I Am the Walrus
"I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film Magical Mystery Tour. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye" and on the Magical Mystery Tour EP and album. In the film, the song underscores a segment in which the band mime to the recording at a deserted airfield.
"I Am the Walrus"
Lennon wrote the song to confound listeners who had been affording serious scholarly interpretations of the Beatles' lyrics. He was partly inspired by two LSD trips and Lewis Carroll's 1871 poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter". Producer George Martin arranged and added orchestral accompaniment that included violins, cellos, horns, and clarinet. The Mike Sammes Singers, a 16-voice choir of professional studio vocalists, also joined the recording, variously singing nonsense lines and shrill whooping noises.
Since the "Hello, Goodbye" single and the Magical Mystery Tour EP both reached the top two slots on the British singles chart in December, "I Am the Walrus" holds the distinction of reaching numbers one and two simultaneously. Shortly after release, the song was banned by the BBC for the line "Boy, you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down".
Musical structure[edit]
The song is in the key of A. Verse 1 begins with a I–♭III–IV–I rock pattern: "I am he" (A chord)..."you are me" (C chord) "and we are all toge..." (D chord) "...ther" (A chord). Verse 2, however, involves a ♭VI–♭VII–I Aeolian ascent: "waiting" (F chord) "for the van" (G chord) "to come" (A chord). The chorus uses a ♭III–IV–V pattern: "I am the eggman (C chord) "they are the eggmen (D chord). "I am the walrus (E chord), "goo-goo-g'joob" hanging as an imperfect cadence until resolved with the I (A chord) on "Mr. City Policeman".[10] At the line "Sitting in an English garden" the D♯ melody note (as in the instrumental introduction) establishes a Lydian mode (sharp 4th note in the scale), and this mode is emphasised more strongly with the addition of a D♯ note to the B chord on "If the sun don't come".[11]
The song ends using a Shepard tone, with a chord progression built on ascending and descending lines in the bass and strings, repeated as the song fades. 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."[12] 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. The fade is described by Walter Everett as a "false ending", in the form of an "unrelated coda" consisting of the orchestral chord progression, chorus, and sampling of the radio play.[13]
Mono vs. stereo versions[edit]
In the original (1967) stereo release, at around two minutes through the song, the mix changes from true stereo to "fake stereo". This came about because the radio broadcast had been added "live" into the mono mix-down and so was unavailable for inclusion in the stereo mix; hence, fake stereo from the mono mix was created for this portion of the song.[21]
The mono version opens with a four-beat chord, while the stereo mix features six beats on the initial chord. The four-beat-only intro is also included on a different stereo mix (overseen by George Martin) for the previous MPI Home Video version of Magical Mystery Tour, especially the US Magical Mystery Tour album. The US mono single mix includes an extra bar of music before the words "yellow matter custard". This is actually the original uncut version of the mono mix called RM23. An early, overdub-free mix of the song released on Anthology 2 reveals John singing the lyrics "Yellow mat-" too early over this 'extra' bar of music which was later edited out. A hybrid version prepared for the 1980 US Rarities LP combines the six-beat opening with the extra bar of music that precedes the words "yellow matter custard" (from the aforementioned US mono single mix).[22] An entirely new full stereo remix was done in 2012 for Apple's DVD and Blu-ray release of the restored version of Magical Mystery Tour.
A 5.1 surround sound full stereo remix of the song appeared on the DVD release of Anthology in 2003, on disc 4. A full stereo digital remix was also done for the Cirque du Soleil show Love and album of the same name, released in 2006. Producers George and Giles Martin were allowed access to early generations of the original master tapes. Musical parts that had previously been mixed were now available as separate elements. Additionally, a copy of the BBC broadcast of King Lear was acquired. Now, with all the sound sources used in the original mono mix present, a proper stereo remix could be accomplished. These tracks were transferred digitally and lined up to create a new multi-track master, from which a new mix would be made.
In addition to the stereo remixes prepared for the Love show and the 2012 Apple reissue referenced above, the DVDs that were released for those same projects contain a 5.1 surround sound mix of the song, making three distinct 5.1 remixes of the same song.
A new stereo mix was completed in 2023 for the 1967–1970 album.
According to Ian MacDonald,[26] except where noted:
The Beatles
Additional musicians and production
Interpretation[edit]
After receiving a letter from a student at his former school, Quarry Bank High School for Boys, about how their literature classes were analysing the Beatles' songs, Lennon wrote "I Am the Walrus" to confuse those who tried to interpret it. There have nevertheless been many attempts to understand the meaning of the lyrics.[42][43]
Lennon returned to the subject in the lyrics of three of his subsequent songs: in the 1968 Beatles song "Glass Onion" he sings, "I told you 'bout the walrus and me, man / You know that we're as close as can be, man / Well here's another clue for you all / The walrus was Paul".[44]
Eric Burdon, lead singer of the Animals, claimed to be the "Eggman" mentioned in the song's lyric.[45]