John wrote ‘I am the Walrus’ because he had found out that university students in America were analysing their songs, in order to find some deeper meanings in them, so he came out with this, while taking a few inspirations from Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’. When he finished it, he famously said, ‘Let the fuckers figure that one out’.
@@kpmac1 Well, the version I have seen is that some of Lennon's old friends from Liverpool still living in the area told him his song lyrics were now being taught as subjects in school, and John was alternately amused and horrified by this fact, and in fact reacted somewhat angrily, saying he never intended songs to be micro analyzed, so he wrote "Walrus" as abstractly and nonsensically as he could, "let the fcjckers figure that one out."
@@JStarStar00 I heard that a student from the same highschool that John went to, wrote a letter to Lennon, and said that a teacher was making his students analyze Beatles lyrics
She is absolutely adorable to watch. The fact that she doesn't simply enjoy The Beatles, but she truly hears the music. The majority of people listen to music, but they don't hear the music. To me, that is the reason that after all these years of listening to The Beatles I still find the movements; arrangements; lyrics....everything in their music as genius. To be able to produce the vast quantity of songs with each one being unlike any other is magically genius.
there are plenty of beatles songs where you can tell they're distant cousins of each other. I agree it's impressive they discovered so much and added so many tools to their bag of tricks in such little time, but there are plenty of moments/concepts they recyle across multiple songs. Still, it's incredible how unique most of their songs are
@@redlightflash9315 … how typical that you can take something so innocent, a compliment..’adorable’ and turn it into something bad…or make it about …being a female…As John sang in I am the Walrus… ‘oompa oompa stick it up your jumper’ …Its her innocence in showing her appreciation of some of the most amazing music ever created… it’s wonderful and beautiful to watch! Fantastic how she breaks down the songs… love learning a thing or two as well even after hearing them a thousand times… thank you Caroline, thoroughly enjoyed watching you experience the Beatles…great stuff! Adorable indeed!
I think it's because - in addition to having a monstrous talent - he was exposed to all kinds of music as a child. They all listened to the radio a lot (not like today when people only listen to what they want to hear) and they absorbed all that material from so many different genres. This gave him a lot of material to mix in his brain and produce something new. Also, he understood early on that - no matter how talented you are - you have to work hard to write good music. Did "Yesterday" appear in a dream? The first motif did. But it took two months of hard work to get it done just the way he thought it was good.
That is his thing. Paul isn't the best lyricist in the world (though they are almost always exactly what the melody requires them to be), but no one, not Stevie Wonder, not Smokey Robinson, not Joni Mitchell, not John Lennon, not Prince, not nobody had a better instinct and ear for melodies. Just amazing.
@@paulopinheirosc He also came from a family involved with music. His fatther had a ragtime band, was a jazzist pianist and trumpetist. His grandfather played an E-flat bass.
@@oldsensei8350 I absolutely love Paul's work but it pisses me off a little that he's constantly praised as "the most talented". The only reason for that is because John got tired of writing love ballads and feel-good songs, thing that he could do just as well as Paul. Again, not to disrespect Paul at all, I love both, but I agree with John getting pissed off for having Strawberry Fields and I Am The Walrus as B-sides, and Paul having Penny Lane and Hello Goodbye as A-sides.
As you're heading into The Beatles' final albums, I recommend you listen to Let It Be before Abbey Road, despite Abbey Road coming out first. They recorded all of Let It Be before Abbey Road, and they meant for Abbey Road to be their Goodbye album. Many Beatles fans agree that Abbey Road is their true final album, and me and many others recommend you listen to that one last.
I Me Mine was recorded after Abbey Road, and of course all of the strings on Let It Be were recorded after Abbey Road. I mean, I don't really care which one is done first, but if Let It Be is put first then by the same logic Yellow Submarine should come before The White Album.
@@shadshowadradna Harrison's solo on Let it be was also recorded after Abbey Road, but what most agree on is that the majority of Let it be songs were recorded before Abbey Road even started. That's why many of us agree that hearing Let it be first is a better approach because it really is their last album even if it was released first
All you need is love was the first song to be transmitted via satellite globally, broadcast on television and seen by more than 400 million people in the world. Lennon said, "I'm ready to sing to the world."❤️
1:11 Magical Mystery Tour 3:58 Fool On The Hill 8:46 Flying 11:11 Blue Jay Way 14:30 Your Mother Should Know 16:22 I Am The Walrus 19:20 Hello Goodbye 22:08 Baby, You're A Rich Man 23:43 All You Need Is Love
@@dennisberceles7387 Not on the original soundtrack EP which had only the first six tracks when released in the U.K. The original sequence was: 1. Magical Mystery Tour 2. Your Mother Should Know 3. I Am The Walrus 4. The Fool On The Hill 5. Flying 6. Blue Jay Way Everything else is part of a compilation made for the rest of the world, using singles not released on original albums, so it does make a useful gathering together.
"I Am the Walrus" is one of my favorite Beatles songs -- which is saying a lot! I find that I can listen to it again and again over years and years, decade after decade, and it never ages but just gets better.
Same for me Michael. I'll hear it, then listen to it a lot for a month or two, then not hear it again for a long time. Then, suddenly, rediscover it again.
Agreed… there's something about the urgency of Lennon's vocal shouting out this evocative but irrational stream of imagery while the melody swirls up and down that makes this an explosion of phantasmagorical color. It is, in itself, a psychedelic experience.
Yeah, John was beginning a phase of lyrics with no meaning. Others are Happiness is a Warm Gun (intro section), Come Together, Glass Onion. But you knew that!
I remember an interview later on where he said it was written after he learned of a school course analyzing Beatles lyrics for deep meaning, so he did a deliberate nonsense lyric song with zero meaning, so people would just enjoy the song for what it was.
Can I just say how much I love this channel and its community? I'm a second-generation Beatles fan: I was born after they'd broken up, and was only three when John was murdered. But my dad was an amateur musician in the 60s, and had a Hofner bass, so he introduced me to the fabs early on. I'm getting so much sheer joy out of seeing Caroline discover the same songs that shaped my musical outlook, and also from hearing from the people who were actually there and can talk about what it was like to hear stuff like Strawberry Fields Forever on the radio for the first time, or buying a brand-new copy of Sgt. Pepper. Caroline and fellow fans, thank you so much!
I think "Walrus" is one of Lennon's best tracks. Once you get past the shock, it's actually a heck of a lot of fun to listen to and sing with. Seriously.
It's the best nonsense I have heard, it's stuck on my head , when I sing out loud that "I am the eggman...I am the eggman...I am the Walrus" my friends think I am going insane.
"Flying" is my favorite off of Magical Mystery Tour. A long time ago, I was taking a nap on my couch with my dog on my chest. That song came on and I remember dreaming that I was holding him as we we're actually flying... Hang gliding if you will. I felt the wind against us as I was cradling him in the dream... His fur blowing and his mouth open... The ending slowly woke me up with him on my chest sound asleep, twitching... I often wonder to this day if he was having a similar dream. The ending when it fades away often makes me tear up now. Such a beautiful moment between animal and owner.
Its sad that a lot of hardcore Beatles fans dont like "Flying & Blue Jay Way". I like the moody atmosphere Blue Jay Way brings and 'the nostalgic feeling "Flying" brings in fact you described perfectly to be honest
@@phistoltv5196 Thanks! It's a shame that a lot of music in general these days doesn't really have that kind of creativity and quality. You have to dig much deeper now.
I remember hearing McCartney talk about Hello, Goodbye. He said that everything was opposite. The lyrics wrote themselves (hello/goodbye, hi/low, stop/go, etc.) and as his voice went up, the bass goes down, etc. If writing a song was only so easy ... for the rest of us mere mortals.
McCartney wrote Hello Goodbye after a conversation he had with a friend when McCartney was explaining to the friend how he and Lennon wrote lyrics and music together… whatever one of them contributed, the other would offer up something contrarian, both lyrically and musically.
why are his melodies so beautiful? Andrew Lloyd Webber was called a musical genius. He said, "Oh I'm not a musical genius." The interviewer asked him "Who would you say IS a musical genius, alive now? Baron Lloyd-Webber answered "Maybe Paul McCartney. Some of his melodies are SUBLIME."
The fact that the Beatles and Magical Mystery Tour songs sound beautiful and compelling decades after this record came out is a testimony of just how good, great, ingenius they were. It goes on. This album will probably be just as popular one hundred years from today.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I am the Walrus” are two of my all time favorite songs. I still vividly recall how revolutionary they were when released. They were game changers and they hold up still as great songs and great recordings.
LOL! Big DITO on that! Me n' me Mates would feel like dukein' it out with the preppies who thought "I Am The Walrus" was silly-boys..music. It was angry radical!
Yoooo same, i got them recommend to me from the song 10538 overture from Electric light orchestra, so i recommend you to give 10538 overture a listen and see if you like it because you like AITW and SFF;)
Yup! Walrus and Fields, Lennon once again discarding every musical cliche and coming up with brilliant (some accidental) chord progressions. I excuse myself by saying "yeah, John had a bloody piano so unique chord progressions come easy!".
Two boundary stretching songs by Lennon. But the guy who was the MOST experimental and LEAST commercial was George Harrison. "Blue Jay Way" is an extraordinary song. Dissonant harmony from start to finish. But it would never have gotten listened to if it were not in the mix with Paul's conventional ballads and "granny songs."
But there is also something gratifying about hearing his influence in other songwriting. "Don't Ask Me Why" by Billy Joel and "No Matter What" by Badfinger come to mind. 🙂
@@jprg1966 And Heal the Pain which was George Michaels attempt to write a song in the style of Paul, which he then sang with Paul. I think he does a pretty good job.
“Lady Madonna/The Inner Light” and “Hey Jude/Revolution” were both released before the White Album in 1968. I really like the fact that you are listening to the singles associated with the recording sessions of the albums. The singles are very much a reflection of where the albums were going sonically.
YES PLEASE. Listen to Yellow Submarine, then the singles Lady Madonna/The Inner Light, then Hey Jude/Revolution and THEN the white album. The vibe of Yellow Submarine is still psychedelic, then later in 1968 it changed so thats the better order..
I feel like Magical Mystery Tour is an underrated psychedelic pop rock album just because it was released at the tail end of 1967. The Fool On The Hill is probably one of my favorite songs of all time, always gets me emotional because I related to the lyrics so much when I was younger of being overlooked for having a “different perspective” from everyone else
He has a serious gift ....and the world has known that since about 1963. Same for Lennon....he also had a serious gift. They also worked perfectly together and that made it all the more history-making and eternal.
I think the most remarkable thing about walrus is that you get sucked into the lyrics without realizing how sublime the music is. It is one of their greatest songs.
All You Need Is Love went out as the worlds first 'global telecast' I remember watching it when it first went out, in black and white (actually mostly just grey) and I still think it has the most powerful message for the whole world.
Believe it or not, Your Mother Should Know was also in contention for the broadcast, too. In the end, John Lennon's message of love won out, which I think was the perfect choice.
Something like 100 million people watched it live, world wide. John was a bit nervous, which I think shows. What an amazing collection of people they had with them!
It's a great song, but I think the song structure is weird. Preferably should the second verse been as long as the first one. It was a summer of love anthem if I've understood things correctly
Weirdly enough, I kind of think of it as a lesser Beatles track, it's kind of schmaltzy and the message of universal, unconditional love is kind of naive in hindsight. The real world is a lot more complicated.
*All You Need Is Love* was done outside the recording studio, played live for a worldwide television audience, so it was done with one take, and it was done, amazingly without mishap because there were dozens of other people sort of interacting with the band as they played. At one point towards the end of the song, someone nearly knocks over a microphone, and you can hear Paul shout "Woah," but he catches it. The whole video of this is on RUclips if you're interested.
you know, they rehearsed the song before the live satalite broadcast. there was no mishap because they're professionals and know what they're doing. the beatles practiced and rehearsed almost non-stop. that's what made them so good. "practice makes perfect" is more than just slogan or a soundbite. ITS REALITY!
There was one mishap where either John or Paul accidentally hit a microphone stand and knocked it out of position. There is a place in the song right before one says, "She loves you, yeah, yeah yeah" where one of their voices is lost for a brief time.
How do you think she will react when she hears the same guy who sung Yesterday and And I Love Her when he sings Helter Skelter. McCartney was a man of 1000 voices, pure genius. What a vocal range. Get ready Caroline, hold on tight!!!
Love how stumped you were by "I Am The Walrus". Ha - I felt exactly the same way when I first heard it back in the 60s as a child. I loved it though. Nothing sounds like that song . . . just crazy.
As an American, first hearing these songs as a teenager, it took me years to understand what John was going on about in that song. Kind of wonder what my parents thought when they heard 13 year old me listening to a song that referenced a “pornographic priestess”…
I love that I Am the Walrus is beyond evaluation. It doesn't mean anything, and it was designed that way. But it sounds and feels amazing, because it was designed that way.
@@johnb2422 No song; no communication of any kind, is about nothing. Dreams are not about nothing - they are pieces of memory, impressions, feelings. Songs that are not narrative-based, but imagery-based, are like dreams put to music, where the music doesn't frame the dream - it's part of it. When you look at an impressionist painting, it's about evoking a feeling - songs are art, and so no different. What is an instrumental? It evokes a feeling, or feelings, but has no words.
@@berretta9mm17 Then tell us: What is I Am the Walrus about? And that's my point. However much it might could be about something, John designed the lyrics in such a way so as to defy explanation.
The magic in Fool On The Hill is where Paul suddenly flips to a minor key or D min, E min on the lyric fool on the hill then reverts so effortlessly to D6 or major again. He was a master of suddenly playing the parallel minor chord. It's one of my fav songs ever.
Also, watching Get Back, Dick James tells the Beatles that Vera Lynn has recorded Good Night and Fool on the Hill (to which John, of all the Beatles, replies “The Great Vera Lynn!”). I found the Vera Lynn tracks on Apple Music and they reminded me once again just how beautiful and complex these melodies are.
Indeed! No 'think' about it! ;-) I guess Caroline doesn't have the album booklet to look at (which is a shame), as that shows the film in cartoon snapshots, and also has the lyrics.... Bus tours back then in the late 60s were a big 'thing' , and the concept of the EP (LP in the USA), and film was based around that 'mystery' bus tour that was also common... ;-)
Why do I savor your Beatles reactions? I often stop and take a smoke break and think about what you are saying and return. Maybe it's me, but your reactions are like Xmas gifts from 'Down Under' the tree. Thank you, for making me smile, Caroline!
I've always thought John's most clever writing wasn't WALRUS, but BABY I'M A RICH MAN, with maybe LUCY IN THE SKY (keywords from his young son Sean converted into lyrics) and the outright rip of a circus turned into music and lyrics for BENEFIT OF MR KITE. Then ALL YOU NEED's lyrics - while the chorus becomes banal quickly enough, the lyrics are so rich. Four brilliant effects, entailing such different musical styles and such different lyrical origins. But WALRUS is right up there or a lyricist that just wants to have FUN. I'm glad no one makes me give up any of these for the others.
"I am the Walrus" is just great for it's outpouring of slapdash lyrics...a lot of which are Liverpudlian slang, and some of which are double entendres. As a kid in the 70s this was the highlight of the Beatles' Blue album, a greatest hits compilation released in the States.
As the song fades they sing umpah umpah stick it up your jumper’…we used to sing that as kids in Liverpool in the 60’s, I can’t recall if it was part of a longer rhyme as that’s the part that’s stayed with me.
I remember "complaining" to my singing coach that I didn't like songs with nonsensical lyrics; that they ruined the song for me. She played me "La Vie En Rose" - sung by Edith Piaf and asked me if I hated it even though I couldn't understand the lyrics. From then on I realized that a song is much more than lyrics.
And nonsensical lyrics can be very evocative. Just because something isn't a linear narrative doesn't mean it isn't saying something. Dreams may strike very deep chords within us and make no sense whatsoever.
I am the Walrus was a reaction to John hearing that Beatles lyrics were being analysed in school lessons. So I think his attitude was…ok analyse and get meaning out of this one!
My fav album. 🌷RIP J.L.+ G.H......thank you...🎸😁🎄I bought this album, the day it came out,, as a kid . I still play it all the time, I am 66 now. Wow .
I Am The Walrus was written to confuse scholars and others who would interpret their songs. I he was said to have have commented " let's see them work this one out" of words to that effect. It was also inspired by hearing a police siren going past his home and also by Lewis Carrolls poem The Walrus and the Carpenter. Pure genius.
I think John said jokingly later in an interview that he only realized after that the Walrus was the villain and it should have been "I am the carpenter".
@@strawberrysoulforever8336 Yeah I saw that he had mentioned that. Maybe that's why he said the Walrus was Paul in Glass Onion. Another song he wrote to mess with the people who read too much into their lyrics.
It was clearly an important song to John as he referenced it twice more (Glass Onion and God). Next to Day In the Life, it is one of my favorite Lennon songs. The “fire alarm” backing is just amazing and George Martin’s strings are beyond compare.
The Get Back documentary is fascinating-I think you’ll really enjoy watching the songs come to life before your eyes. The songs they work on in the film appear on Let It Be and Abbey Road, so I’d recommend listening to both of those before you watch . Knowing how the songs turn out makes it an experience that’s almost magical. Your thoughts on the documentary could be a great coda to your album reviews, which are outstanding by the way. Excellent work, and enjoy The Beatles (or the “White Album”)-it’s a wild ride. Hope you enjoy the holidays, too!
She should only watch it once she's seen much more footage of them, be it "Anthology", or "A Hard Day's Night" or lots of clips. She's going to be completely lost as to who, say, Dick James is, or George Martin is. She should absolutely NOT watch it until she's got a lot more Beatle info under her belt.
Yes, I'd definitely recommend "Get Back". It brought the group to life in a way the original movie "Let it Be" simply didn't. In fact, "Let it Be" made it all appear a bit fractious and was portrayed at the time as a movie showing a group about to break up. "Get Back" shows them as the great friends they all were (yes even George after his row with Paul and walkout). In fact, it makes you realise that what went wrong with the Beatles was the advent of Allen Klein and, later, Phil Spector.
I love the ‘Your Mother Should Know’ scene from ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, it’s the Beatles in white tails doing a simple step with people waltzing around them.
When I saw the film as a boy I was struck by the fabulous style of the white tails, and to this day I love that song, and the whole atmosphere about it.
One of the technicians of abbey road was 'forced' to record a bus along the highway, he spent hours to get a good audio because that day really few busses went down the road
The Fool on The Hill has always been maybe my favourite Paul song, love it so much. Paul if about to start my favourite period of his career for you, Paul on the white album is just amazing, so many good tunes coming your way. And if you like songs referencing old songs you’ll enjoy ‘Glass Onion’
"Fool On The Hill" is one of the top McCartney miracles, and certainly in my top five McCartney numbers. The song construction is unique and the arrangement is simply extraordinary. In such a vast canon of work it sometimes seems to be not as appreciated as some others, but my oh my it is wonderful.
"Magical Mystery Tour" is by far one of the TRIPPIEST albums. I always listen to it with my eyes closed so that I can get that mellow, loosy-goosy feeling to relax after a long, hard work day. 😃 I'm glad you enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next Beatles reaction. 💖
In the late 70's, when I was 8 or 9, my much older Brother had lent me his singles collection, complete with his old record player but only *1* speaker. And one of those singles was 'Fool On The Hill' - 'Blue Jay Way' - 'Flying', and I quickly became obsessed with 'Blue Jay Way' and played it over and over and over - much to my Sister's displeasure, who was creeped out by that song's atmosphere 😆 This was enhanced by the fact that I had only one speaker, so the proper lead vocal was missing and all you *could* hear was spooky whispering. But I realised this only decades later, when listening to 'Blue Jay Way' on YT and actually getting a fright when hearing for the first time how it's *meant* to sound! 😄 Greetings to all from Wellington, NZ! 😀👍
Maybe someone already noted this: In the opening song, the plane sound is actually a passenger bus sound, as a bus was used to transport them and others on the so called magical mystery trip about England.
@@patricknelson5151 When writing this, I had trouble accurately terming the type of bus. My main point was to generally identify the source of the sound. Originally, I was going to write travel bus, but changed it. Thanks for your input.
The Fool on the hill shows that Paul can write clever 'thoughful' lyrics just like John. Not that he needs to prove himself. After all, all you need is love.
The listening order should be Pepper, Mystery, Yellow, White, Let It Be, Abbey. Despite various little anomalies that gives the best truly chronological overview.
Very important - first you do a great job. I find it interesting that many who are professionally trained evaluate The Beatles in terms of music theory. Their music is even more amazing when you realize that they were NOT professionally trained as musicians. In fact, I'm sure they would have no idea what the analysts were talking about. It was talent - talent that may never be seen again.
But what they had was George Martin a consummate producer who learnt his skills on classical music recording. He was able to shape their talent in unique ways for that time and mould them into the best group of all time ❤
Your Mother Should Know was always the track that stood out the most to me. It's so catchy and I can honestly play that song on an endless loop. Also the fact that both John and Paul lost their mother at such a young age makes the track a bit eerie.
I've always thought of it as a darker side to 'When I'm Sixty Four'. In fact, if you look at the 6 'Double EP' tracks you can view them all as a darker Pepper. The Outro of MMT, the chorus of FOTH, the end of Flying, the entirety of Blue Jay Way, YMSK is minor key and Walrus is just crazy. Interesting stuff.
I agree ! "Your Mother Should Know" is one of my favorite Beatles tracks. The piece is rather playful but tinged with a kind of indefinable melancholy, especially in the parts where we hear John's organ.
MMT is a bit sinister like a lot of that period of English psychedelia. Saucerful of Secrets, In search of the lost chord, even the Stones 2000 Light Years from home all have a similar vibe too. Although psychedelic in name only now, Tame Impala’s first album also has that vibe too.
To answer question on what that one sound on "Baby, You're A Rich Man" was, it was a clavoline; a sort of forerunner to the synthesizer that had different voice settings to choose from. Lennon set it to its 'oboe' setting and just played crazy runs on it to replicate the sound of an Indian instrument called a shehnai.
"Baby You're A Rich Man" from what i recall was a scenario in which they were being asked questions by an interviewer. "Beautiful People" was a term used at the time for the "Jet Set" or Upper Society crowd...60's .
Caroline. I'm sure you're getting lots of praise, but as a life long Beatle fan I just have to say, these are the most fantastic videos. Your fresh, honest, and INFORMED reactions remind me what amazing songs and recordings these are. (Especially the mid-period stuff, from Rubber Soul through to this record, Magical Mystyery Tour). Because of your obvious classical training I wonder if you're familiar with George Martin? He was the producer on most of their records and did most of the classical arrangements. If you can you should listen to the score for Yellow Submarine which he did all himself. Underrated for sure. Keep these going! Can't wait for you to hear the White Album and Abbey Road!!
The backing vocal effects on “I Am the Walrus” were done by an ensemble called the Mike Sammes Singers. At the end of the song the men chant “Oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumpah,” while the women chant “Everybody’s got one, everybody’s got one.”
The Mellotron works on 8 second tape loops for each note. When a note gets to the end of the 8 seconds it rewinds rapidly. You can hear the click of the rewinds in flute passages.
The UK releases dates are: Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane - 17th February 1967 (Sgt. Pepper - 26th May 1967) All You Need Is Love/Baby, You're A Rich Man - 7th July 1967 Hello, Goodbye/I Am The Walrus - 24th November 1967 Magical Mystery Tour (Double EP) - 8th December 1967 So this album covers 10 months and essentially contains everything released in 1967 bar Sgt Pepper. Initially, it was put together for convenience by Capitol Records for the US market but has since become part of the album sequence. The tracks exist for disparate reasons/projects. "Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane" really belongs as part of Sgt Pepper. "All You Need Is Love" was for the first live global television programme (Our World) and the flip was a stitched together song for the "summer of love". "Hello Goodbye" was released only two weeks before the EP, I suspect because EMI needed a single after three months of no releases. The fact that "I Am The Walrus" was on the flip side AND on the EP is baffling but to me indicates that both tracks should have been in the TV film. The film itself was supposed to be improvised (I think) but had a "cobbled together" feel about it. The appreciation of it was not helped when it was switched from BBC2 (colour) to BBC1 (black and white) for its first transmission. Subsequent viewings in colour did not impress though. Having said all that, this album contains some superb tracks. "Strawberry Fields" was the first Beatles record I ever bought, "All You Need Is Love" is rightly an anthem, "Hello, Goodbye" is top rate McCartney - damn, I even like "Flying" 😍😍
There are two awesome videos of Hello / Goodbye. In one, the Beatles are dressed in their Sgt. Pepper gear and in another they are in more ‘plan clothes” but at one point dress up in their old stage clothes from around 1963 which looks hilarious with their long hair and mustaches. They also dance with hula girls during the ending “hey-la” section.
I'm really enjoying this series, and really like your introspection on the musical choices they make; as someone with no musical background, it's interesting to learn about notes and key changes. Fun fact about I am the Walrus: it's basically just John trolling the audience looking for meaning in their songs by writing a song that is essentially a bunch of nonsense to see what people would think of it. But it's still just fun to listen to.
All that said... a song doesn't need to have some "deep" meaning. "I Am the Walrus" may be a shitpost, but those words SOUND great together. The consonance and alliteration, the rhythm, the assonance as it plays off the melody... it means jack; but it sounds brilliant. And it's one of my favorite Beatles tracks for that very reason.
The amazing ride with the Beatles is that if anyone else had written songs like I Will, Oh Darling, I'LL follow the Sun, Think for Yourself, And your Bird Can Sing, Fixing a Hole, Hey Bulldog, etc all would have been top sellers. With them, it was just "another song". The greatness is that the next song you hear is even better. The quality depth of each album is unreal. FOR THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER BEATLES!!!! Good were we lucky!!!!!!!
What did we THINK about it (in 1967)? Check the record sales. They were at the height of their popularity. HUGE. This album was 1-of-a-kind, dripping, seething, and glittering with creativity and NEWNESS - before any digital effects, sampling, or anything else. What we take for granted now, was completely new. It was a revelation and a revolution in music. It opened up everything. And they meant it to. We were stunned, and it felt as though, on some level, we had been waiting lifetimes for this music.
Good stuff! If you liked the fleeting self-referential lines in "All You Need is Love," you might love the White Album's "Glass Onion," which is a whole song about other songs.
I love referenced songs. This is basically the whole reason I bought The White Album when CDs were on the way out. Well, that and a few others I hadn't heard for years.
If you're even a mild fan of the Beatles, "Get Back" is something you won't want to miss. Even though the Beatles literally never existed in my lifetime, this documentary brings everyone alive, letting you feel like you're watching in the room the development of a legendary album. The blinding genius and dedication of McCartney is in full force.
It's really dumb, but "I Am the Walrus" makes me cry. The power and ferocity of it, the collaboration between Lennon and George Martin (he wrote and conducted the score), the nonsensical cynicism of the lyrics being spit out with John's acerbic, distorted snarl... Damn! Fantastic! "Um-pah, um-pah, stick it up your jumper" "Ev'rybody's got one, Ev'rybody's got one"... 🤪🤣😋
Yes, me also! John is angry at the fakes! People who make a pretense. To me, this song is up there, on par with Strawberry Fields. The worst thing you could do is listen to "I Am The Walrus", for the 1st time, while watching the video. Just listen to the music.
@@coeburnett In fact it's advisable to listen to the album first before watching the movie as much as I enjoyed that gibberish of a movie (because I am a stoner), you will appreciate the movie more after listening to the album
Yup, you’re right. Walrus is stream of consciousness, psychedelic trip, about a mood or feeling. Like a cinematic collage. One of the most amazing pieces of music ever. No band or singer ever “painted” so much with their music. This was their most fertile period for musical and lyrical ideas making interesting music (Pepper through the White album). MMT is one of my top ten records of all time.
I saw The Beatles on ED Sullivan on Feb. 9, 1964. There was nothing, nothing like seeing and hearing them for the first time when they first burst onto the scene. I love that you're doing these videos and have an appreciation of their music. I am not the only one to say that before The Beatles the world was black and white, and after, in color. Many of us mark our lives that way- before them, and after them. I'm 67 years old and have been an impassioned fan since 1964. I was 9 1/2. Once Paul and Ringo are gone, it will truly be the end of an era. We will never see the likes of them again.
Many interesting bits in "I Am the Walrus" including snippets of Shakespeare's "King Lear" being performed live on the BBC & the sounds of a radio dial being turned as if to tune in to different stations. George Martin (their producer) thought Lennon daft when he presented this song to them (the group)...but he did a masterful job with the strings & horns.
King Lear was actually live on the radio while they were mixing the song, so they decided to include that directly into the mixing process - quite daft! That is why they couldn’t recreate that for the stereo mix, so in that version the song’s second half is reprocessed mono.
there's a group of jingle singers employed as orchestration...they are supposedly saying "oompah oompah everybody's got one". As 15 year olds, some of us heard that as" everybody smoke pot".
@@kevincaselle3174 I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure at the end they're singing "oompah oompah stick it up yer' jumper!" which is a British expression meaning "I don't care what you say." It was the sort of thing kids would shout at each other in the playground and was still a common expression as recently as the 90s.
After Lennon was shot it gave me shivers from this part "oh an untimely death" Almost prophetic Everyone was trying to messages from their lyrics and some like Charles Manson took it to extremes I remember trying get my turntable run backwards for hidden meanings they a tremendous amount of influence on society at the time kicking down barriers I don't the 60s as we know would have happened without them
I love watching these Caroline, to see your reaction to the songs while at the same time recalling how I felt in the 1960's when I first heard them. And when people hear these songs or when I hear modern songs, it gives generations something in common that we can discuss, and that is a good thing.
Music that was made 60 years ago with that technology and the fact that the Beatles were in their twenties during this whole time...When they broke up...no one was thirty or older. Unreal !
Even though technically the next album released is The Beatles, I strongly recommend doing Yellow Submarine first. All the songs were recorded before in this period and it’ll throw off your sense of musical progression to wait.
Bar far Caroline's best album first listen....She picks up so much...she has tremendous musical awareness...When you speak you sound like a revered musical producer in the style and essence of a George Martin. Totally meant as a compliment! Bravo! Keep up and continue to chase your musical dream Caroline!😉
"Fool On The Hill": that "brass" is actually a couple of huge bass harmonicas that, according to a photo I saw, are played by Paul & John. "Blue Jay Way": George's voice sounds weird because they're running it through a Hammond B3 Leslie filter (which is basically a speaker spinning in circles) Blue Jay Way is an actual street in the Hollywood Hills where George found himself stuck.
When the Beatles were on tours in the US in 1965 and 66 they rented a house in the Hollywood hills in LA as sort of a base of operations while they were on the west coast. Some friends were coming to the house to visit George and actually got lost in the fog. The sluggish, dour tempo of the song is to evoke the feeling of being in a fog, which I think was brilliant. There are also overtones of Indian music influences in the overall sound of the song. I'm surprised that George didn't include some sitar parts in the song.
I spoke to a client at work once who had an address on Blue Jay Way. I asked her if she knew that The Beatles wrote a song about her street and she claimed to have never heard of The Beatles.
I am really envious of both the opportunity and your ability to listen to The Beatles for the first time in your life, with all your musical training, hearing and ability to understand musical construction, melody building and song structure. I find it captivating to watch your reactions and emotions as you listen to this music. It brings a lot of light, hope and joy in this strange and increasingly unpleasant world. Good luck in your continued exploration of the Beatles :)
If you want to keep in order of how the music evolves, you should next listen to the 4 Yellow Submarine soundtrack songs, Lady Madonna/The Inner Light, and Hey Jude/Revolution singles before listening to The White Album.
For an old 65-year old man who grew up with the boys it is really nice to see you experience them with your musical background (something we did not have back in the 60s. I was 7 when they first played I Want To Hold Your Hand on my little transistor radio taped to my bike handlebars and they have been my life's score ever since...thank you!
Oh yeah, MGT. Most people saying that this album is weird, with Flying, Blue Jay Way and I am The Walrus, but i think, that's a beautiful album for listen when your dreaming about something
The Beatles only recorded 6 songs for Magical Mystery Tour, which was a film they made for television. They originally issued it as a 2 disk EP in England. Because the 7 inch EP was not a popular format in the US, Capitol Records released it as an LP, with the movie songs on side 1, and their recent singles on side 2. George Martin, their producer had more creative input on this album than any before or after. With the exception of Flying, he arranged brass, strings, and woodwinds for every song. You can't overstate the importance of George Martin to The Beatles sound - especially in this era. Thanks for making these videos. I am enjoying reliving my first impressions of these albums along with you.
Your journey through the Beatles back catalogue has been a joy to experience, I have heard the songs a thousand times but hearing them along with you and seeing your reaction brings new perspectives to the music. I will just say one thing. Revolution 9.
Not only are the lyrics of "I Am the Walrus" wild and evocatively non-linear, but very interesting things are happening musically. Musicologist Alan W. Pollack analyses: "The chord progression of the outro itself is a harmonic Moebius strip with scales in bassline and top voice that move in contrary motion." The bassline descends stepwise A, G, F, E, D, C, and B, while the strings part rises A, B, C, D, E, F♯, G: this sequence repeats as the song fades, with the strings rising higher on each iteration. Pollack also notes that the repeated cell is seven bars long, which means that a different chord begins each four-bar phrase.
John wrote ‘I am the Walrus’ because he had found out that university students in America were analysing their songs, in order to find some deeper meanings in them, so he came out with this, while taking a few inspirations from Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’. When he finished it, he famously said, ‘Let the fuckers figure that one out’.
I'm a huge Beatles fan and consider myself pretty knowledgeable but I have never heard that before. Thanks for sharing.
I dont think walrus was the song youre talking about wasnt it glass onion maybe Im wrong
@@kpmac1
Well, the version I have seen is that some of Lennon's old friends from Liverpool still living in the area told him his song lyrics were now being taught as subjects in school, and John was alternately amused and horrified by this fact, and in fact reacted somewhat angrily, saying he never intended songs to be micro analyzed, so he wrote "Walrus" as abstractly and nonsensically as he could, "let the fcjckers figure that one out."
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
@@JStarStar00 I heard that a student from the same highschool that John went to, wrote a letter to Lennon, and said that a teacher was making his students analyze Beatles lyrics
In my opinion Johns I Am The Walrus is one of the most unique and original music compositions ever. It borrows from nothing. Love it
Totally agree. I'm always blown away by its creativity.
The version of I Am The Walrus without the added sound effects I really love. On the Anthology album. Just the Beatles playing it live in the studio.
@@danielrockmyer949 Forgot about that one. Listening to it now!
I kind of wish more popular artists would experiment with unexpected chord progressions and arrangements.
@@stapler942 Agreed! The Beatles spoiled us with their creativity and boundry-pushing.
The Fool On the Hill is one of McCartneys most beautiful and underappreciated songs from the Beatles era.
Yes, it's kinda gotten lost in the flood of great songs of the 67-68 period
Even disliked, for some strange reason.
Fool On The Hill hits me so emotionally-high and low. Every time for 50 plus years.
@@rubygreta1 I'd assume it's the recorder lol. I personally liked the song tho
@@breft3416 it's the same for me it's both sad and uplifting at the same time, l love it
I feel privileged to have been a teenager in 1967.
Best year ever!
Me too 🎉❤ beautiful year..Beatles ruled 🍏🪲🪲🪲🪲
Me too! Go, class of 69!
She is absolutely adorable to watch. The fact that she doesn't simply enjoy The Beatles, but she truly hears the music. The majority of people listen to music, but they don't hear the music. To me, that is the reason that after all these years of listening to The Beatles I still find the movements; arrangements; lyrics....everything in their music as genius. To be able to produce the vast quantity of songs with each one being unlike any other is magically genius.
there are plenty of beatles songs where you can tell they're distant cousins of each other. I agree it's impressive they discovered so much and added so many tools to their bag of tricks in such little time, but there are plenty of moments/concepts they recyle across multiple songs. Still, it's incredible how unique most of their songs are
@redlightflash what? Your comment does not make grammatical sense... explain again.
@@redlightflash9315 … how typical that you can take something so innocent, a compliment..’adorable’ and turn it into something bad…or make it about …being a female…As John sang in I am the Walrus… ‘oompa oompa stick it up your jumper’ …Its her innocence in showing her appreciation of some of the most amazing music ever created… it’s wonderful and beautiful to watch! Fantastic how she breaks down the songs… love learning a thing or two as well even after hearing them a thousand times… thank you Caroline, thoroughly enjoyed watching you experience the Beatles…great stuff! Adorable indeed!
@@redlightflash9315💩
"Why are his melodies always so beautiful?"
I can't imagine how many times I've had that same thought about Paul over the years.
I think it's because - in addition to having a monstrous talent - he was exposed to all kinds of music as a child. They all listened to the radio a lot (not like today when people only listen to what they want to hear) and they absorbed all that material from so many different genres. This gave him a lot of material to mix in his brain and produce something new.
Also, he understood early on that - no matter how talented you are - you have to work hard to write good music. Did "Yesterday" appear in a dream? The first motif did. But it took two months of hard work to get it done just the way he thought it was good.
That is his thing. Paul isn't the best lyricist in the world (though they are almost always exactly what the melody requires them to be), but no one, not Stevie Wonder, not Smokey Robinson, not Joni Mitchell, not John Lennon, not Prince, not nobody had a better instinct and ear for melodies. Just amazing.
@@paulopinheirosc He also came from a family involved with music. His fatther had a ragtime band, was a jazzist pianist and trumpetist. His grandfather played an E-flat bass.
@@jippyhound yeah but John Lennon was a pretty damn good Melody Guy 2
@@oldsensei8350 I absolutely love Paul's work but it pisses me off a little that he's constantly praised as "the most talented". The only reason for that is because John got tired of writing love ballads and feel-good songs, thing that he could do just as well as Paul. Again, not to disrespect Paul at all, I love both, but I agree with John getting pissed off for having Strawberry Fields and I Am The Walrus as B-sides, and Paul having Penny Lane and Hello Goodbye as A-sides.
As you're heading into The Beatles' final albums, I recommend you listen to Let It Be before Abbey Road, despite Abbey Road coming out first. They recorded all of Let It Be before Abbey Road, and they meant for Abbey Road to be their Goodbye album. Many Beatles fans agree that Abbey Road is their true final album, and me and many others recommend you listen to that one last.
I feel like abbey road is a better song off to the band ending though
I Me Mine was recorded after Abbey Road, and of course all of the strings on Let It Be were recorded after Abbey Road. I mean, I don't really care which one is done first, but if Let It Be is put first then by the same logic Yellow Submarine should come before The White Album.
Yep you're right. Abbey Road was the last stuff they did.
@@shadshowadradna Harrison's solo on Let it be was also recorded after Abbey Road, but what most agree on is that the majority of Let it be songs were recorded before Abbey Road even started. That's why many of us agree that hearing Let it be first is a better approach because it really is their last album even if it was released first
I agree.. do Let It Be before Abbey Road
Caroline, like thousands of other songwriters over the past 60 years : "Why are his melodies always SO beautiful?" lol
EXACTLY! The man is a genius at melody. Probably the best ever.
Paul probably even passes gas with better melodies than most can come up with.
@@JC-wr7mu 🤣
@@JC-wr7mu winning the internet with that comment, Johnny.
@@JC-wr7mu I think Billy Joel said the same.
All you need is love was the first song to be transmitted via satellite globally, broadcast on television and seen by more than 400 million people in the world. Lennon said, "I'm ready to sing to the world."❤️
1:11 Magical Mystery Tour
3:58 Fool On The Hill
8:46 Flying
11:11 Blue Jay Way
14:30 Your Mother Should Know
16:22 I Am The Walrus
19:20 Hello Goodbye
22:08 Baby, You're A Rich Man
23:43 All You Need Is Love
Thank you.
Thx
Magical mystery tour album also includes:
1. Strawberry Fields Forever
2. Penny Lane
For your info, reference and guidance.
What an amazing line up of beautiful Beatles music !
@@dennisberceles7387 Not on the original soundtrack EP which had only the first six tracks when released in the U.K. The original sequence was:
1. Magical Mystery Tour
2. Your Mother Should Know
3. I Am The Walrus
4. The Fool On The Hill
5. Flying
6. Blue Jay Way
Everything else is part of a compilation made for the rest of the world, using singles not released on original albums, so it does make a useful gathering together.
"I Am the Walrus" is one of my favorite Beatles songs -- which is saying a lot! I find that I can listen to it again and again over years and years, decade after decade, and it never ages but just gets better.
Same for me Michael. I'll hear it, then listen to it a lot for a month or two, then not hear it again for a long time. Then, suddenly, rediscover it again.
Agreed… there's something about the urgency of Lennon's vocal shouting out this evocative but irrational stream of imagery while the melody swirls up and down that makes this an explosion of phantasmagorical color. It is, in itself, a psychedelic experience.
My favorite song of theirs! Just not like any other song
I am the walrus is an absolute gem
Loved it right when I first heard it at the age of 11.
Love it to this day
Yea it has a timeless quality to it whereby you never get tired of hearing it
Caroline: “I don’t think I am going to delve into the meaning of “I Am The Walrus”. That is exactly what Lennon wanted and you got it right away! :)
Yeah, John was beginning a phase of lyrics with no meaning. Others are Happiness is a Warm Gun (intro section), Come Together, Glass Onion. But you knew that!
Speechless at the end too lmao
I remember an interview later on where he said it was written after he learned of a school course analyzing Beatles lyrics for deep meaning, so he did a deliberate nonsense lyric song with zero meaning, so people would just enjoy the song for what it was.
Yellow matter custard...mmmmm just what I could do with right now....delish !
And the music video for I Am the Walrus is also totally worth checking out. It seriously complements the song in the best way possible.
Can I just say how much I love this channel and its community? I'm a second-generation Beatles fan: I was born after they'd broken up, and was only three when John was murdered. But my dad was an amateur musician in the 60s, and had a Hofner bass, so he introduced me to the fabs early on. I'm getting so much sheer joy out of seeing Caroline discover the same songs that shaped my musical outlook, and also from hearing from the people who were actually there and can talk about what it was like to hear stuff like Strawberry Fields Forever on the radio for the first time, or buying a brand-new copy of Sgt. Pepper.
Caroline and fellow fans, thank you so much!
Isn't she great? And absolutely lovely too
¡Hola, Ricardo! Si aún tienen ese Hofner, poseen un tesoro. ¡Saludos Beatlémanos!
I was born 31 years after they broke up. I discovered the beatles 2 or 3 years ago and I became a huge fan
Oh, Ricardo, what a beautiful heartfelt comment. Really touched me.
I think "Walrus" is one of Lennon's best tracks. Once you get past the shock, it's actually a heck of a lot of fun to listen to and sing with. Seriously.
Yes! It's a great campfire sing-along after you and the marshmallows are well-toasted. 🙃
It's the best nonsense I have heard, it's stuck on my head , when I sing out loud that "I am the eggman...I am the eggman...I am the Walrus" my friends think I am going insane.
super super underrated. I'd personally put this over day in the life for just listening to in general
"Flying" is my favorite off of Magical Mystery Tour. A long time ago, I was taking a nap on my couch with my dog on my chest. That song came on and I remember dreaming that I was holding him as we we're actually flying... Hang gliding if you will. I felt the wind against us as I was cradling him in the dream... His fur blowing and his mouth open... The ending slowly woke me up with him on my chest sound asleep, twitching... I often wonder to this day if he was having a similar dream. The ending when it fades away often makes me tear up now. Such a beautiful moment between animal and owner.
Its sad that a lot of hardcore Beatles fans dont like "Flying & Blue Jay Way". I like the moody atmosphere Blue Jay Way brings and 'the nostalgic feeling "Flying" brings in fact you described perfectly to be honest
@@phistoltv5196 Thanks! It's a shame that a lot of music in general these days doesn't really have that kind of creativity and quality. You have to dig much deeper now.
Flying is the only Beatles song that had songwriting credits to all four.
@@phistoltv5196
Love both songs. Atmospheric and ethereal.
Going through the catalog this way, she'll get all the references in _Glass Onion,_ when we get to the White Album
Oh! Another clue for us all!
"The walrus was Paul"
@@fergalhughes165 Plot twist
That’s one of the reasons why new fans should listen to their music chronologically.
I remember hearing McCartney talk about Hello, Goodbye. He said that everything was opposite. The lyrics wrote themselves (hello/goodbye, hi/low, stop/go, etc.) and as his voice went up, the bass goes down, etc. If writing a song was only so easy ... for the rest of us mere mortals.
McCartney wrote Hello Goodbye after a conversation he had with a friend when McCartney was explaining to the friend how he and Lennon wrote lyrics and music together… whatever one of them contributed, the other would offer up something contrarian, both lyrically and musically.
why are his melodies so beautiful? Andrew Lloyd Webber was called a musical genius. He said, "Oh I'm not a musical genius." The interviewer asked him "Who would you say IS a musical genius, alive now? Baron Lloyd-Webber answered "Maybe Paul McCartney. Some of his melodies are SUBLIME."
This quote made my day
The fact that the Beatles and Magical Mystery Tour songs sound beautiful and compelling decades after this record came out is a testimony of just how good, great, ingenius they were. It goes on. This album will probably be just as popular one hundred years from today.
A friend of mine says to any naysayers that denying the genius of the Beatles is like denying The Holocaust.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I am the Walrus” are two of my all time favorite songs. I still vividly recall how revolutionary they were when released. They were game changers and they hold up still as great songs and great recordings.
LOL! Big DITO on that! Me n' me Mates would feel like dukein' it out with the preppies who thought "I Am The Walrus" was silly-boys..music. It was angry radical!
Yoooo same, i got them recommend to me from the song 10538 overture from Electric light orchestra, so i recommend you to give 10538 overture a listen and see if you like it because you like AITW and SFF;)
Yup! Walrus and Fields, Lennon once again discarding every musical cliche and coming up with brilliant (some accidental) chord progressions. I excuse myself by saying "yeah, John had a bloody piano so unique chord progressions come easy!".
Two boundary stretching songs by Lennon. But the guy who was the MOST experimental and LEAST commercial was George Harrison. "Blue Jay Way" is an extraordinary song. Dissonant harmony from start to finish. But it would never have gotten listened to if it were not in the mix with Paul's conventional ballads and "granny songs."
I don't think there's anyone in the world that makes beautiful melodies Like Paul McCartney
But there is also something gratifying about hearing his influence in other songwriting. "Don't Ask Me Why" by Billy Joel and "No Matter What" by Badfinger come to mind. 🙂
@@jprg1966 And Heal the Pain which was George Michaels attempt to write a song in the style of Paul, which he then sang with Paul. I think he does a pretty good job.
John and George are up at that level , but they did not work 15 hours a day like Paul probably did for the most of his adult years.
Yesterday is a song worthy of Cole Porter...or George Gershwin...it is seamless and timeless
“Lady Madonna/The Inner Light” and “Hey Jude/Revolution” were both released before the White Album in 1968. I really like the fact that you are listening to the singles associated with the recording sessions of the albums. The singles are very much a reflection of where the albums were going sonically.
Great comment. You really need to look at both.
And the songs from Yellow Submarine soundtrack too... She could do another long video before The White Album
@@onlywasooo6006 yes good plan since the songs on Yellow Submarine were recorded before the White Album.
YES PLEASE. Listen to Yellow Submarine, then the singles Lady Madonna/The Inner Light, then Hey Jude/Revolution and THEN the white album. The vibe of Yellow Submarine is still psychedelic, then later in 1968 it changed so thats the better order..
Lady Madonna has such a great piano part
I feel like Magical Mystery Tour is an underrated psychedelic pop rock album just because it was released at the tail end of 1967. The Fool On The Hill is probably one of my favorite songs of all time, always gets me emotional because I related to the lyrics so much when I was younger of being overlooked for having a “different perspective” from everyone else
Thanks, you expressed feelings to the album, and The Fool on the Hill, that I have as well.
Magical Mystery Tour is very underrated. It is basically Sgt Pepper 2, yet it gets nowhere the same amount of recognition
Agree 100 percent. The title track is a fun tune and there several other gems here
Man, that was really a high trip in their career. Still today, nobody do what they did.
@@bluepeng8895 Because it wasn't conceived as an album, though I also think the soundtrack wasn't that consistent anyway.
That chord progression is so beautiful because McCartney. The dude simply has a gift.
He seemed to know what I liked before I knew it myself
I listened to “Little Willow” for the first time a few weeks ago and burst into tears. Damn. That man STILL has the gift.
His gift for creating melody’s has never been matched before or since.
He has a serious gift ....and the world has known that since about 1963. Same for Lennon....he also had a serious gift. They also worked perfectly together and that made it all the more history-making and eternal.
@@MrOasis316 I think Mercury had that gift. But it's easy to wonder why. 3 out of 4 members of Queen are openly and deeply inspired by The Beatles.
I think the most remarkable thing about walrus is that you get sucked into the lyrics without realizing how sublime the music is. It is one of their greatest songs.
All You Need Is Love went out as the worlds first 'global telecast' I remember watching it when it first went out, in black and white (actually mostly just grey) and I still think it has the most powerful message for the whole world.
It was called “Our World” and It aired on June 25th, 1967.
Believe it or not, Your Mother Should Know was also in contention for the broadcast, too. In the end, John Lennon's message of love won out, which I think was the perfect choice.
Something like 100 million people watched it live, world wide. John was a bit nervous, which I think shows. What an amazing collection of people they had with them!
It's a great song, but I think the song structure is weird. Preferably should the second verse been as long as the first one.
It was a summer of love anthem if I've understood things correctly
Weirdly enough, I kind of think of it as a lesser Beatles track, it's kind of schmaltzy and the message of universal, unconditional love is kind of naive in hindsight. The real world is a lot more complicated.
*I Am The Walrus* and *Strawberry Fields Forever* make this my favorite. I can listen to them endlessly.
Jim Carrey does the best cover of I Am The Walrus
@@Kanjo_Bazooie Have you heard Frank Zappa's? For that matter, there's Crack the Sky…
@@Malacandra I’ve heard Zappa’s but not Crack The Sky.
*All You Need Is Love* was done outside the recording studio, played live for a worldwide television audience, so it was done with one take, and it was done, amazingly without mishap because there were dozens of other people sort of interacting with the band as they played. At one point towards the end of the song, someone nearly knocks over a microphone, and you can hear Paul shout "Woah," but he catches it. The whole video of this is on RUclips if you're interested.
They did play with a prerecorded backing track, and I believe Paul redid his bass part later, but a lot of it was, indeed, played live.
The basic recorded track was started at Olympic Studies and completed at Abbey Road, prior to the live recording/ tv broadcast
you know, they rehearsed the song before the live satalite broadcast. there was no mishap because they're professionals and know what they're doing. the beatles practiced and rehearsed almost non-stop. that's what made them so good. "practice makes perfect" is more than just slogan or a soundbite. ITS REALITY!
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were in the audience
There was one mishap where either John or Paul accidentally hit a microphone stand and knocked it out of position. There is a place in the song right before one says, "She loves you, yeah, yeah yeah" where one of their voices is lost for a brief time.
You have single-handedly defined what music reaction videos should be. You get it .
How do you think she will react when she hears the same guy who sung Yesterday and And I Love Her when he sings Helter Skelter. McCartney was a man of 1000 voices, pure genius. What a vocal range. Get ready Caroline, hold on tight!!!
And Oh Darling, which I absolutely love.
Agreed
@@Turtledove2009 agreed
Was? Wait! are you suggesting he's died...spooky barefoot vibes.
Love how stumped you were by "I Am The Walrus". Ha - I felt exactly the same way when I first heard it back in the 60s as a child. I loved it though. Nothing sounds like that song . . . just crazy.
😆
As an American, first hearing these songs as a teenager, it took me years to understand what John was going on about in that song. Kind of wonder what my parents thought when they heard 13 year old me listening to a song that referenced a “pornographic priestess”…
And to think THAT was on top of the charts!
WOW!
I love that I Am the Walrus is beyond evaluation. It doesn't mean anything, and it was designed that way. But it sounds and feels amazing, because it was designed that way.
So you're saying it's a song about nothing? Everybody's singing songs about something, let's sing a song about nothing!
@@johnb2422 It was the Seinfeld of its day!
@@johnb2422 No song; no communication of any kind, is about nothing.
Dreams are not about nothing - they are pieces of memory, impressions, feelings.
Songs that are not narrative-based, but imagery-based, are like dreams put to music, where the music doesn't frame the dream - it's part of it.
When you look at an impressionist painting, it's about evoking a feeling - songs are art, and so no different.
What is an instrumental? It evokes a feeling, or feelings, but has no words.
@@berretta9mm17 cool but I was just doing a spoof of Seinfeld
@@berretta9mm17 Then tell us: What is I Am the Walrus about?
And that's my point.
However much it might could be about something, John designed the lyrics in such a way so as to defy explanation.
The magic in Fool On The Hill is where Paul suddenly flips to a minor key or D min, E min on the lyric fool on the hill then reverts so effortlessly to D6 or major again. He was a master of suddenly playing the parallel minor chord. It's one of my fav songs ever.
Fun song to play, that one.
Those bass harmonicas with the recorder are magic.
Also, watching Get Back, Dick James tells the Beatles that Vera Lynn has recorded Good Night and Fool on the Hill (to which John, of all the Beatles, replies “The Great Vera Lynn!”). I found the Vera Lynn tracks on Apple Music and they reminded me once again just how beautiful and complex these melodies are.
Blue Jay Way is at once beautiful and one of the more frightening songs I have ever heard.
I love the I am the Walrus. The strings are amazing
I think that the "aeroplane" sound on the title track is supposed to be the sound of the bus going past
Indeed! No 'think' about it! ;-)
I guess Caroline doesn't have the album booklet to look at (which is a shame), as that shows the film in cartoon snapshots, and also has the lyrics.... Bus tours back then in the late 60s were a big 'thing' , and the concept of the EP (LP in the USA), and film was based around that 'mystery' bus tour that was also common... ;-)
I think the "airplane sounds" were meant to be the sound of the bus rushing by.
Why do I savor your Beatles reactions? I often stop and take a smoke break and think about what you are saying and return. Maybe it's me, but your reactions are like Xmas gifts from 'Down Under' the tree. Thank you, for making me smile, Caroline!
But then she can move onto, at least, the McCartney solo stuff!
I love how in 'The Fool On The Hill' when it switches to minor it mirrors the lyrics 'sees the sun going down'
I've always thought John's most clever writing wasn't WALRUS, but BABY I'M A RICH MAN, with maybe LUCY IN THE SKY (keywords from his young son Sean converted into lyrics) and the outright rip of a circus turned into music and lyrics for BENEFIT OF MR KITE. Then ALL YOU NEED's lyrics - while the chorus becomes banal quickly enough, the lyrics are so rich. Four brilliant effects, entailing such different musical styles and such different lyrical origins. But WALRUS is right up there or a lyricist that just wants to have FUN. I'm glad no one makes me give up any of these for the others.
"I am the Walrus" is just great for it's outpouring of slapdash lyrics...a lot of which are Liverpudlian slang, and some of which are double entendres. As a kid in the 70s this was the highlight of the Beatles' Blue album, a greatest hits compilation released in the States.
As the song fades they sing umpah umpah stick it up your jumper’…we used to sing that as kids in Liverpool in the 60’s, I can’t recall if it was part of a longer rhyme as that’s the part that’s stayed with me.
Yeah...the catahhr custard refrain was always to be heard in Liverpool schoolyard in the fifties
He wrote I am the walrus because his old school wrote to him and told him they were analysing his lyrics in English Class...
I remember "complaining" to my singing coach that I didn't like songs with nonsensical lyrics; that they ruined the song for me.
She played me "La Vie En Rose" - sung by Edith Piaf and asked me if I hated it even though I couldn't understand the lyrics.
From then on I realized that a song is much more than lyrics.
And nonsensical lyrics can be very evocative. Just because something isn't a linear narrative doesn't mean it isn't saying something. Dreams may strike very deep chords within us and make no sense whatsoever.
A song can be a dream put to music as well as a narrative. You had a very wise music teacher.
2 words:
Cocteau
Twins
I am the Walrus was a reaction to John hearing that Beatles lyrics were being analysed in school lessons. So I think his attitude was…ok analyse and get meaning out of this one!
My fav album. 🌷RIP J.L.+ G.H......thank you...🎸😁🎄I bought this album, the day it came out,, as a kid . I still play it all the time, I am 66 now. Wow .
Blue Jay Way, one of my favorite George tunes!
I Am The Walrus was written to confuse scholars and others who would interpret their songs. I he was said to have have commented " let's see them work this one out" of words to that effect. It was also inspired by hearing a police siren going past his home and also by Lewis Carrolls poem The Walrus and the Carpenter. Pure genius.
I think John said jokingly later in an interview that he only realized after that the Walrus was the villain and it should have been "I am the carpenter".
@@strawberrysoulforever8336
Yeah I saw that he had mentioned that. Maybe that's why he said the Walrus was Paul in Glass Onion. Another song he wrote to mess with the people who read too much into their lyrics.
It was clearly an important song to John as he referenced it twice more (Glass Onion and God). Next to Day In the Life, it is one of my favorite Lennon songs. The “fire alarm” backing is just amazing and George Martin’s strings are beyond compare.
@@patricknelson5151
Ah of course yeah he mentions it in the song God. Obviously couldn't let the Walrus go lol
The Get Back documentary is fascinating-I think you’ll really enjoy watching the songs come to life before your eyes. The songs they work on in the film appear on Let It Be and Abbey Road, so I’d recommend listening to both of those before you watch . Knowing how the songs turn out makes it an experience that’s almost magical.
Your thoughts on the documentary could be a great coda to your album reviews, which are outstanding by the way.
Excellent work, and enjoy The Beatles (or the “White Album”)-it’s a wild ride.
Hope you enjoy the holidays, too!
P0
She should only watch it once she's seen much more footage of them, be it "Anthology", or "A Hard Day's Night" or lots of clips. She's going to be completely lost as to who, say, Dick James is, or George Martin is. She should absolutely NOT watch it until she's got a lot more Beatle info under her belt.
Yes, I'd definitely recommend "Get Back". It brought the group to life in a way the original movie "Let it Be" simply didn't. In fact, "Let it Be" made it all appear a bit fractious and was portrayed at the time as a movie showing a group about to break up. "Get Back" shows them as the great friends they all were (yes even George after his row with Paul and walkout). In fact, it makes you realise that what went wrong with the Beatles was the advent of Allen Klein and, later, Phil Spector.
"Take this, brother. May it serve you well".
@@casemaker1 I think it's safe to say that "Get Back" has made the "Let It Be" movie redundant.
I love the ‘Your Mother Should Know’ scene from ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, it’s the Beatles in white tails doing a simple step with people waltzing around them.
When I saw the film as a boy I was struck by the fabulous style of the white tails, and to this day I love that song, and the whole atmosphere about it.
Yes! That was classic.The song and the dancing was like something out of a Broadway show.
It’s a magical scene, one of the best in MMT.
It really needed another verse or two.
When I first heard it, I played it backwards a couple of times to see if there was any hidden meaning. Nope - just something about coffee! 😂
The "airplane" sound is the sound of the Magical Mystery Tour bus driving past. It make sense if you've seen the movie.
It might have coincided with the bus (I’ll have to have a look) but I’d be pretty certain it’s a train.
@@geoffholmes8173 No it's defiantly a bus, a coach actually.
One of the technicians of abbey road was 'forced' to record a bus along the highway, he spent hours to get a good audio because that day really few busses went down the road
Of course it's a bus! (or coach) It's about a mystery bus (coach) tour. What else could it be?
The Fool on The Hill has always been maybe my favourite Paul song, love it so much. Paul if about to start my favourite period of his career for you, Paul on the white album is just amazing, so many good tunes coming your way.
And if you like songs referencing old songs you’ll enjoy ‘Glass Onion’
"Fool On The Hill" is one of the top McCartney miracles, and certainly in my top five McCartney numbers. The song construction is unique and the arrangement is simply extraordinary. In such a vast canon of work it sometimes seems to be not as appreciated as some others, but my oh my it is wonderful.
You listen to the chorus on "Fool on the Hill", and you learn the secret of flight.
Paul loved to sing about his partner and friend John. ;-)
I agree with you 100% 👍
Always forget how great a song this is.
The Beatles are magic to my ears. Enjoy your channel. Caroline.
"Magical Mystery Tour" is by far one of the TRIPPIEST albums. I always listen to it with my eyes closed so that I can get that mellow, loosy-goosy feeling to relax after a long, hard work day. 😃 I'm glad you enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next Beatles reaction. 💖
It's kind of too bad that "Northern Song" and "It's All Too Much" aren't on this album.
Don't you mean "after a hard days work."?
@@Malacandra Caroline may listen to them as singles as she did a few other Beatles songs.
@@scyz2807 Nah. A literal hard day of work and not the Beatkes song "A Hard Day's Night".
In the late 70's, when I was 8 or 9, my much older Brother had lent me his singles collection, complete with his old record player but only *1* speaker. And one of those singles was 'Fool On The Hill' - 'Blue Jay Way' - 'Flying', and I quickly became obsessed with 'Blue Jay Way' and played it over and over and over - much to my Sister's displeasure, who was creeped out by that song's atmosphere 😆 This was enhanced by the fact that I had only one speaker, so the proper lead vocal was missing and all you *could* hear was spooky whispering. But I realised this only decades later, when listening to 'Blue Jay Way' on YT and actually getting a fright when hearing for the first time how it's *meant* to sound! 😄 Greetings to all from Wellington, NZ! 😀👍
Magical Mystery Tour has always been my secret favorite Beatles album
Maybe someone already noted this: In the opening song, the plane sound is actually a passenger bus sound, as a bus was used to transport them and others on the so called magical mystery trip about England.
Are you certain about that Noel? It sounds very much like a roller coaster rushing past with metal wheels on rails.
@@scottski51 I hear the sound of rubber tires on asphalt 🤔
It’s a tour bus. It’s meant to evoke the bus in the movie. Also, apparently, mystery bus tours were a thing in the U.K. at the time.
@@patricknelson5151 When writing this, I had trouble accurately terming the type of bus. My main point was to generally identify the source of the sound. Originally, I was going to write travel bus, but changed it. Thanks for your input.
@@scottski51 the song's about a mystery tour and the film is the Beatles and friends literally on a mystery tour bus.
The Fool on the hill shows that Paul can write clever 'thoughful' lyrics just like John. Not that he needs to prove himself. After all, all you need is love.
That was one of Paul's songs John really liked...
It, like She's Leaving Home, is standing on the shoulders of Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby.
Your face during a first hearing of "I Am The Walrus" was truly a picture!
The listening order should be Pepper, Mystery, Yellow, White, Let It Be, Abbey. Despite various little anomalies that gives the best truly chronological overview.
Very important - first you do a great job.
I find it interesting that many who are professionally trained evaluate The Beatles in terms of music theory.
Their music is even more amazing when you realize that they were NOT professionally trained as musicians. In fact, I'm sure they would have no idea what the analysts were talking about.
It was talent - talent that may never be seen again.
But what they had was George Martin a consummate producer who learnt his skills on classical music recording. He was able to shape their talent in unique ways for that time and mould them into the best group of all time ❤
Your Mother Should Know was always the track that stood out the most to me. It's so catchy and I can honestly play that song on an endless loop. Also the fact that both John and Paul lost their mother at such a young age makes the track a bit eerie.
I've always thought of it as a darker side to 'When I'm Sixty Four'. In fact, if you look at the 6 'Double EP' tracks you can view them all as a darker Pepper. The Outro of MMT, the chorus of FOTH, the end of Flying, the entirety of Blue Jay Way, YMSK is minor key and Walrus is just crazy. Interesting stuff.
I agree ! "Your Mother Should Know" is one of my favorite Beatles tracks. The piece is rather playful but tinged with a kind of indefinable melancholy, especially in the parts where we hear John's organ.
MMT is a bit sinister like a lot of that period of English psychedelia. Saucerful of Secrets, In search of the lost chord, even the Stones 2000 Light Years from home all have a similar vibe too. Although psychedelic in name only now, Tame Impala’s first album also has that vibe too.
@@geoffholmes8173 I am new to Tame Impala and I smell a lot of Beatles influence, don't know if I am wrong
Plot twist: it's Mr. Kittle who invites people to run up for the Magical mystery tour
magical mr kittle
To answer question on what that one sound on "Baby, You're A Rich Man" was, it was a clavoline; a sort of forerunner to the synthesizer that had different voice settings to choose from. Lennon set it to its 'oboe' setting and just played crazy runs on it to replicate the sound of an Indian instrument called a shehnai.
"Baby You're A Rich Man" from what i recall was a scenario in which they were being asked questions by an interviewer. "Beautiful People" was a term used at the time for the "Jet Set" or Upper Society crowd...60's .
was that the little thing being used in the Get Back doc?
@@johnb2422 That was a stylophone.
Wasn’t it speeded up stuff? Trumpets? Your source please!
@@geoffholmes8173 What are you talking about im confused
Caroline. I'm sure you're getting lots of praise, but as a life long Beatle fan I just have to say, these are the most fantastic videos. Your fresh, honest, and INFORMED reactions remind me what amazing songs and recordings these are. (Especially the mid-period stuff, from Rubber Soul through to this record, Magical Mystyery Tour). Because of your obvious classical training I wonder if you're familiar with George Martin? He was the producer on most of their records and did most of the classical arrangements. If you can you should listen to the score for Yellow Submarine which he did all himself. Underrated for sure. Keep these going! Can't wait for you to hear the White Album and Abbey Road!!
The backing vocal effects on “I Am the Walrus” were done by an ensemble called the Mike Sammes Singers. At the end of the song the men chant “Oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumpah,” while the women chant “Everybody’s got one, everybody’s got one.”
On "Flying" ? The strings you mentioned was actually a Mellotron, as was the flute sound at the end.
🚬😎
The Mellotron works on 8 second tape loops for each note. When a note gets to the end of the 8 seconds it rewinds rapidly. You can hear the click of the rewinds in flute passages.
The UK releases dates are:
Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane - 17th February 1967
(Sgt. Pepper - 26th May 1967)
All You Need Is Love/Baby, You're A Rich Man - 7th July 1967
Hello, Goodbye/I Am The Walrus - 24th November 1967
Magical Mystery Tour (Double EP) - 8th December 1967
So this album covers 10 months and essentially contains everything released in 1967 bar Sgt Pepper. Initially, it was put together for convenience by Capitol Records for the US market but has since become part of the album sequence.
The tracks exist for disparate reasons/projects. "Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane" really belongs as part of Sgt Pepper. "All You Need Is Love" was for the first live global television programme (Our World) and the flip was a stitched together song for the "summer of love". "Hello Goodbye" was released only two weeks before the EP, I suspect because EMI needed a single after three months of no releases. The fact that "I Am The Walrus" was on the flip side AND on the EP is baffling but to me indicates that both tracks should have been in the TV film.
The film itself was supposed to be improvised (I think) but had a "cobbled together" feel about it. The appreciation of it was not helped when it was switched from BBC2 (colour) to BBC1 (black and white) for its first transmission. Subsequent viewings in colour did not impress though.
Having said all that, this album contains some superb tracks. "Strawberry Fields" was the first Beatles record I ever bought, "All You Need Is Love" is rightly an anthem, "Hello, Goodbye" is top rate McCartney - damn, I even like "Flying" 😍😍
There are two awesome videos of Hello / Goodbye. In one, the Beatles are dressed in their Sgt. Pepper gear and in another they are in more ‘plan clothes” but at one point dress up in their old stage clothes from around 1963 which looks hilarious with their long hair and mustaches. They also dance with hula girls during the ending “hey-la” section.
@@patricknelson5151 I've seen the Sgt Pepper version. I'll have to hunt down the hula girls ;0)
I'm really enjoying this series, and really like your introspection on the musical choices they make; as someone with no musical background, it's interesting to learn about notes and key changes.
Fun fact about I am the Walrus: it's basically just John trolling the audience looking for meaning in their songs by writing a song that is essentially a bunch of nonsense to see what people would think of it. But it's still just fun to listen to.
Yeah, John was asked by reporters once too often what his lyrics meant, and to baffle them he came up with I Am the Walrus.
Yep. Walrus is, for lack of a better word... a shitpost.
Young Beatles and Dylan would have been insufferable on Reddit. 🤣
All that said... a song doesn't need to have some "deep" meaning. "I Am the Walrus" may be a shitpost, but those words SOUND great together. The consonance and alliteration, the rhythm, the assonance as it plays off the melody... it means jack; but it sounds brilliant. And it's one of my favorite Beatles tracks for that very reason.
Supposedly, when finished the song, John turned around and said, "let the f-ers figure that one out!"
The amazing ride with the Beatles is that if anyone else had written songs like I Will, Oh Darling, I'LL follow the Sun, Think for Yourself, And your Bird Can Sing, Fixing a Hole, Hey Bulldog, etc all would have been top sellers. With them, it was just "another song". The greatness is that the next song you hear is even better. The quality depth of each album is unreal. FOR THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER BEATLES!!!! Good were we lucky!!!!!!!
What did we THINK about it (in 1967)? Check the record sales. They were at the height of their popularity. HUGE.
This album was 1-of-a-kind, dripping, seething, and glittering with creativity and NEWNESS - before any digital effects, sampling, or anything else.
What we take for granted now, was completely new. It was a revelation and a revolution in music. It opened up everything.
And they meant it to. We were stunned, and it felt as though, on some level, we had been waiting lifetimes for this music.
Good stuff!
If you liked the fleeting self-referential lines in "All You Need is Love," you might love the White Album's "Glass Onion," which is a whole song about other songs.
I love referenced songs. This is basically the whole reason I bought The White Album when CDs were on the way out. Well, that and a few others I hadn't heard for years.
If you're even a mild fan of the Beatles, "Get Back" is something you won't want to miss. Even though the Beatles literally never existed in my lifetime, this documentary brings everyone alive, letting you feel like you're watching in the room the development of a legendary album. The blinding genius and dedication of McCartney is in full force.
It's really dumb, but "I Am the Walrus" makes me cry.
The power and ferocity of it, the collaboration between Lennon and George Martin (he wrote and conducted the score), the nonsensical cynicism of the lyrics being spit out with John's acerbic, distorted snarl... Damn! Fantastic!
"Um-pah, um-pah, stick it up your jumper"
"Ev'rybody's got one, Ev'rybody's got one"... 🤪🤣😋
"up your joompah" to rhyme better, but yeah, still some of the silliest things a choir has ever sung!
When I was a kid, I was told they were saying "Everybody smoke pot! Everybody smoke pot!" 😂😅😁
Yes, me also! John is angry at the fakes! People who make a pretense. To me, this song is up there, on par with Strawberry Fields. The worst thing you could do is listen to "I Am The Walrus", for the 1st time, while watching the video. Just listen to the music.
@@deepermind4884 I always thought it sounded like "Everybody upchuck! Everybody upchuck!"
@@coeburnett In fact it's advisable to listen to the album first before watching the movie as much as I enjoyed that gibberish of a movie (because I am a stoner), you will appreciate the movie more after listening to the album
Yup, you’re right. Walrus is stream of consciousness, psychedelic trip, about a mood or feeling. Like a cinematic collage. One of the most amazing pieces of music ever. No band or singer ever “painted” so much with their music. This was their most fertile period for musical and lyrical ideas making interesting music (Pepper through the White album). MMT is one of my top ten records of all time.
I saw The Beatles on ED Sullivan on Feb. 9, 1964. There was nothing, nothing like seeing and hearing them for the first time when they first burst onto the scene. I love that you're doing these videos and have an appreciation of their music. I am not the only one to say that before The Beatles the world was black and white, and after, in color. Many of us mark our lives that way- before them, and after them. I'm 67 years old and have been an impassioned fan since 1964. I was 9 1/2. Once Paul and Ringo are gone, it will truly be the end of an era. We will never see the likes of them again.
Can't wait to see your reaction to 'I Will', and 'Mother Nature's son' off of the White Album, really beautiful melodies.
I would say Mother Nature's Son and Martha My Dear.
Many interesting bits in "I Am the Walrus" including snippets of Shakespeare's "King Lear" being performed live on the BBC & the sounds of a radio dial being turned as if to tune in to different stations. George Martin (their producer) thought Lennon daft when he presented this song to them (the group)...but he did a masterful job with the strings & horns.
King Lear was actually live on the radio while they were mixing the song, so they decided to include that directly into the mixing process - quite daft! That is why they couldn’t recreate that for the stereo mix, so in that version the song’s second half is reprocessed mono.
According to Paul, John scatted the orchestrations to George Martin and he wrote down and arranged it - talented guy!
there's a group of jingle singers employed as orchestration...they are supposedly saying "oompah oompah everybody's got one". As 15 year olds, some of us heard that as" everybody smoke pot".
@@kevincaselle3174 I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure at the end they're singing "oompah oompah stick it up yer' jumper!" which is a British expression meaning "I don't care what you say." It was the sort of thing kids would shout at each other in the playground and was still a common expression as recently as the 90s.
After Lennon was shot it gave me shivers from this part "oh an untimely death" Almost prophetic
Everyone was trying to messages from their lyrics and some like Charles Manson took it to extremes
I remember trying get my turntable run backwards for hidden meanings they a tremendous amount of influence on society at the time kicking down barriers I don't the 60s as we know would have happened without them
I love watching these Caroline, to see your reaction to the songs while at the same time recalling how I felt in the 1960's when I first heard them. And when people hear these songs or when I hear modern songs, it gives generations something in common that we can discuss, and that is a good thing.
Music that was made 60 years ago with that technology and the fact that the Beatles were in their twenties during this whole time...When they broke up...no one was thirty or older. Unreal !
Blue Jay Way is one of favorites. Very soft & haunting.
Even though technically the next album released is The Beatles, I strongly recommend doing Yellow Submarine first. All the songs were recorded before in this period and it’ll throw off your sense of musical progression to wait.
Ooh. I second this.
Good shout!
Very much second this. The psychedelic stuff on Yellow Submarine will sound like a step back into an older style after the White Album.
Bar far Caroline's best album first listen....She picks up so much...she has tremendous musical awareness...When you speak you sound like a revered musical producer in the style and essence of a George Martin. Totally meant as a compliment! Bravo! Keep up and continue to chase your musical dream Caroline!😉
Chuck Berry referenced his own songs ALL the time, and The Beatles loved his music.
All you need is love is such a feel good song. It is a celebration of love as a lifestyle and represented everything the sixties stood for.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to you from all the Beatles fans. Let's all press the thumbs up for the great work she has done. We love you
"Fool On The Hill": that "brass" is actually a couple of huge bass harmonicas that, according to a photo I saw, are played by Paul & John.
"Blue Jay Way": George's voice sounds weird because they're running it through a Hammond B3 Leslie filter (which is basically a speaker spinning in circles)
Blue Jay Way is an actual street in the Hollywood Hills where George found himself stuck.
BJW is such a totally unique tune. Always feels like I'm hearing again for the first time.
John and George and Mal Evans play the bass harmonicas, Paul played the recorder.
When the Beatles were on tours in the US in 1965 and 66 they rented a house in the Hollywood hills in LA as sort of a base of operations while they were on the west coast. Some friends were coming to the house to visit George and actually got lost in the fog. The sluggish, dour tempo of the song is to evoke the feeling of being in a fog, which I think was brilliant. There are also overtones of Indian music influences in the overall sound of the song. I'm surprised that George didn't include some sitar parts in the song.
I spoke to a client at work once who had an address on Blue Jay Way. I asked her if she knew that The Beatles wrote a song about her street and she claimed to have never heard of The Beatles.
@@pardyhardly was your clients name Yoko?
Love how our tour guide was so expressive in this awesome review! Thank you!
In Blue Jay Way I like how Harrison plays with the words Don't Be Long...which I think can be interpreted as "Don't Belong" later.
I am really envious of both the opportunity and your ability to listen to The Beatles for the first time in your life, with all your musical training, hearing and ability to understand musical construction, melody building and song structure. I find it captivating to watch your reactions and emotions as you listen to this music. It brings a lot of light, hope and joy in this strange and increasingly unpleasant world. Good luck in your continued exploration of the Beatles :)
As I child I loved Baby you’re a rich man. Still do. But as a child I found it magical.
I feel the same way about Yellow Submarine.
If you want to keep in order of how the music evolves, you should next listen to the 4 Yellow Submarine soundtrack songs, Lady Madonna/The Inner Light, and Hey Jude/Revolution singles before listening to The White Album.
Indeed.
Great idea!
I get such a kick out of seeing someone react to this music that’s been such a big part of my life. It takes me back to the first time I heard it.
I love the dance hall vibe of "Your Mother Should Know". I can sing it to myself and dance too.
For an old 65-year old man who grew up with the boys it is really nice to see you experience them with your musical background (something we did not have back in the 60s. I was 7 when they first played I Want To Hold Your Hand on my little transistor radio taped to my bike handlebars and they have been my life's score ever since...thank you!
Blue Jay Way is my favorite song on this album :/. Please don't belong.
Oh, darn. Forgot about Baby You're A Rich Man.
Oh yeah, MGT. Most people saying that this album is weird, with Flying, Blue Jay Way and I am The Walrus, but i think, that's a beautiful album for listen when your dreaming about something
The Beatles only recorded 6 songs for Magical Mystery Tour, which was a film they made for television. They originally issued it as a 2 disk EP in England. Because the 7 inch EP was not a popular format in the US, Capitol Records released it as an LP, with the movie songs on side 1, and their recent singles on side 2. George Martin, their producer had more creative input on this album than any before or after. With the exception of Flying, he arranged brass, strings, and woodwinds for every song. You can't overstate the importance of George Martin to The Beatles sound - especially in this era.
Thanks for making these videos. I am enjoying reliving my first impressions of these albums along with you.
>> Because the 7 inch EP was not a popular format in the US, Capitol Records released it as an LP,
@@notvalidcharactersI mean I’m glad they thought they wouldn’t because the LP is far superior than the EP
@@Hamster_Pants In marketing commodities that doesn't even matter. Singles sold millions even though they were also on LPs.
Your journey through the Beatles back catalogue has been a joy to experience, I have heard the songs a thousand times but hearing them along with you and seeing your reaction brings new perspectives to the music. I will just say one thing. Revolution 9.
😂
Not only are the lyrics of "I Am the Walrus" wild and evocatively non-linear, but very interesting things are happening musically.
Musicologist Alan W. Pollack analyses: "The chord progression of the outro itself is a harmonic Moebius strip with scales in bassline and top voice that move in contrary motion." The bassline descends stepwise A, G, F, E, D, C, and B, while the strings part rises A, B, C, D, E, F♯, G: this sequence repeats as the song fades, with the strings rising higher on each iteration. Pollack also notes that the repeated cell is seven bars long, which means that a different chord begins each four-bar phrase.
1967 was probably the most important year in Rock & Roll history.