Editor’s note: Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.
Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student manager Allison (class of 2022) and features “Rocky Raccoon”, a 1968 song by the Beatles. Thanks, Allison!
Rocky Raccoon illustration by Jim McHugh of mcillustrator.com (used with permission of artist)
I was first introduced to “Rocky Raccoon” in middle school during a guitar lesson. My teacher gave me the song to learn because I was gaining more interest in The Beatles and he thought it was a fun one. This further introduced me to some of the more eclectic and trippy songs among their lengthy discography.
The Beatles were an English rock band during the 1960s. Although their music is still very prevalent today, the band was only together for approximately a decade. Throughout this period, they produced numerous albums which were all regarded very highly by their global audience. “Rocky Raccoon” was one of many songs on The Beatles’ “White album” which was released in 1968.
Throughout the years, “Rocky Raccoon” has remained one of my favorite songs by The Beatles and is definitely one of my favorite songs to play on guitar. What I like most about the song is the chord progression. It’s written in a way that you could just keep playing it over and over. It may just be a silly song about a raccoon; however, the chord progression is what makes the song in my opinion.