"Helter Skelter" is a song written by Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon/McCartney, and recorded by The Beatles on The White Album. A product of McCartney's deliberate effort to create a sound as loud and dirty as possible, the clangorous piece has been noted for both a "proto-metal roar" and "unique textures." It was one of several White Album compositions taken by Charles Manson as elaborate prophecy of a war to arise from racial tensions between blacks and whites.