"I am the Walrus" and "Hello Goodbye" by the Beatles on Capitol

The thing about the Beatles is that they've never been part of anything else. Three years ago they stood in the wind next to Stonehenge singing "The Night Before" amused and surrounded by tanks. Then last summer they came out in flowers. Lucy in the Sky in with Diamonds was an anagram for LSD; A Day in the Life smoked pot; and then there was All You Need Is Love. Great new sounds, but it sure looked like they'd joined the hippies. After their new 45, we can turn around and read the summer differently. They may have dressed like hippies and even been fascinated by hippies, but they stuck to their own insights and philosophy.

The significance of these two songs above and beyond their new album, "Magical Mystery Tour", is evident in their pre-release as a single. The first, (I am the Walrus), is their most erudite, least musical, and longest ever; as the Beatles biggest extravaganza, it's even more enigmatic than "Strawberry Fields".

The transcription on the inside of Capitol's jacket cover is far from adequate. Aside from the obscurity of allusion the text has simply omitted some words ("mister" in line nine) and has scrambled others (this is heard more clearly in the album's more audible selections). Following is our annotated version of the song:

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together (1)

See how they run (2) like pigs from a gun see how they fly,

I'm crying. (3)

Sitting on a cornflake (4)--waiting for the van to come.

(5) Corporation teashirt, stupid bloody tuesday man you been a naughty boy

you let your face grow long. (6)

I am the eggman (7), they are the eggmen (8), I am the walrus (9)

GOO GOO GOO JOOB (10)

Mister city policeman sitting pretty little policeman 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.