THE BEATLES - I AM A WALRUS | REACTION 

John's answer to people who analyze every Beatles song for hidden, deep meanings.

the album version is so much more clear than this version. React to album versions when you do the beatles, they sound amazing

This isn't the original version and does not do it justice :(

This version leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the background sounds were drowned out and cut short. This is in their top 2 for me by the Beatles with "A Day in the Life". We can't always agree and that is ok.

I Am The Walrus is a all time worldwide classic masterpiece, musical and lyrically. John showing and writing his sense of humor and smile to those who analyze his lyrics. Love this song. Thanks.

The song was supposed to make you feel lost in the sauce. It did its job.

Oops! Wrong title. It's "I Am "The" Walrus," not "A" Walrus. Anyway, great song and I love your reactions.

Beatles knew how to turn the weirdest lyrics into a beautiful song. Goo goo g'joob

This version was cut short. It’s a Psychedelic anthem from 1967. You should listen to the whole album of Magical Mystery Tour because the first side is from the bbc television special and I Am The Walrus is the climax. It’s my favorite Beatles song but I love weird. You missed the amazing ending too. Horrible synchronization issues between the audio and video didn’t help either.

Definitely listen to the studio version, this was out of sync, and missing quite a bit of tracking. It’s still weird, it’s just better. Lennon purposely wrote it to confuse, so he succeeded!

Was this an alternate take? this is not the real version.

This version sounded like it was missing a track and it cut off the ending. There were a lot of interesting bits left out.

This video was someone’s montage they created with Beatles imagery and portions of the song. It is NOT the actual song.

As others have said, it was designed to do what it did to you. That being said, there was something odd about this version. At the end the lyrics started to go out of sync with the music. I’ve never heard that happen on any other version of this that I’ve heard. Also, the ‘wooo’ at the end of every line of the chorus was way back in the mix. I think this audio has been doctored.

Don't worry.... This was deep in a very high moment ...we didn't get it either. .

This is a great track and you probably should have listened to the og version.

This is true psychedelic rock. And the lyrics are deliberately created to confuse those who have never been experienced, Have you ever been experienced? Well, I have.

THE walrus! happy 420

This definitely sounds like a cover with John's vocal track layered over it. There's no way you could have known that though.

this song and Strawberry Fields are special to me (I love strange music, back then this was strange.)

Worth listening to the full instrumentation and vocal version. This wasn't the released issue on Magical Mystery Tour

This song was inspired by the poem The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll from Alice Through The Looking Glass. John said that he later found out after that the Carpenter was the good guy and the Walrus was the bad guy. Perhaps the title should have been called "I Am The Carpemter"

This is definitely NOT the most accessible Beatles song, but there is genius contained within it.

The Eggman is supposed to be the nickname of the exceptional singer Eric Burdon of The Animals who is said to have had a penchant for eating eggs from the bodies of naked groupies. The Animals are further referenced in the song with "I'm crying"which itself was a song of theirs written by Burdon and the hugely talented Alan Price who played keyboards in The Animals

Well, I still don't know what the words are about after all these years of listening to it. But that never stopped me from liking the song.

I've never heard this version. Sounds like a version that was left on the cutting room floor.

I think if you found a different video to watch you might like it better. The sound on that video was missing one channel. It sure didn't sound right.

"I am "the" Walrus, I am the egg man, Coo-coo-ka-choo!

Not familiar with this version of the song. Listen to the album version. Just an added note, you say that you don't get it. That's the point, there is nothing to "get". It's just a interesting composition.

People are still confused by this song. Some say John wrote it to screw with a former teacher whom he heard was savagely critiquing his Beatles lyrics in class. It's a bizarre song but it grows on you.

John shoulda titled this: "Analyse This!" He had a lot of us scratchin' our nOOdles ... until it dawned on us.

This is different than the album version. Never noticed that before.

This version is like listening to it with only one speaker. The video is different too.

The Beatles during their psychedelic phase! THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR album is fire!!

That's the charm in this song it's goofy. I love this song. Of course I'm goofy so maybe that's why?

Hey man...it ain't fer everbody...."Koo kooo Kachoooo" LOL

Masterpiece, just an awesome song about everything, everywhere, all at once.

This is a song of a song of its a time, back then we just knew where they were coming from and loved it, they were just blasting out random lines for the critics to pull apart or try to analyse as with Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, fab from the fab four.

"The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus" may be the first cousin to "Come Together" for sheer weirdness and obscure lyrics.

This is 1 of the best Beatle songs. John found out that teaches in schools were analyzing their lyrics and made this song just to show that he could put any lyrics in a song.

"Sitting on a corn flake, waiting for the van to come." You can't beat Lennon's lyrics.

I am the Walrus is not a one listen song, it's a song that grows on you after a number of listens and for that reason was put on the B side of Hello Goodbye which was the super commercial A side. The unorthodox melodies and chords make it unforgettable once it's inside your head. The song was written in August 1967, at the peak of the Summer of Love and shortly after the release of Sgt Pepper. Lennon later claimed to have written the opening lines under the influence of LSD.

I don't know if the sound was off so it wouldn't get blocked, but the sound was horrible. It is a weird song today, so you can imagine what it sounded like back in the 60's. It was just John having fun with words. No deep meaning, just a great song. I have loved it since I first heard it as a kid in the late 60's.

Deep Beatles fan here! Hate to lay this on you Chod, but this is not the original version from the album 'Magical Mystery Tour'. This is a lesser version done for the movie of the same name made the same year as the album release. Now, do the much better original studio album version that 99.9% of us know very well, just to compare! You'll hear the difference right away. Been a Beatles fan since '64 at age 9 and know their great music well and I have to say this is only the second, maybe third time I've listened to this particular version.... including now! LOL! The original album version however, I've listened to an uncountable number of times! Best to stay away from music videos like this that are not original studio releases of songs or albums, unless they're using the very same original released song with it. As for the meaning, John sometimes wrote lyrics because the words and sentences sound great to the music, not for any real meaning. There is no real meaning here, just interpretation. Think of this song like viewing a Dali surreal painting at an art gallery. Or an abstract form of art, rather than a familiar landscape or a Rembrandt portrait. Progressive rock is sometimes surreal or abstract which the case for 'I Am the Walrus'. I would really like to see your reaction to their awesome studio version you'll find on the album Magical Mystery Tour. But it may still confuse you! LOL! Don't feel bad, man. When we first heard this back in late '67 we were wondering "What the f*** is this?" LOL! We loved it though, and we were trying to find all these hidden meanings and only years later realize there's no real meaning, just enjoy the song and interesting music and weirdness for what it is. Like a Salvador Dali! ✌️😎

John took disparate thoughts, ideas, and words that struck him and lumped them into this song haphazardly to confound the listener - in response to hearing that teachers were asking students to analyze Beatles’ lyrics (mine included). The basis is Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter (from Alice Through the Looking Glass), a favorite author of John’s and inspiration for many lyrics in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. The two characters in the story are always crying as they lure young oysters to their doom as their dinner; I can hear them chugging along the beach in the music. John also took “eggman” from a carton of eggs, the yellow matter line from a childhood rhyme, the name Pilchard from the police figure who was after high profile celebrities for drug use, etc. I urge watching the whole of the Magical Mystery Tour movie for the history (as precursor to Monty Python) and for the visuals and other amazing music. Their colorful outfits and large to minute movements (especially John’s and Paul’s) in this piece are amazing! 😊

ver bad recording!....listen to one with just audio......it cuts off 2/3 of the way thru!!

This is not the final mix thought. I think you would love "while my guitar gently weeps" from " the white album"

The album version is one you can Bob your head to a bit more. There's not a Lotta meaning to unpack from this one, that's the way John wrote it

It was funny how I happened to be looking up Eric Burdon’s Wikipedia profile shortly after hearing this and found out he was “ The Eggman” ! I can’t say much more about how John nicknamed him that since it involved a kinky use of an egg so you would have to check it yourself to read the weird story behind it.

Oh, not just _any_ walrus, *THE* walrus!!

I was a child when I first heard this and I loved it. I loved it bc I enjoyed that it messed w ppl always trying to make sense of things. Ppl needed to know that sometimes you just gotta have fun and stop trying to make sense of things. The Beatles were the first to do this.

Listen to their song "Glass Onion" . IT tells you who the "walrus" was.

The song was about John poking fun at critics and fans on how they try to dissect the meaning of their songs. All tongue in Cheek!

Absolutely brilliant Beatles! So different to anyone else, this is not the best version, which is out of this planet. Please try to get a best version. It is outstanding flipping great.

You are discovering why The Beatles were so popular and why they are still popular......and why they influence sooooo many other artists. I absolutely love this song.........and Helter Skelter. They are truly the gods of Rock n' Roll along with Yes of course.

This Is NOT the actual song from Magical Mystery Tour, it's an alternate take that is vastly inferior to the finished product, the video seemed to have behind the scenes shots that aren't in the actual video. I would say try seeking out the official video, even if on your own time.

John found out schools were analyzing lyrics to find meaning. He wrote this purposefully to say "Try and figure this one out". John was all about imagery. Painting word pictures. There was rarely a message or hidden meaning. If there was it was usually about hookers, transvestites, or drugs, to get around censors. Paul was the song crafter, and John was the song painter.

It was in the 60's the B-side from the single of the great hit "Hello Goodbye".

When I heard to this song for the first I totally loved it, this is my favorite beatles song

its john just stringing together words and rhymes because fans were always trying to read into the lyrics, so he just put all this crayz stuff together.....it was 1967......

Just a note to the host,who wasn't aware that their songs were constanting being analized.John Lennon was tired of everything they wrote was under a microscope.so, John wrote a killer song where the lyrics meant absolutely nothing. That was John's way of saying analize this.sometimes nothing can so much.Get it?

By far one of my favorite Beatle songs.

Crazy images from a crazy time the 60s! Lyrics are reflecting the chaotic times......

This version is not complete. It s one of the most complex song. Masterpiece

This song was done for a tv special that was only seen in england,the album was appart of the show magical mistory tour,, from what I know they were contractually obligated to do this but were not crazy about it.

Interesting version. It's a little stripped down, which is great for John's vocals, but the background effects are missed.

I love it because it is different and it was written to be that way .

The walrus was Paul ... according to John Lennon, "Glass Onion" off the White Album.

That's I'm the Walrus!!! Your not expected to get it!!! 🤷🏻‍♂️ If you were tripping you would still not! 😂😂😂😂😂

Oh my Chod, don't even try to make sense of it. John was tired of every Beatles' song being taken apart to find the earth shaking meaning. He figured let them try to do something with this song. LOL Once you get past this, you can enjoy the music of it. Thanks for this.

Back in the day, in England they had “the egg man” like we here in the US had “the milk man”.

Great song but I definitely like the original from Magical Mystery Tour much better. Its unfortunate The Beatles have so many different versions of their songs out there and often the original album versions don't come up first.

ME AND MY DADDY'S FAVORITE SONG👨‍👧💙💯✊🏾

Listen to what they were doing in the studio (for 1967!) Lyrics aren't everything in a song , weird doesn't just mean bad it means different

Not the final version of i am the warlus my friend!!!

Never have and never will understand why this band grabbed the zeitgeist and were elevated to such a high level by so many. I have the utmost respect for there influence and importance, but other than Tomorrow Never Knows, which I think is a great song, they do little for me personally.

This is an outtake, and remixed by someone on youtube and a bad one at that, the ending lennon vocal has been shifted out of time. The actual official song is one of the most sonically well put together pieces in pop music, the arrangement for orchestra by producer George Martin is considered his best work on a Beatles song. Listen again without the clip and forget looking for a meaning.

You got it! That was the idea behind it... to confuse. Multitudes worldwide looked to the Beatles and their lyrics to find deep hidden meanings to life's state of affairs. War, peace, love, hate, etc. many felt the Beatles had the answers. Of course they didn't see themselves in that guru status. John Lennon said of this song: "Let the fuckers work that one out". As it turned out for hardcore Beatle freaks they found a treasure trove of even more clues in the jumble of words and phrases

This sounded like the demo cut. The point of this song was John Lennon getting sick and tired of people trying to interpret their songs badly, so in retaliation he wrote this one and basically said, "let them interpret This mess!". It was an abstract art test musically and lyrically as a joke just to get a reaction.... just like this one. Looks like it obviously still works.

John Lennon, being John Lennon, wrote this nonsensical song as a joke, just to see how the critics would interpret it. In those days, every song they put out there, single or in albums, were always heavily analyzed and critiqued, all the way from famous musical journalists to your neighborhood mechanic. But, somehow, for some strange reason, I loved this song, from the first time our local DJ broke out the album and played it on the air. Made me want rush out and by when I finally saved enough money to buy it. But, you definately have to listen to the studio version...you missed out on too much of their original sound. 🙌👌

This isn't the finished release version. Missing alot of elements that was later added.

It's been awhile since I listened to this, but was this severely truncated?

John Lennon was a great fan of Lewis Carrol and Edward Lear particularly Lewis Carroll's Jaberwoky. According to the book One Two Three Four John was sent a letter by a 15 year old pupil from his old school Quarrybank, who said their English teacher would play Beatles songs in class, and get the boys to analyse the lyrics before contributing his own interpretation. Trying to think of the daftest rhymes John remembered a song him and his friends used to sing at Quarrybank "Yellow matter custard, green slop pie, all mixed together with a dead dogs eye, slap it on a butty ten foot thick, wash it all down with a cup of cold sick" . He then added things he remembered from childhood like semolina pudding, delighting in the teacher trying to analyse the nonsense lyrics he was writing. In Revolution in the Head the late Ian Macdonald thought "it gradually became an anti institutional rant blasting education, art, culture, law, order, class, religion and even sense itself. The hurt teenager's revenge on the expert textpert schoolmasters broadens into a surreal onslaught on straight society in general an anti litany of smiling pigs in a sty, city policemen in a row, corporation Van's, and the guardians of conventional morality beating up a fellow psychedelic rebel (the opium addicted surrealist Edgar Allen Poe)". The studio version is better, including samples from a production of King Lear recorded from a BBC Third Programme production on the radio, which adds to the atmosphere. It is widely thought this song inspired Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne to later form The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) to perform their own songs in this style. Don't worry about any annoyance you may cause Mr Wilburn, you are there to give your honest opinion, but I would encourage you to listen to the original studio version, in your own time.

This song did its job... That was the whole point of it!

I grew up on the Beatles..It has always been my belief that they have to be experienced chronologically..From their beginnings, right to their end, as a group to truly appreciated them...I realize it probably wouldn't be practical here, and that's a shame, because their progression as a group was something they took us all on a ride with through the 60's..Jumping from song to song from different albums is cool, but not the best way, unfortunately..I think someone my age group could attest to what I'm saying.

I've been a Beatles since 8 yrs old. But, this is just Lennon's giberish....Please don't get mad at me Beatles fans. I love them.

30 years before Beck wrote "Loser," John Lennon was playing the 'gibberish lyrics' game. :) This is a different version tho, Chod. You should find the original--the mix (for the instruments in particular) is much better and thicker. This sounds almost like a cover or an Anthology outtake to me.

The Beatles - i want you (she's so heavy)

They had discovered lsd w/ the Stones' at a party. The for front of the drug revolution. It's on Sgt. Peppers & is a continuation of "Strawberry Fields". Listen & have fun, especially while high.

Me too about the rap I don't know It's sound the same never changes ...

An oddity. No one's favorite Beatles song.

In the 1960s, nobody had “the sound” that no one had. They were New to the US. This is one of my fav. Beatles song. The point “for me” is, enjoy the sound and rhythm of life, the authorities exist and want to keep you “in line”, it is laughable, Enjoy Your Journey Anyways.

Those outfits! lol.

They had to be tripping on LSD to write something so "out there." The Album "Magical Mystery Tour" is a great album, but man, they had to be pretty High to compose this stuff. I'll bet they had a good time making this album. I think this came out in 1966 or 67. Then came the "Sgt. Pepper album."

It's what I've been saying for decades! The Beatles had great senses of humor! This is one reason why we loved them? Sounded like this was a done by a different group? Bad, bad version. The video was not good either. Gotta try the LP release. This is a goofy fun song, but I'm not sure what up with this version.

I can understand your confusion. John was heavily influenced by Lewis Carroll, author of "Alice in Wonderland", he often used nonsensical phrases in his writings. Like others have said, John found it interesting that people sought to find hidden meanings in his songs so he added red herrings to amuse himself. As for the music, there is a guitar lesson on RU-vid by Mike Patcelli that teaches how you could play this on guitar although the Beatles recorded it with a string section and some horns. Nevertheless he points out something quite ingenious about the instruments simultaneously playing ascending and descending notes. That's something most people wouldn't pick up on but it is quite ingenious.

Probably the trippiest song every written and recorded. Full on "acid" rock.

Whoa. This is some different mix than the one from the album. For a bit there, John's voice is totally off the beat. Certainly not the version I've heard.

don't know if it's just me but, it sounded like only one side of stereo was playing.

Me and my monkey! ✌️👍 The Beatles enough said 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦🍷