I was there when this came out. It was earth-shaking. I don't know if it's the best, but it was undoubtedly really important. Every musician listened to this and changed their music accordingly.
In 1967 I was 13 yrs old and had bought this LP raced home to play it on my zenith cabinet record player. After the third or fourth time my father (a violinist) came home heard this playing, came into my room and sat down next to me and we both just sat there and listened. When it finished he said play it again so we sat there and listened to it again. When it ended he stood up and said that was a masterpiece of music, then left. I felt connected with my estranged dad for the first time. After that we were estranged again. RIP Dad
From Songfacts: The final chord was produced by all four Beatles and George Martin banging on three pianos simultaneously. As the sound diminished, the engineer boosted to faders. The resulting note lasts 42 seconds; the studio air conditioners can be heard toward the end as the faders were pushed to the limit to record it. This being the last song on the album, The Beatles found an interesting way to close it out. After the final note, Lennon had producer George Martin dub in a high pitched tone, which most humans can't hear, but drives dogs crazy. This was followed by a loop of incomprehensible studio noise, along with Paul McCartney saying, "Never could see any other way," all spliced together. It was put there so vinyl copies would play this continuously in the run-out groove, sounding like something went horribly wrong with the record. Another good reason to own vinyl.
i can hear that pitch and im a 22 year old male. if i hear correctly it's at 8:14 in this video and only in the right channel. interesting fact i didn't know that. i have a neighbor who has like what i thought was an alarm system, but i think it's actually to keep night critters away from their property. basically whenever, i walk passed on the sidewalk, i hear a screeching high pitch sound. my boyfriend can't hear it and thinks i might be messing with him cause i always mention when we pass that house, "you seriously can't hear it?"
When you play that run-out groove in reverse, you hear "Paul McCartney's daddy, too" (the "too" is almost inaudible). And there was a conspiracy theory going at that time that claimed that Paul had died and been replaced by a look-alike imposter (other "evidence" of this conspiracy is, for example, on the cover of "Abbey Road", where Paul is holding a cigarette in his right hand but he was left-handed, and the VW Beetle --- notice the pun --- has the license plate "28 IF", which allegedly meant that Paul would be 28 at the time IF he were alive...). Believers in that theory claimed that what they really said was "Paul McCartney's DEAD".
This song changed my life. It's 1998, I'm 19 years old, and I have no interest in music. But I'm working with my dad at the time, and he's a musician. This song comes on the radio. I'm an instant Beatles fan, and I also want to be a musician. I go out, buy the Pepper album, and start learning the lyrics. Eventually I buy a bass, and the rest is history.
The person who turned John and George onto LSD was their dentist who slipped it into their coffee at a dinner party at his home where he invited the two over with their wives. Actually he spiked all four of them. The person who died in the car accident was a 25 year old heir of the Guinness family who crashed his car and died that John read about in the newspaper, it had nothing to do with him doing drugs in his car. The four thousand holes reference was about a road crew that was sent out to count portholes and in one road they counted 4000 holes in one road. This was another small article that John read in the newspaper. This song and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds were banned by the BBC from being played on the radio because of their drug references. The only one I can find in this song are "I'd love to turn you on" and Mccartney's "found my way upstairs and had a smoke and somebody spoke and I went into a dream" a reefer reference. I'm not even sure the BBC caught that one. This nonsense was all started by a radio dj who pointed out in Lucy In The Sky LSD L- Lucy S-Sky D-Diamonds. Get it, LSD. Sgt Pepper's is voted as the greatest Lp in history.
I believe John’s verse were all taken from newspaper articles/headlines at the time. You can hear their roadie Mal Evans counting to keep time for them in the transition and setting off the alarm clock. Clearer in the anthology version. Another great sample of Ringo’s drumming...fits perfectly and Paul’s bass line to compliment Ringo
That final chord carries the weight of the entire album. And a quite heavy weight it is. They had just changed the face of popular music - a fulcrum and immovable object in the face of all this madness.
Gentlemen, the amazing thing about The Beatle's music is that you will not find two songs that are similar. It was a car wreck, by the way. "He hadn't noticed that the lights had changed'. John starts out singing, Paul fills in the middle, John finishes. Gentlemen, the amazing thing about The Beatle's music is that you will not find two songs that are similar.
A Day In The Life is not a song about drugs! The lyrics were literally taken from the morning newspaper at the time. Three stories from the newspaper with the middle part contributed by Paul, a song he was working on but had not finished, so they stuck it in the middle. The BBC banned the song because they felt it conveyed a slight against the government over the Albert Hall lyric. By the way, the final chord contains a dog whistle along with it! Also, the jibberish at the end was not on the original album. They are saying, Could not see it any other way. It was put on the 2017 mix of the album. Previously unreleased material.
Officially it was banned because it contained the line "I'd like to turn you on" followed by "unusual" sounds. During that time "to turn someone on" was use in relation to drugs, so the phrase and the sounds made the BBC think it was very suggestive.
Even if I was only 10 at the time I remember that the final extra at the end was at the record. It also repeated over and over again because gramophone players did not normally return the needle automatically. Two more things that was very unusual (for the first time?) the songs flowed into each other without a break in between and all lyrics was included at the back of the album.
Hans Wikström on the original release of the Sgt. Peppers album, the gibberish was not included at the end or anywhere on the album. It was not released until later, as an outtake. People were still very interested in the Beatles and the record company kept putting out albums of previously unreleased material from the Beatles to capitalize on their continuing popularity. Whatever album you heard it on when you were 10, it was not the original release of Sgt. Peppers from 1967.
"...turn you on" is the specific drug reference. The swirling orchestra is the rush of drugs. I've always thought of the first part as a nightmare ended by the alarm. The joint at the top of the bus sends him back to his dream. The album created the industry of rock music criticism. It was the first time rock music was treated as an art form. It's at the top of a lot of music rankings lists.
Yes, I've always thought that this song moves in the contrast between the oneiric world (Lennon) and the real world (McCartney). By the way, Ringo's work here is just perfect.
So many casual listeners have never caught on to this...but one of the greatest double entendres in rock history lies in these lyrics: "I read the news today, oh boy Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire And though the holes were rather small They had to count them all Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall"
Very trippy song. Can't describe the mood, but, its got a floating feeling about it. I don't think anyone can say what is the best, however, we can say this was a critical piece of music at a critical time.
This is 2 songs. Neither John or Paul were able to finish their song so when they got together they decided to merge the songs. John's was about stuff he was reading in the newspaper one of them being about their friend. The instrument creciendo before the middle and at the end was done by having orchestral musicians increasing the volume of their instruments in a tremendous build up. The song may not be the greatest because how you can decide the greatest in music but it is, as they have others, a very important song because of the instruments used and the structure of the song. It made others to change the way they looked at making music.
It's not just a volume increase, the orchestra were told to start on the lowest note of their particular instrument and play higher and higher notes at their own pace over a set number of bars which was counted out by The Beatles roadie, Mal Evans. Some of them, like the string section, moved more smoothly in unison, others like the trumpets, being more forceful, were pushing ahead a little.
I turned 17 years a month after they appeared on the their first ED Sullivan show aired on Feb 9, 1964 and have been a fan ever since. They and their music had a huge impact on my life, their music is the SOUNDTRACK of my life (both as a group and as solo artists.)
Their friend was Tara Browne ( a young man) who was a Guiness family member & heir. He was only 21 years old & died in a car wreck NOT from a drug overdose. The line "I'd Love to turn you on" is definitely a nod & a wink to getting high. The middle section was a song fragment that Paul had which fit perfectly . Think about the remarkable achievement this song was in early 1967!...There were only 4 track analog tape machines. No digital, no auto-tune. no sampling....just REAL sounds & music. They used a 40 piece Orchestra for the two ascending crescendos & the end of Paul's middle..The last chord were 3 grand pianos hitting the same key at once to a complete fade-out..The ending was geared for the run-out groove on a manual turntable....As far as we can decipher it says something to the effect of "never to be/see any other way"...overlying what sounds like George saying "all fucked up"...over & over again. They also recorded an inaudible ( to humans ) dog whistle near the end...just for fun! (LOL)..Kudos to fantastic drumming by Ringo!
I believe that John was taking tragic stories from the newspaper. Kind of overall talking about tragedies around the world (or in England), then Paul’s portion in the middle is basically saying “even though all these tragic things are happening around me, I still go about my day like normal”. At least that’s how I interpret it. Brilliant song! Greatest band of all time hands down
The Beatles dit everything first. If you listen to Bohemian Rapsody it follows the conseptional music of the Beatles. The Beatles made the first song with different songs inside. It's like almost the whole b side of Abbey Road.
Every song John wrote on this album is what he calls a lazy song. They are all taken from other things, like newspaper articles (this song) circus poster (mr kite), a cereal commercial (good morning good morning) and Julian’s drawing (LSD). This would be the most important song because it’s the first to really stretch what was possible and kind of kicked down barriers for everyone else.
Not Lazy just genius. If we could all be lazy and pluck masterpieces out of newspapers and posters then there would be thousands of John Lennons around. There hasn’t been another songwriter like that since
Your daughter is in good hands, I can see MCA looking over to catch DJ whenever the music changes like a protective dad checking out if his son in law is good enough. Can he pass the cool test? He's passed with distinction.
The bit at the very end after the long note was not originally included on the American release of the album. It was on the European albums and was on the groove on the record that takes it to the end and it basically made you get up to remove the needle to make that sound stop repeating over and over. Also when that long note is fading you hear a piano bench squeak.
The very end bit after the fade out wasn’t part of the song. It was called Inner Groove. It was at the end of the vinyl groove at the label which would repeat if you didn’t lift up the needle.
@@GetSidewaysReacts Yeah that’s true. I had an automatic turntable that would lift the needle once the final track ended and for years I didn’t even know that that part even existed.
Another fun fact about the ending of the song. Lennon also played a joke on Beatles fans that had dog's, and I was one of them. When you hear the gibberish of people Lennon also blows a dog whistle, which had my dog whining turning in circles, like if he was really listening to the song with me and showing me his opinion of it. I started tripping out right with my dog when I played it again and got the same reaction until I got hip to it. You got me John, good one!
The weird thing at the end was put in the run off groove of the vinyl so when the record got to the very end it would loop that “never could be any other way” over and over as long as you left the record player on. They include it with the digital releases at the end of this song for posterity, but it’s really not a part of the song.
I bought this when it came out. Massive. Changed everything. The end I always thought said....'well I never...well I never.' It was the run off of the vinyl album and just jumped back again and again until you took it off. Mind bending. Ace.
I’m not sure that you can pick the best song of the best band in history (at least I can’t). There are just too many of them, and some of them are personal favorites. Like on the White Album, I know a lot of people (almost everyone) will disagree with me, but one of the songs I really love is Savoy Truffle. I know it’s not an important musical event (I’m sure George would have said the same thing), but if I put on a great set of headphones, it just takes me away. The horns, the guitars, George’s voice, Ringo’s drumming, and Paul’s bass takes me away on a musical journey. Is it one of my favorites? It absolutely is !! I love it ! it. I just love it! Is it their best ? I Not even close. Not even in the same room as other worthy candidates. I’m sure that I’ll just get scorn in return, but it’s hard for me to separate “best” from “favorite.” Naturally, The Beatles have a bit of an advantage over other bands in that anything they considered to be among their worst throwaways would be some band’s best efforts. I don’t know. If there are too many favorites and only one best, I’d be a failure. I just can’t take one song across that finish line and say this is it. This is the one. No, I can’t do it.
I love Savoy Truffle. It’s humorous ( George is kind of teasing Eric Clapton because he had to go to the dentist to have teeth pulled) and I like the compressed horn sound. I also love Piggies and, apparently, I’m in the minority about that one, judging by some comments I’ve read online. I also think that song is funny.
Lennon and Mac cartney wrote 300 songs together, for the Beatles and for others groups, they gave the song I wanna be your man to The Rolling Stones, and this was their first hit. They gave many songs to others singers and some were number 1. The best partnership songwriters in the world
Yes, including Peter and Gordon's A World Without Love and Cilla Black's It's For You (one of my favourite McCartney compositions), both of which topped the charts.
Yea guys, believe it or not, that "last note" that you've been talking about got the Beatles into the "Guinness Book of World Records" for the longest consistent note maintained in any song...ever. Just an FYI for you. Keep Smiling... & remember, as John says "I'd Love to Turn You On!" (to LSD.). Peace...
The Beatles told the orchestra during those crescendos that they could only play in 3 notes, but play what ever they wanted. Also notice how Ringo is not keeping the beat, but rather emphasizing the lyrics in the beginning. And last and final , that last note was made by 9 pianos, for the reverb, 3 of them being organsIt was the longest note in the history of music, 49 1/2 seconds. 🙏🏼
I must have heard this song at least a couple of hundred times and every time I hear Lennon‘s voice saying “I heard the news today oh boy”, it just gets to me. It’s certainly one of most unique and innovative songs in rock music history.
Born in 1965 and The Beatles were on the radio a lot on Chicago airwaves. My parents enjoyed their music, but it spoke to my sister and I on a whole-not her level. We are both lifelong Beatles nuts. As a hobby musician, I recognise the talent and the true art form of their music and why it will all live on for hundreds of years, like the the great Boroch and romantic periods composers. This song, however, is an absolute work of art! Both orchestral crescendos were performed there at Abby Road studio 1, by some of Londons Symphony orchestra members. They were asked to build from the lower note up through the octaves to the higher note of B (I'm unsure if it is B). What challenged the trained orchestra members is they were told to do it free form, however they each climbed, but to all arrive at the fina note, at the same precise time! To facilitate that, there was a quite large digital clock brought into the studio so they could all see the time elapse. They all quite enjoyed the freeness of it because it was something an orchestra should never do. The final crescendo at the end was held until the resonance naturally dissipated, without any other sounds in the studio. Notice the resonance of the piano continues last and the note did not bend or lose pitch. It was perfect, with much thanks to George Martin. Perfection personified! God bless The Beatles, and we get to receive their gifts for us all to enjoy forever.
The opening verse is about their friend, Tara Browne, who drove his Lotus Elan into the back of a van and killed himself (accidentally). He would have inherited the Guinness fortune, and he was 21 years old at the time. However, this verse was co-written with Paul McCartney, who says that wasn't what he was thinking about at all. Rather, he was thinking about a politician, bombed out on drugs, while John was obviously thinking about Tara Browne, since there was a piece in the paper about him along with the story about "4000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire." So, it was and yet it wasn't about Tara Browne. Paul also commented that they both knew the song had drug references in it, but that's not the point of the song at all, of course.
Really enjoyed the Beatles reactions. You wont find many bad songs from them. Beatles are my favourite band of all time.. There are so many more hits.. Day Tripper We can work it out Oh Darling just for example. Looking forward to Non Beatles songs. All the Best with your channel..
When this dropped in 1967, it was a mind blower for many folks. Nothing really sounded like this in any way, shape or form. This was the Beatles answer to the Beach Boys Pet Sounds album, which floored the Beatles with it's creativity by Brian Wilson. This was the pinnacle of head trip bizarre by the Beatles, and this lp is consistently ranked at the top or near it on most lists.
It was a headline in a newspaper John had read not a drug reference bro.. This song as well as the album it was from Sgt Peppers was just ahead of its time and way ahead of the game at the time and blew peoples minds, even other great bands and artists minds also!! There a lot of great bands out there but only one Beatles.
Definitely in my top 2 Beatles songs with "I Am the Walrus". It was a major song in the then controversy if Paul was dead (greatest publicity stunt of all time whether it was planned or just luck, IDK). It depends on one's mood that day as to their favorite of all time. I've got Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots" up there with one of my all time favorites.
It was actually their dentist who introduced them to LSD. He dropped it into their coffee unbeknownst to them. It is said that John had read an article about the death of Guiness heir Tara Browne, who died in a car accident. That inspired part of the lyrics. Hope that clears things up.
Somehow this feels like a dad explaining to his son, his son has no idea what the hell is going on, just says yeah to everything cuz he wants to go out to the park as soon as possible.
The ending bit is originally the inner groove of the album which apparently is 'Paul is dead' played backwards. There was a conspiracy that Paul had died and was replaced by a doppelganger. On the cover of Abbey Road, there is a VW beetle with the rego plate IF 28. Which was supposed to mean Paul would be 28 if he was still alive. The personas the four of them portray are, George in blue denim as the gravedigger, Paul the corpse in a grey suit and bare feet, Ringo in black as the undertaker and John in white as the preacher. There are further references too. 'A day in the life' in the life of a 15 yo fan was astounding and 54 years later still is.
What you heard at the end is not not related to the song but was the ending of the album it was Lucy in the sky sped up . The He blew his mind out in a car he didn't noticed that the lights had changed 9s not about drugs but is a reference to the conspiracy theory that Paul Mccartney died in a car crash in 1966 and was disfigured and even decapitated ( he blew his mind in a car ) and was replaced by a look alike called William or Billy Shears.
I was a young teenager. First time hearing was the same as expressed by Geoff Emerik the Beatles Sound Engineer. In the control room were Mick Jagger and some Monkees and the producer of the Hollies. Geoff recalls the absolute silence during their first listening - and the silence afterwards. The Hollies producer said he was giving it away, He couldn't do that. Go and check out what Geoff said in his own words. BTW..not about drugs at all. Paul confessed recently they knew they would be controversial by putting that line in. But the song was not about drugs but about the meaningless trivia but also part of a something colossal but you don't know what it is..
at the time it blew us the fuck away it was the last song on the album no pause between the preceding song they are meant to be listened to as one really (sgt pepper reprise) its rank reflects the fact that after it came out ANYTHING was possible -the same stations were still playing frank sinatra=this album was a sea change at the time =the generation split had really started! it was next level...
The rumour is that Ringo moved in his chair on that last note (it was achieved using four pianos hitting the same note) and Paul goes ''Shush!'' to stop him. The ''blew his mind out in a car'' does reference the Daily Mirror article of a young Guinness heir (the beer) who committed suicide in his sports car on a London Bridge.
It's the orchestral section by George Martin that takes this to another level. Without that part, it's really just two unfinished songs mashed together.
It's not universally accepted that this is the best Beatles song, obviously. Art doesn't work that way. But the claim that it is the most important song in popular music history is not without merit. From 1965 on, The Beatles began making the kind of music that nobody had heard before. This is probably the most adventurous song they composed and recorded from 1965 - 1970.
The Best Beatle song for me depends on which song I am listening to and I how I am feeling emotionally that day. LOL, as a die hard Beatles fan it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to pick ONE Beatles song that I think would be the "best" For me THEY ARE ALL FANTASTIC from 1963 - 1970 I love them all, EVERY PERIOD of their career.
Sgt. Pepper's is a continuous album. You can't single out songs. They're chapters in a novel, or scenes in a movie. The lyrics aren't about anybody they knew--they're taken from contemporary headlines.
The reason this song is one of the best ever is because the lyrics are relatively mundane/ everyday / “a day in the life” type shit but the music suggests that it’s all part of some grand picture of life that we don’t know yet.
The guy who blew his mind out in a car was Tara Browne, socialite and heir to the Guinness fortune, who died when he crashed his Lotus sports car in Chelsea in December 1966, while speeding at 106 mph nd under the influence of drugs.
The chatter at the end was just a joke they threw in for the end of the album. It was made so the groove on the record would play it infinitely and they added a dog whistle in it that we cant hear but your dog in your house can!
It’s not a drug song, it’s John reading headlines from a newspaper. Lennon's lyrics were mainly inspired by contemporary newspaper articles, including a report on the death of Guinness heir Tara Browne. Tara Browne dies Sunday 18 December 1966 People 13 Comments The 21-year-old socialite Tara Browne, a friend to The Beatles and an heir to the Guinness empire, died on this day in a traffic accident. A report detailing the coroner’s verdict into his death inspired John Lennon when writing ‘A Day In The Life’.
I saw a film today, oh boy...... refers to John being in the film How I Won The War, which was not well received when it was released at the time. At the time the rumor was that the end snippet, if played backwards, said "We'll f*ck you like supermen". The Beatles had the ability to produce such a variety of songs but they all sound like The Beatles.
![A Day In The Life by The Beatles [4K] | First Time Reaction!](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
