The Beatles
A Day in the Life

Describing a work like "A Day in the Life" in its entirety is difficult, so I hope to provide a good review.

The final track of "Sgt. Pepper" is an incredible work, where the "tradition-innovation" combination, so loved by the Beatles during that period, is expressed at its peak.

It was mostly written by Lennon, inspired by a fatal accident involving Tara Browne, a British lord and friend of Lennon and McCartney. The song also references the film "How I Won the War," in which Lennon participated, but which was released only a few months later compared to the "Sgt. Pepper" album. After his verses, an orchestral crescendo begins (an idea by McCartney), where all instruments play from their lowest note to the highest, creating a musical chaos never heard before.

The crescendo stops, an alarm clock rings, and thus begins McCartney's part, sunny yet peculiar at the same time. After the verse, there are around 30 seconds of a voice which, although not saying anything special (just going "aaaahhh"), majestically combines with the orchestra and emphasizes the chaos, the pathos of the text, as if it were the end of something. Subsequently, there is another verse by Lennon, and the crescendo starts again.

At the end of the second crescendo, there is no alarm clock: the music stops, and there's a strong, long, and incredible piano note that extends for over 40 seconds, gradually fading away. At a certain point, the sound of a dog whistle and a loop of modified voices lasting about 30 seconds.

The song is full of pathos and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. It represents the highest point of innovation ever reached by the Beatles, and its position in "Sgt. Pepper" makes complete sense; because, although it doesn't seem to be connected to the "plot" of the album, that is, the concert of a band led by Sergeant Pepper, it symbolizes the end. Not only of the album but also of all those hopes, all those certainties, all the joys, the smiles that the concert has brought to the audience that listened to it, to remind the audience itself of the difficulties, the fragilities, the insecurities, the uncertainties, the seriousness of life. This is also why it is called "A Day in the Life," not only because it tells what can happen on an ordinary day but also to remind the audience that nothing is easy, nothing is taken for granted, there isn't actually something that is always reachable. You have to strive to face things. This song is a lesson in life. It is not a simple story told, but it is the explanation of the world and how it works.