I Am the Walrus
| "I Am the Walrus" | ||||||||||||
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 Cover artwork for the single, as used in Germany |
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| Single by The Beatles | ||||||||||||
| A-side | "Hello, Goodbye" | |||||||||||
| Released | 24 November 1967 | |||||||||||
| Format | 7" | |||||||||||
| Recorded | 5 September 1967, EMI Studios, London |
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| Genre | Psychedelic rock | |||||||||||
| Length | 4:34 | |||||||||||
| Label | Parlophone | |||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Lennon/McCartney | |||||||||||
| Producer | George Martin | |||||||||||
| The Beatles singles chronology | ||||||||||||
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"I Am the Walrus" is a 1967 song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney.[1] Lennon claimed he wrote the first two lines on separate acid trips.[2] 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 avant-garde 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 analyse Beatles' lyrics, he added a verse of nonsense words.[3]
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 realising that the walrus was a villain in the poem.[4]
Contents |
Origins
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 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".[5]
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."[6] 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".
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 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."[7] 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.
Lennon explained much of the song to Playboy in 1980:[2]
- "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 Ginsburg, 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, a 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....'"
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.[8]The song also features 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.[9]
The dramatic reading in the mix towards the end of the song is a few lines of Shakespeare's King Lear (Act IV, Scene VI), which were added to the song direct from an AM radio receiving the broadcast of the play on the BBC Home Service (or possibly the BBC Third Programme).[3] Lennon said in a 29 September 1974 radio interview with disc jockey Dennis Elsas that he "didn't even know it was Lear" until someone brought it up to him much later. The bulk of the audible dialogue, heard in the fade, is the death scene of the character Oswald (including the words, "O untimely Death! Death!"); this is a piece of the "Paul is dead" urban legend. Two other lines from the play are at the beginning of the third chorus, 2:25 into the song. They are taken from the two lines: "Glou. Now, good sir, what are you? Edg. A most poor man, made tame to fortune's blows, Who, by the art of known and feeling sorrows, Am pregnant to good pity." These lines are faded in and out in the recording, so that we hear only: "Now, good sir;" "man, made tame to fortune's;" and "good pity."
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 most recent home video version of Magical Mystery Tour. 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 The Beatles 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).
In 2003, the first-ever completely true stereo mix of the song (albeit with the introduction covered by narration voice-over), including the formerly "fake stereo" second half, was included on The Beatles Anthology release to DVD (a change from the VHS edition); and in 2006, the first-ever stereo mix of the complete song (albeit in "mash-up" form: i.e. - not a "straight" remix) was issued on the Beatles' album Love. The true stereo mix had been made possible when a separate recording of the same King Lear radio performance used in the original mix was located.
Personnel
- John Lennon – lead vocals, electric piano, mellotron
- Paul McCartney – bass, tambourine, backing vocals
- George Harrison – electric guitar, backing vocals
- Ringo Starr – drums
- Orchestrated, directed and produced by George Martin.
- Session musicians: strings, brass and woodwinds.
- Mike Sammes singers – background vocals.
- Engineered by Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott.
- Mixed by Geoff Emerick and John Lennon.
Reception
Critical reception at the time of the track's release was 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[10]
- "Into the world of Alice in Wonderland now and you can almost visualise 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 Beatle 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[11]
Interpretation
Despite the fact that Lennon wrote this song as a response to his alma mater interpreting Beatles songs, "I am the Walrus" is often interpreted by the public.[12][13]
- Who was the Walrus?
Ostensibly Lennon is the walrus as he appears in the Magical Mystery Tour film singing the song. On the track-list of the accompanying soundtrack EP/LP, 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 two of his subsequent songs: in the 1968 Beatles song "Glass Onion" he sings "the walrus was Paul",[14] and in his 1970 solo song "God", "I was the walrus, but now I'm John."
- Who was the Eggman?
Eric Burdon, lead singer of The Animals, is claimed by some to be the 'Eggman'. 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..."[15]
Cover versions
| Year | Artist | Release | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Spooky Tooth | The Last Puff | ||
| 1971 | Lol Coxhill | The Ear of the Beholder | ||
| 1976 | Leo Sayer | All This and World War II | ||
| 1980 | Klaus Lage | Die Musikmaschine | Translated to German | |
| 1985 | Gray Matter | Food for Thought | ||
| 1991 | Freddie Wadling and Fleshquartet | The Dice Man | ||
| 1991 | Men Without Hats | Sideways | ||
| 1992 | Arcwelder | (single) | ||
| 1993 | Marc Bonilla | American Matador | Instrumental with slide guitar by Ronnie Montrose | |
| 1993 | Kummeli | Minä olen munamies (TV) | In the TV show the band was named as The Piitles. | |
| 1994 | Oasis | "Cigarettes & Alcohol" | Later released on their compilation album The Masterplan. A live version also appears on Live by the Sea and ...There and Then from 1995. | |
| 1994 | Oingo Boingo | Boingo | ||
| 1994 | Colin's Hermits | Without The Beatles (tribute) | ||
| 1994 | The Punkles | Pistol | ||
| 1997 | Jackyl | Choice Cuts | ||
| 1998 | Jim Carrey | In My Life | Comic | |
| 1999 | Die Toten Hosen | Crash Landing | ||
| 2004 | Styx | (single) | They performed the song at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival and released the live version a single. It reached #10 on the Mediabase Classic Rock charts.[16] | |
| 2006 | Jeff Martin | The Fool | ||
| 2007 | Bono | Across the Universe (soundtrack) | ||
| 2007 | Boris and Merzbow | Walrus / Groon (EP) | ||
| 2007 | Les Fradkin | Guitar Revolution | Instrumental | |
| 2007 | Russell Morris | Fundamentalist |
Notes
- ↑ Unterberger 2007.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sheff 2000, p. 184.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 About The Beatles 2008.
- ↑ Sheff 2000, p. 185.
- ↑ Davies 2002.
- ↑ The Beatles Bible 2009.
- ↑ Pollack 1996.
- ↑ Lewisohn 1988, p. 68.
- ↑ page 154 The Foundations of Rock: From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" By Walter Everett
- ↑ Johnson 1967.
- ↑ Logan 1967.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Aldridge 1990, p. 145.
- ↑ Miles 1997, p. 357.
- ↑ Encyclopedia.com 2004.
References
- "I Am the Walrus". About The Beatles. 2008. http://www.aboutthebeatles.com/song-i_am_the_walrus.php. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
- Aldridge, Alan, ed (1990). The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics. Boston: Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence. ISBN 0-395-59426-X.
- "I Am the Walrus". The Beatles Bible. 2009. http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/i-am-the-walrus/2/. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
- Davies, Hunter (2002). "My Friend John". http://articles.absoluteelsewhere.net/Articles/my_friend_john_davies.html. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
- "Styx's Live Walrus Recording to Debut on iTunes; Styx's Version of "I Am the Walrus" Hits Top 10 on Classic Rock Charts". Encyclopedia.com. 17 November 2004. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-124859580.html. Retrieved 23 July 2007.
- Fontenot, Robert (2007). "I Am the Walrus". About.com. http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/iamthewalrus.htm. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
- Johnson, Derek (18 November 1967). "Hello Goodbye/I am the Walrus". NME.
- Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- Logan, Nick (25 November 1967). "Magical Mystery Tour". NME.
- Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
- Pollack, Alan W. (1996). "Notes on 'I Am the Walrus'". http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/iatw.shtml. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
- Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
- Unterberger, Richie (2007). "I Am the Walrus". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:ajfixqrrldse. Retrieved 6 June 2007.
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