Is that a vote for George Martin orchestrations..........

 

Well, yes, in a way, it is.

Obviously the song is by John Lennon, and the arrangement is by Martin and Lennon.

It's a bwonderfulish bit of clever wordplay and gibberish (and some re-interpretation of a schoolyard poem), inspired by the Caroll poem The Walrus and the Carpenter.

Bizarrely brilliant, and brilliantly bizarre.

 

In ‘Walrus’ Lennon tried to make a convincing case to those who had taken the time to decipher the meaning of his lyrics that it really wasn't worth the effort.

 

I really like this instrumental version by Simon Park. This era was when easy listening orchestrators got weird. There is a nifty version of Elton John's Funeral for a Friend on this album too.

 

 

The string arrangements over this track were mind-blowing to me the first time I heard it. Still a track I like a lot.

 

As an album, Magical Mystery Tour has never been a favorite listen. But many of the individual songs are brilliant. And that's probably because it wasn't conceived as an album. But it pretty much blows away 98 percent of all pop albums ever released.

 

Love it. If I could save only a dozen Beatles songs, this would be one of them.

 

Whilst I was never a Beatles fan there are a number of songs I like by them and others that I respect (but don't particularly like). I am the Walrus is not one of those. I'd actually go as far as to say I loathe it. Don't shoot me. It's just an opinion.

 

I'm a coward. Thanks to you for your bravery on my behalf.

 

No one as yet has mentioned the harmonic structure of I Am The Walrus.

Oddly, the song sounds a bit dark and moody, even threatening, yet there are only major chords in the song.

The melody, inspired by the sound of a British police car siren, is a strangely bizarre E - D# - E - D# - E - D# - E - D# - . . .

Pollock's harmonic analysis of the song is rather intellectually long-winded, (and a bit incomplete, IMO), but worth perusing.

Notes on "I Am The Walrus"

Unlike many pop songs, whose clear chord progressions and distinct instrumentation keep the melody rather clean, "I Am the Walrus" is one big formal musical jumble.

 

One of their best in my book, along with Strawberry Fields Forever. I do think in both of these songs, that it's George Martin's creation overall, and Lennon's song is a smaller (yet crucial) part of it. I especially heard the Strawberry Fields naked version, and it's not realized anywhere close to what is in the final track.

 

I like the SFF demo on the Anthology, if that's what "naked" refers to. Lennon's voice kinda gets to me.

 

Equinox Beatles be good Beatles