Tag: Smoke

Written for Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday

Today’s theme is to feature a song you know all the words to. Easy, right? Yes, especially if you’re a girl like me who’s been singing all her life. I’ve sung with bands, at dinner parties, in church, for school plays and more. I even sang on the radio a couple of times. Big whoopty-damn-doo!! That’s not bragging; it’s just the facts. Everyone is good at something; I suck at math but I have a pretty good voice and a good memory for song lyrics. These days I only sing at home, just like when I was a little kid, and I still know all the words to a ton of songs.

The difficult part was choosing just one song to write about. If I wanted to make things easy for myself, I could have combined today’s theme with next week’s; I’m not saying what it is but in my case the two themes go hand in hand. After much back and forth, I finally chose one song I know all the words to – “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles.

I’m sure almost all of you will be very familiar with this song. John Lennon wrote the melody and most of the lyrics in mid-January 1967 with Paul McCartney contributing the middle-eight section and the pivotal line “I’d love to turn you on”.

The song has multiple themes going on. Number 1, the death of Tara Browne, the Guinness heir, which inspired the first two verses. Browne, a friend of John and Paul, died in a car crash in 1966. John said the song wasn’t a copy of the incident but rather an inspiration. The opening line … “I read the news today, oh boy” … combines English tragedy with a Buddy Holly verbal tic (an involuntary sound or word that’s uttered more than necessary).

The second theme, according to Paul, is about remembering what it was like to wake up late and run up the road to catch a bus to school, having a smoke and going into class where he’d daydream. It was a reflection of his schooldays.

Finally, the third theme – Potholes in Blackburn. The song’s final verse was inspired by an article in the Daily Mail about 4,000 potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire that needed to be filled. Lennon originally read that the town would receive 4,000 plastic circles to hang in the Albert Hall to improve the acoustics. A friend of John’s suggested that they would “fill” the Albert Hall instead.

The song became controversial for its supposed references to drugs. On May 20, 1967, during the BBC Light Programme’s preview of the Sgt. Pepper album, disc jockey Kenny Everett was prevented from playing “A Day in the Life”. The BBC announced that it would not broadcast the song due to the line “I’d love to turn you on”, which, according to the corporation, advocated drug use. Other lyrics allegedly referring to drugs include “found my way upstairs and had a smoke / somebody spoke and I went into a dream”. A spokesman for the BBC stated: “We have listened to this song over and over again. And we have decided that it appears to go just a little too far, and could encourage a permissive attitude to drug-taking.”

Due to the multiple takes required to perfect the orchestral parts and the final chord, the total time spent recording “A Day in the Life” was 34 hours. 

Called the greatest Beatles’ song ever written, this is “A Day in the Life” from “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. Sing along with me!

Lyrics

I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn’t notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They’d seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords
I saw a film today, oh boy
The English Army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But I just had to look
Having read the book
I’d love to turn you on

Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream

I read the news today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
I’d love to turn you on

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John Lennon / Paul McCartney
A Day in the Life lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Procedural Memory

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week. Be sure to check out Jim’s site.

Thanks for stopping by. See you on the flip side. 😎

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