I AM
THE WALRUS
THE
BEATLES
SONGWRITERS:
JOHN LENNON & PAUL MCCARTNEY
COUNTRY:
U. K.
ALBUM: MAGICAL
MYSTERY TOUR
LABEL: PARLOPHONE
GENRE: PSYCHEDELIC ROCK
YEAR: 1967
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960.
The group, whose best-known line-up comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, are
regarded as the most
influential band of all time. They
were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and popular music's
recognition as an art form. Rooted in skiffle,
beat and 1950s rock and roll, their
sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways; the band later explored music styles ranging
from ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As
pioneers in recording,
songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects
of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's youth and
sociocultural movements.
Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney,
the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three
years from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass.
The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, together since 1958, went
through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best,
before asking Starr to join them in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their
domestic success after their first hit, "Love Me Do",
in late 1962. As
their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed "Beatlemania",
the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four", with Epstein, Martin
and other members of the band's entourage sometimes given the informal title of
"fifth Beatle".
By
early 1964, the Beatles were international stars, leading the "British
Invasion" of the United States pop market and breaking numerous
sales records. They soon made their film debut with A Hard Day's
Night(1964). From 1965 onwards, they produced
records of greater complexity, including the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver(1966)
and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band(1967),
and enjoyed further commercial success with The Beatles (also known as "the White Album", 1968) and Abbey Road (1969).
Heralding the album era, their
success elevated the album to be the dominant form of record consumption
over singles; other
shifts credited to the Beatles include Britain's cultural resurgence, a greater
public interest in psychedelic drugs and Eastern spirituality, and advancements in electronic music, album
art and music videos. In
1968, they founded Apple Corps, a
multi-armed multimedia corporation that continues to oversee projects related
to the band's legacy. After the group's
break-up in 1970, all four members enjoyed
success as solo artists. Lennon was shot and
killed in 1980, and Harrison died of lung
cancer in 2001. McCartney
and Starr remain musically active.
The Beatles are the best-selling
music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million
units worldwide. They hold the record for most number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart, most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and most singles sold in the UK (21.9 million). The band
received seven Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award (for Best Original Song Score for the 1970 film Let It Be)
and fifteen Ivor Novello
Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 1988, and all four main
members were inducted individually between 1994 and 2015. In 2004 and 2011, the
group topped Rolling Stone's lists
of the greatest artists in history.
Time magazine named
them among the 20th century's 100 most important people.
"I Am the Walrus" is a song by the
English rock band the Beatles from
their 1967 television film Magical
Mystery Tour. Written by John Lennon and
credited to Lennon–McCartney,
it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye"
and on the Magical
Mystery Tour EP and album. In the film, the song
underscores a segment in which the band mime to the recording at a deserted airfield.
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". Compositionally, every
musical letter of the alphabet is invoked and every chord is a major or a seventh.
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".
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 tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man, you've been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long
I am the egg man!
They are the egg men!
I am the walrus!
Goo goo goo 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! 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 egg man!
They are the egg men!
I am the walrus!
Goo goo goo 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 egg man (now
good sir, what are you?)
They are the egg men (a poor man, made tame to fortune's blows)
I am the walrus
Goo goo goo joob! (Good
pity!)
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 snide
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 egg man!
They are the egg men!
I am the walrus!
Goo goo goo joob!
Goo goo goo goo joob!
Goo goo goo job
Goo goo goo goo job
Goo goo!
Joob! Joob! Joob!
Joob! Joob! Joob!
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