From: kent_f1@verifone.com (Kent Fletcher, HNL ME Group, 808-625-3210)
Subject: Genesis of "I Am the Walrus"
Date: 29 Dec 94 13:02:26 -1000
Newsgroups: rec.music.beatles

This excerpt is from Pete Shotton's excellent book 'The Beatles, Lennon And Me' (originally published as "John Lennon In My Life", 1983, Stein and Day Publishers... not to be confused with "In My Life - John Lennon Remembered" by Kevin Howlett and Mark Lewisohn).

(If you're not familiar, Pete Shotton was Lennon's closest boyhood pal, an original member of the Quarrymen (until John broke the washboard over Pete's head!), and a close friend and confidant of John's to the very end.)

From page 217:

"One afternoon, while taking "lucky dips" into the day's sack of fan mail, John, much to both our amusement, chanced to pull out a letter from a student at Quarry Bank. Following the usual expressions of adoration, this lad revealed that his literature master was playing Beatles songs in class; after the boys all took their turns analyzing the lyrics, the teacher would weigh in with his own interpretation of what the Beatles were really talking about. (This, of course, was the same institution of learning whose headmaster had summed up young Lennon's prospects with the words: "This boy is bound to fail.")

"John and I howled in laughter over the absurdity of it all. "Pete," he said, "what's that 'Dead Dog's Eye' song we used to sing when we were at Quarry Bank?" I thought for a moment and it all came back to me:

Yellow matter custard, green slop pie,
All mixed together with a dead dog's eye,
Slap it on a butty, ten foot thick,
Then wash it all down with a cup of cold sick.

"That's it!" said John. "Fantastic!" He found a pen commenved scribbling: "Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye...." Such was the genisis of "I Am the Walrus" (The Walrus itself was to materialize alter, almost literally stepping out of a page in Lewis Carroll's 'Through the Looking Glass')

Inspired by the picture of that Quarry Bank literature master pontificating about the symbolism of Lennon-McCartney, John threw in the most ludicrous images his imagination could conjure. He thought of "semolina" (an insipid pudding we'd been forced to eat as kids) and "pilchard" (a sardine we often fed to our cats). Semolina pilchard climbing up the Eiffel Tower....," John intoned, writing it down with considerable relish.

He turned to me, smiling. "let the f*ckers work THAT one out, Pete."

From: lartin@aol.com (Lartin)
Subject: Re: Chanting at end of The Walrus
Date: 17 Jul 1995 20:23:42 -0400

Here's the Shakespeare that occurs at the end of "I Am The Walrus."

King Lear Act Four, Scene 6, lines 249-259:

Oswald: Slave, thou hast slain me. Villain, take my purse.
If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body
And give the letters which you find'st about me
To Edmund, Earl of Gloucester. Seek him out
Upon the English party. O, untimely death!
Death! [He dies]

Edgar: I know thee well: a serviceable villain,
As duteous to the vices of thy mistress
As badness would desire.

Gloucester: What, is he dead?

Edgar: Sit you down, father. Rest you. [Gloucester sits.]

From: dhaber@primenet.com (Dave Haber)
Subject: I Am The Walrus - An Interpretation
Date: 7 May 1995 06:18:59 GMT

[Someone recently asked what the lyrics to I Am The Walrus meant. Although John himself said they mean whatever you want them to mean, I'll give it a shot...]

I Am The Walrus - An Interpretation

I am he as you are he                   We are all spirits of the same God
as you are me and we are all together   therefore we are all the same
See how they run like pigs from a gun   Man on earth today for the most part
see how they fly                        denys this simple beautiful truth
I'm crying                              That they do is a sad thing

Sitting on a cornflake,                 Cookie-cutter conformist capitalists
waiting for the van to come             that take carpools to work
Corporation t-shirt, stupidy            all dressed the same, in their boring
bloody tuesday                          day-to-day jobs
man you been a naughty boy              and criticise people like John Lennon
you let your face grow long             who don't look like they do
I am the eggman                         I am a spirit of God
They are egmmen                         And so are you
I am the Walrus                         I am God (and therefore so are you)
Goo goo ga joob                         Isn't that Wonderful?

Mr. City policeman                      The policemen (the establishment)
sitting pretty little policemen         look pretty and officious in 
in a row                                their uniforms
see how they fly                        But when it comes down to doing the
like lucy in the sky                    right thing and helping people
see how they run                        They just sell out
I'm crying, I'm crying                  That they do is a sad thing
I'm crying, I'm crying                  Very sad

Yellow matter custard                   Man's inhumanity to man gets worse
dripping from a dead dog's eye          and more ludicrous and disgusting
Crabalocker fishwife                    every day
pornagraphic priestess                  And those that are not corrupt
boy, you been a naughty girl            monetarily are corrupt morally
you let your knickers down
I am the eggman                         I am a spirit of God
They are egmmen                         And so are you
I am the Walrus                         I am God (and therefore so are you)
Goo goo ga joob                         Isn't that Wonderful?

Sitting in an English garden            If you just relax and get into a
waiting for the sun                     calm state you can see the
If the sun don't come                   simple beauty of life
you get a tan from standing             And the world goes on if you do
in the English rain                     or not
I am the eggman                         I am a spirit of God
They are egmmen                         And so are you
I am the Walrus                         I am God (and therefore so are you)
Goo goo ga joob                         Isn't that Wonderful?

Expert texpert choking smokers          The morally corrupt think they're
don't you think the joker               cheating fate
laughs at you                           And don't realise that they're
ho ho ho                                going to have to pay in the end
hee hee hee
ha ha ha
See how they smile                      But they just go innocently on
like pigs in a sty                      not caring about the world
see how they snied
I'm crying                              That they do is a sad thing

Semolina pilchards                      Some people try to reach God in
climbing up the Eiffel Tower            the strangest ways
Elementary penguin                      But even the lowly animals know
singing hare krishna                    know how to be one with God
man you should have seen them           And even if you're a good person
kicking Edgar Allen Poe                 you shouldn't expect praise
I am the eggman                         I am a spirit of God
They are egmmen                         And so are you
I am the Walrus                         I am God (and therefore so are you)
Goo goo ga joob                         Isn't that Wonderful?

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