Talk:I Am the Walrus

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I Am the Walrus has had a peer review by Wikipedia editors which is now archived. It may contain ideas you can use to improve this article.

I Am the Walrus was a good article nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There are suggestions below for improving the article. Once these are addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake. Reviewed version: March 28, 2006

[edit] "When We Was Fab" by George Harrison

What have these two songs got in common? Why was it included under parodies and influences?

[edit] Goo goo g'joob

Somebody needs to look into what goo goo g'joob means and where it comes from. Smerdis of Tlön 17:23, 15 Nov 2004 (UTC)

It's Koo Koo Kachoo!!Why do people keep thinking that he clearly makes a kah sound! And its just a random thing to say. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.163.250.234 (talk) 19:19, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

It's possible that "goo goo g'joob" is just Lennon's imitation of the noise a walrus or seal makes, and no more meaningful than "Meow" or "Woof."

[edit] LSD

Sorry about failing to give a description for my edit. I fixed the link for "acid trip" to point to the appropriate section of the "LSD" entry instead of to an empty page. Harmil 20:26, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Jim Carrey

It has also been covered by actor/comedian Jim Carrey, whose version was considered among the worst Beatles covers ever.

Well I like it. :) --Nick R 22:23, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

I love it!

I think this is a weasel word masterpiece... was considered by who exactly? and btw i love it too 62.10.82.167 23:30, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Also referred to in the TV program "Buffy, the vampire slayer"

-Xander, one of the main characters, describes a creature made of slugs as "I am the bug-man, koo koo kachoo".

[edit] Failed GA

I failed this article from Good Articles for the following reasons: It is not well-written as it used too many quotes and the lead is too short; It isn't broad because it has no discussion of chart performance or how it impacted the career of the Beatles; It is not referenced well-enough because some quotes have to attribution and web references should have the date they were accessed. Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 18:41, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lewiss Caroll?

The reference to Lewiss Caroll should be explained. Where in Caroll's works (Book & chapter) and in what context are the walrus and the carpenter mentioned?

[edit] Walrus photo?

Why was the photo of the Walrus removed? --NEMT 23:15, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] In the news this week

I have no idea how you'd work this in, but Lennon's school sketchbooks are going up for sale in April. They include his drawing of the Lewis Carrol Walrus character. Link here: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1740368,00.html Image here (if you're patient): http://www.cooperowen.com/news_lennon.asp

[edit] Low chorus chant at the end

At the end of the song, you hear a large crowd of people all chanting something. What they're chanting is something not everybody seems to agree on. Many people think they're saying "Smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot", though I've also heard something like "Want some, want some, everybody's got some". I tend to favor the first example, and credit the second with revisionism, since the former Beatles, particularly Paul, have tried to draw attention away from the drug-related aspects of much of their music. But since John basically admitted to writing this song on acid, it's not out of the question that marijuana would have been involved as well. Anyhow, it would be interesting to see an analysis of this part of the song on the main page somewhere. I just don't have any reliable sources to cite or I'd do it myself. --Lurlock 20:54, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Aren't there two chants-one "Everybody's got one, everybody's got one..." and the other one "Oompah, oompah, stick it in your jumper"?--Alexrules43 18:51, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

• Certainly the "oompah" chant is one of them. It's a very common phrase in the UK. Revisionism is performed by every drug-addled stoner wanting to see justification for their habit. It's kind of funny and kind of sad after a while. 75.28.166.58 19:33, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

There are 3, and all 3 of you are correct. I forget which order they're said in though. --MasterA113 13:28, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

I thought it was Oompah, oompah stick it up your joompah... (The beatles stuck it in to argue against censorship it think), oh yeah, and it was in one of their books. Omega Archdoom^Talk 13:36, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

For the record, I am not a "drug-addled stoner" - in fact I've never touched the stuff, though I favor legalization - but that's another matter entirely. However, I have heard that as the quoted lyric from multiple sources, and listening to the song it sure sounds like it, though the voices are so distorted it could be just about anything you want it to be, which I think may even be what they intended - it can sound like anything, making it more difficult to interpret the song, which John has explicitly said was written specifically in order to be difficult to interpret. Lurlock 04:59, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

I live in Manchester, which is about about 30 miles from Liverpool and knew "oompah,oompah, stick it up your jumper" as a popular childhood chant. "Stick it up your jumper!" (a jumper is a woollen sweatshirt, essential in the British winter) is an insult young children would use before they were old enough to say "stick it up you arse!". Oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper was a chant said in a deep voice when you were dancing about prentending to be an African tribesman - not politically correct now, of course! In "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions" by Mark Lewisohn, which tells you everything you could ever want to know about the recordings, it says "on 27 September........a choir of 16 voices, variously singing "Ho-ho-ho, hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha", "oompah,oompah, stick it up your jumper!", "got one ,got one, everybody's got one" and making a series of shrill whooping noises. Very strange!" It may seem laughable today, but at the time the Beatles were pushing the boundaries by putting in "naughty bits" like "everybody's got one", "you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down", "tit,tit,tit" in the song "Girl" on the "Rubber Soul" album and the reference to "finger pie" in "Penny lane". Just young lads trying to shock, really. If there is a life after death, how John must be laughing that people are still trying to analyse the words of a nonsense song that was just written to wind-up those who tried to analyse his lyrics - ho-ho-ho, hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha!!!!!!!! User:Richerman 23:52, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Related Theory: The Collective Unconscious

Common with many experiences using hallucinogens like LSD is the sense of being interconnected with nature and humanity. This feeling of oneness with man-kind has been associated with Carl Jung's theory of the collective unconscious. Considering these ideas and looking at the lyrics suggest an intuitive truth: "I am he, as you are he, as you are me and we are all together" certainly puts it straight foreward... but the chorus repeats and insists the same message only slightly disguised " I am the Walrus" = "I am the We All Are Us" The verses containing intentional madness and disorder account a world of these symptoms, The Walrus is the lunatic watching him do these insane things to himself.

that's what she said —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.125.110.223 (talk) 15:24, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Walrus in Love

It would be good to have a (brief) mention in here of the use of this track in the Love show in Vegas -- both the mix used and also how the presentation relates to the interpretation of the song. (I don't have enough expertise to add material on either point.) Gusworld 03:55, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Australian band Custard

Their name comes from "Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye". But they are no longer together. I can't be fucked finding a reference, but I am sure someone will ... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.232.51.243 (talk) 18:13, 29 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Propose splitting the references/parodies into a seperate article

It seems to me that it might be a good idea to split the references and parodies sections into their own article. At some point they probably contributed meaningfully to the understanding of the original article - now that there are so many, major and minor, they only lengthen I Am the Walrus needlessly. The very fact that so many have been compiled make them a notable subject in and of themselves, and it wouldn't be the first time a subject like this got its own spot - see Paradise Lost in popular culture. (For a list of many more "in popular culture" articles, and there are many, just search it on Google.) PaladinWhite 23:01, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think the list is unwieldy in terms of length yet. If others think it is, I'd suggest adding some text that describes the situation (simple, though: "The song has been parodied numberous times including the following...") and then removing all but the most notable instances. In general, I think cultural references are not notable in their own right (unless they are, then they should get articles of their own, not as a group, but as individual topics). They are included because they are evidence of the impact of the song on other artists and performers. If you move them to a separate article, some (or maybe even all) of the impact of the evidence is lost. My .02. — John Cardinal 03:45, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

We can avoid losing the impact of the evidence by moving the current sections to their own article, and including a short ubsection in the main article that reads like you said... Something like "The song has been parodied and referenced numerous times in popular culture, dot dot dot..." (where the redlink would lead to the newly-created article).

My main motivation for suggesting the move is that I don't think the current setup helps with understanding of the song - knowing where the song has been referenced doesn't really explain anything about it, besides the fact that it's culturally significant (which can easily be stated explicitly). It just seems like the song itself, with its history, lyrical development, etc, is one topic, while discussion of how other people have used the song is another. PaladinWhite 03:55, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, do you propose moving cover versions and cultural references do other pages for all songs? As far as I can tell, it's only suggested here because of the number of instances. I don't think we need to include all such items for songs that have the impact of "I Am the Walrus," and making a small, separate article would effectively orphan them. We need some other opinions on this, as I suspect I won't change your mind and t'other way round, too. — John Cardinal 04:30, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

No, I don't propose doing it for all songs, because all songs haven't got the list that this one has (i.e. not all could stand alone as their own, notable topic, and not all of them make up such a bulk of their parent article, detracting from the original information.) Splitting the article wouldn't orphan the references if they were linked right where they lie right now, and who's to say what's "notable" and what's not, as far as references go, if we're going to pare it down?

I think you're absolutely correct about us agreeing to disagree. This article has to be on hundreds of watchlists, and I'm sure someone else will show up eventually to chime in. PaladinWhite 04:39, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Possible Origin of "Eggman"

There is an entry under the Wiki listing for "Eric Burden", under the section entitled Trivia that states the following:

Burdon is claimed by some to be the 'Eggman' from The Beatles song "I Am The Walrus". The reason for this is that Burdon was known as 'Eggs' to his friends, originating from his fondness for breaking eggs over naked girls. Burdon's biography mentions such an affair taking place in the presence of John Lennon, who shouted "Go on, go get it, Eggman ..."[1]

Perhaps this is worthy of an entry in the "I Am The Walrus" articles where the possible meanings of certain terms are provided, or at the very least, there should be a link to the "Eric Burden" reference.

Dwodo21 23:18, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Chicago reference to the song in "South California Purples"

On Chicago's first album (Chicago Transit Authority, 1969) the song "South California Purples" contains the words "I am he, as you are he and you are me, and we are all together, woah, woah". This could possibly be a reference (that apparently has never been adressed) to the Beatles' "I am The Walrus"..

[edit] Intro

The version with the four beat intro is the mono mix, the six beat version is the stereo (or "fake stereo"). I have the British "Magical Mystery Tour" EPs of both versions. This is replicated in the CD EP of MMT, which contains both mono and stereo versions over two discs.--Jd204 19:55, 27 October 2007 (UTC)