Their entire studio discography was within an 8 year period, and they were in their early 20s when it all began, and just turning 30 when it ended. Often imitated, but never to be duplicated. They were truly a phenomenon.
Quick thing. This song has no meaning. It was intentionally written this way to confound those who were making a career out of interpreting Beatles lyrics.
I cracked up at the beginning of your review when Amber was looking forward to finally learning the meaning of I am the walrus by listening to the song! I was a 13-14 yr old aspiring hippie chick when this song came out, and a huge Beatles fan. People around the world went on and on trying to figure out what it meant and coming up with all kinds of "meanings". When it turns out Lennon later said he wrote this song as a spoof and a joke on all the people who espoused so much deep and intricate philosophical meanings to all their songs. Also think some of it was inspired by a couple acid trips he took. Thanks for the reviews and always making me smile! ✌❤
The Beatles revelled in fucking around with peoples' perceptions and I was fortunate to grow up with an uncle who was only four years older than me and loved them. The greatest band ever. Period.
Yeah I was 12 years old and loved this song. I was a late hippie guy! I know you remember when “Paul is dead” had everyone up in arms! Lyrics from so many Beatles songs pointed to Paul was dead! I think it even reached back to Paul as the Walrus. Not sure about that. Gosh what a great time to grow up.
wonderful Jay and Amber, that you dig out more of the Beatles... however just so you know: this version of 'I'm the Walrus' was really weird and in bad shape... sometimes the stereo effect was gone, so certain musical effects were missing, and it was cut at the beginning and the end... even the alignment of music and singing was sometimes out of sync... I hope you get to hear the proper full version one day - its really worth it!! PS. John wrote the lyrics for this as a response to many fans going a bit wacky with the interpretations of their texts, and way beyond their meaning, so he thought... 'I'll give them something really weird to chew on...' :)
I think that might be only 1 channel of the stereo mix somehow. Some of the cool stuff is missing, like the laughs at ho ho ho hee hee hee ha ha ha . It also sounds like it's coming from a tunnel its a very muddy sound. Definately find the full version of it, there's a lot more you were missing here, especially the string backrounds.
Wholeheartedly agree. I was surprised at how emasculated the song felt without the end section. I'd go so far as to say Amber and Jay still haven't heard the song yet, just a teaser.
Agreed. This was a terrible mix / outtake (or whatever it was). It made the song lose ALL of it's impact. They need to hear the "official" stereo version, that has the last half in stereo as well. The last half was in fake stereo until a few years ago.
This is an odd mix of the song, apart from the album version. You should listen to the album version if you get the chance. The one thing you can always count on from the Beatles, is a mastery of any type or style of modern you can think of! They were the greatest band of the 20th century, hands down. They are still massively popular 50 years after they broke up!
This is a really weird mix! Have you checked out the version on the Love album - it's very similar to the original but a step up in sound quality as they mixed it for the 2006 album. I'm a big advocate of the the recent remixes of Sgt Peppers, White Album and Abbey Road. Apparently there was a remix of I Am The Walrus done for the blue ray release of Yellow Submarine in 2012 (I think this is true - I read it a while ago). I'd like to hear that version but I haven't found it yet.
I Am The Walrus is on “Magical Mystery Tour”. Paul says that they were told that a teacher was breaking down their songs and explaining them so John said “oh yeah well lets see how they figure out this?” He purposely wrote crazy to drive the teacher crazy. Ha ha !!!you won’t be able to figure it out. 😊
This isn’t the version we’re familiar with. You have to listen to the real version. This version is missing a lot of the background vocals and cuts out the last 30 seconds of the song which gets very weird.
This blew my mind as a kid listening for the first time. Lennon’s voice has so much urgency, like he’s departing great wisdom. Thing is it’s surreal nonsense. Just brilliant.
John was inspired to write this song after he read a letter from a fan with an English teacher who had his students analyzing Beatles lyrics. He was so amused by the fan mail that he decided to write a song full of nonsense lyrics.
The thing about the Beatles they did silly simple things to change their sound. John sang this into a bottle or glass or something like that. To come up with these ideas to make different sounds.
THAT is wild !! Have always loved Beatles since 1976. But, was curious about these lyrics. Glad you shared this ! Man; think of all the unknown situations in their past that we don't know about....that inspired Lennon & McCartney. Read story recently about The Bee Gees, forgotten and down on their luck in Miami, trying to make a comeback. They drove home at night, crossing a rickety bridge that crossed a canal. It made a clackety sound....that inspired JiveTalkin which restarted their career, big time.
I think they’re the only band I know of that actually successfully changed their sound to match if not dictate the sound of 3 eras? They also have the most trippy prolific fun lyrics of all time !
John and Paul got together once a week for 3 hours to write new songs. By the end of the session, they ALWAYS had a song, and most of the time it became a hit! They would take the song to George and Ringo. They would play the main theme for them and that would take about 20 minutes. Then they would split up for about 30-60 minutes and work to create their own separate parts to beef it up. Paul would play bass guitar similar to a lead guitar… one reason those songs sound so great. George would work on his lead guitar parts and come up with a unique riff at the beginning of the song. Ringo would experiment with rhythms on drums. Etc. By the end of the week, they were recording the song! Super talented boys, they were!
If you go back and research the history of rock, you'll realize why The Beatles were so important and iconic. They came along and changed the face of rock music completely. They wrote songs like nothing heard before. Some of the techniques they used in recording they invented on the fly with George Martin. Paul and John wrote the bulk of their material and did so with such an incredible sympatico that was beyond belief. Each would come into the studio with a partial song written, obviously unrelated, yet somehow those parts would marry together and become a single, phenomenal song. There's a wonderful documentary on their music that PBS has broadcast several times. The narrator is a musician, producer and educator. He analyzes different songs from the various periods of their career as The Beatles.He illustrates the technical skill and knowledge behind their music, making it clear that though they may have written and made musical decision on an intuitive level, they actually were displaying massive technical abilities.
actually, their influence extended beyond pop music. they influenced fashion, social mores, politics, police enforcement, drug polices, etc. they literally changed the world.
This is on the Magical Mystery Tour album and was the B side of the single with Hello Goodbye the A side. The sound of John's voice was done by using the talk back microphone (the cheap mic they use for the control room to talk to the musicians through the headphones). John wanted a weird sound and the sound engineer Geoff Emerick came up with it. I think the "I'm crying" part was added last since this was recorded 4 days after Brian Epstein died.
Thank you for your post, especially your last sentence. I was always wondering if there was any significance to the "I'm crying" lyrics, and there certainly was.
After so many people were trying to find hidden meanings to the lyrics on Sgt. Pepper, John said he was going to write a song to drive people crazy trying to figure out what it's all about. He did it for a laugh. Loosely based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland poem The Walrus and the Carpenter. Still it's a great song. Thanks Johnny.
The Beatles were soooo popular that I think John made songs just to goof on people! Don’t look for some heavy meaning, on some songs he just wanted to have a laugh.
At the end of Sgt pepper they put in a dog whistle. So at the end of one song everybody was high ,then their dogs just began barking in the house!! LMMFAO
There are 4/5 great Beatles tracks and this is one of them however the Beatles were not great musicians and this song is done far better by other bands so please listen to the Spooky Tooth version The awful 'With a little help from my friends is another prime example but thanks to Joe Cocker this song is now a classic The other great Beatles tracks are Tomorrow never knows, Strawberry Fields forever, A day in the life; and While my guitar gently weeps. which was originally an average song but made great by the guitar work of Eric Clapton
@@mikep6222 Maybe but I wont argue with you but as I said in my comments he needed a lot of help from Clapton so also would 'Badge' have been a great track if not for the involvement by Eric? I do not think so!
Please go back and listen to another video of this amazing song. Something went terribly weird at the end, which is definitely not on the record! Also, there is an entire string section missing on this version, as well as the mesmerizing chanting at the end. The Shakespeare feed-in at the very end is essential. Don't know who cobbled this version of the video together, but it is the wrong one to listen to.
Could not agree more. I also made similar comments about this version. When I saw this song come up I was licking my chops, but then I was so disappointed at this version. You did not get the full song nor the fullness of the song that makes this a psychologic classic. I felt cheated with this version and would hope the would do a repeat with the corrected version. Even the movie version was better than this.
That was a strange mix of that song, but there are quite a few. Both this and “Strawberry Fields” are on the US release, but Magical Mystery Tour was an EP in the UK, and “Strawberry Fields” was not released on an original LP there. Though it was recorded at the same time that Sgt. Peppers was recorded. The same is true of “Penny Lane”.
John’s voice is unmistakable. My fave of all time. Even in my 60’s, I still have a Beatles room in my house. Play some songs from John’s last album Double Fantasy! Woman, Watching the Wheels and others. ❤
John’s last album wasn’t double Fantasy a common mistake. But His last album was the post Humous album Milk & Honey. HAD some very good songs on it like Nobody Told Me.
When Amber said I want to get into this song to find out what the Walrus is, who else thought you ain’t going to work it out from the song. The best insight I can offer is that Paul McCartney said that him and John Lennon were sick of critics pull apart their lyrics and finding things in their that they never meant. So John wrote the Walrus to kind of say now work this out.
Exactly. Lennon had been told that a former teacher of his was having his class analyze Beatles lyrics, so he wrote this with an "analyze this, mofo!" attitude.
Lennon said it meant nothing, but it does….he is having a go at A LOT of people in this song. Subtle, but he is. And of course he could not say that at the time. Took me more than 30 years to connect the dots. As I grew older I read things, saw things and heard some people and then it was just like…"oh my God, John was having a laugh at this one…and this one,..and also at this one!" John was INCREDIBLY sarcastic and intelligent.
George Martin called John Lennon - "the voice of rock n roll" and I have to agree. The poetry, uniqueness of his voice, ability to be raspy and pure simultaneously are just superb.
To answer your question - this was the same recording sessions as Strawberry Fields which went on to create Sgt Peppers and then the EP Magical Mystery Tour
@Dale Cooper That's true, it features a bunch of tape loops over a basic drone and and hypnotic beat. It is the first pop song with loops on it. And then Lennon's fantastic vocals on top. A must listen.
For hard rocking Beatles "Revolution" or " Back in the USSR". For soft, pretty ballad Beatles "Yesterday", "And I Love Her", "In My Life", or "Hey Jude". For quirky, fun storytelling Beatles "Rocky Raccoon", "Eleanor Rigby" or "When I'm 64". And there are so many, many more. It boggles the mind, when you realize they were only together, as a group, for 6 years.
They ceased being a group in late 1969 when John announced he was done with it, at which point they'd been RECORDING for 7 years (since late 1962, also when Ringo became their drummer), and John, Paul and George had been PERFORMING together for about 11 years (since 1958).
They were together longer than 7 years. Paul met John in 1956 and then Paul brought George in soon after. Pete Best was their drummer from then on, through the Cavern and local Liverpool area venues, and gigs in Hamburg Germany. They started RECORDING in 1962 after Ringo was brought in. So they recorded from 1962 until 1970, for 8 years. But they were a band technically since August of 1960 when Pete Best became their drummer. Before that they had drummers here and there and when they didn't the 3 of them just played out. BUT when they were offered a several months long gig in Hamburg, Germany for the first time, they HAD to get a drummer....so that's when they got Pete, who remained their drummer until just after they were signed to record in 1962.
@@patticrichton1135 The group used to cite 1956 as the year John and Paul met, but later Mark Lewisohn fixed the date as July 6, 1957, which actually jibed much better with other "recollections" of theirs, such as Paul's: "I got into rock 'n roll after my mother died when I was 14", as well as the notion that Paul played "Twenty Flight Rock" for John to get into the Quarrymen, which hadn't had ANY public release until it appeared in the movie _The Girl Can't Help It_ originally in Decemeber 1956, and purportedly later in Liverpool, "early summer 1957" according to Wikipedia (and which in fact still hadn't been released as its own RECORD by Lewisohn's 1957 date - I don't know about possible inclusion in a movie soundtrack LP).
In 1967 I got for Christmas two 45s, Beatles (Hello Goodbye/I Am the Walrus) and The Monkees (Daydream Believer/Goin' Down). One of the best Christmas presents ever! Thanks mom and dad.
Strawberry Fields Forever was released as a single on their UK label Parlophone. I Am The Walrus was released on an EP on their UK label Parlophone. Their USA label, Capitol, included both of the songs on the album Magical Mystery Tour..
Sir Richard Starkey MBE aka. Ringo Starr went n to star in the great children's show "Shinny Time Station" as Mr. Conductor (later taken over by the late great George Carlin) and consisting performing and creating music in a solo career from 1970 to today. He begins his latest tour on May 27th 2022 during which he will turn 82 years old. By far one of the hardest workers in the music industry.
I think we’re at a stage where people are actually taking the Beatles for granted. I really can’t find words to describe them. This record is extraordinary.
This is why The Beatles were the greatest. They could write songs of love, songs with meaning, or like "I Am The Walrus", songs about nothing at all. No other band could put a bunch of gibberish wording together, and create a hit. Their creativity was boundless. For the Sgt. Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour recordings Paul suggested all four Beatles become someone else, and it certainly WAS magical.
I've heard it said that you could almost teach a history class involving The Beatles music. From the sounds of the late 50s/early60s, in their beginning years to the psychedelic almost acid rock influences of their late years and everything in between, the Beatles did more in 8 years than many bands did in decades.
Are you kidding? They "almost" could? There have been college courses on the Beatles for YEARS now at many Universities!! Also touching on their cultural impact as well as their music. As a "first generation fan" from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" being released in the US on Dec.26, 1963 when I was 16, I have ALWAYS WISHED I could have taken when of these courses which didn't start until I was LONG GONE from University! JUST to see WHAT they were teaching!
the children at John Lennon's old school were being made to analyze Beatle song lyrics so John decided to give them something to analyze. The Walrus and the Carpenter was a sub story in Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland.
the Beatles were the first group that introduced rock an roll to the masses of America , and we haven't been the same since . we watched them as they went thru all the things we all were going thru, looking for a deeper meaning to life and chronicling it all to music .
You need to hear the studio version of this song on the Magical Mystery Tour album... there are a lot of things in the background heard toward the end of the song, including Paul supposedly saying "Bury my body" at one point -- going back to that "Paul is dead" conspiracy theory. It is not Paul speaking. It is from a dramatic reading of Shakespeare's King Lear (Act IV, Scene 6), lines 219-222 and 249-262. It was added to the song on 29 September 1967, recorded directly from an AM radio Lennon was fiddling with. Lennon tuned around the dial and settled on the 7:30 pm to 11 pm broadcast of the play on the BBC Third Programme. The first excerpt (ll. 219-222) moves in and out of the text, containing fragments of lines only. It begins where the disguised Edgar talks to his estranged and maliciously blinded father the Earl of Gloucester (timings given): Gloucester: (2:35) Now, good sir, wh- (Lennon appears to change the channel away from the station here) Edgar: (2:38) - poor man, made tame by fortune - (2:44) good pity - In the play, Edgar then kills Oswald, Goneril's steward. During the fade of the song, the second main extract (ll. 249-262), this time of continuous text, is heard (timings given): 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 find'st 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. On the radio broadcast, the roles were read by Mark Dignam (Gloucester), Philip Guard (Edgar), and John Bryning (Oswald).
This is a short version of this song which cuts the beginning and end off. However, it’s very psychedelic. Next Beatles songs: Hard rock Revolution (John sings)- watch the video version Heater smelter (Paul sings) - you’ll be blown away Back in the USSR (1968, Paul sings a rocking tribute to The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry) Get Back (1969, Paul sings , with Billy Preston) - huge #1 song in 1969 Ballad And I Love her (1964, so early Beatles, Paul sings) Something (1969, George sings) - was released as a single with Come Together, both songs went to #1 Let it be (1970 Paul sings)- almost their last #1 single
Every album is essential. People have dedicated their lives to interpreting the band's catalog and are still finding new ways to see life through their prism, Absolutely THE most important and relevant band almost 60 years after their worldwide launch !!
John had read The Walrus And The Carpenter and he supposedly mistook the walrus for the hero when it was really the carpenter. Thus, his later saying "The Walrus was Paul".
As far as I know, they wrote this song in order to confuse all the folks who were trying to decipher their lyrics and interpret them in either a positive or negative way. So they were like "let's just record a cool song that has gibberish lyrics - let's see how they interpret this!" The outcome was one of the best songs in music history.
John Lennon was a big fan of Lewis Carroll and "The Walrus" was a take on Carroll's segment of "The Walrus and the Carpenter", which was a poem found in his story "Through The Looking Glass" where Alice continues her travels in Wonderland. He also wrote these lyrics while being heavily influenced by acid, and this may have reflected this type of mind-expandedness. Both this song and Strawberry Fields Forever are on the U.S. Capitol release album, "Magical Mystery Tour". You really got cheated out of hearing the real tail end of this song which was a BBC production of Shakespeare's King Lear play; also omitted from what you heard was the outro where they are chanting "Everybody's Got One", which is quite magical.
This song and Strawberry Fields are on the Magical Mystery Tour album. The album was released in November 1967. I got it for Christmas and played the hell out of it during the Christmas holidays. The walrus is a song about nothing. Pure nonsense but a lot of fun. People were analyzing the lyrics of Beatles song and this was John’s joke on them. I miss John. I have a painting of him in my family room. So tragic.😢
Yup! The "wooo" after each "I am the walrus" is missing, John's voice is too forward in the mix and out of sinc toward the end. The general orchestration doesn't quite sound right. Terrible version. I suspect whoever uploaded it altered it to get around copyright.
Paul McCartney owned the production rights and RUINED all of John's songs in the 1990's when he re-produced them and re-released them You should hear how BAD is Paul's re-produced version of "A day in the Life" has become ..... Paul is SO insecure and he should pay for what he has done to John's songs.
Happy to know that you both have grown to know that The Beatles are absolutely the greatest band ever and always will be!! Glad to hear you say that you love them, too, like so many of your listeners and the world population!
Now you guys are getting the Beatles psychedelic music! The lyrics often don’t quite mean anything, it used to be referenced as “Near Meaning’ by some back in the day. Always matched the musical vibe, always got you thinking, always very cool. BTW, I Want Yoy/She’s So Heavy is an absolutelyamazing Beatles song. Very Lennon!!!
John's voice is iconic! There is a line about this song in his solo song God, that has linked the 2 works in my head Forevermore: "I was the Walrus, but now, I'm John."
But that ignores the line from the song Glass Onion "I told you about the walrus and me, man You know that we're as close as can be, man Well, here's another clue for you all The walrus was Paul"
As far as this and "Strawberry Fields Forever" being on the same album, yes and no. In the UK, "Strawberry Fields Forever" was released on a "double A-side" single with "Penny Lane." It had been planned to release on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but The Beatles wouldn't include previously released singles on their albums, so it was left off. In the US, "Strawberry Fields Forever" was finally released on the album Magical Mystery Tour (the UK version did not include it), which is the same album as "I Am the Walrus." Does that answer your question about the album? As for my recommendation this time, I still have to suggest "Yesterday." It is such a beautiful song! My absolute favorite by the Beatles. I am 100% certain you will both love it!
Jay, you should give "She's So Heavy" another listen sometime when you don't have to react. The part you didn't like is very hypnotic and catchy. It builds and builds while John & George begin turning "White Noise" machines. Instead of ending on a final note or fading out, John told the engineer to cut the tape at a specific point with a razor blade. As you get into the ending part more and more it abruptly just stops. It's shocking. It's like: "Whoa!". I believe nobody had ever done that before; it was something recording engineers didn't do.
Okay, so that's John's voice from the original recording, but the backing is completely new. I hate it when people post fake videos like that. The "Blowin' In The Wind" one was more or less the same problem. I'm sure nobody here expects the two of you to know ahead of time, but it's frustrating for anybody that's looking forward to seeing your reaction to a song they've known and loved over the years, only to realize that you've inadvertently loaded up one of the phony ones.
Paul McCartney owned the production rights and RUINED all of John's songs in the 1990's when he re-produced them and re-released them You should hear how BAD is Paul's re-produced version of "A day in the Life" has become ..... Paul is SO insecure and he should pay for what he has done to John's songs.
@@karmic-fleas this has nothing to do with versions you find on official records. 90's or not. This is a completely fake version well beyond any simple production isuses. The only real chages were made to the Let it Be Naked album.
@@Thisandthat8908 I agree with you that it isn't. I know all the official versions. Still facts - You have to hunt for a version of John's songs that Paul hasn't ruined after John's death. They have a lot in common with the mess that is this version of I Am the Walrus...
Have you guys done "Helter Skelter," yet? From my perspective, it would be a great next step on this journey...particularly speaking to their versatility. BTW, you guys are fire. PS: if you guys want to laugh, watch the SNL skit about John Lennon and his creative process...better known as "chopping broccoli. "
'I am the walrus' was the song on the soundtrack record for The Beatles' trippy 1967 movie 'The Magical Mystery tour'. Oasis covered it live in concert.
You guys are great, I am 72 years old this year(2024) and since I was 11 when i first heard the Beatles I have been a fan. They are the Greatest band ever. we could not wait for the next Beatles record, just to see what they would do next!! Thankyou so much Xx. love from the UK.
this was a B-side to 'Hello, Goodbye' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever' / 'Penny Lane' (double A-side!). 'I Am The Walrus' came out right after Sgt.Pepper's with the Magical Mystery Tour movie made for TV. Strawberry Fields was before Sgt. Pepper and was placed on the American pressing of Magical Mystery Tour that included these singles previously not included on an album. Also, 'All You Need Is Love' is on the MMT album bc it was the single released a month after the release of the album, Sgt. Pepper. All of this productivity starts from Dec/66 ending with the release of two albums worth of fantastic material in Nov/67. They took a vacation to India and came back to record 30 plus songs for the The White Album and the Hey Jude/Revolution single not included on album per usual practice wrapping up in November 1968 and performing a scattering of "new" material on the rooftop a few months later in Jan/69. By September of that year they would never record together again but would come up with two more albums before the end of the decade. (this is an elaboration of the perfectly put comment below. It was a phenomenon that still carries today and seems to be growing!). Thank you so much for appreciating and reacting to all of these Beatles and other classic music videos!
There are so many stunning songs from The Beatles, you havent even scratched the surface. "A Day in the Life" is a must. As well as many many others including....Eleanor Rigby, Penny Lane, Fool on The Hill. My god they are just perfect!
Since you like their more unique songs, you should definitely listen to "Because". It has John, Paul AND George all on main vocal. Their voices are recorded 3 times, so it's a total of 9 voices on the track. I love it! ❤️
Love you folks! That out of the way....the maskes were for a reason. Paul died a half a year (then they got a great replacement in Vivian Stanshall) before 'I am The walrus' was released. This was a diiferent Paul that was quite a good songsmith himself (Hey Jude - with green eyes on the TV version instead of original Paul's brown eyes...and the replacement was 2 inches taller. Anyway, pick up the Uharriet books on it all.
John wrote Strawberry Fields Forever in late 1966 while he was cast in the movie How I Won the War. He later heard that English departments in universities started doing classes analyzing lyrics to Beatles songs. So John decided to mess with them by writing I Am the Walrus, which was complete gibberish! I really discovered the Beatles in 1976, when I was 10, and this has been my favorite Beatles song from the get go.
I've been a Beatles fan since they appeared on Ed Sullivan. Saw them live in concert in '64, '65, & '66. I recently saw a video of Styx performing this song and it blew me away. I never get tired of their music, it's eternal.
In several interviews after the fact, Lennon explained that “I Am The Walrus” was written in response to learning that fans were analyzing the lyrics of The Beatles’ songs. More specifically, Lennon had read a letter from a student from his alma mater, Quarry Bank High School for Boys, that said the literature classes were studying the meaning of The Beatles lyrics. So, Lennon decided to pen a song so obscure and so bizarre that the meaning would be impossible to discover. Thus, “I Am The Walrus.” “Let the fu$%ers work that one out, Pete!” Lennon is cited telling Pete Shotton, an old school friend.
@@MidwesternCornbilly agree .... and the finale was just getting going . Chooka chooka chooka ... the Beatles in one of their most satisfyingly inventive moments . just ... fucking ... out ...there .
Two other Beatles songs with abstract lyrics are Glass Onion and Happiness Is A Warm Gun. Another song, Fool On The Hill is a contemporary of their Strawberry Fields style of music. Artistically grand!
First of all, bravo J and Amber. All your comments are so dead-on accurate. I am a huge ELO/Jeff Lynne fan and every critique you've done of ELO and Traveling Wilburys, I absolutely agree with. Might I suggest five for you guys to review---"every little thing," "doin that crazy thing"--both by Jeff Lynne, and then "rock n roll is king," "calling america," & "wild west hero?"--all 3 by ELO. I'm getting off the subject. Six Beatles songs you must ABSOLUTELY review--"if I fell," "All My Loving," "Here Comes the Sun,"
Next time you want to hear this song do the original version on the "Magical Mystery Tour" album of 1967. The version you played here may be from the low quality movie of the same title ( a poor remix of the song), or some other source. As much as you like this particular song you will _love_ the original classic, we all know and love, off the MMT album for sure. ✌😎
Lennon wrote the song to confound listeners who had been affording serious scholarly interpretations of the Beatles' lyrics. He was partly inspired by two LSD trips and Lewis Carroll's 1871 poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter". Producer George Martin arranged and added orchestral accompaniment that included violins, cellos, horns, and clarinet. The Mike Sammes Singers, a 16-voice choir of professional studio vocalists, also joined the recording, variously singing nonsense lines and shrill whooping noises. Since the "Hello, Goodbye" single and the Magical Mystery Tour EP both reached the top two slots on the British singles chart in December, "I Am the Walrus" holds the distinction of reaching numbers one and two simultaneously. Shortly after release, the song was banned by the BBC for the line "Boy, you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down".
Best Beatles song EVER! Most true lyrics ever written that more people need to understand: i am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
The "Sixties" can be said to have begun with the "British Invasion" in February, 1964 when the Beatles landed in New York. The decade ended in April, 1970 when the Beatles broke up. "Time it was, and what a time it was, it was A time of innocence, A time of confidences Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph Preserve your memories; They're all that's left you." - Paul Simon, Bookends Theme
I just found this. Just subscribed. I really like watching you guys react to all this stuff that I grew up on. You two are the perfect music fans. Appreciative, respectful, picking up all the fine points and details. Thank you.
Heyy Guys Some relevant information : the version you heard in the video you played for the reaction WAS NOT the original version, some sounds and instruments WERE MISSING!! Here's a link where you'll find the song as it is in its original version : ua-cam.com/video/NrQ2NBX6c0w/v-deo.html cheers! :)
This is some bizarre fake. It must be someone in their bedroom studio trying to remake the song or something, because this sure as hell is not The Beatles. I can't believe all the commenters for this video all talking about how much they've always loved this song, blah blah blah, and only two or three of us even noticed that this isn't The Beatles at all. Plus Yerboyjay is really bad about picking out fake music videos in the first place, as he's done this several times now.
@@alanskidadomdom3748 No, this is no Beatles demo. The vocal track is John's vocal from the recording. The instrumentation sound wise is way off, it's missing elements, and by the final verses the vocal and the instruments are unsynchronized by at least half a measure from each other. This is somebody's home made half assed attempt at faking it or some strange exercise to learn his new software or who knows what, but it most definitely is not what it is advertised to be. It's not the demo from the anthology either. I don't know what the hell it is.
This is just one of many songs where Lennon channels Lewis Carroll. The Beatles weren't the only band doing this. Many of Led Zeppelin songs refer to JRR Tolkien also! This track is an amazing example of Johns lyrical genius.
One of my favorites from the Fab 4, another one I hope you react to is one of their more harder songs Helter Skelter Paul's shrieking screams in this classic is outrageous!! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Peace, love and happiness to all, from your friendly neighbor to the north. 😎🙏❤🇨🇦
John sang "Well here's another clue for you all, The Walrus was Paul" on the track "Glass Onion" on the White album not long after this, a little Beatles trivia.
I am the Walrus is pure John Lennon. Yes, very trippy. It was a time in their career when they experiment with drugs including LSD. Lennon admitted that he was the "Word Man" of the group. He had a way of putting words together. They might have meant something to him or they were something for you to figure out. That's the genius of John Lennon. Long Live the Beatles.
One of John's best singing voices - imo. Although some of his solo career songs are really amazing. Paul is still my favorite vocalist of The Beatles - I do like cleaner vocals, but some rasp at times. Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album I believe. By the way, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a great song to react to. Correction: Magical Mystery Tour is the album.
First time i heard this i was either stoned or trippin on acid..lol...cant remember but i really liked the song.Ive been clean and soner for 24years now and still enjoy the music now.😊
" I am the waitress" was the pinnacle of the Rutles psychedelic music experiments, at least until " yellow submarine sandwich". The album contained my personal favorite, " your mother should go".
Their entire studio discography was within an 8 year period, and they were in their early 20s when it all began, and just turning 30 when it ended. Often imitated, but never to be duplicated. They were truly a phenomenon.
The best thing I can say about The Beatles is that they were certainly a band.
@@merlball8520 They are unquestionably the single most influential band in modern music. That's simply the historical fact of it.
Quick thing. This song has no meaning. It was intentionally written this way to confound those who were making a career out of interpreting Beatles lyrics.
@@merlball8520 You're clueless.
@@merlball8520 Isn't about time for you to scrape the dirt off those knuckles?
The Beatles taught everybody else, as Mick Jagger once said, we waited for the next Beatles album to see what direction we were going in
Spot on man 😊❤
And they had a radar...just a better one than Mick and the messy bunch - lasted, but never came close
John Lennon lives on through Pink Floyd. Roger Waters got a lot of influence from him and McCartney. You can actually see it in this video.
I cracked up at the beginning of your review when Amber was looking forward to finally learning the meaning of I am the walrus by listening to the song! I was a 13-14 yr old aspiring hippie chick when this song came out, and a huge Beatles fan. People around the world went on and on trying to figure out what it meant and coming up with all kinds of "meanings". When it turns out Lennon later said he wrote this song as a spoof and a joke on all the people who espoused so much deep and intricate philosophical meanings to all their songs. Also think some of it was inspired by a couple acid trips he took. Thanks for the reviews and always making me smile! ✌❤
A lot of hippie chicks looked really beautiful!!
The Beatles revelled in fucking around with peoples' perceptions and I was fortunate to grow up with an uncle who was only four years older than me and loved them. The greatest band ever. Period.
Yeah I was 12 years old and loved this song. I was a late hippie guy! I know you remember when “Paul is dead” had everyone up in arms! Lyrics from so many Beatles songs pointed to Paul was dead!
I think it even reached back to Paul as the Walrus. Not sure about that. Gosh what a great time to grow up.
@@sunroy1 Yes, the conspiracy theories of our time! 😁
After finishing the recording, John said, "Let the f*ckers figure that out".
wonderful Jay and Amber, that you dig out more of the Beatles... however just so you know: this version of 'I'm the Walrus' was really weird and in bad shape... sometimes the stereo effect was gone, so certain musical effects were missing, and it was cut at the beginning and the end... even the alignment of music and singing was sometimes out of sync... I hope you get to hear the proper full version one day - its really worth it!! PS. John wrote the lyrics for this as a response to many fans going a bit wacky with the interpretations of their texts, and way beyond their meaning, so he thought... 'I'll give them something really weird to chew on...' :)
All Of This 👆🏽☝🏾
I think that might be only 1 channel of the stereo mix somehow. Some of the cool stuff is missing, like the laughs at ho ho ho hee hee hee ha ha ha . It also sounds like it's coming from a tunnel its a very muddy sound. Definately find the full version of it, there's a lot more you were missing here, especially the string backrounds.
I agree with yo 100%!!
Wholeheartedly agree. I was surprised at how emasculated the song felt without the end section. I'd go so far as to say Amber and Jay still haven't heard the song yet, just a teaser.
Agreed. This was a terrible mix / outtake (or whatever it was). It made the song lose ALL of it's impact. They need to hear the "official" stereo version, that has the last half in stereo as well. The last half was in fake stereo until a few years ago.
This is an odd mix of the song, apart from the album version. You should listen to the album version if you get the chance. The one thing you can always count on from the Beatles, is a mastery of any type or style of modern you can think of! They were the greatest band of the 20th century, hands down. They are still massively popular 50 years after they broke up!
This is a really weird mix! Have you checked out the version on the Love album - it's very similar to the original but a step up in sound quality as they mixed it for the 2006 album. I'm a big advocate of the the recent remixes of Sgt Peppers, White Album and Abbey Road. Apparently there was a remix of I Am The Walrus done for the blue ray release of Yellow Submarine in 2012 (I think this is true - I read it a while ago). I'd like to hear that version but I haven't found it yet.
its weird right? plus the timing is all off
This sounds like a recreation of the instruments, or at least some of them, perhaps to bypass a copyright claim.
@@nathan43082 this is a really bad version of a great song!!! where in hells bells did this come from!!!
I Am The Walrus is on “Magical Mystery Tour”. Paul says that they were told that a teacher was breaking down their songs and explaining them so John said “oh yeah well lets see how they figure out this?” He purposely wrote crazy to drive the teacher crazy. Ha ha !!!you won’t be able to figure it out. 😊
This song to me,truly defined the psychedelic Beatles.Its so advanced and his voice is absolutely timeless.
Bad acid trip.
@@StevenCarincinot at all, just messing with fans trying to figure it out.
BS. Martin did his 2:59 best again. Lennon was little short of songs then. India got better
Amber, check out "She's leaving home", "Yesterday", "Fool on the hill", "I saw her standing there".
She’s leaving home just tears at your soul. So beautiful
@@danjohnson2986 yes I agree 👍💯
Yes I agree 👍 💯, All great songs
These for sure
"She's leaving home" is such a beautiful song
This isn’t the version we’re familiar with. You have to listen to the real version. This version is missing a lot of the background vocals and cuts out the last 30 seconds of the song which gets very weird.
How do you find the worst version of these Beatles songs? This song and Helter Skelter has to be redone.
Agreed. This vers is like half the song, in low fidelity. It doesn't do the song justice.
in the background, smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot
I remember when the White Album came out. At 15 I was blown away. I'm now 67. Love that young people are discovering it
I was 14 and it was and is a great album, but I Am The Walrus wasn't on it
Sorry, but The White Album didn't come out in 1972, so you either weren't 15, or you aren't 67. I am 67, and I was 11 when it was released in 1968.
This song is from Magical Mystery Tour
Spot on they know good music Beatles ahead of their time
Moscow girls make me sing and shout,
This blew my mind as a kid listening for the first time. Lennon’s voice has so much urgency, like he’s departing great wisdom. Thing is it’s surreal nonsense. Just brilliant.
John was inspired to write this song after he read a letter from a fan with an English teacher who had his students analyzing Beatles lyrics. He was so amused by the fan mail that he decided to write a song full of nonsense lyrics.
The thing about the Beatles they did silly simple things to change their sound.
John sang this into a bottle or glass or something like that. To come up with these ideas to make different sounds.
THAT is wild !! Have always loved Beatles since 1976. But, was curious about these lyrics. Glad you shared this ! Man; think of all the unknown situations in their past that we don't know about....that inspired Lennon & McCartney. Read story recently about The Bee Gees, forgotten and down on their luck in Miami, trying to make a comeback. They drove home at night, crossing a rickety bridge that crossed a canal. It made a clackety sound....that inspired JiveTalkin which restarted their career, big time.
No he wasn't inspired by that,the song came in 3 parts from different things he was experiencing, he did say though,let them figure....
and also there is a theory that says Lennon wrote this song under LSD effect.
@@marvinbone1379i
Love the Beatles since 1964!❤
I think they’re the only band I know of that actually successfully changed their sound to match if not dictate the sound of 3 eras?
They also have the most trippy prolific fun lyrics of all time !
to go from Love Me Do to She's so heavy in that time is absurd
The wide spectrum of the Beatles music is incredible, they are in a class by themselves.
Paul’s bass playing is transcendental.
As if anytime.
so overlooked
John and Paul got together once a week for 3 hours to write new songs. By the end of the session, they ALWAYS had a song, and most of the time it became a hit! They would take the song to George and Ringo. They would play the main theme for them and that would take about 20 minutes. Then they would split up for about 30-60 minutes and work to create their own separate parts to beef it up. Paul would play bass guitar similar to a lead guitar… one reason those songs sound so great. George would work on his lead guitar parts and come up with a unique riff at the beginning of the song. Ringo would experiment with rhythms on drums. Etc. By the end of the week, they were recording the song! Super talented boys, they were!
If you go back and research the history of rock, you'll realize why The Beatles were so important and iconic. They came along and changed the face of rock music completely. They wrote songs like nothing heard before. Some of the techniques they used in recording they invented on the fly with George Martin. Paul and John wrote the bulk of their material and did so with such an incredible sympatico that was beyond belief. Each would come into the studio with a partial song written, obviously unrelated, yet somehow those parts would marry together and become a single, phenomenal song. There's a wonderful documentary on their music that PBS has broadcast several times. The narrator is a musician, producer and educator. He analyzes different songs from the various periods of their career as The Beatles.He illustrates the technical skill and knowledge behind their music, making it clear that though they may have written and made musical decision on an intuitive level, they actually were displaying massive technical abilities.
actually, their influence extended beyond pop music. they influenced fashion, social mores, politics, police enforcement, drug polices, etc.
they literally changed the world.
U sound like me I would i’ve said the same exact thing almost that you said. Top Marks sheky
Thank you guys for HONORING THE BEATLES and the music 🎶 l grew up listening to!!!
Peace ✌ AND LOVE TO you both.
This is on the Magical Mystery Tour album and was the B side of the single with Hello Goodbye the A side. The sound of John's voice was done by using the talk back microphone (the cheap mic they use for the control room to talk to the musicians through the headphones). John wanted a weird sound and the sound engineer Geoff Emerick came up with it. I think the "I'm crying" part was added last since this was recorded 4 days after Brian Epstein died.
Thank you for your post, especially your last sentence. I was always wondering if there was any significance to the "I'm crying" lyrics, and there certainly was.
After so many people were trying to find hidden meanings to the lyrics on Sgt. Pepper, John said he was going to write a song to drive people crazy trying to figure out what it's all about. He did it for a laugh. Loosely based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland poem The Walrus and the Carpenter. Still it's a great song. Thanks Johnny.
What I was going to comment 😁
LOVED John!
The Beatles were soooo popular that I think John made songs just to goof on people! Don’t look for some heavy meaning, on some songs he just wanted to have a laugh.
He did one heck of a job he and the rest of the beatles incredible artist no other group came close "in friggin credible"
It was actually related to a specific course being taught about Beatle lyrics
At the end of Sgt pepper they put in a dog whistle. So at the end of one song everybody was high ,then their dogs just began barking in the house!! LMMFAO
John wrote a number of songs that had random nonsensical lyrics. And yet, they were somehow always perfect.
He is tapping into the language tradition of nonsense. like Alice,,,,, Milligan, even Bowie.
There are 4/5 great Beatles tracks and this is one of them however the Beatles were not great musicians and this song is done far better by other bands so please listen to the Spooky Tooth version
The awful 'With a little help from my friends is another prime example but thanks to Joe Cocker this song is now a classic
The other great Beatles tracks are Tomorrow never knows, Strawberry Fields forever, A day in the life; and While my guitar gently weeps. which was originally an average song but made great by the guitar work of Eric Clapton
@@pmoran7971 George Harrison was a great guitarist.
@@mikep6222 Maybe but I wont argue with you but as I said in my comments he needed a lot of help from Clapton so also would 'Badge' have been a great track if not for the involvement by Eric? I do not think so!
Just to fool us all.
Gibberish well designed.
John was glorious, he enjoyed playing Mind Games. My Sincere Hero.
This is one of favourite songs ever. I have never got sick of listening to it as it is always interesting with lots of variations
Please go back and listen to another video of this amazing song. Something went terribly weird at the end, which is definitely not on the record! Also, there is an entire string section missing on this version, as well as the mesmerizing chanting at the end. The Shakespeare feed-in at the very end is essential. Don't know who cobbled this version of the video together, but it is the wrong one to listen to.
Could not agree more. I also made similar comments about this version. When I saw this song come up I was licking my chops, but then I was so disappointed at this version. You did not get the full song nor the fullness of the song that makes this a psychologic classic. I felt cheated with this version and would hope the would do a repeat with the corrected version. Even the movie version was better than this.
@@jimmuratori5625 This version was completely awfull. You can do better.
Yes ths was not the original mix.
Agreed. Jay and Amber, you got to hear the real version with background vocals and chanting at the end. Totally different song.
The sounds like a poorly made fan edit. John's voice isn't even in sync with the music at the end
That was a strange mix of that song, but there are quite a few. Both this and “Strawberry Fields” are on the US release, but Magical Mystery Tour was an EP in the UK, and “Strawberry Fields” was not released on an original LP there. Though it was recorded at the same time that Sgt. Peppers was recorded. The same is true of “Penny Lane”.
Strange? This mix is garbage.
You're right. This mix sucks. Where are the backing vocals? I doubt it is an officially released version. Maybe it's just a left or right channel?
Yes, there’s at least a minute more music missing from the end of the song. The vocals aren’t even in sync with the music in some parts.
this was from my favourite EP. the magical mystery tour was also a weird movie.
The tempo goes off at the end, too.
John’s voice is unmistakable. My fave of all time. Even in my 60’s, I still have a Beatles room in my house. Play some songs from John’s last album Double Fantasy! Woman, Watching the Wheels and others. ❤
John’s last album wasn’t double Fantasy a common mistake. But His last album was the post Humous album Milk & Honey. HAD some very good songs on it like Nobody Told Me.
The Long and Winding Road tugs at the heart strings. It's a beautiful song.
When Amber said I want to get into this song to find out what the Walrus is, who else thought you ain’t going to work it out from the song. The best insight I can offer is that Paul McCartney said that him and John Lennon were sick of critics pull apart their lyrics and finding things in their that they never meant. So John wrote the Walrus to kind of say now work this out.
However, Eric Burdon was the Eggman.
Then, of course, in 'Glass Onion' he says "Here's another clue for you all: The Walrus was Paul."
Exactly. Lennon had been told that a former teacher of his was having his class analyze Beatles lyrics, so he wrote this with an "analyze this, mofo!" attitude.
Lennon said it meant nothing, but it does….he is having a go at A LOT of people in this song. Subtle, but he is. And of course he could not say that at the time. Took me more than 30 years to connect the dots. As I grew older I read things, saw things and heard some people and then it was just like…"oh my God, John was having a laugh at this one…and this one,..and also at this one!"
John was INCREDIBLY sarcastic and intelligent.
@@taradalik1405 heard often of his sarcasm. You have me intrigued now. Join some of the dots for me.
George Martin called John Lennon - "the voice of rock n roll" and I have to agree. The poetry, uniqueness of his voice, ability to be raspy and pure simultaneously are just superb.
To answer your question - this was the same recording sessions as Strawberry Fields which went on to create Sgt Peppers and then the EP Magical Mystery Tour
Well George Martin was spot on about John's voice.
I'd suggest checking out the song, Tomorrow Never Knows, if you'd like some more of their psychedelic songs, it's incredible!
Yes! I have a feeling they’ll love it!
A simply amazing song, Tomorrow Never Knows.
Tomorrow Never Knows, they would totally enjoy it. A new Beatles for them too. They'd probably also enjoy Paperback Writer, it has a good video.
Quite possibly my fave by the Fab Four. I had never heard anything like it.
@Dale Cooper That's true, it features a bunch of tape loops over a basic drone and and hypnotic beat. It is the first pop song with loops on it. And then Lennon's fantastic vocals on top. A must listen.
For hard rocking Beatles "Revolution" or " Back in the USSR". For soft, pretty ballad Beatles "Yesterday", "And I Love Her", "In My Life", or "Hey Jude". For quirky, fun storytelling Beatles "Rocky Raccoon", "Eleanor Rigby" or "When I'm 64". And there are so many, many more. It boggles the mind, when you realize they were only together, as a group, for 6 years.
They ceased being a group in late 1969 when John announced he was done with it, at which point they'd been RECORDING for 7 years (since late 1962, also when Ringo became their drummer), and John, Paul and George had been PERFORMING together for about 11 years (since 1958).
They were together longer than 7 years. Paul met John in 1956 and then Paul brought George in soon after. Pete Best was their drummer from then on, through the Cavern and local Liverpool area venues, and gigs in Hamburg Germany. They started RECORDING in 1962 after Ringo was brought in. So they recorded from 1962 until 1970, for 8 years. But they were a band technically since August of 1960 when Pete Best became their drummer. Before that they had drummers here and there and when they didn't the 3 of them just played out. BUT when they were offered a several months long gig in Hamburg, Germany for the first time, they HAD to get a drummer....so that's when they got Pete, who remained their drummer until just after they were signed to record in 1962.
@@patticrichton1135 The group used to cite 1956 as the year John and Paul met, but later Mark Lewisohn fixed the date as July 6, 1957, which actually jibed much better with other "recollections" of theirs, such as Paul's: "I got into rock 'n roll after my mother died when I was 14", as well as the notion that Paul played "Twenty Flight Rock" for John to get into the Quarrymen, which hadn't had ANY public release until it appeared in the movie _The Girl Can't Help It_ originally in Decemeber 1956, and purportedly later in Liverpool, "early summer 1957" according to Wikipedia (and which in fact still hadn't been released as its own RECORD by Lewisohn's 1957 date - I don't know about possible inclusion in a movie soundtrack LP).
In 1967 I got for Christmas two 45s, Beatles (Hello Goodbye/I Am the Walrus) and The Monkees (Daydream Believer/Goin' Down). One of the best Christmas presents ever! Thanks mom and dad.
Been a fan since a kid. What's amazing about the Beatles is every song is unique!
Strawberry Fields Forever was released as a single on their UK label Parlophone. I Am The Walrus was released on an EP on their UK label Parlophone. Their USA label, Capitol, included both of the songs on the album Magical Mystery Tour..
"Sitting on a corn flake, waiting for the van to come." You can't get any more trippy lyrics than that.
Sir Richard Starkey MBE aka. Ringo Starr went n to star in the great children's show "Shinny Time Station" as Mr. Conductor (later taken over by the late great George Carlin) and consisting performing and creating music in a solo career from 1970 to today. He begins his latest tour on May 27th 2022 during which he will turn 82 years old. By far one of the hardest workers in the music industry.
I think we’re at a stage where people are actually taking the Beatles for granted.
I really can’t find words to describe them.
This record is extraordinary.
This is why The Beatles were the greatest. They could write songs of love, songs with meaning, or like "I Am The Walrus", songs about nothing at all. No other band could put a bunch of gibberish wording together, and create a hit. Their creativity was boundless. For the Sgt. Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour recordings Paul suggested all four Beatles become someone else, and it certainly WAS magical.
I've heard it said that you could almost teach a history class involving The Beatles music. From the sounds of the late 50s/early60s, in their beginning years to the psychedelic almost acid rock influences of their late years and everything in between, the Beatles did more in 8 years than many bands did in decades.
Are you kidding? They "almost" could? There have been college courses on the Beatles for YEARS now at many Universities!! Also touching on their cultural impact as well as their music. As a "first generation fan" from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" being released in the US on Dec.26, 1963 when I was 16, I have ALWAYS WISHED I could have taken when of these courses which didn't start until I was LONG GONE from University! JUST to see WHAT they were teaching!
You are a lovely couple. Open to the many possibilities of music. All the best from Scotland. John
the children at John Lennon's old school were being made to analyze Beatle song lyrics so John decided to give them something to analyze. The Walrus and the Carpenter was a sub story in Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland.
And the obvious meaning & message was, "Kids, this is your mind on drugs. Just say NO! Any questions?" Lol.
It was basically John's "Fuck you" to everyone analyzing his songs. :D
The way Lennon enunciates those small verses is inimitable…’Mr City Policeman Sitting…’ is too much!
the Beatles were the first group that introduced rock an roll to the masses of America , and we haven't been the same since . we watched them as they went thru all the things we all were going thru, looking for a deeper meaning to life and chronicling it all to music .
The walrus tradition began with Lewis Carrol's poem The Walrus and the Carpenter.
There will NEVER be another band as vesatile and having anywhere near the impact that the Beatles had. NEVER!!!
You need to hear the studio version of this song on the Magical Mystery Tour album... there are a lot of things in the background heard toward the end of the song, including Paul supposedly saying "Bury my body" at one point -- going back to that "Paul is dead" conspiracy theory.
It is not Paul speaking. It is from a dramatic reading of Shakespeare's King Lear (Act IV, Scene 6), lines 219-222 and 249-262. It was added to the song on 29 September 1967, recorded directly from an AM radio Lennon was fiddling with. Lennon tuned around the dial and settled on the 7:30 pm to 11 pm broadcast of the play on the BBC Third Programme.
The first excerpt (ll. 219-222) moves in and out of the text, containing fragments of lines only. It begins where the disguised Edgar talks to his estranged and maliciously blinded father the Earl of Gloucester (timings given):
Gloucester: (2:35) Now, good sir, wh- (Lennon appears to change the channel away from the station here)
Edgar: (2:38) - poor man, made tame by fortune - (2:44) good pity -
In the play, Edgar then kills Oswald, Goneril's steward. During the fade of the song, the second main extract (ll. 249-262), this time of continuous text, is heard (timings given):
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 find'st 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.
On the radio broadcast, the roles were read by Mark Dignam (Gloucester), Philip Guard (Edgar), and John Bryning (Oswald).
This is a short version of this song which cuts the beginning and end off. However, it’s very psychedelic. Next Beatles songs:
Hard rock
Revolution (John sings)- watch the video version
Heater smelter (Paul sings) - you’ll be blown away
Back in the USSR (1968, Paul sings a rocking tribute to The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry)
Get Back (1969, Paul sings , with Billy Preston) - huge #1 song in 1969
Ballad
And I Love her (1964, so early Beatles, Paul sings)
Something (1969, George sings) - was released as a single with Come Together, both songs went to #1
Let it be (1970 Paul sings)- almost their last #1 single
"HEATER SMELTER (Paul sings)" WHAT song is THAT! LOL! I THINK you meant "HELTER SKELTER"!!! and yes, Paul sings it, AND they WILL be BLOWN AWAY
@@patticrichton1135 ajjaajjaaj
Every album is essential. People have dedicated their lives to interpreting the band's catalog and are still finding new ways to see life through their prism, Absolutely THE most important and relevant band almost 60 years after their worldwide launch !!
Bless your heart. I am 67 and I love how you 2 get it.
John's voice is everything to me
On the White Album, in the song Glass Onion, John sings, "here's another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul.
John had read The Walrus And The Carpenter and he supposedly mistook the walrus for the hero when it was really the carpenter. Thus, his later saying "The Walrus was Paul".
As far as I know, they wrote this song in order to confuse all the folks who were trying to decipher their lyrics and interpret them in either a positive or negative way. So they were like "let's just record a cool song that has gibberish lyrics - let's see how they interpret this!"
The outcome was one of the best songs in music history.
John Lennon was a big fan of Lewis Carroll and "The Walrus" was a take on Carroll's segment of "The Walrus and the Carpenter", which was a poem found in his story "Through The Looking Glass" where Alice continues her travels in Wonderland. He also wrote these lyrics while being heavily influenced by acid, and this may have reflected this type of mind-expandedness. Both this song and Strawberry Fields Forever are on the U.S. Capitol release album, "Magical Mystery Tour". You really got cheated out of hearing the real tail end of this song which was a BBC production of Shakespeare's King Lear play; also omitted from what you heard was the outro where they are chanting "Everybody's Got One", which is quite magical.
THE John Hiatt???? lol
EXACTLY!!!!
"In my life" is another great Beatles´s song
John said he wanted to write a song that didn't make any sense.he sure did it Amazing
This song and Strawberry Fields are on the Magical Mystery Tour album. The album was released in November 1967. I got it for Christmas and played the hell out of it during the Christmas holidays. The walrus is a song about nothing. Pure nonsense but a lot of fun. People were analyzing the lyrics of Beatles song and this was John’s joke on them. I miss John. I have a painting of him in my family room. So tragic.😢
My absolute favorite Beatles number.
Does anybody else notice something weird with the mix? Like it’s missing tracks?
Horrible version of this song
Yup! The "wooo" after each "I am the walrus" is missing, John's voice is too forward in the mix and out of sinc toward the end. The general orchestration doesn't quite sound right. Terrible version. I suspect whoever uploaded it altered it to get around copyright.
Up
It's a fake. That's why there is no proper ending here as it would be impossible to recreate it.
Paul McCartney owned the production rights and RUINED all of John's songs in the 1990's when he re-produced them and re-released them You should hear how BAD is Paul's re-produced version of "A day in the Life" has become ..... Paul is SO insecure and he should pay for what he has done to John's songs.
Happy to know that you both have grown to know that The Beatles are absolutely the greatest band ever and always will be!! Glad to hear you say that you love them, too, like so many of your listeners and the world population!
A magical mystery tour, indeed
I played MMT and Sgt Pepper's every day before school when I was in high school.
Now you guys are getting the Beatles psychedelic music! The lyrics often don’t quite mean anything, it used to be referenced as “Near Meaning’ by some back in the day. Always matched the musical vibe, always got you thinking, always very cool. BTW, I Want Yoy/She’s So Heavy is an absolutelyamazing Beatles song. Very Lennon!!!
THANK YOU
Man! John is getting the appreciation he deserves...I love you guys!!!
The meaning of this song is so obvious! Pour a glass of wine, roll a fatty, sit in your beanbag chair and go on a trip with the brilliant Beatles!☮️❤️
Which is what I'm about to do.
Well, OK then ...
John's voice is iconic! There is a line about this song in his solo song God, that has linked the 2 works in my head Forevermore: "I was the Walrus, but now, I'm John."
The dream is over.
But that ignores the line from the song Glass Onion "I told you about the walrus and me, man
You know that we're as close as can be, man
Well, here's another clue for you all
The walrus was Paul"
Great channel. Some of the very classics: "She loves you", "A hard day's night", "I saw her standing there", "Day tripper", "We can work it out".
As far as this and "Strawberry Fields Forever" being on the same album, yes and no. In the UK, "Strawberry Fields Forever" was released on a "double A-side" single with "Penny Lane." It had been planned to release on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but The Beatles wouldn't include previously released singles on their albums, so it was left off. In the US, "Strawberry Fields Forever" was finally released on the album Magical Mystery Tour (the UK version did not include it), which is the same album as "I Am the Walrus." Does that answer your question about the album?
As for my recommendation this time, I still have to suggest "Yesterday." It is such a beautiful song! My absolute favorite by the Beatles. I am 100% certain you will both love it!
Jay, you should give "She's So Heavy" another listen sometime when you don't have to react. The part you didn't like is very hypnotic and catchy. It builds and builds while John & George begin turning "White Noise" machines. Instead of ending on a final note or fading out, John told the engineer to cut the tape at a specific point with a razor blade. As you get into the ending part more and more it abruptly just stops. It's shocking. It's like: "Whoa!". I believe nobody had ever done that before; it was something recording engineers didn't do.
walruses everywhere so happy they got a pop song about them
Okay, so that's John's voice from the original recording, but the backing is completely new. I hate it when people post fake videos like that. The "Blowin' In The Wind" one was more or less the same problem. I'm sure nobody here expects the two of you to know ahead of time, but it's frustrating for anybody that's looking forward to seeing your reaction to a song they've known and loved over the years, only to realize that you've inadvertently loaded up one of the phony ones.
I thought the track sounded inauthentic... except for John's vocals. Oh, well....
Paul McCartney owned the production rights and RUINED all of John's songs in the 1990's when he re-produced them and re-released them You should hear how BAD is Paul's re-produced version of "A day in the Life" has become ..... Paul is SO insecure and he should pay for what he has done to John's songs.
@@karmic-fleas this has nothing to do with versions you find on official records. 90's or not. This is a completely fake version well beyond any simple production isuses.
The only real chages were made to the Let it Be Naked album.
@@Thisandthat8908 I agree with you that it isn't. I know all the official versions. Still facts - You have to hunt for a version of John's songs that Paul hasn't ruined after John's death. They have a lot in common with the mess that is this version of I Am the Walrus...
@@karmic-fleas wow I didn’t know this! I loved the originals
This is how good the Beatles are..even though it was a strange not original version it was still amazing 🤩
The "Walrus" mustache was what the guys grew during Seargeant Peppers, and you got a free "cutout" one in the original album
Have you guys done "Helter Skelter," yet? From my perspective, it would be a great next step on this journey...particularly speaking to their versatility.
BTW, you guys are fire.
PS: if you guys want to laugh, watch the SNL skit about John Lennon and his creative process...better known as "chopping broccoli. "
Number 9
'I am the walrus' was the song on the soundtrack record for The Beatles' trippy 1967 movie 'The Magical Mystery tour'. Oasis covered it live in concert.
Nobody covers the Beatles like Oasis..the Oasis version is a stonker
You guys are great, I am 72 years old this year(2024) and since I was 11 when i first heard the Beatles I have been a fan. They are the Greatest band ever. we could not wait for the next Beatles record, just to see what they would do next!! Thankyou so much Xx. love from the UK.
Same age. We were truly blessed to be young during those amazing times 😊
this was a B-side to 'Hello, Goodbye' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever' / 'Penny Lane' (double A-side!). 'I Am The Walrus' came out right after Sgt.Pepper's with the Magical Mystery Tour movie made for TV. Strawberry Fields was before Sgt. Pepper and was placed on the American pressing of Magical Mystery Tour that included these singles previously not included on an album. Also, 'All You Need Is Love' is on the MMT album bc it was the single released a month after the release of the album, Sgt. Pepper. All of this productivity starts from Dec/66 ending with the release of two albums worth of fantastic material in Nov/67. They took a vacation to India and came back to record 30 plus songs for the The White Album and the Hey Jude/Revolution single not included on album per usual practice wrapping up in November 1968 and performing a scattering of "new" material on the rooftop a few months later in Jan/69. By September of that year they would never record together again but would come up with two more albums before the end of the decade. (this is an elaboration of the perfectly put comment below. It was a phenomenon that still carries today and seems to be growing!). Thank you so much for appreciating and reacting to all of these Beatles and other classic music videos!
There are so many stunning songs from The Beatles, you havent even scratched the surface. "A Day in the Life" is a must. As well as many many others including....Eleanor Rigby, Penny Lane, Fool on The Hill. My god they are just perfect!
Since you like their more unique songs, you should definitely listen to "Because". It has John, Paul AND George all on main vocal. Their voices are recorded 3 times, so it's a total of 9 voices on the track. I love it! ❤️
It's BEAUTIFUL!!!
@@patticrichton1135 Yes, very!
Love you folks! That out of the way....the maskes were for a reason. Paul died a half a year (then they got a great replacement in Vivian Stanshall) before 'I am The walrus' was released. This was a diiferent Paul that was quite a good songsmith himself (Hey Jude - with green eyes on the TV version instead of original Paul's brown eyes...and the replacement was 2 inches taller. Anyway, pick up the Uharriet books on it all.
I am a 71 year old lady I grew up listening with the Beatles still genius
😂Agreed 100%!!!
I am a 71 year old man. Bingo tonight ! Lol
"Tomorrow Never Knows". Still sounds modern or even futuristic, and it's from 1966. Amazing. Check it out.
John wrote Strawberry Fields Forever in late 1966 while he was cast in the movie How I Won the War. He later heard that English departments in universities started doing classes analyzing lyrics to Beatles songs. So John decided to mess with them by writing I Am the Walrus, which was complete gibberish! I really discovered the Beatles in 1976, when I was 10, and this has been my favorite Beatles song from the get go.
I've been a Beatles fan since they appeared on Ed Sullivan. Saw them live in concert in '64, '65, & '66. I recently saw a video of Styx performing this song and it blew me away. I never get tired of their music, it's eternal.
If you listened you would have known this isn’t authentic.
I am jealous now...
In several interviews after the fact, Lennon explained that “I Am The Walrus” was written in response to learning that fans were analyzing the lyrics of The Beatles’ songs. More specifically, Lennon had read a letter from a student from his alma mater, Quarry Bank High School for Boys, that said the literature classes were studying the meaning of The Beatles lyrics.
So, Lennon decided to pen a song so obscure and so bizarre that the meaning would be impossible to discover. Thus, “I Am The Walrus.”
“Let the fu$%ers work that one out, Pete!” Lennon is cited telling Pete Shotton, an old school friend.
The Beatles changed the world.
The album version is much better. There were track line-up problems towards the end of this version. A masterpiece for the ages.
This abomination is hard on the ears of most Beatles fans.
Yes. The album version is much better.
It's almost like either the left or right chanel was missing.
Oh yea, that was terrible at the end! And they cut it short.
@@MidwesternCornbilly agree .... and the finale was just getting going . Chooka chooka chooka ... the Beatles in one of their most satisfyingly inventive moments . just ... fucking ... out ...there .
Two other Beatles songs with abstract lyrics are Glass Onion and Happiness Is A Warm Gun. Another song, Fool On The Hill is a contemporary of their Strawberry Fields style of music. Artistically grand!
First of all, bravo J and Amber. All your comments are so dead-on accurate. I am a huge ELO/Jeff Lynne fan and every critique you've done of ELO and Traveling Wilburys, I absolutely agree with. Might I suggest five for you guys to review---"every little thing," "doin that crazy thing"--both by Jeff Lynne, and then "rock n roll is king," "calling america," & "wild west hero?"--all 3 by ELO.
I'm getting off the subject. Six Beatles songs you must ABSOLUTELY review--"if I fell," "All My Loving," "Here Comes the Sun,"
Next time you want to hear this song do the original version on the "Magical Mystery Tour" album of 1967. The version you played here may be from the low quality movie of the same title ( a poor remix of the song), or some other source. As much as you like this particular song you will _love_ the original classic, we all know and love, off the MMT album for sure. ✌😎
Lennon wrote the song to confound listeners who had been affording serious scholarly interpretations of the Beatles' lyrics. He was partly inspired by two LSD trips and Lewis Carroll's 1871 poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter". Producer George Martin arranged and added orchestral accompaniment that included violins, cellos, horns, and clarinet. The Mike Sammes Singers, a 16-voice choir of professional studio vocalists, also joined the recording, variously singing nonsense lines and shrill whooping noises.
Since the "Hello, Goodbye" single and the Magical Mystery Tour EP both reached the top two slots on the British singles chart in December, "I Am the Walrus" holds the distinction of reaching numbers one and two simultaneously. Shortly after release, the song was banned by the BBC for the line "Boy, you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down".
@David Bradley then you can complain to Wikipedia.
@David Bradley wow! Thanks for being so kind.
Watching you guys discover these tracks for the first time makes me so happy! Reminds me of when I first heard them!
Best Beatles song EVER!
Most true lyrics ever written that more people need to understand: i am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
Kookookachoo!
The "Sixties" can be said to have begun with the "British Invasion" in February, 1964 when the Beatles landed in New York. The decade ended in April, 1970 when the Beatles broke up.
"Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, A time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories; They're all that's left you." - Paul Simon, Bookends Theme
Paul Simor is a Pure Poet!
I just found this. Just subscribed. I really like watching you guys react to all this stuff that I grew up on. You two are the perfect music fans. Appreciative, respectful, picking up all the fine points and details. Thank you.
Heyy Guys Some relevant information : the version you heard in the video you played for the reaction WAS NOT the original version, some sounds and instruments WERE MISSING!! Here's a link where you'll find the song as it is in its original version : ua-cam.com/video/NrQ2NBX6c0w/v-deo.html cheers! :)
Yes, there are a lot of backing vocals and harmonies not as forward as they are on the final cut. This sounds like a demo!
This is some bizarre fake. It must be someone in their bedroom studio trying to remake the song or something, because this sure as hell is not The Beatles. I can't believe all the commenters for this video all talking about how much they've always loved this song, blah blah blah, and only two or three of us even noticed that this isn't The Beatles at all. Plus Yerboyjay is really bad about picking out fake music videos in the first place, as he's done this several times now.
This is The Beatles, it just isn't the final take. They would have recorded several demo's and versions before deciding on the final take.@@dggydddy59
@@alanskidadomdom3748 No, this is no Beatles demo. The vocal track is John's vocal from the recording. The instrumentation sound wise is way off, it's missing elements, and by the final verses the vocal and the instruments are unsynchronized by at least half a measure from each other. This is somebody's home made half assed attempt at faking it or some strange exercise to learn his new software or who knows what, but it most definitely is not what it is advertised to be. It's not the demo from the anthology either. I don't know what the hell it is.
I am enjoying your reaction and comments regarding my all time favorite band. Fun!! And you both make me smile.
This is just one of many songs where Lennon channels Lewis Carroll.
The Beatles weren't the only band doing this. Many of Led Zeppelin songs refer to JRR Tolkien also!
This track is an amazing example of Johns lyrical genius.
One of my favorites from the Fab 4, another one I hope you react to is one of their more harder songs Helter Skelter Paul's shrieking screams in this classic is outrageous!!
Hope everyone had a great weekend. Peace, love and happiness to all, from your friendly neighbor to the north.
😎🙏❤🇨🇦
John sang "Well here's another clue for you all, The Walrus was Paul" on the track "Glass Onion" on the White album not long after this, a little Beatles trivia.
I am the Walrus is pure John Lennon. Yes, very trippy. It was a time in their career when they experiment with drugs including LSD. Lennon admitted that he was the "Word Man" of the group. He had a way of putting words together. They might have meant something to him or they were something for you to figure out. That's the genius of John Lennon. Long Live the Beatles.
One of John's best singing voices - imo. Although some of his solo career songs are really amazing. Paul is still my favorite vocalist of The Beatles - I do like cleaner vocals, but some rasp at times. Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album I believe. By the way, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a great song to react to. Correction: Magical Mystery Tour is the album.
First time i heard this i was either stoned or trippin on acid..lol...cant remember but i really liked the song.Ive been clean and soner for 24years now and still enjoy the music now.😊
" I am the waitress" was the pinnacle of the Rutles psychedelic music experiments, at least until " yellow submarine sandwich". The album contained my personal favorite, " your mother should go".
Ah yes, the Rutles! Great Beatles spoof!
I love that film, but the news reporter was a bit odd. 😉
(another great film bankrolled by George Harrison)
The Rutles legend will last a lunchtime
@@JKTritt "WHO HIT STIG?"
I'm shocked by that. And stunned.
So far ahead of their time! The Beatles are simply "T-H-E B-E-S-T!!!"