I Am the Walrus

John Lennon wrote I Am The Walrus all by himself, with no contribution from anyone else in the Beatles. He wrote it at the piano at home in Autumn of 1967. Many, including John himself, considered I Am The Walrus to be a masterwork. The group recorded I Am The Walrus in various sessions during November of 1967, shortly after the death of Beatles' manager Brian Epstein. The production turned out to be elaborate, with several overdubs: Lennon on lead vocals with electric piano, Paul and George on harmonies, and Ringo on drums. George plays tambourine only (no lead guitar). The orchestra included 8 violins, four cellos, two horns and a clarinet. The Mike Sammes singers provided background vocals. It is said that John arranged the orchestral instruments, and George Martin arranged the background vocals, which include a cacophonous chatter as a lead-in to the bridge. The final touch was an overdub from a BBC radio broadcast of King Lear (from Act Four, Scene 6). Several fragments are faded in and out from the 2:25 mark forward.

Music critics particularly enjoy I Am The Walrus because of its harmonic complexity. It uses all seven natural major chords (A-G) with no sevenths, minors or accidentals. The long outro ascends through all seven, even as the bass goes down through the same sequence backwards. The opening piano riff was inspired by a London police siren outside his house. This also led to the line, "Mister City P'liceman." John enjoyed clever, often nonsensical wordplay, and I Am The Walrus is replete with strange lyrical images. The title is an allusion to works by Lewis Carroll, perhaps England's most famous wordplay genius, who wrote the well-known poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter." In spite of John's protestations that he wrote the lyrics with the express purpose of not meaning to say anything at all, fans and critics have spent much time trying to parse the words and make sense of the phrases.

Parlophone released I Am The Walrus on the b-side of a single on November 24, 1967 (Nov 27 in the US). Hello, Goodbye was on the a-side. (Lennon thought McCartney's Hello, Goodbye was a stupid song, and bitterly resented that I Am The Walrus had been relegated to the b-side of the release.) It can also be heard on Magical Mystery Tour and The Beatles 1967-1970.