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[BlueMeanie]

Anyway, this will get some p*ss-taking, but if one of my UK Beatles Brethren could please explain to a thick American what the slang phrase "hung about" means exactly, that would be solid.

Pretty sure he meant 'hung up about', but it didn't fit, so...Hung about.

[Klang]

Heh. Sure it wasn't another 'Paul is dead' reference?

 

[Chris]

Oh, okay. That makes sense. So I wasn't necessarily missing some colloquialism. Thanks!

(Yeah Klang...it would've been different if he'd sung "hanged about"!)

pc31, thx. ...now if only they could've done the LONG version (like u posted) that would've REALLY been something.

[zipp]

1.That is funny. "That was 'Can You Dig It' by Georgie Wood. Now we'd like to do 'Hark, the Angels Come.'" John wasn't crazy about Paul's ballads at this point!

2.Anyway, this will get some p*ss-taking, but if one of my UK Beatles Brethren could please explain to a thick American what the slang phrase "hung about" means exactly, that would be solid.

1.Lennon didn't necessarily say this about Let It Be since it was Spector who put it there.Incidentally, does he say Georgie Wood or Georgie One?

2.Whatever the dictionary says, most Brits will say somebody was hung meaning they were killed by hanging.Look at this for example :

"Among the hundreds of murderers hung at Tyburn, few were more notorious than Catharine Hayes, who was executed in 1726. She and her husband lived in Tyburn ...
www.british-history.ac.uk/report"

Tyburn is a place in London where hanging took place.
Do a web search with "hung at Tyburn" and you'll see what I mean.

So Lennon's phrase should be taken quite literally meaning there's no reason to get yourself killed. Remember he wrote this the same year he was almost killed in America over his Jesus comments.Maybe he was looking back to a time when things were simpler for him.A time when he could escape from his troubles by going to Strawberry Fields.

[BlueMeanie]

1.Lennon didn't necessarily say this about Let It Be since it was Spector who put it there.Incidentally, does he say Georgie Wood or Georgie One?

Goergie Wood. He was a midget, and used to appear as a child in comedy sketches in the theater.

2.Whatever the dictionary says, most Brits will say somebody was hung meaning they were killed by hanging.Look at this for example:

"Among the hundreds of murderers hung at Tyburn, few were more notorious than Catharine Hayes, who was executed in 1726. She and her husband lived in Tyburn ...
www.british-history.ac.uk/report"

Tyburn is a place in London where hanging took place.
Do a web search with "hung at Tyburn" and you'll see what I mean.

So Lennon's phrase should be taken quite literally meaning there's no reason to get yourself killed. Remember he wrote this the same year he was almost killed in America over his Jesus comments.Maybe he was looking back to a time when things were simpler for him.A time when he could escape from his troubles by going to Strawberry Fields.

I think most Brits would say 'hanged', but I'm not going to argue about it. I could be wrong, but I think you're looking a bit too deeply into this. I'm assuming you know where, and what Strawberry Fields is. Lennon lived near there with his Aunt, and they'd go over there when there was a fete. Even in a song with obscure lyrics such as this, I'm not sure how or why you'd want a line about hanging in there.

I'm still pretty sure he's saying: 'Nothing to get hung (up) about'.

[Kevin]

My thoughts would be that Lennon meant hung as in "hung up".  In context it certainly seems more appropriate to the contemplative dreamlike themes of the song than the far more grimmer alternative.

[zipp]

1.Goergie Wood. He was a midget, and used to appear as a child in comedy sketches in the theater.

2.I think most Brits would say 'hanged', but I'm not going to argue about it. I could be wrong, but I think you're looking a bit too deeply into this. I'm assuming you know where, and what Strawberry Fields is. Lennon lived near there with his Aunt, and they'd go over there when there was a fete. Even in a song with obscure lyrics such as this, I'm not sure how or why you'd want a line about hanging in there.

3.I'm still pretty sure he's saying: 'Nothing to get hung (up) about'.

1.So Georgie Wood didn't actually sing then, did he?
And it's not because he existed that Lennon necessarily used his name.
If you actually listen to the track you'll see that it's a closely run thing between WOOD and ONE.

2.For hanged, yes you're wrong.That's why I suggested those links.The Americans would say 'hanged' but the Brits usually don't.I'm not saying it's right.I'm saying it's what they say.
Even the Americans are not always sure.Here's an extract from an American site :

"How many men could be hung at once on the Gallows?
Folklore traditions hold that the gallows could hang 12 men at once. This is unlikely, and nearly impossible given the size of the scaffold. The 1886 gallows scaffold had a trapdoor 16 feet long; if a space of two feet was allowed for each person, this could at most execute eight men at once. In fact, contemporary accounts confirm this. However, only six men were ever executed at once (on two occasions)."

Or here again about a book called 'The Day They Hung The Elephant' :

in 1916 a circus passed through town, and had a parade through the town's main street. During that parade, the elephant's "caretaker" prodded the elephant too severely, and the elephant reacted by trampling the man to death. Members of the town formed a jury, had a trial, and sentenced the elephant to death. First they shot it repeatedly. That didn't work. Then they hung it. They hung the elephant from a crane mounted on a railroad car. The chains it hung by snapped, the elephant fell, and it broke its hip. Then they hung it again.

3.It seems a little too easy just to actually ignore the words he's singing!

PS I was at Strawberry Fields two weeks ago.

[BlueMeanie]

1.So Georgie Wood didn't actually sing then, did he?

I don't know. But as Georgie Wood was still famous at the time it would make sense. Still sounds like wood to me anyway.

PS I was at Strawberry Fields two weeks ago.

So you're the expert then! I just don't know where you get the hanging thing from. And who says the Brits don't say hanged? Some article you read on the net?

[BlueMeanie]

Even the Americans are not always sure.Here's an extract from an American site :

"How many men could be hung at once on the Gallows?
Folklore traditions hold that the gallows could hang 12 men at once. This is unlikely, and nearly impossible given the size of the scaffold. The 1886 gallows scaffold had a trapdoor 16 feet long; if a space of two feet was allowed for each person, this could at most execute eight men at once. In fact, contemporary accounts confirm this. However, only six men were ever executed at once (on two occasions)."

Erm...what is that meant to prove, exactly?

My thoughts would be that Lennon meant hung as in "hung up".  In context it certainly seems more appropriate to the contemplative dreamlike themes of the song than the far more grimmer alternative.

yes, but John wasnt averse to using the darkest of sardonics even in the confines of a seemingly "lighter" theme.
Lennon got off on shocking ppl (usually the complacent status quo) whenever possible. One of his better qualities.

so..."nothing to get hung about"..or "nothing to get hung up about"...who cares, they're BOTH good.

[BlueMeanie]

I just don't understand where Zipp arrived at his theory. It's not even as if Strawberry Fields has a history of public hangings.

[zipp]

I just don't understand where Zipp arrived at his theory. It's not even as if Strawberry Fields has a history of public hangings.

It's not a theory.The articles or extracts I've posted are to show that HUNG is used quite frequently where purists use HANGED and not only by Brits but also by Americans.I've given you proof of that and if you search yourself you'll find it to be true.
Lennon sings 'nothing to get HUNG about',(so some would insist he should have said 'nothing to get HANGED about') meaning there's no reason to be attacked for what he's doing i.e. going to Strawberry Fields and having a good time.
It's obviously an image.I never said there were hangings at Strawberry Fields! I only said I was there recently since you intimated that I didn't know what or where I was talking about.
The overall meaning is not too far from 'nothing to get hung up about' but Lennon DIDN'T say that!
The original question was asked concerning what Lennon said and I was pointing out that he DIDN'T use the American slang.He was using a literal image which, for some reason, lots of people are trying to ignore.

I just don't understand where Zipp arrived at his theory. It's not even as if Strawberry Fields has a history of public hangings.

HAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!! that one took me by total surprise.

(public hangings at an English Salvation Army hostel--or was it an orphanage..I forgot . EITHER WAY  what a visual  !!!!!!!!!   Lennon HIMSELF would LOVE IT LOL)

[BlueMeanie]

since you intimated that I didn't know what or where I was talking about.

I did?

[zipp]

I think you're looking a bit too deeply into this. I'm assuming you know where, and what Strawberry Fields is. Lennon lived near there with his Aunt, and they'd go over there when there was a fete.

Yes, right here, when you gave me this little lesson.

[BlueMeanie]

Yes, right here, when you gave me this little lesson.

I meant, I was assuming you knew. That was all. I've not met you on here before, so I don't know you're level of knowledge. You can read into it whatever you like, but it was a perfectly innocent thing to say. Think what you like.

[Chris]

Well, all impertinent grumpiness aside, I suppose we'll never know. I was just wondering if that was common UK slang for something. We can assume that even if he didn't originally intend to write about the morbid kind of hanging, the possible double meaning would not have escaped him, of all people.

Since he kept it, he didn't have a problem with it, perhaps finding some appeal in the possible interpretation, due to having been hung in public earlier the same year (i.e. the silly "Jesus" thing).

[zipp]

I was just wondering if that was common UK slang for something. We can assume that even if he didn't originally intend to write about the morbid kind of hanging, the possible double meaning would not have escaped him, of all people.

Since he kept it, he didn't have a problem with it, perhaps finding some appeal in the possible interpretation, due to having been hung in public earlier the same year (i.e. the silly "Jesus" thing).

I don't really see a double meaning, but  you seem to have followed my drift on the other points.

[Chris]

"Hung (up) about"/"Hanged about." I thought that was what you were arguing in favor of. I don't feel either interpretation would've escaped Lennon. (Which isn't to mention that the lyrics are always the least important part of a song anyway...)