How The Beatles Made "I Am the Walrus" (Reupload)

Reuploading the original video because it had to be removed for copyright reasons. |
#thebeatles #johnlennon #paulmccartney #georgeharrison #ringostarr #music

[@yes_head]

If a song like this can still get people excited and talking about it over 50 years later, they must have done something right.

[@brucemacmillan9581]

Absolutely fabulous bit of Lennon zaniness. "Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun. If the sun don't come you'll get a tan from standing in the English rain." Lol. What a line.

[@alancyr]

Walrus and Strawberry Fields are two amazing songs from scratch demos to finished products. George Martin and crew are beyond brilliant.

[@ronfast2]

Lennon and his crew wasn't bad either

[@garymclaughlin9559]

@@ArujKhan-sp6gi Non sequitur.

[@subtleam01]

I am the Walrus is Strawberry Fields younger brother.

[@paulnolan4971]

@@ronfast2 Yea what were they called again lol

[@icanfartloud]

How'd they get their instruments to play backward sounds on Fields?

[@leematthews6812]

One of John's favourite Beatle tracks, and one of mine too. Certainly worth the hassle they apparently went through to complete it.

[@campeau29]

My favorite Beatles song in 1968 and now.

[@WowbaggerTheInfinitelyProlonge]

I encountered the Beatles at age 8 with my father's record collection. I had picked up Magical Mystery Tour first, amazed by the weird, colorful album cover. And when I heard "I Am The Walrus", it blew my mind. To this day it remains my favorite Beatles song.

[@TyroneEpps]

Apple stereo r' 1967 " magical mystery tour " ( ost.)album beatles😊😊😊😊

[@jacklarson6281]

very cool. we had the album with the extended story and photos. I would listen and follow along reading the story of how Paul made a huge pot of spaghetti and gave it to his aunt. lol.

[@gregwheless5171]

I was a lucky 10 year old when I saw them on Ed Sullivan . I already had a good collection of their 45's as my Dad was a sales rep for Capitol Records . He started working for them after his service in the Navy during WWll .

[@ronniechilds2002]

I was 15 when Walrus came out. It scared the crap outta me. So did Strawberry Fields.

[@louisspeciale]

I am the Walrus is in my top ten Beatle songs 🚶🚶🚶🚶🎸🎸🎸🥁

[@michelottaviani3296]

John is the best pop singer and songwriter of all time.

[@cactaceous]

The most original and inventive as well.

[@michelottaviani3296]

@@cactaceous YES!

[@venenareligioest410]

Nonesense

[@JohnDoeJohnboy]

Pop ooooh John wouldn't like that.

[@BeatlesBible1]

True

[@LoneJedi]

John's masterpiece

[@TheDivayenta]

That and A Day In the Life.

[@jwt208]

One of John’s many masterpieces!

[@strathman7501]

@@TheDivayenta A Day In the Life was a thoroughgoing joint composition by Lennon and McCartney, not "John's masterpiece"

[@thinkforyourself828]

The conviction in this song is fierce, even though it means nothing.

[@strathman7501]

@@thinkforyourself828 Nicely put.

[@gregoryfilms9405]

Paul also names Walrus as one of his favourites (when commenting on John's Walls and Bridges album). I take what Emerick said with a large pinch of salt. Walrus also has that memorable, weird intro-composed by John. It's a fantastic track, a stream of consciousness that could only have come from him. A bit more than 'two notes', also featuring some of Martin's best work. It's all so English and evocative of Alice in Wonderland, just brilliant. Even professional Beatle hater, Frank Zappa, loved this one!

[@djhrecordhound4391]

Zappa was a producer at his own "Studio Z" in the earlier 60s, long before The Mothers Of Invention. Besides the odd lyrics, he knew it would've been a nightmare to put together, and he was impressed it all was pulled off so well.

[@BeatlesBible1]

It's one of their best.

[@djhrecordhound4391]

@@BeatlesBible1 Btw, no disrespect intended toward you by correcting you in another comment. I have a minty Canadian original 45 with a couple mix differences. Both times the "I'm crying" lyric comes up, drums are removed(!), it has that extra C# bar before the "Yellow matter custard" lyric, and it's mono. The "fake stereo" thing is annoying because it was widely used to give stereo effect on mono recordings (it didn't). Most versions that followed had the stereo edit-mix everyone knows. So yes, that held note was scrapped, but it did get recorded with a one-time release.

[@FlipDahlenburg]

No, Emerick tells it like it is. I believe George Martin told this story in one of his books. Geoff knows.

[@dannyvine3605]

@@FlipDahlenburg Geoff Emerick did not like Lennon and often criticised Lennon. So I would take his comments with a pinch of salt.

[@rickb_NYC]

This is a great exposition of the creative process.

[@BeatlesBible1]

Thank you!

[@JonathanHudgins]

My favorite Beatles song ever.

[@mjt11860]

listening to the isolated tracks of john's voice & his wurlitzer, it sounds like a great song, but then martin adds his touches & it becomes a masterpiece. absolute masterpiece!

[@raphaelcartellier1893]

It’s a Hohner Pianet, not a Wurly.

[@tomgebarowski8156]

Its always been one of their most unique songs, and really raised eyebrows..but in a good way! Goo Goo Ga Joob!❤😮😅

[@skinovtheperineum1208]

There's no such thing as 'most unique'.

[@elmolewis9123]

This is also one of my favourite Beatles tracks... although my list is long.

[@elizabethfonseca922]

Absolutely 👏👏

[@TenmaKenzo-to1so]

The long and winding list.

[@BeatlesBible1]

Me too!

[@jacklarson6281]

I can't think of any Beatles songs that I don't like

[@jcpana060959]

I know what you mean

[@ibleebinU]

When I was in the 6th grade I'd run home for lunch and listen to The Walrus several times on a 45rpm then run back to school. It will forever remain one of my favorites. Pure genius.

[@qqw743]

The idea that the lyrics are empty nonsense is deceptive. The most heartfelt and important line is obviously "I'm crying," when repeated as the chorus. Each time he sings it, It's almost as if to say "Here's a bunch of stuff that the world produces -- semolina, the Eiffel Tower, etc. -- and here I am looking at it all and just crying." The song would feel very different if it were titled "I'm Crying."

[@arthurwilson1966]

Strange that there's no mention of the fact that this song was recorded literally days after the death of Brian Epstein, which must have had a shattering effect on all four Beatles. No wonder Geoff Emerick made such comments about them seeming a 'bit lost'.

[@FlipDahlenburg]

It should have been the first thing stated!

[@davidevans3227]

maybe why they were so empty? finding it hard to concentrate and that type of thing stunned...?

[@yeohi]

Ending the video with the ending of Light My Fire by The Doors was a stroke of genius.

[@drvee1983]

Great rare unseen photos. My favorite Lennon era. Mustachioed, bespectacled, and acid laced. According to Tony Bramwell's book, ( who was there ) It was the first tune Lennon presented to Martin after Brians death. It sounded like a funeral dirge. The musical progression like no other Beatle tune. Then a shadow came into their surroundings not long after. No one welcomed her. But she stayed. The rest is history.

[@elizabethfonseca922]

Fantastic !!!! Thank you for the info about this song. I ❤️ I Am the Walrus. ✌️🎸🎶

[@BeatlesBible1]

Thanks!

[@JoshMaxPower]

If you read Geoff Emerick's (admittedly mistake-filled autobio,) he talks about "Walrus" specifically, saying he and George Martin didn't like the song at all, didn't understand the lyrics, etc. But I learned the lyrics when I was 7 and the song has been with me my whole life, it's still a standalone Beatles song - nothing like it before, and nothing like it after.

[@FlipDahlenburg]

Every time Geoff says something a fan doesn't like, he's mistaken. You weren't there, and he was. End of story.

[@dannyvine3605]

@@FlipDahlenburg ?? All Josh said was that Emerick never liked the lyrics but he does! Just because Emerick was there does not make his opinion more valid than anyone else's

[@evertvdb000]

@@FlipDahlenburg I do'nt want to dish Emerick too much, but there are too many verifyable mistakes in his memoir.

[@matthews8374]

I think I was 13 the first time I heard this song late at night through the intercom speaker in the wall of my friend's bedroom. We were aspiring young musicians and the Beatles were the epitome of musical gods for us then. The song just plain blew our young minds because it was like nothing we had ever heard before.

[@adamc1966]

One of my favorite songs since I was about 10 years old.

[@davemish4163]

I have an incredibly difficult time believing that Ringo ever struggled to keep a beat.

[@eblackadder3]

It's common knowledge that Geoff Emerick isn't always reliable concerning his memories of the Beatles. George Martin has always praised I Am the Walrus, so it's a bit difficult to believe that he initially hated it, or whatever he supposedly said.

[@karaamundson3964]

...because he didn't!

[@MrAschiff]

@@eblackadder3 Geoff was Paul's guy

[@BeatlesBible1]

Ringo was great, but he wasn't Hal Blaine or Buddy Rich. Producer Quincy Jones has revealed he _did_ struggle to keep a beat while working with him in the 1970s. faroutmagazine.co.uk/quincy-jones-the-beatles-worst-musicians-in-the-world/

[@MrAschiff]

@@BeatlesBible1 I would take what Quincy Jones said with a grain of salt.

[@ellenbeckmann4293]

Very good Song,and very good Information's about. And I'm singing every time,,sitting in my Germany garden,, 🎼🎶🎤💯✌❤from Beatles Fan Elli

[@geoffreysmith8768]

Probably the best Beatles song ever created. Check out Rick Beato's breakdown of this song. Incredibly sophisticated musically. Emerich is a great technician, but a fool when it comes to avante gard music.

[@jcpana060959]

There are too many Beatles best songs

[@markriney5223]

Thanks for being a human while reading the narration.

[@arthurpapazian6003]

Thanks beatles bible1, love the story behind this song. Like John said about that student playing beatles, and this professor trying to interpret the lyrics. "Let them work that one out" 👍💕

[@ericbgordon1575]

I cannot say too frequently how it always seems to me that with "I am the Walrus", John fulfilled both of his life ambitions in one go, to be bigger than Elvis and to write his own Alice in Wonderland. It will also not be lost on me how the same teacher who surmised that John would be a failure in life because of his poor academic performance wound up taking his art and exploring it with subsequent students.

[@BeatlesBible1]

Well said!

[@jamess7626]

The same teacher? Is that a fact?

[@ericbgordon1575]

It's said here,@@jamess7626.

[@waynej2608]

That's poetic justice! Goo-goo-ga-joob!

[@Bigdong-kl2fh]

Yes ​@@jamess7626

[@jaekrieldgx8245]

DAMN I thought I was going crazy! I actually saw the 'original' video of this - and since 'I am The Walrus' is one of my FAVORITE Beatles songs - I really loved the (first) video you did like this. SO I thought to myself - 'Self', I said 'We need to find that video again!' So I did a search through my entire KZbin 'Watch History' and couldn't find it....nothing under Beatles...nothing under 'Eggman' or 'Walrus' ...nothing under John Lennon....well, not NOTHING ...but NOT the video ...THIS video - that I had seen before. Now it all makes sense. If the video was taken down, it was essentially removed or 'erased' from "History" (err...my watch history anyway..) .....Mystery Solved ! However, in order to find it - I had to do a "Google Search" titled "youtube video about john lennon writing I am the walrus" in hopes that something would come up. After skimming through the first three videos that came up and being discouraged and irritated - not only because they were not the video I was looking for (Ahem, THIS one) but they were ...well...not that good and not nearly as accurate, frankly. Anyway....sigh....sorry for the long post. Just thought I'd spill it for you since it took me all of 30 minutes to FINALLY find your video - that was apparently deleted - and then re-upped - confirming that I had not dreamed or accidently taken acid ...and basically hallucinated watching or seeing this video - because it was just POOF! Vapor... SO THIS time - I'm downloading it - ...in case it gets deleted again....I sure hope you didn't have to change TOO much from the original - guess I'll find out soon enough.......Cheers. And of course, Kudos on a GREAT video. ~ Jaek

[@BigBri550]

"Walrus" is one of several magnificent highlights on _Magical Mystery Tour,_ my favorite Beatles album. MMT is one of those rare albums (great packaging, too) that I was glad to listen beginning to end, over and over.

[@JBDazen]

It wasn't even an album. It was a double EP. They added some already released singles to it to make it an album for the American market. But when the CD reissues in 1987 happened, they found that album convenient, because it covered the double EP and those singles. But it was never intended as an album. I would give some money to have that original double EP, because it only has the clean center image as its cover, not that ugly yellow cadre with the song titles pasted over.

[@BigBri550]

@JBDazen No, I know about the ep. I meant the American album version exactly as first released here in the States. It is a great lp that I would pick over the original ep any day. The best Beatles album ever, even though not an official release from the group. My second favorite Beatles album is the same sort of deal: an American throw-together that was done with more care than usual. It was called The Beatles Second Album, had a great jacket, and even had doctored tracks. It is a very well done knock off, heads way above every other US Beatles knock-off except Magical Mystery Tour.

[@skinovtheperineum1208]

@@JBDazen - It's only ugly if you're straight.

[@jeanmarieboucherit7376]

« Dragged out », that is exactly how John wrote many of his songs, dragged out from inside of him: she said she said is one of the greatest examples of.

[@djhrecordhound4391]

Kind of get that, even as a newbie. I've managed to write one whole song, and the rest nees a laxative to finish 'em, so now they're just takin up room from rest of the sht in my head.

[@IIISOLOIII]

WHAT A SONG 🖤

[@michaelparks6120]

Sounds like a typical day in my life !!

[@rwelmer]

One thing I was disappointed to see in this commentary is that you were quick to share George Martin's concerns with the lyrics but made no mention (that I noticed) about his outstanding orchestra arrangement for the song; without which this song doesn't hit in the same way. Interesting exposition otherwise.

[@jeanmarieboucherit7376]

John John John Genius Genius Genius.

[@TheDivayenta]

John was spitting bars!

[@toucan221]

Thank you, always wondered where he got the lyrics from, Great story 😃😃

[@MrAschiff]

The best Beatles song ever. At least in my opinion.

[@reset-xs9ql]

it sure turned out good. thanks John and friends.

[@BCTGuitarPlayer]

Thoroughly enjoyable!

[@josefcosta8267]

Nice...very well done brother

[@BIZARBIES]

Everybody's got one.

[@jimnasium452]

I've always heard "Everybody smokes pot." But that may be because I first heard the song on a crappy phonograph as a teenager!

[@user-ie1vn6dr5t]

​@@jimnasium452I THOUGHT IT WAS EVERYBODY'S EFFED UP.

[@jimnasium452]

Depending on the record player speakers, yeah!@@user-ie1vn6dr5t

[@skinovtheperineum1208]

@@jimnasium452 - Smoke not smokes.

[@ray_ray_7112]

Not one of my favorites but the intricacy of the song grew on me over the years. It is comforting to know that much of the lyrics were just random, although it has made many fans have various ideas of the meaning. It was just the Beatle's way of doing things. When I first heard of the Paul is Dead rumors in the 70s, I listened closely toward the end of the song. I thought John was saying Paul is dead, daed Si luaP Paul is dead. Then the dark Edgar Allen Poe reference at the end was brilliant. Those Paul is dead rumors had me for a while but then logic took over.

[@mikefitzgerald41]

I take this song any day over the overrated- Imagine-

[@jwt208]

Other than a few hypocritical lyrics, how is imagine overrated? Beautiful melody, Johns vocals were great.

[@djhrecordhound4391]

From vinyl collecting experience I can agree and disagree simultaneously. Overexposure hits everyone, and it permanently sours tastes on certain songs. I have a long list of them, and Imagine used to be on it... But a month before 9-11, my Dad suddenly passed. Immediately after making the funeral plans, I went and started my car. The radio came on to ONLY the first chord of Imagine--no station ID ending, no announcer, nothing--JUST the very start of the recording. Odds of that happening was insane. I'm usually strict with songs staying on that 'IDGAF if I ever hear it again' list, and it took THAT to make me take Imagine off it So yeah I get it LOL!

[@allenjones3130]

Goo goo g'joob!

[@davidg2122]

Wow, I learned a lot on this.

[@daledavidson8242]

The cellos that Martin featured on the orchestration he wrote were later copied by ELO And a lot of other folks. That was a hell of a great job he did with John’s song.

[@LarzGustafsson]

John ruled!

[@martijn_yt]

`They had trouble remembering the extra CM7 bar transitioning to the chorus, so they took it out` That is exactly the same way that we write songs in our band ;)

[@djhrecordhound4391]

To correct an important fact in this video: The Beatles had originally recorded and kept in that extra bar before the 'yellow matter custard' lyric. It's on earlier 45rpm pressings of (with Hello Goodbye on the flipside), and only in mono. It wasn't in either the original stereo or mono LP mixes, most 45 reissues had it snipped out, and it wasn't even in the Anthology set. Otherwise great video!

[@joeybonin7691]

I have a copy of that 45. I'll have to check it out.

[@evertvdb000]

Yea ... its a pity that those extra bars aren't available somewhere, officially. i have that version on a bootleg. Maybe in the coming (?) Magical Mystery boxet.

[@ijonny25251]

my fovorite of all!

[@boneappletea3858]

Uh oh. Wonder what had to get cut for the re-upload.

[@beaujeste1]

Legendary

[@andyhinds542]

There are people who can tune into a simple everyday noise we hear a song that ends up a classic; then there's the rest of us peasants.

[@alexventura5407]

I AM THE WALRUS IS A LSD SONG WHEN I FIRST HEARD IT IN 67 ON LSD IT SEEMED LIKE IT LASTED FOR AN HOUR AND EVERY TIME I HERE IT NOW I FEEL LIKE ON LSD AGAIN ITS THE BEST SONG EVER

[@Alextropik]

Он никогда не перестанет удивлять!!!

[@jefffinkbonner9551]

Well here’s a clue for you all: the walrus was Paul.

[@jfjoubertquebec]

I love the Walrus

[@eugenedevere7687]

OOMPAH. Very English humour. When I was about 8 on holiday I was dragged to a Bert Weedon show. Actually he was quite good. He did an audience repeat thing (many years before Freddie Mercury did it) and we all copied what he sang. After about 20 of these he sang 'oompah oompah' and of course the unfooled audience (including me) responded 'stick it up your jumper'. Very English humour and of course Lennon included it in his song.

[@chumbels]

Well. George Martin ended up creating amazing string sections. He deserves a percentage.

[@EFE_sopita]

🕺

[@n2nh2o22]

❤❤❤❤

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

fascinating⚛😀

[@segalknievel7173]

Funny way to end the video with the last notes of Light my fire.

[@axxellein]

TRES Cool/Heavy

[@surenoespacial4936]

Where is the video of "who wrote in my life"??? I can't find it... It was removed??? 🤔

[@Dr.MayhemProductions-um8ih]

The English Garden was at Eric Clapton’s house.

[@user-fu2mi1nd5l]

"I Am He as You Are He" Crowley tenent

[@Ac0ustics0ul]

Smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody, smoke pot.... Fantastic video, wow.

[@jameswarrren2545]

"Everybody walks like, Everybody talks like, Everybody walks like, Everybody talks like,.... [The Mike Sammes Singers ]

[@JudePittingerMusic]

are you going to reupload the 1966-1969 documentary? it’s been on my watch later and i just searched for it but it looks like it’s been removed! worst timing lol

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

The dead dog eye thing reminds me of what American kids did when they chanted "gooey gooshy gopher guts French fried eyeballs something something monkey toes" or something like that.

[@JBDazen]

That's funny because I always go into imitating a siren when I sing that song. To hear that is was actually inspired by a siren, that's gold :)

[@brianb.2894]

I have to go with While my guitar gently weeps.

[@johnnyd63]

Even Lennon himself said the lyrics to Walrus was intensionally gibberish. Just a gag on the public searching Beatles lyrics for a deeper meaning. Great song but still gibberish.

[@troutmask6800]

My roommate in college in 1971 told me he wrote a college paper analyzing Dylan’s song Subterranean Homesick Blues. I told him I thought it was a dumb idea as the entire song was just word salad, with clever word play. I’m sure Dylan felt exactly like Lennon did about other people analyzing his lyrics.

[@montibass]

I've always wondered if "The Walrus was Paul" was a little dig at Paul.

[@qqw743]

"Glass Onion" was another in John's attempts to be silly with lyrics and mislead anyone who thought too much about them. It's Walrus II in that sense.

[@Triple5live]

It’s also George Martin’s favourite Beatles song

[@larsnielsen1852]

At times it appeared to me that the narrator could have been Christopher Walken…

[@josephcostello695]

I'm still waiting for someone to tell the world about the rutles am the waitress.

[@Songwriter376]

Just for fun, play this song and then play Tears for Fears sowing the seeds of love. Mind you, both great songs. 😉

[@Ktunedup]

I always thought the voices at the end were singing "everybody F--- off" ...which was kinda the way Lennon's thoughts were at the time

[@BixLives32]

never, NEVER explain your lyrics.

[@alaincelos476]

Nice to included the two moody blues ,but what about john use of the mellotron in this song ??!!

[@mysteriousplankton]

1:16 John and Ringo shows up in my backyard.

[@paulnolan4971]

WOOOOO KACOOCAJOOKAKOOKAJOOOOOOOOOO

[@bernardobuffa2391]

if you want to dive into a lyrics that apparently is all random... but just at the end you realize is not.... listen to Por of the argentinian band Pescado Rabioso

[@brentmcwilliams4332]

I've heard the assertion before and I call b.s.. They are definitely singing "smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot."✌️

[@boilinabag]

you dont mention how immersed john was in lsd at that time. he would take copious amounts of lsd. anyone who has taken it knows what i mean, even if you took one tab.

[@dannyvine3605]

Very little of the song (I am the Walrus) was drug induced. The lyrics were a mixture of Lewis Carroll, John's home life, a rhyme from Liverpool school days, the UK drug busts of musicians by the police, and a story told to John by Eric Burdon of the Animals (I am the egg man) .

[@scottmckay9535]

Most of these 'trippy' songs were just things to play while you were on acid.

[@kevanbrown7620]

I Am The Walrus is Lennon at his genius best.

[@JohnHitrik-nf5he]

The walrus was Paul?

[@elypowell6797]

Damn those guys had a blast.

[@jerrylev59]

The walrus is a large, powerful force of nature that looks goofy and appears clumsy on land to us. The Walrus represents indefatigable irrationality in response and contrast to the relentless rationality of the egghead "egg men" who are trying so hard to make sense of things that may ultimately make no sense. I say this ironically as we know John wrote this to confound fans and critics whom he felt read to much into his lyrics and tried to psychoanalyze him. Even when we consciously try to avoid meaning, the subconscious defies us and puts it there anyway.

[@Ratelzwatel]

10:46 Distracted and sad... 'I Am the Walrus' was their first studio recording after the death of Brian Epstein.

[@jamesq5831]

i think this song could definitely be viewed a representation of grief

[@inthewilderness7965]

Those weren’t the correct lyrics to the children’s nonsense rhyme from the sixties, unless the Liverpool version differed from the Manchester one. What we all sang in the junior school playground in the north of England back then was this: Yellow matter custard, green snot pie, All mixed together with a dead dog’s eye, Slap it on a sandwich, nice and thick, Then swill it down with a cool cup of sick. We all thought, and knew, it sounded disgusting, and that all the adults wouldn’t like it, which is why all us boys aged around 9 year’s old at the time, liked it all the more! Ha ha, brilliant! 😄

[@sarasmith99]

Didn't know the Quarrymen came from Quarry Bank.

[@kenmcbride6515]

Wasn't the walrus Paul,?