I AM THE WALRUS - Song of the Month November 2007

[nowheregirl]

This month our Song of the Month is I Am The Walrus.

Written by John Lennon in 1967, I Am The Walrus was the B-side to the Hello, Goodbye single and was also included on Magical Mystery Tour.

I'm sure everyone has an opinion about this song, so let's use this thread to discuss it! What do you think the lyrics mean - or do they mean anything at all?

I Am The Walrus
Lennon/McCartney

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly
I'm crying
Sitting on a cornflake waiting for the van to come
Corporation T-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man you've been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long

I am the eggman
they are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Mister city policeman sitting, pretty little policemen in a row
See how they fly like Lucy in the sky
See how they run
I'm crying
I'm crying, I'm crying
Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye
Crabalocker fishwife, Pornographic priestess
Boy, you've been a naughty girl you let your knickers down

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun
If the sun don't come you get a tan
From standing in the English rain

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Expert, textpert choking smokers, don't you think the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty, see how they snied
I'm crying
Semolina pilchard climbing up the Eiffel Tower
Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna
Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' goo
goo goo g' joob goo

[nocturnalquadruped]

For some 1967 saw John at his creative best. Certainly I am The Walrus is for me one of Johns best tracks with one of the best string arrangements in popular music. The song was originally three seperate tracks that John later incorporated into one. Part of the song was based on a playground chant that children used to sing, John invented some way out images such as Semolina Pilchards and my favourite Elementary Penguins. The song ended up being a nonsense song with no meaning to the lyrics at all. John took great delight at the thought that the people who deciphered Beatle lyrics would have a field day with this track. One of my favourite all time tracks it is best played loud. Interestingly enough it ranks high enough in Sir George Martins esteem to have appeared on his swan song album In My Life and was performed by none other than Jim Carry. It has also been covered by those Beatle wanna bes OASIS. I am the walrus appeared in the film Magical Mystery Tour performed by the Beatles themselves, and was released on the MMT Album and e.p. The song was eventually banned on BBC airwaves as they felt the word Knickers was offensive. John later said "I don't see how they (the words) can offend anyone."

[givepeaceachance]

This is one of my favourite Beatles songs! At first it just seems like a lot of nonsense images but I suppose it can be intepreted any way you want. Then there are references from Lewis Carroll and Shakespeare, wordplay (crabalocker, snied, expert textpert). I also think the scene where they perform this song is the best part of Magical Mystery Tour.

[nowheregirl]

Here are some quotes about this song. (Taken from www.geocities.com/~beatleboy1/dba13tour.html)

JOHN 1980: "The first line was written on one acid trip one weekend. The second line was written on the next acid trip the next weekend, and it was filled in after I met Yoko. Part of it was putting down Hare Krishna. All these people were going on about Hare Krishna, Allen Ginsberg in particular. The reference to 'Element'ry penguin' is the elementary, naive attitude of going around chanting, 'Hare Krishna,' or putting all your faith in any one idol. I was writing obscurely, a la Dylan, in those days. It's from 'The Walrus and the Carpenter.' 'Alice in Wonderland.' To me, it was a beautiful poem. It never dawned on me that Lewis Carroll was commenting on the capitalist and social 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? (singing) 'I am the carpenter...'"

GEORGE 1967: "People don't understand. In John's song, 'I Am The Walrus' he says: 'I am he as you are he as you are me.' People look for all sorts of hidden meanings. It's serious, but it's also not serious. It's true, but it's also a joke."

PAUL 1967: "Everyone keeps preaching that the best way is to be 'open' when writing for teenagers. Then when we do we get criticized. Surely the word 'knickers' can't offend anyone. Shakespeare wrote words a lot more naughtier than knickers!"

JOHN 1968: "We write lyrics, and I write lyrics that you don't realize what they mean till after. Especially some of the better songs or some of the more flowing ones, like 'Walrus.' The whole first verse was written without any knowledge. With 'I Am the Walrus,' I had 'I am he as you are he as we are all together.' I had just these two lines on the typewriter, and then about two weeks later I ran through and wrote another two lines and then, when I saw something, after about four lines, I just knocked the rest of it off. Then I had the whole verse or verse and a half and then sang it. I had this idea of doing a song that was a police siren, but it didn't work in the end (sings like a siren) 'I-am-he-as-you-are-he-as...' You couldn't really sing the police siren."