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Beatles forums => The Beatles => Topic started by: Walrus on July 14, 2011, 09:49:36 PM

Title: Interpreting the Beatles
Post by: Walrus on July 14, 2011, 09:49:36 PM
Ever wondered what the Beatles ment in some of their more psycadelic songs? Ever wanted to know what the heck John was talking about in songs like "I Am the Walrus"? Students at Juliard have spent their last few years trying to interpret Mysterious beatles songs like Across the Universe and Yellow Submarine and they believe they have come to a breakthrough. Have you ever heard of dream interpretation? The interpretation of symbols in your dreams as feelings and emotions in real life. Imagine "I Am the Walrus" was a dream. "I am the eggman/They are the eggmen/I am the walrus"
Using dream interpretation, the eggman is translated into a creative mind, and the walrus is interpreted as a leader of a group.
So, interpreted it means that The Beatles are creative people (duh) and their leader is (who?).
But, it is not as easy as using a simple dream interpretation book and plugging in symbols everywhere. It takes a lot of thinking and sometimes requires your own interpretations as dream interpretation books are not very accurate. So, if you ever want to understand what The Beatles really meant to say, give it a shot and post your interpretation here.
Title: Re: Interpreting the Beatles
Post by: Ovi on July 14, 2011, 10:20:37 PM
Well first of all, I just wanted to clarify the documented fact that the lyrics in "I Am The Walrus" are absolutely nonsense. But it's okay to interpretate lyrics. I personally can't and will never be able to think of what the lyrics in that song really are about. Because John said specifically that he wrote them when he learned that a teacher at his old primary school was having his students analyse Beatles' lyrics, and they are nonsense. That ruins the whole interpretation for me. It's like watching a magic show when you already know exactly how the tricks are performed. It just lacks the magic of it. There are plenty of songs (including Beatles ones) that have been interpreted by people for a long time, take for example "Strawberry Fields".
Title: Re: Interpreting the Beatles
Post by: Walrus on July 14, 2011, 11:21:23 PM
Well first of all, I just wanted to clarify the documented fact that the lyrics in "I Am The Walrus" are absolutely nonsense. But it's okay to interpretate lyrics. I personally can't and will never be able to think of what the lyrics in that song really are about. Because John said specifically that he wrote them when he learned that a teacher at his old primary school was having his students analyse Beatles' lyrics, and they are nonsense. That ruins the whole interpretation for me. It's like watching a magic show when you already know exactly how the tricks are performed. It just lacks the magic of it. There are plenty of songs (including Beatles ones) that have been interpreted by people for a long time, take for example "Strawberry Fields".
I figured so... I just read it in a book and thought it was rather interesting.
Title: Re: Interpreting the Beatles
Post by: Hombre_de_ningun_lugar on July 15, 2011, 02:05:30 AM
I know the story of "I Am The Walrus", but John also said: "When real music comes to me - the music of the speres, the music that surpasseth understanding - that has nothing to do with me, cause I'm just the channel. The only joy for me is for it to be given to me, and to transcribe it like a medium... those moments are what I live for."

Anyway, I don't know why many people tend to care too much about the actual interpretation of a song, since I believe that any interpretation could be considered as the good one, and anyone can have an own interpretation of a song. I believe that it's more important the listener's interpretation than the writer's one.
Title: Re: Interpreting the Beatles
Post by: Mairi on July 15, 2011, 05:25:12 AM
Ever wondered what the Beatles ment in some of their more psycadelic songs? Ever wanted to know what the heck John was talking about in songs like "I Am the Walrus"? Students at Juliard have spent their last few years trying to interpret Mysterious beatles songs like Across the Universe and Yellow Submarine and they believe they have come to a breakthrough. Have you ever heard of dream interpretation? The interpretation of symbols in your dreams as feelings and emotions in real life. Imagine "I Am the Walrus" was a dream. "I am the eggman/They are the eggmen/I am the walrus"
Using dream interpretation, the eggman is translated into a creative mind, and the walrus is interpreted as a leader of a group.
So, interpreted it means that The Beatles are creative people (duh) and their leader is (who?).
But, it is not as easy as using a simple dream interpretation book and plugging in symbols everywhere. It takes a lot of thinking and sometimes requires your own interpretations as dream interpretation books are not very accurate. So, if you ever want to understand what The Beatles really meant to say, give it a shot and post your interpretation here.

David Lynch, is that you?