Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Analysis

Fame is something that our culture idolizes and being famous is one the most sought after titles in my generation. Famous figures tend to define the culture of the eras they come from. They became so idolized and followed, that people almost forget they are humans, just like us, and that they are plagued with the same feelings, temptations, and flaws that we all have. A group that has almost surpassed fame is The Beatles. They are a band known world-wide for the music they created in the 1960’s and became an icon for an entire music genre as well as for that decade. As they gained immense fame as one of the greatest bands of all time, it was easy to forget they are people too. They may have been musicians, but this did not stop them from expressing themselves, and showing that they are humans like everyone else through the photography of two of their album covers. The two album covers are also probably some of the most recognizable covers of all time and are titled, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” from 1967, and “Abbey Road” from 1969. The album cover for “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band“ was designed by pop artists John Blake and Jann Hansworth, and was reportedly inspired by a drawing done by band member Paul McCartney. It was loaded with famous figures of the era that The Beatles admired, ranging from actors and athletes to poets and physicists, even including gurus. The total figure count ended with 57 cardboard cutouts and nine wax figures. With the important figures they chose, it was almost as if they were trying to create an image that represented the culture of The Beatles and the decade itself. It accomplishes this because it does not target just celebrities or political figures; it encompassed almost everyone that the band and the photographers believed were important to the culture of their time. There are obviously figures that are not from this specific decade, but I believe they are included because they were inspirations that lead to the way society conducted itself at this time. The Beatles had also claimed that they chose the title, ‘Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”, to use as an alter ego for themselves so they could experiment musically. I sense that was not the only reason it was chosen, especially in correlation with the cover artwork. I feel that the figures shown on the cover, including the Beatles themselves, connect more with the album’s title than just an alter ego. It may be a way for the Beatles, Blake, and Haworth to hint to the fact that those we look up to as having fame, money, power, love, admiration and everything else people desire, are actually not as well off as we believe. It insinuates that these people are truly lonely deep down and the way we see these people portrayed in the media can be wrong. It shows that people can have everything that they dream of, but that it is not what makes them happy. Having people that care about you for who you are deep down and not your status or what you own, is what gives people joy and fills their hearts. Another interesting thing about this album cover is that the Beatles are on there twice and that they have two distinctly dissimilar outfits. They use wax figures of themselves in their suits and mop …show more content…
“Sgt. Peppers” does a good job trying to humanize famous people by the ideas they are trying to convey, where “Abbey Road” humanizes the Beatles themselves, not by what they really intended to say, but more of by the little things that were unintentionally saying something about how they had changed. These album covers do however, share the fact that much more is said in these photos about who The Beatles are then one would originally think by just picking up the album in a store to listen. Fame is something that will be idolized and sought after as long as we continue to put those we consider famous on a pedestal, but we can change how we view them, as long as we remember they have faults just like