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Just after finishing "Pepper", McCartney realized that the euphoria of the early years had vanished, and that George and John wanted to do something else. So, Paul decided to come up with a new project to get them working and reinvigorate their enthusiasm for the group. Thus, he invented the film "Magical Mystery Tour". A truly pointless film, which I can only remember for a few funny scenes (like the one where Lennon shovels pasta).
Today, this work has been reevaluated. Even Spielberg said: "It has a small place in film history. We studied it in film school". Spielberg, like many other celebrated directors, took a long time to understand that a film isn't judged solely based on how the director moves the cameras …
The album is more or less like the film. Musically imaginative, but lacking in substance, meaning the songs, some of which really lack depth.
The title track is functional to the film. An insignificant song, although very well arranged. The lyrics are a clear/veiled ode to marijuana and LSD. "Your Mother Should Know," "Baby, You're a Rich Man," "Hello Goodbye," are three bad songs (though well produced), taking the Beatles back to the amateurism and immaturity of "Please, Please Me." "Hello Goodbye," for its lyrics, is undoubtedly the lowest point of McCartney's work with the group.
"All You Need is Love." A musically pleasant song, with lyrics that say something magnificent: "You can learn to be yourself with time," along with a heap of nonsense worthy of a "mental scrap" (as Ian MacDonald describes Lennon at the time): "There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Love is all they need." "Blue Jay Way." A good song, but secondary.
"The Fool on the Hill" is one of Paul's most beautiful ballads. The lyrics are excellent (greatly appreciated by John as well), saying that sometimes wisdom means solitude. The saddest part is that this song was written by Paul during the making of "Pepper." Paul played it to John while they were working on "With a Little Help from My Friends." If they had believed in it and worked on it, it would have been included in the album. "Pepper" could have had, not two, but three more masterpieces.
"Penny Lane" was written by Paul to challenge John, who had just finished "Strawberry Fields." Even though it's a great song, "Penny Lane" is not certainly McCartney's piece that can challenge Lennon's masterpiece. The difference between the two is vast. That said, the piece is excellent. Listening to it, you can notice the very compact "treated" drum sound (as Ian MacDonald points out), and the beautiful trumpet solo, inspired by classical music. McCartney played it to Martin on bass, and then the producer wrote the score for a professional trumpet player. Even the lyrics, though not very deep, are very beautiful in the imagery, and in the last verse that cleverly ties the first three together. The idea to write something about "Penny Lane" came to Paul from a paper of Lennon's, where John had sketched the initial lyrics for "In My Life."
"I’m the Walrus." I prefer other Lennon songs, but this remains one of his greatest masterpieces. Even though the masterful arrangement was by Martin, it was John who gave him the instructions. The lyrics mean nothing or almost nothing. When John learned that a teacher was looking for hidden meanings in his lyrics, he decided to write a nonsense lyric to mock those who over-analyzed his texts. Unfortunately, he did it with the wrong song, because a piece like this shouldn't be wasted on such lyrics. "I’m the Walrus" was Frank Zappa's favorite Beatles song, which he covered in concert several times. To smile a bit: the single "I’m the Walrus" was placed as the B-side of "Hello Goodbye."
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Magical Mystery Tour (02:54)
Roll up.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
Roll up.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
Roll up.
And that's an invitation.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
Roll up.
To make a reservation.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
The Magical Mystery Tour
Is waiting to take you away.
Waiting to take you away.
Roll up.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
Roll up.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
Roll up.
We got everything you need.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
Roll up.
Satisfaction guaranteed.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
The Magical Mystery Tour
Is hoping to take you away.
Hoping to take you away.
(Mystery Tour..)
Ah.. The Magical Mystery Tour.
Roll up.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
Roll up.
And that's an invitation.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
Roll up.
To make a reservation.
Roll up for the Mystery Tour.
The Magical Mystery Tour
Is coming to take you away.
Coming to take you away.
The Magical Mystery Tour
Is dying to take you away.
Dying to take you away.
Take you today.
02 The Fool on the Hill (03:02)
Day after day alone on the hill,
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still,
But nobody wants to know him,
They can see that he's just a fool,
And he never gives an answer,
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning around.
Well on his way his head in a cloud,
The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him,
Or the sound he appears to make,
And he never seems to notice,
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning around.
And nobody seems to like him
They can tell what he wants to do.
And he never shows his feelings,
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning around.
He never listens to them,
He knows that they are the fools
They don't like him,
The fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning around.
06 I Am the Walrus (04:39)
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly
I'm crying
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come
Corporation T-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man, you've been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long
I am the Eggman
They are the Eggmen
I am the Walrus
Goo-goo-ga-joob
Mister city, policeman sitting, pretty little policemen in a row
See how they fly like Lucy in the Sky, see how they run
I'm crying
I'm cry---ing
I'm crying
I'm cry---ing
Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess
Boy, you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down
I am the Eggman
They are the Eggmen
I am the Walrus
Goo-goo-ga-joob
Sitting in an English garden, waiting for the sun
If the sun don't come you get a tan from standing in the English rain
I am the Eggman
They are the Eggmen
I am the Walrus
Goo-goo-ga-joob-goo-goo-goo-ga-joob
Expert texpert, choking smokers
Don't you think the Joker laughs at you?
Ho-ho-ho-hee-hee-hee-ha-ha-ha
See how they smile like pigs in a sty, see how they snide
I'm crying
Semolina pilchard climbing up the Eiffel Tower
Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna
Man, you should've seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe
I am the Eggman
They are the Eggmen
I am the Walrus
Goo-goo-ga-joob-goo-goo-goo-ga-joob
Goo-goo-ga-joob-goo-goo-goo-ga-joob
Goo-goo-ga-joob-goo-goo-goo-ga-joob
Juba, juba, juba
Juba, juba
Juba, juba
Juba, juba, stick it up your joompah
Oompah, oompah, stick it up your joompah
Oompah, oompah, stick it up your joompah
Everyone's got one
Oompah, oompah, stick it up your joompah
Everyone's got one
Everyone's got one
Everyone's got one
Oompah, oompah, stick it up your joompah
Oompah, oompah, stick it up your joompah…
[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.]
07 Hello Goodbye (03:33)
You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go, go, go
Oh... oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
I say high, you say low
You say why, and I say I don't know
Oh... oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
(Hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye)
Hello, hello
(Hello, goodbye)
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
(Hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye)
Hello, hello
(Hello, goodbye)
I don't know why you say goodbye
(Hello, goodbye)
I say hello
Why, why, why, why, why, why
Do you say good bye
Goodbye, bye, bye, bye, bye
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
You say yes, I say no
(I say yes, but I may mean no)
You say stop, and I say go, go, go
(I can stay, 'til it's time to go)
Oh... oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello-woah-woah
Hello
Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa
08 Strawberry Fields Forever (04:13)
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry fields forever
Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see
It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out
It doesn't matter much to me
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry fields forever
No one, I think, is in my tree
I mean, it must be high or low
That is, you can't, you know, tune in, but it's alright
That is, I think it's not too bad
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry fields forever
Always, no, sometimes think it's me
But you know I know when it's a dream
I think I know, I mean, er yes, but it's all wrong
That is, I think I disagree
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to strawberry fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry fields forever
Strawberry fields forever
Strawberry fields forever
09 Penny Lane (03:05)
In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to have known.
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello.
On the corner is a banker with a motorcar,
And little children laugh at him behind his back.
And the banker never wears a mac
In the pouring rain, very strange.
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
In penny Lane there is a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen.
He likes to keep his fire engine clean,
It's a clean machine.
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
Full of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back
Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway.
In Penny Lane the barber shaves another customer,
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim.
And then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain, very strange.
Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back.
Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
There beneath the blue suburban skies,
Penny Lane.
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Other reviews
By Pepperism
Magical Mystery Tour means acid.
By flying, you arrive at a foggy road where a George fogged by acid much more than that same Blue Jay Way waits for his friends to arrive.
By JohnLennon
"Personally, I find the album brilliant and full of interesting tracks, despite its strange and prestigious reputation."
"‘I Am The Walrus’ stands as a magical and disarming masterpiece, intertwining mystery and Lennon’s beloved character symbolism."
