist. Paul's "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" also features only Paul and Ringo.
** George does not play on "I Will". John doesn't play on three of George's four songs, "Piggies", "Long, Long, Long", and "Savoy Truffle", although he did contribute backing vocals to "Piggies".
** The sound collage "Revolution 9" features studio chatter from John and George, as well as Yoko and others, but nothing from Paul or Ringo.
** "Good Night" features ''none'' of the Beatles playing, but instead is Ringo singing with a 26-piece orchestra and a choir.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* LongTitle: "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys My Monkey]]"

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey". Although it could either be about heroin or about Yoko.

** "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" has the line "So Captain Marvel zapped him right between the eyes." It's most likely that it's a reference to the Creator/DCComics [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} character]], especially since Lennon said to have had contemporary comic strip ''ComicStrip/JungleJim'' in mind while writing the song, and the Creator/MarvelComics [[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell character]] was very recent at the time the song was made (Mar-Vell debuted in 1967, just less than a year before the album was recorded).

** The song is a ShoutOut to Creator/GeorgeOrwell's ''Literature/AnimalFarm'' where the pigs, after leading the animals in a revolution against their human master, take control the farm and begin acting like the human beings who previously oppressed them.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Side Three contains some of the hardest rocking the band ever did. "Helter Skelter", probably the band's single hardest song, is rated a 6 by Wiki/TVTropes.

** "Helter Skelter" started out as a slow piece, sounding like a ragged cousin of "Yer Blues", with LoopedLyrics and extended jamming (most infamously running 27 minutes in one of its takes), before it got tightened up into a faster proto-HeavyMetal number.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota there lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon--except that the Gideons didn't start distributing Bibles until 1908, over 20 years after Dakota Territory became the states of North and South Dakota. (Although the last verse suggests that "Gideon" was an actual person and his name was a coincidence.)

''The Beatles'' is the tenth studio album by Music/TheBeatles, released in 1968. "The White Album" is the unofficial moniker for the album, owing to its [[MinimalisticCoverArt completely white album cover]]. Nowadays, most people refer to this nickname rather than the official title, both because of the iconic nature of the cover and to distinguish it in discussions not only from the band themselves, but also the two self-titled [[GreatestHitsAlbum compilation albums]] released in 1973 (which themselves are respectively known as "the Red Album" and "the Blue album").

''[[Magazine/TimeMagazine Time]]'' magazine included the White Album in their [[TimeAllTime100Albums 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums.]] It was listed at #10 in ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

Also got some notoriety because UsefulNotes/CharlesManson misinterpreted some lyrics from the songs "Piggies", "Revolution 9" and "Helter Skelter" to order his followers to go on a murdering spree.