BSPH: The Beatles + Clint Ruin and Lydia Lunch - Why don't we do it in the road

"Why don't we do it in the road" is the song by The Beatles. It was released in 1968 on the band's double album known as "The White Album". The song was written by Paul MacCartney in a bout of inspiration so perplexing it is fascinating. The story of inciting accident goes like this: while vacating in India MacCartney saw two monkeys having a moment of raw passion for a blink or so and then he thought a good idea to wrap this moment into a song but in an abstract manner. You have to respect him for being able to do that much with so little.

This song is so sparse and vacuous - you can't really do much with it perception-wise. You have to take for what it is - a short, barebone arranged and very simple piece based on a blues formula. In a way, it is a tour de force in being as lame as it is humanly possible in the format of a song.

You can also pretend to think about it for a long time with no closure whatsoever. After a while you can almost reconstruct the train of thought that lead to the creation of this song. I guess, it was just a daring spark of "what if" that erupted out of longing for the sheer sting of amusement. Nevertheless, it is charming

"Why don't we do it in the road" is what can be described as a throwaway. And by late 60s The Beatles and Lennon / MacCartney in particular had mastered the subtle art of throwaway to perfection. The song is a showcase of how you can do a song basically out of anything at hand - spoilers: you just do it (i feel Pink Fairies vibes).

In fact, it is not even a song, there is just this jingle "Why don't we do it in the road" and some transitional ramblings to spice it up. The lyrics are unintentional exercise in constraint. There are only two lines - "Why don't we do it in the road" over and over again and "No one will be watching us" once in a while because apparently it gets boring uttering the same thing over and over again. The lyrics are performed in an increasingly erratic manner. It gets more and more aggressive or agitated and it brings a lot of needless intensity to this little piece. And then it is over.

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Later, in 1991, JG Thirlwell AKA Clint Ruin and Lydia Lunch had released their interpretation of the song on their collaborative release "Don't Fear the Ripper". Ruin / Lunch version is a good example of how to make a cover version really distinct piece that brings something new to the song.

This cover version was a complete reinvention that put its tongue-in-cheek barely-there sensual subject matter to the forth and upped the tension to the uncomfortable levels. The word that best fits this version is "malevolent". 



The changes are drastic but subtle. The song follows the original but turns it upside down at every turn. In addition to the original minimalist lyrics performed by Lunch with an exquisite salaciousness and sheer voluptiousness, there is an additional bout of scatting from Clint Ruin after every verse. It is disturbingly joyful blare of drooling expectation. This is a culmination of something-something and not in a good way.

The guitar part transmits this notion. Its parts are barely kept in tune, they swirls around the song like a pack of scavenger crows waiting for the thing to be done so that they could start feasting. The drumbeat is expanded into a full-blown strolling swing. The bass brings twisted groove of two heartbeats getting closer. There is suspence.

Ruin / Lunch version drips with sleaze. It is dark and brooding stomp. In this arrangement, it is a tale of raw lusty desire trapped beyond reach and attemting to get out of its restraints by all means necessary. It is a story of passion boiling and slowly going out of control and destroying everything. It goes nowhere with that maniacal thousand yard stare and it is fascinating...