Shocked!! THE BEATLES: I AM WALRUS reaction 

GREAT REACTION, and very honest!! You are allowed to be "confused" by this song. The story is that John Lennon was getting increasingly annoyed by some music critics trying to find some "hidden meaning" is his lyrics, so he wrote this nonsensical song and said," Well, Let's see them analyze that!" 😂 As you move through The Beatles catalogue, you will discover that this band was as musically DIVERSE as any band in history ! THANKS for this one!

It is amazing that this was the same band who recorded "I Want to Hold Your Hand" only 4 years earlier, and the album "With the Beatles" with only half an album of original songs. Their musical expansion was and is unbelievable.

I Am The Walrus is packed with in jokes, LSD fueled imagery and childhood nursery rhymes. I remember hearing it when it was released. For the first time, I felt I was on the outside looking in. Up till then the Beatles singles had garnered mass appeal. 'Walrus' was released on the follow up single to the Beatles 1967 'Summer of Love' single All You Need Is Love. The difference was jarring. It was also the first song the Beatles recorded after the passing of their manager Brian Epstein. Your reaction A C is exactly what I expected. Subdued and a bit confused. I felt the exact same way. RNB

John mentions "Lucy in the Sky" that was one of their songs "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" from their album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"

The Beatles were constantly changing and evolving as music was changing on a monthly basis back in the 60s. Beatles were at the forefront of it all and were always one step ahead of everyone else as far as songwriting and recording techniques…as a result not only changed popular music for ever but also changed how we listen to it. I Am The Walrus was released in 1967 during a very experimental era in music, it’s said that John found out a college professor was teaching on analyzing lyrics by The Beatles amongst others. John Lennon found this out so he wrote this song to purposely have it not make any sense lyrically to give them something to really try to figure out. The lyrics don’t make sense or have a common relation within itself and the mere fact it still stumbles people today was his intention from the beginning. Awesome groundbreaking tune and beautiful reaction!

A brilliant album free of business men greed where genious flourishes. The Beatles with George Martin, who himself a genious composer and studio technician, enjoyed a LSD trip with the band and thus they laid out the future for all great bands. A mixture of technical brilliance with a connect to the mystical spirit of music that can crush your heart one second and lift your soul the next.

The greatest most creative innovative band that ever existed. Brilliant musical geniuses

A very different Beatles song from a very different, experimental time! Thank you for listening to it, Cyn, but you might enjoy songs like Yesterday, Here There And Everywhere, From Me To You, and Ticket To Ride more! Keep up the great work on your channel!!

This is really really enjoyable surreal/fantasy/rock from John, influenced in part by an acid trip or two (it was the 1960's) and in part by Yoko's abstract art.. The musical arrangement is incredible, I imagine George Martin was responsible for that and the addition of random voice tracks over the top (no doubt Yoko's influence - listen to Revolution Number 9) all in all was genius.. RIP John..

The story goes that John was fed up of so called "experts" analysing their songs, so he wrote I am the Walrus. It shows their diversity and I think you're right, they seem to have invented Progressive Rock! Nice reaction

This brief Genre was called "Acid" Originated from the Era of Korean and Vietnam wars from the mid 60's to mid 70's

A wonderful reaction to I Am The Walrus. lol Pure and utter nonsense done brilliantly and even ends up being sing-alongable in true Beatles fashion.

Great reaction, there’s so much to explore in the Beatles cannon.. Enjoy !

It's like rock, pop and rap !

You are absolutely right! The Beatles have a great amount of influence on progressive rock, specifically Yes and all rock n roll.

That is all the Beatles playing. There is a sort of video of this song used in Magical Mystery Tour.

so creative n fresh, i relay like v use of v chellos, v bealtes r going on another level rnd vis time.

Hohoho hehehe hahaha! 🤣 Absurd psychedelic masterpiece!

A masterpiece ❤️

Avant-garde. Brilliant.

All the Beatles played on this track :)

Hi Cynthia! I tend to agree with your assessment of this. Another good reaction! Here's to your next one! 🙏🙂💜

Great song.... loved it from moment I heard it as a 10 year old in 1970.

Hey Cynthia, you nailed it. This is early prog rock from the Beatles. Not so much from technical muscianship, but conceptual composition. The Beatles integrated orchestral music into a band setting like no other, and that's due to the genius of George Martin their producer, the true fifth Beatle. This track begs the question, did George Martin drop LSD too?

Yes all of the Beatles played on this song but it was written by John Lennon. Paul McCartney and George Harrison were on backing vocals

This album is really good its just that it's more advanced in the progression of there music, as it evolved. John Lennon loved playing with lyrics, they didn't necessary have a meaning and the Beatles loved experimenting with different sounds plus around this time they were influenced by the drug culture. They actually made a movie about this which got panned by the critics but was actually nominated for a Grammy. There some great songs on this album, like Hello, Goodbye , Fool On The Hill, All You Need Is Love, Penny Lane, I mean this album was really great I think.

Johns sarcastic and justified dig at the music press and others who constantly looked for hidden meanings in his songs. Total and deliberate nonsense and in jokes. Basically him saying “ make some sense out of that lot” It was all the Beatles playing but written by just John But a great review

For those who are interested here are the full lyrics including the overdubbed voices at the end, a fascinating read indeed.. 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 corn flake 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 egg man They are the egg men I am the walrus Goo goo g'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 crying I'm crying, I'm crying 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 egg man They are the egg men I am the walrus Goo goo g'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 egg man (now good sir) They are the egg men (a poor man, made tame to fortune's blows) I am the walrus Goo goo g'joob, goo goo goo g'joob (good pity) Expert, texpert choking smokers Don't you think the joker laughs at you (ho ho ho, hee hee hee, hah hah hah) 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 have seen them kicking Edgar Allen Poe I am the egg man They are the egg men I am the walrus Goo goo g'joob, goo goo goo g'joob Goo goo g'joob, goo goo goo g'joob, goo Joob, joob, jooba Jooba, jooba, jooba Joob, jooba Joob, jooba Umpa, umpa, stick it up your jumper (jooba, jooba) Umpa, umpa, stick it up your jumper Everybody's got one (umpa, umpa) Everybody's got one (stick it up your jumper) Everybody's got one (umpa, umpa) Everybody's got one (stick it up your jumper) Everybody's got one (umpa, umpa) Everybody's got one (stick it up your jumper) Everybody's got one (umpa, umpa) Everybody's got one (stick it up your jumper) Everybody's got one (umpa, umpa) Everybody's got one (stick it up your jumper) Everybody's got one (umpa, umpa) Slave Thou hast slain me Villain, take my purse If I ever Bury my body The letters which though find'st about me To Edmund Earl of Gloucester Seek him out upon the British Party O untimely death I know thee well A serviceable villain, as duteous to the vices of thy mistress As badness would desire What, is is he dead? Sit you down, Father, rest you

It’s the Beatles’ version of a Sydney Pollack painting...colors, strokes, texture, chance, whatever.

Aside from the lyrics, which other commenters have covered well, one fun thing about this song is it's possible to know exactly WHEN it was recorded, as the speech near the end is from a radio set in the studio that was tuned in briefly to a BBC radio station and recorded for this song.

The Beatles didn't shy away from surreal lyrics and musical experimentation.

You should watch the music video for this song from the movie magical mystery tour

Just be thankful no one suggested Revolution 9.

Your face and body posture is a lot like my Mom's was when I played it for her! She was pretty sure my generation was going to come to a bad end. You've got to let yourself go when listening to the Beatles psychedelic music, IMO! I Am The Walrus is an epic journey into the inner mind, and can only be appreciated with a totally open mind, which I know you're trying to do...

From a lyrical point of view this is sublime abstract poetry, brilliant stuff.. Enjoy all the different images and bizarre circumstances John throws up and just let them entertain you..

You’ve just listened to a slice of Psychedelic Pop/Rock, the precursor to Progressive Rock. This was released at a time when hippie culture exploded and popular music was redefining its limits. Foremost in this ‘new music’ were The Beatles with this sort of whimsical song. Rock’n’roll was out and psychedelia was in, the fashion and the music were just cool. Anything weird was considered great even if you didn’t understand it. Let’s be frank - nobody did!! Lennon wrote this song and indulged his word-play to excess. He was a master songsmith who used the sound of words like a musical instrument. “Expert,-texpert”, “mister-city-policeman”, “yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dogs eye” are all nursery rhyme ‘nonsense’ phrases that don’t mean anything but sound good in the context of the song. Doubtless they’d sound even better if you were stoned whilst listening! The usual high-brow brigade would be picking over the lyrics looking for hidden meanings for ‘a deeper understanding, man’ but that’s what they do! The song is great fun and I said whimsical earlier as you hear in the bridge section “Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun” which is another reference popular at the time to ‘British’ culture, all part of British Psychedelia. In summary don’t try to understand the lyrics or you’ll grow old doing so and we don’t want that! The music is a timepiece as in it was of its time and it’s greatest impact was at that time. Nowadays we still enjoy it but see it more as an historical musical curiosity. Enough said, … now where did I leave that tab of LSD??

Well, since you took the plunge, how about trying their classic off Revolver - Tomorrow Never Knows. Enjoy! 🎸

Cognitive functions disabled by trance Disabling of normal association structures/decrease in associative cohesiveness One example of this is the wording of the songs by the Beatles in their hallucinogenic drug stage such as “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “I am the Walrus”. Lines such as, “Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies,”, and “Picture yourself on a train in a station, with plasticine porters with looking glass ties,” and “Semolina pilchard climbing up the Eifel Tower”. The loss of normal association structures also occurs in dreams and schizophrenia.

"Man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allen Poe."

More Beatles pls

this is a song that rewards repeated listens... the lyrics are confusing if each phrase is taken literally, but all together create an ominous mood of apprehension, like when you have a disturbing dream that doesn't quite make sense, or like a drug trip that is teetering on the verge of going bad, or the scarier parts of the Wizard of Oz which is referenced in the background "woohs" @ 4:04...the confusion of the lyrics becomes a part of it.. the Beatles never rested on their laurels and were always trying something new... I'd be curious to hear what you think of it after listening to it three times

The Beatles pretty much invented progressive rock with "a day in the life"....Trail Blazers all the way!

John Lennon was amused that college professors were having classes dedicated to the Sergeant pepper album and teaching the philosophy of the songs he wanted to make a nonsensical song that meant nothing to throw the professors off their game hence he came up with I am the walrus

Although it has a (hidden) message: People who think they are good ones do bad things. Like the walrus in that poem ("Alice in Wonderland") who cries after eating his friends.

I can tell you John Lennon is up there having a big laugh at everyone trying to work out this song. It was his joke on the world. He had heard that several schools/colleges and universities including his old school was setting assignments for students to explain the meaning behind Beatles songs. So John's reaction was to make up a song where the lyrics did not mean anything at all. Your reaction is exactly what John was looking for. Just treat it a musical work. The music in this song is in a different direction and is very experimental. So in the end John got even with his old teachers. I say, let John Lennon have his fun but musically this song is great and you are right is one of the very early prog rock songs. If you go through their whole catalogue you will find the Beatles had a go at everything. Great reaction to a great song by a great song writer done by a great band.

Yeah the reason he wrote this song Cynthia is because all these critics were asking about meanings of all the different song John had written and he finally just I said what the heck I'm going to write a song that doesn't make any sense at all so I know they will be trying to decipher what the meaning is when there is really no meeting at all nasty isn't that amazing? They were doing Progressive music before there was Progressive music because they were so ahead of their time I think there was some Shakespeare play taken off the radio and put in here and there there was one part of the roof it's really grotesque about Yellow Matter Custard to take from a dead dog's eye he actually got that from one of his old schoolmate she was talking to him and he said what was that strange nursery rhyme with used to sing and it was about dogs eyeballs and custard or something it was just some strange nursery rhyme they used to say as kids anyhow yeah John are real prankster but it is a great song I mean the melody to structure the orchestration everything is really awesome just doesn't sound like anything else and that's what makes it so unreal

The lovely Ambrose Cynthia seems totally confused by this song. She doesn't get it, but truth be told, no one got it. It was just the Beatles, especially John Lennon, experimenting with sound, with lyrics, with possibilities. It was just good fun.

Please please please react to For No One. It's my favorite Beatles song

Plain version is very good ok, but with all clever strings and overdubs...above anything

This would be difficult for anyone not of their generation to really get. I admire you for trying.. I see more detailed explanations below.

I loved John Lennon's word play, he did this in a few Beatles song, unfortunately not enough imo....

Psychedelia

Uma das primeiras e incríveis músicas psicodélicas dos Beatles...só os Beatles pra serem tão inventivos assim...os caras era fantásticos....letra alucinógena e música idem.....

Everyone loves their corporation. Tee shirts -John Lennon

First and foremost: This IS the Beatles, and not a John Lennon single. Second: In regards to the lyrics, John Lennon later said about this song that Bob Dylan used to get away with nonsense lyrics, and that he "could write that crap, too" so the lyrics have no real meaning. Third: The lyrics are an amalgam of sorts, as he used words for a different song in spots, like "Sitting on a cornflake...waiting for the van to come..." Some of the lyrics were written while he was on LSD with a friend, and the rhythm of the begining of the song was sung in such a way as to match a police car siren: "I am HE as you are HE and you are ME" Later in the song, what sounds like "smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot" is not that at all. It's "oh-PAH, oh-PAH, everybody oh-PAH." So, Lennon was using sounds to shape the sound of his lyric. I enjoy the song for the way it sounds. The sound of his voice. The sound of the band. The sound of the strings. There is no deep meaning whatsoever. Just enjoy the way it sounds, lol

I love watching reactions to I Am The Walrus because the lyrics aren't meant to make sense. It's just Lennon being cheaky and messing with us. They're mostly bits and bobs of his wondering mind references to memories, likes, etc.

Beatles psychedelic era, don’t concentrate on lyrics instead let them carry you away on the magical musical trip

Oh, Ambrose, I really enjoyed and laughed at your reaction, or lack of reaction, to this song. First, I want to agree with another commentator there are other songs on this album that are really great and worth reacting to. But it's so funny, Ambrose! It is like Walrus was written to be a bad song on purpose, LOL. I don't think anyone really liked this song much then or now. And yet millions enjoyed it along with good Beatles songs because they knew how strongly the Beatles were experimenting with music around this time. I think we kind of subliminally knew the Beatles were being bad boys on purpose here. They were almost being anti-music on purpose. There is sort of an adolescent rebellion quality here. It is sort of a teenage or adolescent "I'm going to be a bad boy today" kind of quality to this song. I almost feel like they were making a critical comment on bad things about the establishment, or society, in this song. And things the other commentators said here absolutely make sense such as deliberately making this song sound like it's suppose to mean something and it doesn't so they the Beatles were having fun confusing people on this song. The Beatles had such huge, tremendous success, I think they were almost trying to say in this song "Hey, we're human, and so we're allowed to make something that stinks just like other people," LOL. Or they were saying "We're not gods, and we're not perfect, and here's a bad song to prove it," LOL.

Looks like you decided to jump into the deep end of the pool.

Plz react to faouzia ft john legend minefields and hero

I've never heard anyone call this a 'lovely song'. Don't bother with the lyrics. It is psychedelic imagery at its best from arguably the bebst person in the world to write it. John was amused that people were always looking for magical hidden messages in their songs so he put this together with the idea to give obsessed fans something to play with. And they did. I know because I was one of them. John was drugged up one evening, probably LSD, and an ambulance or police car went by. The sound of the siren mad him paranoid but also inspired to use the modulation as the backbone of this song. The first line of lyrics was literally written while John was on LSD. The second line was from another trip. The rest is just a hodge-podge of absurdity. Then about midway in to the mix, John turns on a radio that was broadcasting a Shakespeare play 'King Lear' and added that to the song. This would later become evidence that Paul McCartney was dead and John was trying to give a int to the fans. Crazy days. Some fans became so delusional trying to decipher the Beatles' alleged messages that it lead into some very dark places. After the Beatles released the White Album several months later, Charles Manson was so certain that the Beatles were sending messages to him that he instigated the killing of a number of people with the hopes of starting a race war. Like I said, crazy days.

Hey my dear... this particular Beatles song left a big "question mark" on both of us. My first thought was : Okay... whatever the Beatles took before they recorded this song, they should take LESS of it. :-) It left me as confused as it left you... the text, the sound, the music... everything was so unusual for this band. Maybe we should both listen to this song again to find the "deeper meaning" in it... LOL ! :-) Next Beatles song should be "The long and winding road", which is one of the most beautiful and will surely become one of your favourites, too. Hugs and kisses : Gerry

Everybody smoke pot

Hi Cynthia I can tell from the expression on your face that you really don't like this song. It was made during the time they were getting ready to break up and they were experiencing with different sounds.

Just a bit of nonsensical music to me.