The Nonsensical Connective Thread Between Bob Dylan and The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus”

Both The Beatles and Bob Dylan often wrote lyrics suggesting something, but not necessarily to something in particular. Rather, they created verbal landscapes that people could create their own meaning from. On one hand, folks see this as fairly clever as well as creatively liberating. On the contrary, some just view it as lazy. Nevertheless, The Beatles, primarily John Lennon, seemingly pulled this lyrical practice straight from Dylan’s songwriting book.

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If you’re unclear what we’re talking about, two songs from both parties that utilize this lyrical form of expressionism are Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues” and The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus”. Both songs anchor themselves in lyrical allegory, as their lyrics lean on surrealist-esque imagery to craft not a specific emotion or meaning, but a general emotion or meaning. Though enough of our interpretation. Here is what connects Bob Dylan to The Beatles’ heavily avant-garde 1967 single, “I Am The Walrus”.

The “Artsy-Fartsy” Obscurity John Lennon Infused into The Beatles’ Classic

If you’ve heard or read the lyrics to “I Am The Walrus”, then you are well aware that the lyrics are a nonsensical verbal salad. You can read into them all you want and create a robust meaning. However, that robust meaning is your creation, as John Lennon just guided your mind, and you did all the footwork.

In All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Lennon spoke on the lyrical emptiness of “I Am The Walrus”, and how it was inspired by Bob Dylan. “In those days I was writing obscurely, à la Dylan, never saying what you mean, but giving the impression of something,” said Lennon.

“Where more or less can be read into it. It’s a good game. I thought, ‘They get away with this artsy-fartsy crap; there has been more said about Dylan’s wonderful lyrics than was ever in the lyrics at all. Mine, too,’” added the “I Am The Walrus” songwriter.

Lennon described this lyrical combination of surrealism with nihilism as getting “away with murder,” and he believed Dylan did that. Consequently, John Lennon thought to himself, “Well, I can write this crap, too.”

“Crap” is one way to describe it, and compared to some of the more lyrically poignant and precise music of The Beatles’ catalog, one very well could view “I Am The Walrus” as such. Nevertheless, this nonsensical “crap” got people’s attention, far more attention than Lennon seemingly thought was worthy.

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