I Am The Walrus

By John T. Marck

A great song by Lennon, and those of us who admire him greatly, rate this as one of his best. This disjointed song was written from an amalgamation of at least three other songs he was working on at the time, but which he thought were not good enough on their own. Many of the images were taken from actual events, such as the policemen, which came about when he heard their car sirens one day, and he tried to copy the rhythm of the sirens, and was originally one of these unfinished songs. The second song was a pastoral melody created at his Weybridge home garden, and the third was a nonsense song about sitting on a corn flake (he liked ®Kellogg's Corn Flakes). However, much of this song is made up of nonsensical images and words invented by Lennon, such as semolina pilchards, elementary penguins, texport, crabalocker, etc. One of his inspirations for these ludicrous images was Bob Dylan. Lennon believed that Dylan got away with murder in some of his lyrics, so as Lennon explained it in later years said "I can write this crap, too." The only lyric in the song where Lennon was serious is the first line, where he describes his belief in unity of all things. Lennon invented the line 'elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna' as a jibe at Allen Ginsberg who chanted Hare Krishna at public rallies, and the walrus came from the Lewis Carroll poem, The Walrus and The Carpenter."

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 cornflake, 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 eggman, they are the eggmen, 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 eggman, they are the eggmen,

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 eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the walrus,

Goo goo g' joob, Goo goo'g joob

Expert, texpert choking smokers don't you think the joker laughs at you

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 Allan Poe

I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the walrus,

Goo goo g' joob Goo goo g' joob, Goo goo g' goo, goo goo g' joob goo,

juba juba juba, juba juba juba juba juba juba juba, juba, juba

NOTE: The spoken voices at the end are from Shakespeare (King Lear Act IV Scene VI), that were taken from a BBC broadcast at the time The Beatles recorded this.

NOTE: All lyrics contained herein are © Copyright Northern Songs. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. The lyrics contained herein are for the sole use of educational reference for the readers of this article. All other uses are in violation of international copyright laws. This use for educational reference, falls under the "fair use" sections of U.S. copyright law. Copyright © 2000-2022 by John T. Marck. All Rights Reserved. This article and their accompanying pictures, photographs, and line art, may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from the author, or the registered copyright holders. Except as otherwise stated above, all information contained in this article, EXCEPT song titles, lyrics, and photographs © John T. Marck.