by Peter Clarke
“The Beatles Lyrics Illustrated” was released in 1975 by Dell Publishing Co. The paperback book features song lyrics, 100 photos of the band, and, unexpectedly, an introduction by San Francisco Beat author Richard Brautigan.
The introduction feels strangely uninspired, almost as if it’s an early draft of the piece that wasn’t supposed to get published. But it does have Brautigan’s distinct voice and quirky use of metaphor.
Beatles lyrics are great, but they’re also everywhere. A piece of writing by Richard Brautigan that doesn’t appears in one of his books, however, is extraordinarily rare. I imagine anyone buying this “Beatles Lyrics” book really just wants the Brautigan intro.
If you haven’t experienced Brautigan yet, start with “Trout Fishing in America,” “Revenge of the Lawn,” or “In Watermelon Sugar.” But if you’ve already read all of his available books (like we have), you’ll enjoy this:
The Silence of Flooded Houses
by Richard Brautigan
Earlier this year here in Montana the Yellowstone River was flooding down below the Carter Bridge. The river kept rising day after day until it was flowing through houses. They became like islands in the river and there was a strange awkward loneliness to them because these were places where people had been living (laughing, crying, love and death) only a few days before and now they were just part of the Yellowstone River.
Every time I passed by those houses on my way into town, I would get a very sad feeling and some words would come to mind. They were always the same words, "The silence of flooded houses." They repeated themselves over and over again. I soon accepted them as part of the way into town.
I'll use those words for something, someday, I would think afterwards, but I didn't know what that something would be or when that day would come.
Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the
church where the wedding has been,
lives in a dream.
Waits at the window, wearing the face
that she keeps in a jar by the door,
Who is it for?
Father McKenzie, writing the words of a
sermon that no-one will hear,
No-one comes near.
Look at him working, darning his socks
in the night when there's nobody there,
What does he care?
Eleanor Rigby died in the church as was
buried along with her name.
Nobody came.
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt from
his hands as he walks from the grave.
No-one was saved.
One could say a million things about these songs. You could go on for years talking about the Beatles. You could chop down a whole forest to make space for the pages.
Some of the songs in this book are like the silence of flooded houses.
This is all I have to say.
Richard Brautigan
Pine Creek, Montana
October 11, 1974
Peter Clarke is the editor-in-chief of Jokes Review. He’s the author of the comic novels Politicians Are Superheroes and The Singularity Survival Guide. Follow him on Twitter @HeyPeterClarke.