Welcome to Track Chatter, where we choose a different song to discuss in depth. This entry is part of an ongoing series in which we reconsider songs by The Beatles. Can anything new be said about this band or its music? Have a look below and let us know what you think.
Lew: For our second track from The While Album, we turn our attention to Ringo’s contribution “Don’t Pass Me By.” This song bears the distinction of being Ringo’s first original composition to appear on a Beatles album. His prior vocal outings had been limited to covers and Lennon/McCartney compositions, making “Don’t Pass Me By” a fairly pivotal moment for Ringo, if not The Beatles.
“Don’t Pass Me By” was recorded on June 5, 6 and 12 in 1968, although there are references to the song going back as far as 1964. Paul and Ringo are the only Beatles to appear on the track, with Jack Fallon supplying the violin. Ringo and Paul both played piano tracks on the recording, both of which were recorded through a Leslie speaker.
Throughout my listening experience with “Don’t Pass Me By,” I’ve always considered it a fairly innocuous little tune. However, in preparing to write about it, I gave it a more careful listen and began to think that I may have been a little cavalier in dismissing it. I’m not sure if that stems entirely from the fact that I’ve historically been dismissive of Ringo in general, or if it has to do with the song itself. Nevertheless, I’d like to get some initial comments from Aaron before I diverge into my own feelings about the song. Aaron, you selected this track for discussion – were you just feeling like we owed it Ringo or do you have a closer connection to the song?
Aaron: In the immortal words of James Brown, “can we give the drummer some!” Why a Ringo tune? Well, there are a few reasons that are probably worth mentioning, although they may have little to do with this particular track and what makes it worthy (or not) of reconsideration. First, it was simply that the series is winding down and I thought it might be a good idea to spend some time considering Ringo as a singer. The Beatles are known for many things, one of which is for being a great vocal group. This reputation certainly doesn’t rest on Ringo’s performances, but he does sing lead on around twelve Beatles’s songs – almost one per album – so within the parameters of this series it might be worth taking a look at Ringo the singer (we’ve already made a pretty good argument, I think, about the often underrated quality of Ringo’s drumming). In that sense, we might use this opportunity to consider Ringo’s overall role as a singer in the group. Along those same lines, as the original impetus for this series was to consider “lesser-known” Beatles’ tunes, many of the songs Ringo sings on fall into that category. Of course, he sang on a few of the Beatles’ best known tracks – particularly “Yellow Submarine,” “With a Little Help from my Friends,” and, arguably in terms of popularity, “Octopus’s Garden.” But the rest of his songs, while hardly unknown obscurities, would hardly make the top of any Best-of lists.
What I love about “Don’t Pass Me By,” though is what a great performance it is. It’s true that Paul and Ringo were the only Beatles on it. But in some ways it exemplifies the way the band seemed to approach Ringo tracks. Going all the way back to “Boys” on Please Please Me, the band always seemed to bring heightened energy to the recording of songs on which Ringo was singing. Perhaps there was something about stepping away from the mic that freed up Lennon and McCartney to push themselves a bit (not that they needed it), but the songs on which Ringo sings are notable for their high level of energy and, in many cases, inventiveness. With “Don’t Pass Me By” that includes the somewhat lackadaisical and sloppy vibe that permeates The White Album, but underneath it is a pretty solid country-western tune with a bit of inventive flair.
What do you think, Lew? You mentioned that you’ve been reconsidering the song. Have you found anything about it that elevates it above being just more ho-hum Ringo filler?
Lew: Well, I'm not sure about the phrase “ho-hum Ringo filler,” although I think I get what you’re saying here. My (minor) objection to the phrase, I guess, is that I don’t think that “Don't Pass Me By” stands out as being a more inventive piece of songwriting than some of the songs that Lennon & McCartney wrote for Ringo to sing – on balance, I’d probably choose “With a Little Help from My Friends” or “Octopus's Garden” for sheer listening enjoyment. But, obviously, what makes “Don’t Pass Me By” notable is that it's a song written entirely by Ringo. This all might sound a little negative – that’s not really my intention so much as a fact of the situation. If you're in a band with John Lennon and Paul McCartney, your songs might tend to seem a bit small compared to the stuff those guys are throwing around. I guess I don’t have a lot to say about the performance at the moment, but I’d be interested to hear more about what is striking you about it.
In any case, I do like “Don't Pass Me By.” At best, I think it makes a nice juxtaposition between Ringo’s happy-go-lucky presentation and my own experiences of occasionally having waited in vain for girls to call (alas!). I think that’s what prompted my remark that I had been reconsidering it as a piece of songwriting. Once you get past Ringo’s slightly goofy demeanor, he’s writing about something that can be fairly agonizing.
Aaron: You’re certainly right that, in terms of songwriting, it would be hard for Ringo ever to top the Lennon & McCartney team (although, just to clarify, it was Ringo who wrote “Octopus’s Garden”). But there’s something about it – something plaintive about Ringo’s delivery, or the simplicity of the lyrics – that has always struck me. It’s long been one of my favorite tracks on The White Album, even positioned, as it is, alongside so many killer tracks. I’ve come along way round on Ringo’s singing. When I was a kid and a teenager, I thought it was balanced somewhere between goofy and bad, but I think that’s in part to do with everybody telling me that all the time. But as I’ve aged, Ringo has, for me, slotted into that group of rock singers, particularly North American singers, who don’t have the greatest voice but who can manage to convey the feeling behind whatever lyric it is they’re singing. To be sure, he’s no Dylan or Neil Young. But I think his delivery works in a way that the other Beatles liked constructing songs around – I mean, Paul and John must have known what a good song “With a Little Help from My Friends” was, but they chose to give it to Ringo for some reason. Perhaps because his sad-dog persona fits so well, or at least so ironically, with the lyrics.
As for Ringo’s own stab at lyrics, in this case, I think they might be better than they seem on first listen. The song is a bit goofy in the way it takes a typical country tune and adds all that White Album detritus of studio sound and weird instruments. And it’s also got that goofy-Ringo vibe. But try to imagine a stripped-down, acoustic version or maybe even a balls-out rock version, and even the “lost your hair” lyric might work.
I’ve got a couple other thoughts about the lyrics, but anything else you want to get in about the tune, or Ringo, or (gulp!) drummers?
Lew: I think you make a good point about Ringo’s vocal delivery – it’s effective at times, and partially so because he’s not a great singer. Actually, my biggest issue with him as a vocalist isn’t so much about his ability as a singer – I’ve given the nod to people who had far greater issues with pitch, etc. If anything, it’s what I’d call a marked lack of dynamics or inflection in his takes that gets to me sometimes - he doesn’t sound invested. It reminds me of a twelve-year-old singing in choir. Maybe that’s a bit harsh, but maybe it gets my point across.
The lyrics aren’t bad at all. Actually, when I was getting ready to start this entry, I came across the notion that “lost your hair” was a piece of British slang at the time that meant someone was very upset. I had always assumed it was intended to describe the effects of the car crash, but maybe it’s just a dated idiom. In other respects, I think he manages to convey the feeling of doubt, which I think I’ve mentioned, that comes with waiting to hear from your crush (or
whatever) and the feeling of contrition that comes when you realize that the horrible scenario that you’d been constructing in your insecurity was doing him/her a disservice. What else did you want to say about the lyrics?
The lyrics aren’t bad at all. Actually, when I was getting ready to start this entry, I came across the notion that “lost your hair” was a piece of British slang at the time that meant someone was very upset. I had always assumed it was intended to describe the effects of the car crash, but maybe it’s just a dated idiom. In other respects, I think he manages to convey the feeling of doubt, which I think I’ve mentioned, that comes with waiting to hear from your crush (or
whatever) and the feeling of contrition that comes when you realize that the horrible scenario that you’d been constructing in your insecurity was doing him/her a disservice. What else did you want to say about the lyrics?
Aaron: In the end my thoughts on the lyrics aren’t all that profound. It’s just that I’ve always read the song, in part, as a lament about the band. I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but with the state of things in 1968, perhaps not much of one. It was during the recording of this album that Ringo quit the band for a bit, feeling lost in the sea of animosity that was starting to overwhelm the other band members (Ringo seems to have been the one member of the band who pretty much always got along with all the rest of them). So while I know that, on its surface, it’s an anxious love song, I always got the vibe that the love was directed in part towards his band mates and best friends whose relationships were all unraveling in front of his face. And some how, to me anyway, Ringo’s monotone delivery really brings out the plaintive nature of that reading.
But, like I said, that’s probably a stretch as nothing in the lyrics themselves really point to that interpretation. Any thoughts from our readers? As always, we’d love to hear what any of you think about this track, Ringo the singer, Ringo the drummer, or anything else that might come to mind.
Coming soon: Getting closer to the end, we decide to swing big with a George Harrison track from Abbey Road, and an REM Quick Take.
