Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 19, 20 January; 3, 10, 22 February 1967
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Released: 1 June 1967 (UK), 2 June 1967 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, acoustic guitar, piano
Paul McCartney: vocals, piano, bass
George Harrison: maracas
Ringo Starr: drums, bongos
George Martin: harmonium
Mal Evans: piano, vocals
Erich Gruenberg, Granville Jones, Bill Monro, Jurgen Hess, Hans Geiger, D Bradley, Lionel Bentley, David McCallum, Donald Weekes, Henry Datyner, Sidney Sax, Ernest Scott: violins
John Underwood, Gwynne Edwards, Bernard Davis, John Meek: violas
Francisco Gabarro, Dennis Vigay, Alan Dalziel, Alex Nifosi: cellos
Cyril MacArthur, Gordon Pearce: double basses
John Marston: harp
Basil Tschaikov, Jack Brymer: clarinets
Roger Lord: oboe
N Fawcett, Alfred Waters: bassoons
Clifford Seville, David Sanderman: flutes
Alan Civil, Neil Sanders: French horns
David Mason, Monty Montgomery, Harold Jackson: trumpets
Raymond Brown, Raymond Premru, T Moore: trombones
Michael Barnes: tubas
Tristan Fry: timpani, percussion
Marijke Koger: tambourine
Available on:
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Anthology 2
Love
The climax of their masterpiece Sgt Pepper, A Day In The Life found The Beatles at the peak of their creative powers, an astonishing artistic statement that saw them fearless, breaking boundaries and enthralling generations of listeners with the timeless quality of their music.
A Day In The Life - that was something. I dug it. It was a good piece of work between Paul and me. I had the 'I read the news today' bit, and it turned Paul on. Now and then we really turn each other on with a bit of song, and he just said 'yeah' - bang, bang, like that. It just sort of happened beautifully.
Rolling Stone
The lyrics
A detached, dispassionate glimpse through the looking glass at the everyday life he was content to let pass him by, A Day In The Life was inspired by a series of disconnected events that entered John Lennon's consciousness: the death of millionaire socialite Tara Browne, his own appearance in Richard Lester's film How I Won The War, and a council survey that found 4,000 holes in the roads of Blackburn, Lancashire.
I was writing A Day In The Life with the Daily Mail propped in front of me on the piano. I had it open at their News in Brief, or Far and Near, whatever they call it. I noticed two stories. One was about the Guinness heir who killed himself in a car. That was the main headline story. He died in London in a car crash.
Anthology
The 17 January 1967 edition of newspaper reported the coroner's verdict into the death of Tara Browne, an Irish friend of The Beatles who had driven his Lotus Elan at high speed through a red light in South Kensington, London and into a parked van.
Browne was the great grandson of the brewer Edward Cecil Guinness and the son of Lord and Lady Oranmore and Browne. He was in line to inherit a £1m fortune upon his 25th birthday, but died at the age of 21.
In Hunter Davies' authorised biography of The Beatles, John Lennon explained how the words of the song were indirectly inspired by the events.
I didn't copy the accident. Tara didn't blow his mind out. But it was in my mind when I was writing that verse.
The Beatles, Hunter Davies
In his authorised biography Many Years From Now, Paul McCartney suggested that the Browne story featured to a lesser extent.
The verse about the politician blowing his mind out in a car we wrote together. It has been attributed to Tara Browne, the Guinness heir, which I don't believe is the case, certainly as were were writing it, I was not attributing it to Tara in my head. In John's head it might have been. In my head I was imagining a politician bombed out on drugs who'd stopped at some traffic lights and didn't notice that the lights had changed. The 'blew his mind' was purely a drugs reference, nothing to do with a car crash.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
Filmed in Spain and Germany in autumn 1966, How I Won The War was John Lennon's only non-Beatles film role. The lyrics of A Day In The Life also allude to the novel on which the film was based, written by Patrick Ryan and first published in 1963.
The middle section ("Woke up, fell out of bed") was an unfinished song fragment written by Paul McCartney, its practical earthiness providing a perfect counterpoint to Lennon's languorous daydreaming.
It was another song altogether but it happened to fit. It was just me remembering what it was like to run up the road to catch a bus to school, having a smoke and going into class. It was a reflection of my schooldays. I would have a Woodbine, somebody would speak and I'd go into a dream.
The reference to having a smoke, however, along with the refrain "I'd love to turn you on", led to the song being banned by the BBC.
I had this sequence that fitted, 'Woke up, fell out of bed', and we had to link them. This was the time of Tim Leary's 'Turn on, tune in, drop out' and we wrote, 'I'd love to turn you on.' John and I gave each other a knowing look: 'Uh-huh, it's a drug song. You know that, don't you?'
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The final verse was also taken from the Daily Mail's Far and Near column. "There are 4,000 holes in the road in Blackburn, Lancashire," it read, "or one twenty-sixth of a hole per person, according to a council survey."
There was still one word missing in that verse when we came to record. I knew the line had to go 'Now they know how many holes it takes to... something, the Albert Hall.' It was a nonsense verse really, but for some reason I couldn't think of the verb. What did the holes do to the Albert Hall?
It was Terry [Doran, a former car dealer and friend of Brian Epstein's who later became head of Apple Music] who said 'fill' the Albert Hall. And that was it. Perhaps I was looking for that word all the time, but couldn't put my tongue on it. Other people don't necessarily give you a word or a line, they just throw in the word you're looking for anyway.
Anthology
Related articles:
- Recording: Eight Days A Week, Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!, Mr Moonlight, I Feel Fine, I'll Follow The Sun, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, Rock And Roll Music, Words Of Love
- Recording: In My Life, Nowhere Man
- Recording: Any Time At All, Things We Said Today, When I Get Home
- Recording, mixing: Run For Your Life, We Can Work It Out, The Word, I'm Looking Through You
- Got To Get You Into My Life
'A Day In The Life',... you can almost see it being typed out on paper as the title of a news story;...
Flash! Just out across the headline news! Speaking for the generation of young people growing up and living out their daily lives; the 'Ah' sung and final key played, summed it all up! The Beatles transcended their time to become, larger than life, to truly become 'the history' of their own time! Like Mozart, List, and Bethoven before them! This Album and this song resurrected them, metamorphized them, and historically hung them musically in the Louve of modern recorded sound, music and lyrical poetic greatness! We still owe them a big debt of gratitude for their creative genius and courage!
I believe their MBE's we're well deserved.... Her Majesty was also truely, 'ahead of her time'..,Yes!
Their greatest achievement.
When I watch Anthology and you see George Martin playing the song and you see GM, reflecting back on the actual moment
Its like you can see the words on his forehead, the video in his mind, remembering this great moment
In George Martin's book, All You Need Is Ears, he writes of his memories of John requesting an expanded sound for A Day In The Life.
Just for fun, here's an interesting mash-up involving "A Day In the Life" and "Karma Police". Hopefully it's okay to post links here...if not, you can remove it. Anyone who doubts that Radiohead was heavily influenced by the Beatles should check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwicb2g3TNk
A Day in the Life isn't just part of Sgt. Pepper's, it IS Sgt. Pepper's
Ringo's drums are just beautiful! In my opinion this is the only song on the album that is really recorded well. I am always in the mood for this one. I will never tire of it. "4,000 holes in Blackburn, lancashire"
If you can find the multitrack version of this, get it! It's a fascinating listen... especially the vocal track. The cycle-of-fifths chord progression (I think of it as the "dream" part) with Lennon's "aah ahh ahh" vocals is REALLY spooky when you hear it isolated. The bass and drum track is also very cool.
Hey Coffee Shop, where can one find the "multitrack version" you speak of? I've never heard of it...
Hello Joe! I hate to be boring but shouldn't Mal Evans be given some form of credit for sounding the alarm clock and counting in the 24 orchestral bars? Both elements greatly add to the song's atmosphere. Perhaps the term for the count-in could be "backing vocal"?
Fair point. I've added vocals for him.
The best song created of all time.
Lennon's dreamful echoed vocals.
McCartney's excellent middle section and sublime bass and backing vocals
along with George in the ''ahhhh...'' section, my favorite along with the orchestra and well, all the whole song.
Oh, and Ringo's best drumming of all Beatles song, the best drum i'd ever heard.
And of course, Mal Evans and the 24-bar section, and the massive Orchestra playing like crazy.
I have the multitrack tapes from a bootleg, and i remixed the song with the original hum ending and piano chords, and remixed channels.
But i'd to attempt around 51 mixes to get it right.
Yup, 51 mixes.
That's a record for me.
I never worked on a song so much attemps and it's hard to mix it correctly and remaster it.
Obviously, i would never compare it with 2009 Remasters. These are unbeatable.
Again, the best song ever created.
Best recorded piece of music in the history of recording. Legendary, colossal, mammoth, mind blowing. Colonel Salt could go on and on.
I always thought the 'holes' reference was John being smart with what I deemed to be his typical word play i.e. really refering to how many 'ass-holes' it took to fill Albert Hall. The information on this site doesnt really point at my assumption as being correct, but (and poetically), this is my intepretation and I believe Johns subliminally intended. How many ass-holes does it take to fill Albert Hall?
If that was true, it would probably have been "arse-holes" but I'm not sure I've ever heard The Beatles ever say "arse-hole" or "ass-hole".
In the Anthology version Lennon said "just to keeping in my maracas" or something like that. Who played maracas? Was Harrison present? How many acoustic guitars were recorded?
On the Anthology DVD George Martin said that George Harrison played the maracas. I belive I read that Joe is going to do an article on the Antholgy CD's soon. Stay tuned to the site.
I'm really sure that the dream-part (ahhh...ahhhh) was written and sung by Lennon. He was also able to reach high tones. He just didn't do it so often like Paul. Listen to songs like Sexy Sadie or Happiness is a Warm Gun.
Lennon sang the ''aaaah'' part, and there's very almost inaudible backing vocals of Paul and George saying ''aaah and uuuhh''.
Listen the vocal track tape.
I have it.
There's no doubt.
100% Lennon's voice.
I agree. But are you sure there are backing vocals? I can only hear the echo of Lennons voice.
Emerick confirm this: Lennon alone sang this ahhh part.
Absolutely sure. I can send you the vocal track.
I just listened to the vocal track on youtube. Great!!
And I am now 110 percent sure that the "Aaaa" part is sung by - Paul McCartney!
Check out the very last seconds to make sure.
Sorry, EltonJohnLennon, but John didn't do that one.
It sounds as if John is making some high noises while George is doing some "Uuuhs".
Oh my God. And you say you are a fan of Paul McCartney? You should know his voice. Paul sings right before that part. You must hear the difference. And don't say Paul could sing like John.
Paul is on backing vocals - with George.
Well, for someone calling himself after John you don't seem to know his voice very well.
Paul's voice is "fuller" than John's.
The last high "aaah" sounds like John the most, but at the very, very end it is most obviously Paul.
The high "aahs" in the background sound very much like John, on the other hand.
Btw:
Put in your White Album copy.
Play “Why don’t we do it in the road” and the next track “I will”.
You must hear the difference.
Still both Paul.
Very nasty what you said about my CD collection. I have the remastered version of the "White Album". This "copy"-attack says a lot about your niveau but not about mine.
I've listened to the track on youtube. The backing vocals are scarcely audible. It is nearly impossible to hear who sings it. The lead vocals are so dominant. So you can't say that you identified John's voice.
You say in the last two seconds it sounds very much like Paul. That's ridiculous. What about the rest? It is so obviously John.
But, you're right. This discussion doesn't make sense. I will never accept that it's Paul because it's not true. "A Day in the Life" is John's song. Paul's contribution is the very simple middle part.
And with that I'm closing this debate, as it's become pretty tedious. Please carry on in the forum if you want to.
I hope Joe will let me say that I didn't mean to "attack" anyone with the word "copy" in any way.
I'm not a native English speaker.
Don't you say "Good album, you should get a copy"?
Both Martin's and Emerick's books credit John for the original idea of the building-up sound for the 24 bars. Then, they said McCartney suggested an orchestra, and since they don't get a full orchestra, it was Ringo (yes, amazing) who suggested double-tracking. But then again, John's ideas were exactly what Martin used for the free-form score.
Also, Emerick confirm that the "I'd love you to turn..." part was there in the first John demo.
But there are more:
Ringo plays bongos and Harrison maracas, and then Martin decided to switch them. But then again, why we can hear Lennon asking for "his maracas" in the anthology version?
I think there is no doubt now that John sang the dream-part after Pauls middle section.
"I'd love to turn you on" was the only contribution from Paul for Johns part. But I think he only tells him the words. Then John put it into the musical structure.
You think wrong, it is definitely Paul.
Sorry, but if you think that's Paul you do not know his voice. It is so obvious.
Sorry again, but if you think that is NOT Paul you don't know his voice.
Did you listen to the vocal track on youtube?
It is really obvious.
On the "Love" version it did sound more like John, but I always thought it was Paul, and the vocal track confirmed it.
We could play this game the whole day I guess. I still know I'm right, of course.
Btw, while Geoff Emerick used to be one of my Beatle heroes:
After reading some comments about Emericks words I think it is correct to assume that he cared more about selling his book (by stirring even more conflicts among John and Paul fans) than getting the facts right.
This could indeed go on all day, and it's a little boring to read a conversation that's clearly going nowhere. I won't publish any more comments on this matter unless they bring something genuinely new to the table.
If you want to continue the "It was Paul"/"It was John" debate, feel free to use the forum. You can carry on there to your hearts' content!
I think I'll never forget the experience of singing the "ahhhh" chorus in Paul's concert. It was raining a lot, and I think everybody raised their arms and sang to the top of our lungs. It was amazing.
"[Paul] explained that he wanted his voice to sound all muzzy, as if he had woken up from a very deep sleep ... My way of achieving this was to deliberately remove a lot of the treble from his voice and heavily compress it to make him sound muffled. When the song goes into the dreamy section that John sings, the full fidelity is restored.
"Although the overdubs to the middle section were being done separately from the main body of the song, it had already been edited into the four-track master, which made Richard [Lush]'s job of dropping in and out a bit tricky. Paul's vocal, for example, was being dropped into the same track that contained John's lead vocal, and there was a very tight drop-out point between the two--between Paul's singing "...and I went into a dream" and John's "ahhh" that starts the next section. Richard was quite paranoid about it--with good reason--and I remember him asking me to get on the talkback mic to explain the situation to Paul and ask him not to deviate from the phrasing that he had used on the guide vocal. I was really impressed when Richard did that--I thought it showed great maturity to be proactive that way. John's vocal, after all, had such great emotion, and it also had tape echo on it. The thought of having to do it again and re-create the atmosphere was daunting...not to mention what John's reaction would have been! Someone's head would have been bitten off, and it most likely would have been mine. But Paul, ever professional, did heed the warning, and he made certain to end the last word distinctly in order to give Richard sufficient time to drop out before John's vocal came back in. Listening carefully, you can actually hear Paul slightly rush the vocal; he even adds a little "ah" to the end of the word "dream" giving it a very clipped ending."
Geoff Emerick & Howard Massey, Here There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (London, 2007), p. 152.
In the book "Recording the Beatles" by Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew they settle who sings the aaahs in this song. They say it is clearly Paul. From pages 443 to 444: "Though many have understandably attributed this vocal to John Lennon in the past,isolation of the vocal reveals it to be Paul." By the way, this book is a must read for any fan.
Can't hear a harmonium, are you sure it's there?
I would say there is, in the final chord on the left channel of the stereo mix.