Thursday, March 8, 2018

TOP 100 SONGS OF THE BEATLES: 33

“I Am the Walrus” (Lennon – November 27, 1967)  



Magical Mystery Tour – Side 1, Track 6 (4:35)
YouTube [Jim Carrey cover with George Martin]


From WikipediaRolling Stone, About.comand Google –

"I Am the Walrus" is a 1967 song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney. Lennon claimed he wrote the first two lines on separate acid trips. The song was in the Beatles' 1967 television film and album Magical Mystery Tour, and was the B-side to the #1 hit "Hello, Goodbye".

Lennon composed the song by combining three songs he had been working on. When he learned that a teacher at his old primary school was having his students analyze Beatles' lyrics, he added a verse of nonsense words.

The walrus is a reference to the walrus in Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter" (from the book Through the Looking-Glass). Lennon expressed dismay upon belatedly realizing that the walrus was a villain in the poem.


History –

Often considered John Lennon's masterpiece, this song was constructed by himself alone, with no band input, from several different sources. While at the piano in his Weybridge, London home during the fall of 1967, John heard a police car's siren outside his window and, liking what he heard, began playing along to it, thus creating the opening electric piano riff heard on the recording. At that time he also came up with the line "Mister city p'liceman," which fit thematically and rhythmically. He had two other lyrical ideas as well: the couplet "Sitting on a cornflake / waiting for the van to come," which was eventually used in the third verse, and a piece about "Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun," which became the song's bridge.

The odd nature of the lyrics have their genesis in Lennon's love for absurd wordplay, particularly Lewis Carroll, who is most famous fo r his books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1872). However, the main inspiration was a fan letter from Liverpool's Quarry Bank High School, which John had attended from 1952-1957. Apparently one of the headmasters had his students studying Beatles lyrics for "significance"; this amused John so much that he decided to make up a completely nonsensical song for them to figure out. Most of the lyrics were written on the spot, with Lennon turning to old friend Pete Shotton for assistance.

The first lines written were the verse about "Yellow matter custard," which came almost directly from a pointedly rude childhood verse John had heard around town as a kid: "Yellow matter custard, green slop pie, all mixed together with a dead dog's eye / Slap it on a butty, ten foot thick, then wash it all down with a cup of cold sick." John changed the first half to "Yellow matter custard / dripping from a dead dog's eye," and went from there. When he finished, Shotton claims John turned to him and remarked gleefully, "Let the f*ckers work that one out, Pete!" (Lennon, however, stated in subsequent interviews that the lyrics were put together over several months and were inspired by a pair of acid trips.)

Other phrases seem to have some relevance to outside influences. The opening line "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together" is almost certainly a parody, unconscious or not, of the British folk song "Marching To Pretoria," whose opening line reads, "I'm with you and you're with me and so we are all together." "Semolina pilchard" is said to be a slap at Detective Sergeant Norman Pilcher of Scotland Yard, notorious in the late Sixties for busting rock stars on trumped-up drug charges; he'd go on to bust John for marijuana possession on October 18, 1968, in Ringo's home at 34 Montague Square, London. John himself confirmed that "elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna" was a slap at the religious, specifically those who believed in one true God. Some have claimed "Goo goo g'joob" is a reference to James Joyce's dense classic Finnegan's Wake (1939), which contains the phrase "googoo goosth" on page 557. While it is known that Lennon had read the book by 1967, having already been told his lyrics were Joycean, there is no evidence that he consciously played upon the phrase.

The Walrus symbol itself was taken directly from the Carroll story "The Walrus and the Carpenter" from Looking Glass. It has no meaning in itself, though many Carroll critics have ascribed various social, political and/or religious meanings to the poem.

The line "See how they fly like Lucy in the sky" is a direct reference to John's own "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," possibly a further attempt to confuse the issue, as several fans had already insisted that song's title was an acronym for LSD.

The basic track for the song was laid down on November 5, 1967, after a week of so for mourning of recently deceased manager Brian Epstein, with John on electric piano. His lead vocal was added the next day, along with the rhythm track; on the 26th and 27th of the month, producer George Martin added horns, strings, woodwinds, and backing vocals by the Mike Sammes singers. John reportedly orchestrated the instruments himself through Martin, but allowed Martin to orchestrate the voices, including the cacophony of conversation that occurs just before the bridge.

The Singers were enlisted to sing the "Joker's" laughter ("ho ho ho / hee hee hee / ha ha ha!") and the outro's two simultaneous chants: "Everybody's got one / everybody's got one" and "Oompah, oompah / stick it up your jumper." The meaning of the first phrase is unclear and probably nonsensical, though Lennon later stated it could mean absolutely anything everyone has one of, including private parts. The second phrase is used mainly because, in Liverpudlian accent, it rhymes; to stick something up one's "jumper," or sweater, is a British euphemism for shoving something into one's rear end.

Finally, on November 29, 1967, John added one more element to the final mix: a BBC radio broadcast of Shakespeare's King Lear, Act Four, Scene 6, lines 219-222 and 249-262, found while Lennon was scanning the airwaves for something interesting to mix in, live. The words from the broadcast, at the time they are heard in the song, are as follows:

Gloucester. (2:25) "Now, good sir, wh--" (Here Lennon changes the channel away from the station.)
Edgar. (2:28) -- "poor man, made tame by fortune --" (2:34) "good pity--"

Later, at the end of the song, John leaves the broadcast where it is, and we hear:

Oswald. (3:52) Slave, thou hast slain me: Villain, take my purse. If ever thou wilt thrive, (4:02) bury my body, and give the (4:05) letters which thou findest about me to (4:08) Edmund Earl of Gloucester. (4:10) Seek him out upon the British party. O, (4:14) Untimely Death!
Edgar. (4:23) I know thee well, a (4:25) serviceable villain. As duteous to the (4:27) vices of thy mistress as badness would desire.
Gloucester. What, is he dead?
Edgar. (4:31) Sit you down father, rest you.

The musical composition of the song is deliberately complex, some might even say difficult; it contains all seven major "natural" chords (no sharps, flats or minors), and rises through all seven in the song's extended outro, while the bassline descends through the same chords backwards!

Composition –

The genesis of the lyrics is found in three song ideas that Lennon was working on, the first of which was inspired by hearing a police siren at his home in Weybridge; Lennon wrote the lines "Mis-ter cit-y police-man" to the rhythm and melody of the siren. The second idea was a short rhyme about Lennon sitting in his garden, while the third was a nonsense lyric about sitting on a corn flake. Unable to finish the ideas as three different songs, he combined them into one.

Lennon received a letter from a pupil at Quarry Bank High School, which he had attended. The writer mentioned that the English master was making his class analyse Beatles' lyrics. (Lennon wrote an answer, dated 1 September 1967, which was auctioned by Christie's of London in 1992). Lennon, amused that a teacher was putting so much effort into understanding the Beatles' lyrics, wrote the most confusing lyrics he could. Lennon's friend and former fellow member of The Quarrymen, Peter Shotton, was visiting, and Lennon asked Shotton about a playground nursery rhyme they sang as children.

Shotton remembered: "Yellow matter custard, green slop pie, All mixed together with a dead dog's eye, Slap it on a butty, ten foot thick,Then wash it all down with a cup of cold sick."

Lennon borrowed a couple of words, added the three unfinished ideas and the result was "I Am the Walrus". The Beatles' official biographer Hunter Davies was present while the song was being written and wrote an account in his 1968 biography of the Beatles. Lennon remarked to Shotton, "Let the fuckers work that one out." Shotton was also responsible for suggesting to Lennon to change the lyric "waiting for the man to come" to "waiting for the van to come".

Lennon explained much of the song to Playboy in 1980:

"The first line was written on one acid trip one weekend. The second line was written on the next acid trip the next weekend, and it was filled in after I met Yoko... I'd seen Allen Ginsberg and some other people who liked Dylan and Jesus going on about Hare Krishna. It was Ginsberg, in particular, I was referring to. The words 'Element'ry penguin' meant that it's naïve to just go around chanting Hare Krishna or putting all your faith in one idol. In those days I was writing obscurely, à la Dylan."

"It never dawned on me that Lewis Carroll was commenting on the capitalist system. I never went into that bit about what he really meant, like people are doing with the Beatles' work. Later, I went back and looked at it and realized that the walrus was the bad guy in the story and the carpenter was the good guy. I thought, Oh, shit, I picked the wrong guy. I should have said, 'I am the carpenter.' But that wouldn't have been the same, would it? [Sings, laughing] 'I am the carpenter....'".

Musical structure –

All the chords are major chords or seventh chords, and all the musical letters of the alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F and G) are used. The song ends using a Shepard tone, with a chord progression built on ascending and descending lines in the bass and strings, repeated over and over as the song fades. Musicologist Alan W. Pollack analyses: "The chord progression of the outro itself is a harmonic Moebius strip with scales in bassline and top voice that move in contrary motion." The bassline descends stepwise A, G, F, E, D, C, and B, while the strings' part rises A, B, C, D, E, F#, G: this sequence repeats as the song fades, with the strings rising higher on each iteration. Pollack also notes that the repeated cell is seven bars long, which means that a different chord begins each four-bar phrase.

The song is in the key of A and the instrumental introduction starts in the Lydian mode of B major. Verse 1 begins with a I-III-IV-I rock pattern: "I am he" (A chord)..."you are me" (C chord) "and we are all toge..." (D chord) "...ther" (A chord). Verse 2, however, involves a VI-VII-I Aeolian ascent: "waiting" (F chord) "for the van" (G chord) "to come" (A chord). The chorus uses a III-IV-I pattern: "I am the egg-man (C chord) "they are the egg-men (D chord). "I am the walrus (E chord), "goo goo g'joob" hanging as an imperfect cadence until resolved with the I (A chord) on "Mr City Policeman." At the line "Sitting in an English garden" the D# melody note (as in the instrumental introduction) establishes a Lydian mode (sharp 4th note in the scale) and this mode is emphasized more strongly with the addition of a D# note to the B chord on "If the sun don't come."

Recording –

"I Am the Walrus" was the first studio recording made after the death of the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein in August 1967. The basic backing track featuring the Beatles was released in 1996 on Anthology 2. George Martin arranged and added orchestral accompaniment that included violins, cellos, horns, clarinet and a 16-piece choir. Paul McCartney said that Lennon gave instructions to Martin as to how he wished the orchestration to be scored, including singing most of the parts as a guide. A large group of professional studio vocalists named the Mike Sammes Singers, took part in the recording as well, variously singing "Ho-ho-ho, hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha", "oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper!", "everybody's got one" and making a series of shrill whooping noises. The recording is another Beatles song with an unrelated coda, in the shape of new parts of strings, new choruses and the sampling of a radio in its fade-out.

Personnel

John Lennon – Lead vocals, electric piano (Fender Rhodes)
Paul McCartney – Harmony vocals, bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S)
George Harrison – Harmony vocals, tambourine
Ringo Starr – Drums (Ludwig)
Sidney Sax, Jack Rothstein, Ralph Elman, Andrew McGee, Jack Greene, Louis Stevens, John Jezzard, Jack Richards – Violin
Lionel Ross, Eldon Fox, Bram Martin, Terry Weil – Cello
Gordon Lewin – Clarinet
Neil Sanders, Tony Tunstall, Morris Miller – Horn
The Mike Sammes Singers – Backing vocals


Interpretation –

Although it has been reported that Lennon wrote "I am the Walrus" to confuse those who tried to interpret his songs, there have been many attempts to analyse the meaning of the lyrics.

Seen in the Magical Mystery Tour film singing the song, Lennon, apparently, is the walrus; on the track-list of the accompanying soundtrack EP/LP however, underneath "I Am the Walrus" are printed the words ' "No you're not!" said Little Nicola' (in the film, Nicola is a little girl who keeps contradicting everything the other characters say). Lennon returned to the subject in the lyrics of three of his subsequent songs: in the 1968 Beatles song "Glass Onion" he sings "now here's another clue for you all — the walrus was Paul"; in the third verse of "Come Together" he sings the line "he bag production, he got walrus gumboot", and in his 1970 solo song "God", admits "I was the walrus, but now I'm John.

Eric Burdon, lead singer of the Animals, claims to be the 'Eggman' mentioned in the song's lyric. Burdon was known as 'Eggs' to his friends, the nickname originating from his fondness for breaking eggs over naked women's bodies. Burdon's biography mentions such an affair taking place in the presence of John Lennon, who shouted "Go on, go get it, Eggman...".

Reception –

Critical reception at the time of the track's release was largely positive: "John growls the nonsense (and sometimes suggestive) lyric, backed by a complex scoring incorporating violins and cellos. You need to hear it a few times before you can absorb it" — Derek Johnson.

"Into the world of Alice in Wonderland now and you can almost visualize John crouching on a deserted shore singing 'I am the walrus' to some beautiful strings from far away on the horizon and a whole bagful of Beatles sounds, like a ringing doorbell and someone sawing a plank of wood. A fantastic track which you will need to live with for a while to fully appreciate" — Nick Logan.

Different versions –

In the original (1967) stereo release, at around two minutes through the song, the mix changes from true stereo to "fake stereo". This came about because the radio broadcast had been added 'live', off-air, into the mono mix-down and so was unavailable for inclusion in the stereo mix; hence, fake stereo from the mono mix was created for this portion of the song.

The mono version opens with a four-beat chord while the stereo mix features six beats on the initial chord. The four-beat-only-intro is also included on a different stereo mix (overseen by George Martin) for the previous MPI Home Video version of Magical Mystery Tour, especially the US Magical Mystery Tour album. The US mono single mix includes an extra bar of music before the words "yellow matter custard"; an early, overdub-free mix of the song released on Anthology 2 reveals John singing the lyrics "Yellow mat -" too early—this was edited out. A hybrid version prepared for the 1980 US Rarities LP combines the six-beat opening with the extra bar of music that precedes the words "yellow matter custard" (from the aforementioned US mono single mix). An entirely new full stereo remix was done in 2012 for Apple's DVD and BD release of the restored version of MMT.

The Jean Beaudin psychedelic 1969 short subject Vertige uses as the entirety of its soundtrack the song slowed down 800 times.

A full stereo digital remix was done for the Cirque du Soleil show Love and album of the same name, released in 2006. Producers George and Giles Martin were allowed access to early generations of the original master tapes. Musical parts that had previously been mixed were now available as separate elements. Additionally a copy of the BBC broadcast of King Lear was acquired. Now, with all the sound sources used in the original mono mix present, a proper stereo remix could be accomplished. These tracks were transferred digitally and lined up to create new multi-track master from which a new mix would be made.

On the 1998 album In My Life, a compilation album produced by George Martin, Jim Carrey performs the song.

A version of the song performed by Bono (of the band U2) can be seen in the 2007 Beatles-inspired musical movie, Across the Universe, directed by Julie Taymor.


Trivia –

Although never specifically designated as such, "I Am The Walrus" was clearly considered the b-side to its single counterpart, "Hello Goodbye," by the band, producer George Martin, and just about everyone else. This infuriated John Lennon, who, spurred on by his new relationship with Yoko Ono, grew increasingly more anxious to have the Beatles singles move in a more avant-garde direction. This would be the first battle in a war which would eventually contribute to the band's breakup.

After the "Paul Is Dead" rumors began in 1969, the question of who actually was the Walrus became significant in the minds of many Beatles fans, since, the rumor went, the Walrus was an Eastern religious symbol of death. This, it turns out, is not true. Yet Paul, not John, wears the walrus costume in the Magical Mystery Tour film. Furthermore, the back of the MMT album features the line "'No you're not!' said little Nicola." Little Nicola is a character in the accompanying MMT film, but she never says this to John. To further confuse matters, the Beatles song "Glass Onion" -- written as a nasty rebuke to the "Paul Is Dead" rumors -- also claims that "The Walrus was Paul." Yet in John's solo track "God," he claims " I was the Walrus / but now I'm John," making this, in the end, more of an existential question.

The original mono mix that appears on the British Parlophone single of "I Am The Walrus" features several anomalies: six beats in the electric piano intro instead of four, two beats and a cymbal crash by Ringo before the first "Goo goo g'joob," and extra beats after the first "I'm crying." The original American single features only the first two of these anomalies, while the original stereo mix on the MMT album -- the version most are familiar with these days -- changes from true stereo to "mock stereo" (in which the mono mix is artificially divided into two sides) at exactly 2:00. The mix available on 1980's Rarities combined the mock stereo with the extra beats intro.

An urban legend has the singers singing "Everybody smoke pot" at the end instead of the actual "Everybody's got one."

Author Jeff Kent's biography The Last Poet: The Story of Eric Burdon 1989 claims that Burdon, the Animals' lead singer, was the "eggman" of this song; supposedly, Eric liked to break raw eggs on groupies' bodies, and Lennon, having witnessed this in person, gave him the name "eggman." But then why is John the eggman in the song?

The Electric Light Orchestra's original stated intention upon forming was "to pick up where 'I Am The Walrus' left off." How well they succeeded is debatable, but the ELO song "Hello My Old Friend" is strikingly similar in many ways.

Although there have been countless covers of and references to "I Am The Walrus" in popular culture, the Dead Milkmen's 1987 song of the same name, oddly, has nothing to do with this one.



Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) March 8 


1962 – 5.00-5.29pm. BBC's Teeneager's Turn (Here We Go) broadcast (all 7 March 1962 session except "Hello Little Girl").

19623 – The prefix "45-" is dropped off EMI singles catalog numbers.
'Please Please Me' single number 1, 3rd week (UK New Musical Express chart).

1965 – Brian attends the evening presentation of this year's Mecca Carl-Alan awards, at the Empire Ballroom, Leicester Square, London. He collects from Princess Margaret an award as best group on behalf of the Beatles, and other on behalf of Cilla Black. The awards are televised by BBC1.

1968  – UK single release: "Step Inside Love".

1969 – Yellow Submarine LP, 8th week in the Top 30 (Billboard).

1970 – Recording of "Power To The People".


– UK single release: "Another Day".

1976 – UK single release: 'Yesterday'/'I Should Have Known Better'.

1982 – Startling Studios. Recording basic tracks for LP 'Old Wave'. Producer: Jim Nipar.

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