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Author Topic: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus  (Read 16152 times)

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Hombre_de_ningun_lugar

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #20 on: June 27, 2014, 08:42:09 PM »

And it wasn't even given the honour of a double A side.

Maybe it was logical. Hello Goodbye, despite the vacuous lyric was  catchy cheery pop tune. They might have been worried Walrus was just too out there as a single. The boys had their chart topping reputation to uphold.

Certainly "I Am The Walrus" was not a good candidate for a hit single. In US, where the B-sides charted, the song only reached #56; and several Beatles B-sides have charted quite high before and after. But who cares about chart positions? The song is wonderful!
« Last Edit: June 27, 2014, 08:43:58 PM by Hombre_de_ningun_lugar »
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nimrod

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #21 on: June 27, 2014, 09:29:23 PM »

I love it, despite the fact it doesn't even really seem to have a tune, and melody was always one of The Beatles' greatest strengths.

Lennon's lyrical loop-the-loop lunacy allied to that incessant two-note pulse is wonderfully mesmerising... in the MMT film segment of course, John wore that 19th Century asylum inmate's tight skull cap (I always thought that made him look like an egg, hence the word imagery) - a nod to the marvellous insanity over which he is presiding: the Shepard tone finale is in itself enough to drive you mad.

That such an original and mischievous slice of brilliant nonsense should be their first recording in the wake of Brian's shocking death is a testament to their resilience and their genius. As for that random radio scanning at the close, tuning into the BBC Third Programme broadcast of King Lear and the gasped line "Oh! Untimely death" so prominent in the fade out mix....coincidence?

The first excerpt (ll. 219–222) moves in and out of the text, containing fragments of lines only. It begins where the disguised Edgar talks to his estranged and maliciously blinded father the Earl of Gloucester (timings given:


Gloucester: (2:25) Now, good sir, wh-- (Lennon appears to change the channel away from the station here)
Edgar: (2:28) -- poor man, made tame by fortune -- (2:34) good pity --

In the play Edgar then kills Oswald, Goneril's steward. During the fade of the song the second main extract (ll. 249–262), this time of continuous text, is heard (timings given:


Oswald: (3:52) Slave, thou hast slain me. Villain, take my purse.
 If ever thou wilt thrive,(4:02) bury my body,
 And give the (4:05) letters which thou find'st about me
 To (4:08) Edmund, Earl of Gloucester; (4:10)seek him out
 Upon the English party. O, (4:14) untimely Death!
Edgar: (4:23) I know thee well: a (4:25) serviceable villain;
 As duteous to the (4:27) vices of thy mistress
 As badness would desire.
Gloucester: What, is he dead?
Edgar: (4:31) Sit you down father, rest you
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Moogmodule

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #22 on: June 27, 2014, 09:50:43 PM »

Well, it's a rap song. 

But The Beatles didn't invent rap.  Bob Dylan might have had the first rap song...


Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back - Clip


Bob certainly did have a good voice for rap.  ;)

I always thought rap grew out of the talking blues style which Dylan used in a few songs. Although of course didn't invent it.
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Moogmodule

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #23 on: June 27, 2014, 09:51:21 PM »

Certainly "I Am The Walrus" was not a good candidate for a hit single. In US, where the B-sides charted, the song only reached #56; and several Beatles B-sides have charted quite high before and after. But who cares about chart positions? The song is wonderful!

Amen to that.
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Moogmodule

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #24 on: June 27, 2014, 10:01:18 PM »



Jagger would've made a great rap artist. He can't even talk in tune.

 ;)


 ha2ha
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Hello Goodbye

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #25 on: June 27, 2014, 10:17:27 PM »

There is a case for saying that Dylan invented rap  - like all rappers, Bob couldn't hold a tune in a bucket.


But his singing could evoke pathos.  He was a master at that.


I always thought rap grew out of the talking blues style which Dylan used in a few songs. Although of course didn't invent it.


Right.  Maybe Dylan learned how to rap from Woody Guthrie...

Woody Guthrie - Talking Dust Bowl Blues


He certainly tried hard to look like him...



 ;)
 


For what it's worth I only ever hear "Oompah Oompah stick it up your jumper" and "Everybody's got one"...nothing else!


Maybe it's our Capitol album...

The Beatles - "Magical Mystery Tour" (U.S. Stereo LP - Capitol) [Full Album]


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Hello Goodbye

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #26 on: June 27, 2014, 10:30:37 PM »

Certainly "I Am The Walrus" was not a good candidate for a hit single. In US, where the B-sides charted, the song only reached #56; and several Beatles B-sides have charted quite high before and after. But who cares about chart positions? The song is wonderful!

After that long, heady Summer Of Love, we needed a dénouement.  Hello Goodbye fit that need perfectly.
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Dcazz

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #27 on: June 28, 2014, 02:13:13 AM »

Right.  Do you hear "everybody's got one" or something else, Dave?
I'm going to listen again in the am. I defiantly hear "smoke pot". It makes more sense considering the times but then again it's Lennon!
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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #28 on: June 28, 2014, 02:26:31 AM »

I'm going to listen again in the am. I defiantly hear "smoke pot". It makes more sense considering the times but then again it's Lennon!

Yeah.  Let me know, Dave.
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Klang

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #29 on: June 28, 2014, 07:56:29 AM »


A side. B side. Everyone I knew bought it for 'Walrus'.

 :P

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Dcazz

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #30 on: June 29, 2014, 01:54:03 AM »

Yeah.  Let me know, Dave.
I listened a couple times today on the way back from our family reunion and the answer is "both"! The fadeout starts with two repetitions of OOmpah and then the "smokepot" chorus comes in over it. and continues right through. The Oompahs could still be there but if they are they're buried in the mix.
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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #31 on: June 29, 2014, 01:57:39 AM »

I hear a few "everybody's f*cked up" in there too, Dave.
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Dcazz

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #32 on: June 29, 2014, 02:00:22 AM »

I think your right and they probably were! ;D
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nimrod

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #33 on: June 29, 2014, 05:01:42 AM »

I listened a couple times today on the way back from our family reunion and the answer is "both"! The fadeout starts with two repetitions of OOmpah and then the "smokepot" chorus comes in over it. and continues right through. The Oompahs could still be there but if they are they're buried in the mix.

what I hear is

oompah oompah stick it up your jumpah in deep voices

followed by

everbody's.........(something) I cant decipher it, sounds to me like everybody's got one, I cant hear the word 'pot'

but my ears aren't what they were

when you listen on headphones the stereo panning is very distinct over the Shakespeare play, left to right, back to left etc
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Dcazz

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #34 on: June 29, 2014, 11:59:15 AM »

what I hear is

oompah oompah stick it up your jumpah in deep voices

followed by

everbody's.........(something) I cant decipher it, sounds to me like everybody's got one, I cant hear the word 'pot'

but my ears aren't what they were

when you listen on headphones the stereo panning is very distinct over the Shakespeare play, left to right, back to left etc
The voice print of the Oompah's remind me of the Ooo,Oooo's they put in the sledding scene from HELP! So I think it's the Beatles doing it!
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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #35 on: June 30, 2014, 01:44:58 AM »

what I hear is

oompah oompah stick it up your jumpah in deep voices

followed by

everbody's.........(something) I cant decipher it, sounds to me like everybody's got one, I cant hear the word 'pot'

but my ears aren't what they were

when you listen on headphones the stereo panning is very distinct over the Shakespeare play, left to right, back to left etc

Kev, the stereo panning distorts the chanting.  Listen to the MONO version.    ;)
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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #36 on: June 30, 2014, 02:19:15 AM »

Hey Kev!  Even David Peel & The Lower East Side heard them chant "Smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smokes pot..."


David Peel - Alphabet Song

1968


This is irrefutable proof!     ha2ha
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nimrod

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #37 on: June 30, 2014, 07:39:31 AM »

Im not disputing you Baz, just my ears are a bit naff after years of standing near noisy drummers  :-\
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Hello Goodbye

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #38 on: June 30, 2014, 04:35:15 PM »

Im not disputing you Baz, just my ears are a bit naff after years of standing near noisy drummers  :-\




Hmmmm.  I see.

Take this Tone Test, Kev:  15KHz Tone Test
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oldbrownshoe

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Re: Song Of The Week - I Am The Walrus
« Reply #39 on: July 01, 2014, 02:02:19 PM »

Not a fave of mine - one of the few occasions where I prefer the A-side.
That said, it's appearance in 'Magical Mystery Tour' is wonderful, but then the whole of 'Magical Mystery Tour' is wonderful.
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