A. Some sly inclusions of sex into Beatle songs:
1. Penny Lane:
a. The phrase "four of fish and finger pie" is a delicacy as likely to be found under the table, as upon.
b. "He likes to keep his fire engine clean/ it's a clean machine"--In '60-ish Liverpool "fire engine" was a euphemism for penis.
2. Girl:
While John is singing "She's the kind of girl who puts you down when friends are there.."
Paul and George are singing the backvocals "tit tit tit tit tit tit..."
3. Happiness is a Warm Gun:
When I hold you in my arms
and I feel my finger on your trigger
I know nobody can do me no harm because...
John had read the title as a headline in a magazine or newspaper article promoting guns.
The song also has these memorable lyrics
She's well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand
Like a lizard on a window pane
The man in the crowd with the multicolored mirrors
On his hobnail boots
Lying with his eyes while his hands are busy
Working overtime
A soap impression of his wife which he ate
And donated to the National Trust
B. Drug references: Before they split they seldom wrote openly about drugs and always denied the suggestions that they'd put drug references into the lyrics of their songs
1. At the end of I Am the Walrus during a march rhythm segment some people hear "Everybody smoke pot....Everybody smoke pot." According to some who were there what was actually sung is "Oompah Oompah stick it up your Joompah''. According to one Beatles triv website there was actually an early 1930's song with those exact same lyrics. Paul especially was fond of camp early Hollywood songs and the related English "music hall"--"Honey Pie"(Rudy Vallee-like megaphone use), "Your Mother Should Know", "Lady Madonna", "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and others show their debt to 1920's and 30's styles. John, however, in an interview said what they actually sang was "Everybody's got one...got one, got one." When Lennon was asked "Everybody's got one what?", he said "One asshole, one penis, one vagina, you name it."
2. Lucy in the Sky in the Diamonds does not stand for L. S. D. John wrote the song based upon a drawing of his very young son Julian.
3. I think an exception to the drug-free lyrics rule is found in John's description of the automobile casualty in A Day in the Life: "He blew his mind out in a car. He didn't notice that the lights had changed." Lennon fantastic imagery in Strawberry Fields Forever, Wlarus, Lucy in the Sky , and Mr. Kite were more influenced by his fondness for Lewis Carroll, nonsense poetry, and absurd and dark humor then by drugs. He wrote similar stuff as a student in journals, some later published in Liverpool Music newspapers as early as 1960 or '61(if my memory serves). In His Own Write, his book of nonsense, wordplay-rich and absurdist prose and poetry published in 1964, was largely written years earlier. He was a beer drinker at the time.
1. Penny Lane:
a. The phrase "four of fish and finger pie" is a delicacy as likely to be found under the table, as upon.
b. "He likes to keep his fire engine clean/ it's a clean machine"--In '60-ish Liverpool "fire engine" was a euphemism for penis.
2. Girl:
While John is singing "She's the kind of girl who puts you down when friends are there.."
Paul and George are singing the backvocals "tit tit tit tit tit tit..."
3. Happiness is a Warm Gun:
When I hold you in my arms
and I feel my finger on your trigger
I know nobody can do me no harm because...
John had read the title as a headline in a magazine or newspaper article promoting guns.
The song also has these memorable lyrics
She's well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand
Like a lizard on a window pane
The man in the crowd with the multicolored mirrors
On his hobnail boots
Lying with his eyes while his hands are busy
Working overtime
A soap impression of his wife which he ate
And donated to the National Trust
B. Drug references: Before they split they seldom wrote openly about drugs and always denied the suggestions that they'd put drug references into the lyrics of their songs
1. At the end of I Am the Walrus during a march rhythm segment some people hear "Everybody smoke pot....Everybody smoke pot." According to some who were there what was actually sung is "Oompah Oompah stick it up your Joompah''. According to one Beatles triv website there was actually an early 1930's song with those exact same lyrics. Paul especially was fond of camp early Hollywood songs and the related English "music hall"--"Honey Pie"(Rudy Vallee-like megaphone use), "Your Mother Should Know", "Lady Madonna", "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and others show their debt to 1920's and 30's styles. John, however, in an interview said what they actually sang was "Everybody's got one...got one, got one." When Lennon was asked "Everybody's got one what?", he said "One asshole, one penis, one vagina, you name it."
2. Lucy in the Sky in the Diamonds does not stand for L. S. D. John wrote the song based upon a drawing of his very young son Julian.
3. I think an exception to the drug-free lyrics rule is found in John's description of the automobile casualty in A Day in the Life: "He blew his mind out in a car. He didn't notice that the lights had changed." Lennon fantastic imagery in Strawberry Fields Forever, Wlarus, Lucy in the Sky , and Mr. Kite were more influenced by his fondness for Lewis Carroll, nonsense poetry, and absurd and dark humor then by drugs. He wrote similar stuff as a student in journals, some later published in Liverpool Music newspapers as early as 1960 or '61(if my memory serves). In His Own Write, his book of nonsense, wordplay-rich and absurdist prose and poetry published in 1964, was largely written years earlier. He was a beer drinker at the time.
