The Beatles were so, so good for music. They bridged all kinds of rock and soul and blues, they made a lot of money doing it, and they wrote incredible, meaningful, timeless songs. Originally released as the B-side to "Hey Jude," this song is called "Revolution 1" and was inspired by the political protests of the 1960's -- but it easily could have come out ten years later, or ten years after that, or yesterday. Wikipedia has an interesting breakdown of the genesis of the song -- and of its partner on the White Album, "Revolution 9" -- but the gist is that this was one of the Beatles' first really big political songs, after "Taxman," and it pissed off people from both ends of the political spectrum. Rock star swagger: check.
On the recording, John Lennon is credited with the "scream" at the beginning, but in this live version Paul takes the honors. I also love Paul & George's good time fun band, "shoo be doo wop" back-up vocals. In fact, Paul seems to just be yelling whenever he feels like it. It's very possible they're all high out of their minds, but they certainly had fun on stage. (As did the cameraman.)
There aren't a lot of live videos of the Beatles, so savor this one. And just in case you aren't full yet, check this out: the entire White Album in one video ("Revolution 1" starts at 1:09:09):
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