It seems like just about every Beatles song ever recorded has some sort of lore behind it. Whether it’s a strange story behind the songwriting or the use of some obscure recording technique, the Fab Four always seemed to do something unique or new with each song they produced. John Lennon’s famous 1967 tune “I Am The Walrus” is certainly no different.
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“I Am The Walrus” is one of the most memorable songs from Magical Mystery Tour, namely because of its nonsensical lyricism and the overall psychedelic vibe of the song. And on this day in 1967, while mixing the tune, the band decided to add an interesting Easter egg to the final mix of the song. And you might have missed it if you weren’t listening closely.
The Surreal Origin of “I Am The Walrus” by The Beatles
On this day in 1967, the final day of mixing came for “I Am The Walrus”. The Beatles decided to throw in a real wild card. Specifically, while messing around with an AM radio, Lennon found a dramatic reading of King Lear by William Shakespeare on the BBC Third Programme, and decided to add the recording to “I Am The Walrus”.
The excerpt from the play that made it to the mix includes fragments like “now, goor sir,” “poor man, made tame by fortune,” and “Slave, thou hast slain me. Villain, take my purse.” Naturally, the use of specific lines from the broadcast in the song led many listeners to think there was some deeper meaning there. Specifically, “poor man, made tame by fortune” led some listeners to think that Lennon was drawing attention to his own shortcomings after becoming wealthy. However, according to Lennon, the whole song is, more or less, nonsense with some inspired themes at best. And that was intentional.
Lennon himself said that after he learned that a teacher at his old school was making students analyze the lyrics of The Beatles, he decided to throw out a wild card with “I Am The Walrus”, including bizarre lyrics like “Yellow-matter custard / Dripping from a dead dog’s eye.”
“Let the f*ckers figure that one out,” he famously said.
So, is “I Am The Walrus” completely meaningless nonsense? Not entirely, as many a thorough analysis of each line of this song more or less proves. But that’s the problem. Lennon wrote this song because his songs were being overanalyzed. Lennon was clearly inspired by a number of elements, people, ideas, etc. In the end, the goal was to create something nonsensical… not totally meaningless.
Photo by Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
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