Listen to Naughty Juice on Spotify or check out their RU-vid channel: open.spotify.com/artist/6n7nkpNHM2PV8CWTyr6280?si=CZNC_1uARliR5XofSXZ9pQ 🎸😊 📍NOTE: Shortly after upload I cut out a small part of this video about 'A Day In The Life' being banned by the BBC because I wrongly suggested that it was banned due to sex references, when in fact it was supposed drug references that got the song banned. Sorry for any confusion caused.
Well the BBC nearly banned the Kinks "Lola" in 1970 - not because of the transgender/cross-dressing theme but because of the reference to Coca Cola... All was OK though after they changed it to 'cherry-cola' for the UK market, keeping the BBC censors happy and free of violations of its charter to refrain from advertising commercial products. The 'other' thing however was a 'whooosh' moment for the censors with the meaning of the fun and catchy song apparently going right over their heads - as it did for most of us back them, I will admit. 😀
Lennon's phrasing and melody is so unique and mysterious in some sort of way that it instantly makes you love this song. However, it would become very dull if McCartney didn't come in with his cheerful bit, so it's a perfect blend of 'auras'
@@JoaoGabriel-lk9cv when you have a fantastic idea, but don't know a way to compliment it with another equally good section, repetition often ruins the greatness of your original idea. It's like having your favourite food every single day, you'll eventually get fed up
@ghost mall I sometime feel that way, but the contrast between both parts (both stylistic and musically) really enhances the transition from one to the other. Sometimes it's good to have a strange section in a song just to make the following more powerful. Pink Floyd's echoes is a great example of that: the middle section with all the sea noices is unsettling and seems out of place or unnecessary, but as soon as the keyboards get in again, satisfaction now takes over your mind
@ghost mall wrong. And it's not cheery. It's a panic dash to get out and get to school. The stuff of real life that we wake up to from more mystical dreams and swirling griefs of an acquaintance killed in a car crash of their own fault. The snap into the now makes the whole thing genius
“Filling in the spaces” with virtuosic drum fills, never competing with the vocals, and not driving the song forward in a way that would be inappropriate for the mood.
The “I love to turn you on” line didn’t get the song banned by the BBC because they thought it was sexual but because they thought it was a drug reference.
@@brun4775 No worries! I've just cut out the section where I mention the BBC banning (although the edit will take a few hours to take effect). Thanks again for bringing it to my attention.
@ghost mall from the song’s Wikipedia page: McCartney said about the line "I'd love to turn you on", which concludes both verse sections: "This was the time of Tim Leary's 'Turn on, tune in, drop out' and we wrote, 'I'd love to turn you on.' John and I gave each other a knowing look: 'Uh-huh, it's a drug song. You know that, don't you?'"
I’ll never forget hearing this for the first time. I was 24, aware of The Beatles of course but more interested in different genres. My friend had a record player and suggested we try SPLHCB, I was a bit skeptical, wondering would this old music fit the scene for our pre lockdown catch up. My god, from first track to last, I was spellbound. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, A Day In The Life began and Johns dreamy lyric floated through from the speaker and enchanted me… I couldn’t believe the depth and beauty of what I was listening to. My shock turned to happy awe when McCartneys cheerful dreamlike rendition poured through, and when Lennons voice returned after the dream state noise I felt something no other song made me feel before. On the final crescendo build up, I was nearly shaking and when the last deafening note was played, I felt a tear fall from my eye. Me and my friend both stunned, speechless and quite literally in shock. I didn’t know what I just heard but I knew it was the work of cosmic genius. The next day I went on Spotify and began to explore this band I once ignorantly cast off as “cheesy oldies” It was the start of the most beautiful journey of my life. This was a week before the first COVID lockdown in March of 2020 here in Dublin, Ireland. I never looked back.
I know someone will get triggered at what I'm about to say but when the Beatles broke up I really thought it was the right time. I grew up with the Beatles, had every one of their albums and had experienced their development from Love me Do right through to Abbey Road, but when they started coming out with mediocre stuff like "Obladi oblada" I realised that they were past their best. Had they stayed together I'm pretty sure that they would have reached that point of being "has beens" Personally I think the stuff that McCartney produced on his later projects was far better than we would have got from the Beatles if they'd stayed together.
Hearing this version, I am rreminded just how incredibly inventive and brilliant a bass player McCartney is. Almost 60 years on, the bass parts still surprise and delight.
One of the greatest album closing tracks, if not the best. Definitely goes on my top of the Beatles songs with Strawberry Fields forever, While my guitar gently weeps and I want you (she's so heavy)
"Sergeant Peppers," the "first concept album." Strange being that didn't even have a concept tying it together other than the opening track and the reprise. Just one of those ideas that Paul threw out there that John went along with enough to humor him. And as usual, somehow Paul's promotion of it as such, stuck. The reprise of the opening track coming BEFORE the closing track. You'd think that people would get the hint.
Often neglected in mention is the incredibly sensitive, aware drumming on this track. Ringo fills and emphasizes what is going on incredibly well. He returns to traditional rock drumming for the Paul section, then back to the much more interesting fills and jogs for the rest of the tune. Stunning work Mr. Starkey.
Has remained my favourite song ever since the first time I heard it. It single-handedly changed my life. I always point toward this song as an example of Ringo's drumming brilliance, too.
They have so many ''most ambitious'' IMO. Strawberry Fields Forever, Tomorrow Never Knows, Abbey Road Medley (if you count it), I Am The Walrus, Happiness Is a Warm Gun...the list goes on.
When I was a kid, I listened to a lot of classical music and loved suites. Paul McCartney wrote a few suites after the Beatles, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, Band on the run. Only a few rock bands kept writing suites, ELP, Yes, then that spirit was lost with all this contemporary shit, 4 chords and no arrangements. One of the reasons why the Beatles are still a beacon in popular music is they wrote some sophisticated stuff. But when you look to a classical piece, I arranged Peer Gynt for kids, I was stunned by the number of modulations (tonality changes) in the 1st part. And of course, Bach can use the twelve notes in a single bar ! By the time the Beatles were active, people were still used to hear classical music, and songs written by educated people. That's why the Fab four could experience a little. I'm not sure young people accustomed to four chords could understand them today.
As Howard Goodall said, "With Sgt Pepper, The Beatles changed all music everywhere forever", or something like that. He was talking about how they saved classical music from the dead end of just playing black marks on white paper or death of music random sounds and Cage's silence. With A Day In The Life, they brought together classical orchestra note readers, with musique concrête plus a story plus pop mass entertainment music hall. Noise could be part of harmony, and the masses could accommodate noise. Astonishing achievement such that the closing piano chord resonates today - everywhere
I checked all the comments first to make sure no-one already touched on this, but the following is my favorite aspect of the song in many ways: John is the subconscious voice, or the dream voice if you will. However, you don't realize this until Paul sings 'Woke up' and you feel like you have just woken up from a dream, as the rhythm, tone and singing feels more present in the bridge compared to the ethereal nature of the verses. It is very much like being jolted awake. Then, Paul finishes with '...and I went into a dream' and the song segues back to John's subconscious/dream voice. Even the lyrics of the subconscious/dream voice are more hazy and dreamlike, whereas Paul sings about what he is actually doing, with more mundane lyrics about a regular day until he falls back asleep on the bus and re-enters the dream world. You may argue that the Beatles did not intend this (I would argue that they very much did) but the effect is absolute genius. If you have not listened to it like this before, I would very much recommend it!
Every time I listen to this song I got goosebumps. I remember the first time I heard it, it was like a new world of music appreciation opened up for me. Magical.
The photo at 3'54" isn't of Paul conducting an orchestra at all! It's actually of him conducting Black Dyke Mills Band during the recording of 'Thingumybob' (a TV Signature Tune). The two people on the far left are Roy Newsome (Black Dyke's Conductor) and next to him is Geoffrey Brand (an eminent Brass Band 'expert'. The recording was made in Saltaire, near Bradford on 30th June, 1968. Paul conducted the Band a bit but admitted he wasn't too good! He also brought along 'Martha' , his Old English Sheepdog! How do I know all this? I was there; it was an an amazing day! (Paul's father was a trumpeter in a band too!)
The 5ths chord progression in the "dream" section is the same one as Hey Joe by Hendrix, and also The Beatles used it again in the middle section of Here Comes The Sun!
@@nano9285 different direction though like Killing Me Softly or I Will Survive. Different feeling than the direction Hey Joe and this middle section result in
@@gutgolf74 Different rhythms but same chord sequence: C - G - D - A - E. The only functional difference in the chords is that Day In The Life uses it to modulate from Emaj to Emin/Gmaj, whereas Here Comes The Sun uses the chords for a parallel A minor/major sound, then uses an E7 to go back to A major. Look up the chords for the deluxe re-release, grab your instrument and listen yourself. But if your first impulse is to get smug about it you might not be interested LOL
Hi David, from Sydney! As a lad, I was keyboard player in a band called 'Total Fire Band,' and we used to play this song to end our sets. I always enjoyed recreating the huge orchestra crescendo on my ARP Quadra.
I will always be interested in stories about this song, and this was a great synopsis. "A Day in the Life" represents a teenage "awakening" to me, about the possibilities of expression and experience, and where music could go, breaking into my small world.
David, once again, you're absolutely brilliant! I was a 14yo Cali boy when this came out, and I was stunned as I played it over and over on our Magnavox hifi. I get goosebumps all over again as you guide us along with your wonderful insights. You've put a big smile on my face to start the day!
OMG I was just thinking about contacting you about doing more Beatles stuff and this pops up! You are fantastic David and when the Beatles are involved you are at your best!
Paul going upstairs in the bus to have a smoke, is reminder that you used to be allowed to smoke (tobacco) upstairs in double decker buses. Indeed London buses had their upstairs roofs painted a horrible yellow colour to hide stains from the smoke 😁
@ghost mall Don't think you dashed upstairs in bus on way to school (UK school secondary school age 11 to 16) after late night listening to music. I had to write a punishment essay on EEC Common Market when I failed to dodge a prefect when I was a bit late for chapel about 1970. I'd listen to John Peel to midnight, then dream through next morning chapel propped up on the pillar at the end of the row - you could be punished for dozing off completely. Song is very literally true to real life of tens of thousands of UK schoolboys
So many brilliant parts to this song, but my favorite has to be the part right after Paul's verse (5:20) Such a unique chord progression and bassline, topped with -John's- Paul's ethereal "Ahhhh" vocals
@ghost mall Yes, I've seen that video. I can't remember what he said, but I do remember him showing Giles Martin saying that John sang them. Which kind of annoyed me, lol.
@@michaelhays We could solve this by asking Paul or Ringo who sang that bloody thing... Such speculation is maddening, it was John, unless both Paul and Ringo agree it wasn't.
Finally you did the video about this song 😍😍 I wish you made this tipe of videos about some other very interesting songs. Perhaps Stairway to heaven, with all its rhythmic craziness during the solo?
It's always eye (or ear)-opening when you deconstruct the Beatles -- since I was so young when Sgt. Pepper (et al) came out, the music is stored in a very unexamined way and it takes on whole new dimensions through your analysis -- many thanks ❤
Hi David, I'm happy you did that video. I just stumbled upon that song and somehow I had missed it from the Beatles' discography for so long. Really I love it, it's maybe one of my favorites with Strawberry Fields Forever. Thanks!
I was so looking forward to you doing this David. And, as usual, your analysis is both compelling and expertly done. Many thanks for all your work. Looking like a million subs is within your grasp - a magnificent achievement, and well-earned.
The last piano chord in "A Day in the Life" was recorded by constantly increasing the recording level; that's why the song really ends with electronic noise from the recording equipment drowning out the piano.
John reads a newspaper short and riffs on it to create a spellbinding melody with lyrics that center that poor dude who gave it up at age 21. Paul remembers how he came close to missing the bus to school, quickly gathered his things (at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool) and ran some 200 yards to the bus stop. Like the best writers of any genre, these guys turned the dross of everyday life into art. ... Well, a fatal collision is not actually dross, but the point is made.
I watch and don't even play piano! I am an intermediate fingerstyle guitar player, but I learn more about music theory and how it all relates much better watching these videos than any actual lesson on it. I love these videos.
Just want to say, your channel is the most useful channel of this type that I have seen, you know, musical theory, analysis, subjects of interest. It is an education to go though your videos.
never heard the song.. but with your explanations and musical advice.... one of my favorite songs and now in my daily music playlist.. gladful to have you on RU-vid. You`re Videos since those Chord Progression Vids are absolutely fantastic. :)
I'm impressed you did all that without getting blocked. Some day someone will look back and wonder what they were thinking putting obstacles in the way of discussion of great music. It's just beyond stupid to let this music fade into obscurity because the compensation model has changed and the old players can't figure out how to adjust. Thanks for working around the road blocks.
From 1966 on McCartney wrote most of their hit songs. Look at the Get Back Sessions - Paul came in with Let It Be, The Long and Winding Road, and wrote Get Back during the rehearsal sessions - imagine being in a band and you have a member who brings those songs to the table? Incredible.
Paul wrote more hits later on (John wrote more hits that made the Beatles) but John was writing more of the masterpieces like “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “I am the Walrus”, “A Day in the Life”, etc
@@hw343434 Fact: John dominated the Beatlemania-phase. Paul dominated the album phase, when they made their best albums: Pepper, White Album, Abbey Road. Rubber Soul and Revolver were in the middle with the both of them totally equal, maybe a slight edge towards Paul, because he wrote the better known songs.
It wasn't the "I'd love to turn you on" that triggered the ban it, it was: "Found my way upstairs and had a smoke And somebody spoke and I went into a dream" which implied smoking something other than tobacco. Silly of course, as I've always taken this to be Paul remembering hurrying to college in his younger days. Upstairs on the bus during rush hour there was always a fog of cigarettes back then, so much for the Good Old Days, but anything more exotic wasn't tolerated.
Interesting. For close to fifty years my impression was that he got to the job and made his way upstairs. Today is the first time I've realized that upstairs refers to the top deck of a bus. (Where I live that's not the common arrangement.)
I absolutely love a day in the life one of the best songs ever and I love the orchestration build up and even that final piano chord which is a fantastic way to end the album Sergeant Pepper.
John Lennon's section is one of his best melodies - really nicely put together with a sense of mystery and longing. Have to say that although it does give the song a bit of a lift, I'm not so keen on Paul's section as it lacks any real substance, depth or direction (apart from slipping around the circle of 5ths).
I disagree, Rick. I think that Paul's section allows the dreamer to wake up to his mundane existence before slipping back into his dream state again on the bus, this time more surreal than before, with the absurdity and emptiness of holes filling the Albert Hall being about his own life. His dream is trying to turn him on.
Thank you to Naughty Juice for sponsoring this video. Check them out on Spotify or RU-vid: open.spotify.com/artist/6n7nkpNHM2PV8CWTyr6280?si=CZNC_1uARliR5XofSXZ9pQ www.youtube.com/@naughtyjuice7676 🎸😊
Definitely one of their best tracks to date, this has always been one of my favourite Beatles song and the other thing I love about its abnormal verse length is that it was very typical of Lennon because he liked writing sections that didn't fully fit into a usual 8- or 16-bar phrase
It seems very common for folk and country music of that era. The “verse” ends with a breath at the end of the line, not necessarily something conforming to an 8-bar or 16-bar pattern.
The cycle of fifths section - C-G-D-A-E - is also exactly the chords of Hendrix's "Hey Joe", and a good set of chords for a beginner guitarist to learn, the basis for the so-called CAGED system. So this is a good song to use for teaching that -- it's two measures per chord, which also helps. Furthermore, the melody always lingers on a chord tone, giving us something else to teach about.
The 'cycle of fifths' pattern, either dropping a fifth or rising a fourth, is very old in music. Classical composers have used this for hundreds of years (listen to some of Bach or Händel's modulating sequences) Also, many jazz standards use this sequence of chords (e.g. "Fly me to the Moon"). I think Lennon and McCartney were geniuses because their level of creativity was so extraordinary. They drew on so many other genres and then gave them their own little 'what-if' twists, leading them into new and original musical worlds.
@@TheKipperedOne -- " All the Things You Are" is a really good example, but pretty complex. Easier ones would be "Autumn Leaves" or Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive". The very common iii-VI-ii-V-I progression is all fourths.
This song has been voted the number-one rock song ever by Rolling Stone Magazine, among others. What a masterpiece. You have to wonder how they pulled it off.
A particular aspect of this tune when contrasted with another band’s tune is that the sequence that begins after “…went into a dream” the melody during the chord sequence of C G D A was used by Deep Purple in “Hush” but much faster. It’s nonetheless the same melody once you sing along with it.
If I remember my Beatles history correctly, the line "I'd love to turn you on" was controversial because it was considered to be an incitement to take drugs, rather than a reference to sexual arousal. Funny how times change!
Lennon also contributed the "Can't get no worse" response lyric in "Getting Better" by Paul. John's negativity was a major reason why The Beatles can't be dismissed as a "Sunshine Pop" group, even though a lot of Paul's song belong in that category. John also gave Paul the stanza "I used to be cruel to my woman/I beat her and kept apart from the things that she loved" in "Getting Better."
@@SelectCircle - I think many Paul songs are interesting, and so did John. However, "Eleanor Rigby" and "Yesterday" are some of the few moody Beatle Paul songs. "Helter Skelter" sounds dark (ask Charles Manson), but It's just Paul larking about. John literally wrote a song titled "Help!" and sang about wanting to die in "Yer Blues," and went totally existential in "Tomorrow Never Knows."
@@SelectCircle LOL, it was PAUL who added many interesting parts to John's songs: Bass line on "Come together" "I'd love to turn you on", orchestral crescendo on "A day in the life" guitar solo on "Good morning good morning" Intros and keyboards on "Lucy in the sky" and "Strawberry fields"+ Tape loops on "Tomorrow never knows" Paul wrote "Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby", "Helter Skelter", and experimental fun songs like "Wild honey pie" or "Why don't we do it in the road" He was just so much more diverse and imaginative than John...
@@gutgolf74 Then why'd the band need John at all? Had John never existed for Paul to try and impress on occasion - then Paul would be known today as another Neil Sedaka.
@@SelectCircle Dude, YOU made the ridiculous claim that Paul only made simple pop and John did the interesting stuff. I blew that claim to pieces, and now you try to make it sound like I said Paul didn't need John AT ALL?! 😀 Sore loser, I guess... Fact is, Paul needed John and John needed Paul, obvious for everybody. End of story, don't make up cr@p.
In case no one has mentioned this, here is one of my favorite tidbits about this song.... Lennon's spectacles... After revolver, Lennon was in a film called "how i won the war" based on a book written by lennon. The film was a flop. The third verse of "a day in the life was specifically about this. "I saw a film today oh boy The english army had just won the war The crowd of people turned away But i just had to look Having read the book" It was during the making of this film that john was given a pair of glasses, standard military issue, the round ones. The glasses never came off.
The crescendo was Lennons idea, here part of the book: It was Lennon’s idea to have the orchestra engage in “a tremendous build-up, from nothing up to something absolutely like the end of the world
A Day in the Life should NEVER be listened to without the Sgt Pepper Reprise first. I grew up in St. Louis, and the local radio stations ALWAYS played Sgt. Pepper w/ A Little Help from My Friend s AND Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. We always got all 3 songs played on the radio as a medley. On the flip side we also got the last two songs done the same way. This is an incredible listening experience. The Repise is a heavy metal version of Sgt. Pepper sung in 4 part harmony, sliding into the ethereality of a Day in the life. What you get is: A Paul (Sgt Pepper Reprise), a John (I heard the news), a Paul (woke up got out of bed) and back to a John to close out. Its a fantastic sureal medley. A Day in the Life is almost a completely different experience when it is listened to this way. I think a law should be passed that says you have to listen to these songs together when played commercially. Also the lyrics don't hold up. John was of the opinion, if you get an idea, wrap it up quickly or it will drag on forever (which can be very true). Often with his songs we get the best lyrics first and the the last lyric can be poor or even absurd. He himself reflected later that he wish he had come up with something different for the ending of Revolution than ranting on Chairman Mao. In a day in the life, a friend of his was killed, and the lyrics said he laughed at the photographs. Yeah, it rhymes but that's about it - I think he put too much emphasis on wrapping it up. The middle lyric is quite good, but the last verse's lyric is, well, deserves to be last (imagine, no pun intended, if that lyric had gone first?).
Not to sound harsh, but this one is a bit redundant. The actual content how they wrote the parts of the song is quite small. The rest is a mixture of another analysis of the song and showing off your replica recording.
It’s easy for people to think of the Beatles as just an old pop band. But they were first and foremost artists who enjoyed the arts scene and experimenting with sound and visuals, and we are a lucky generation!
Hi David.. I would love it if you could make a video to give an insight into the melodic piano side of Aphex twin.. songs such as aisatsana,avril14th or nanou 2… he’s known for his “out there” electronic music but his piano work is so beautiful.. keep up the great work 😊
The last song ever played on Radio London in 1967. If you think this is emotional, you should try hearing it as a 13 year-old who is listening to his favourite radio station closing down for ever. They said goodbye, played this, that final chord died away and then the Big L theme tune played - and silence. For a few minutes we heard the hiss of the carrier, then the transmitter was turned off and 266 was dead. I switched over to Caroline and they had a minutes silence for the passing of their rival. No 13 year-old should have to go through that - everything finishing just as it started. One of the most traumatic days of my life. And then, to add insult to injury, they started that pale, pathetic, imitation, Radio 1, on the very morning of my 14th birthday...
3:02 Gruppen: I enjoyed Rattle's Band performing this. We were taken out of Symphony Hall after the first half lollipop to the Conference Centre where there were the three stages were set up. There were two performances to allow Channel Four editing/fluff space, and we could shift to be among the orchestras between performances. What an amazing experience it was.
Great video, I love all your videos. I think you are slightly biased in giving Paul more credit for too many of the song’s sections. There are differing viewpoints from other sources out there.
Spectacular analysis of one of the greatest songs ever written, frequently identified as the Beatles masterpiece. The contrast with a very ordinary band promotion couldn't be more dramatic ...
