Please consider registering
Guest
sp_LogInOut Log Insp_Registration Register
Register | Lost password?
Advanced Search
Forum Scope


Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
sp_Feed sp_TopicIcon
How Do You Sleep?
sp_BlogLink Read the original blog post
23 September 2022
3.47am
Avatar
Ron Nasty
Apple rooftop
Members

Reviewers
Forum Posts: 12534
Member Since:
17 December 2012
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

@forn said
Supposedly it is in reaction to some songs on Ram , but I think John might be a little paranoid about that.  The “You took your lucky break and broke it in two” line that is so often cited is, IMO, about Linda’s ex-husband, as is the rest of the song.  I think this is what Paul has said, and if you listen to it (and several other songs on Ram ), it makes sense that way.  Paul seems to be challenging him and rubbing it in his face a bit, “I have her now, I’m the better man”.  John always thinks everything’s about him though, so… 

But then you have Paul telling Rolling Stone in 1984:

I was looking at my second solo album, Ram , the other day and I remember there was one tiny little reference to John in the whole thing. He’d been doing a lot of preaching, and it got up my nose a little bit. In one song, I wrote, “Too many people preaching practices”, I think is the line. I mean, that was a little dig at John and Yoko. There wasn’t anything else on it that was about them. Oh, there was “You took your lucky break and broke it in two”.

While he has said it was about Linda’s ex, he’s also said it was about John. So, depends on which version of Paul’s account you want to believe because he’s told it both ways.

The following people thank Ron Nasty for this post:

Rube

"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty

To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966

4 October 2022
10.22am
castironshore
Royal Command Performance
Members
Forum Posts: 244
Member Since:
12 May 2015
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Von Bontee said
I’ve never been able to parse that “You’d better see right through that mother’s eyes…line” – like is that ‘mother’ Linda? Or possibly “Sgt. Pepper “, either the fictional bandleader or the album, “mother” in this interpretation being “motherfucker”, either meaning an individual or an object? For awhile I speculated that possibly the Mother in question was Frank Zappa, leader and figurehead of the Mothers (…Of Invention), whose music John was quite enamored of in 1969/71, and who was infamously skeptical of much of the Beatles, to the point of parodying Sgt. Pepper ‘s cover and all it represented, but that may be a stretch. I still don’t get the line…

  

Think it’s just “motherfucker” in this instance. 

I’d also say Harrison was quite happy to play on this track because of what it symbolised – the end of Lennon/McCartney. It’s no coincidence he turns in one of his greatest solos. 

Helping drive a wedge between John and Paul is one thing, but if George thought it meant he was going to be closer to John as a result he was in for a shock. 

As for the song it’s the most extreme example of the beatles sending messages to each other in their writing. From “Run Of The Mill ” to “dear friend” to “i know i know” they did it across their solo careers.

The following people thank castironshore for this post:

Rube
Forum Timezone: Europe/London
Most Users Ever Online: 700
Currently Online:
Guest(s) 1
Top Posters:
Starr Shine?: 16105
Ron Nasty: 12534
Zig: 9832
50yearslate: 8759
Necko: 8043
AppleScruffJunior: 7583
parlance: 7111
mr. Sun king coming together: 6402
Mr. Kite: 6147
trcanberra: 6064
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 88
Members: 2859
Moderators: 5
Admins: 1
Forum Stats:
Groups: 3
Forums: 44
Topics: 5509
Posts: 380343
Newest Members:
frankc, viv@nelsontraining.co.uk, bornhairyman, frankkilmore123@gmail.com, onlyanorthernsong
Moderators: Joe: 5691, meanmistermustard: 24950, Ahhh Girl: 22213, Beatlebug: 18181, The Hole Got Fixed: 8410
Administrators: Joe: 5691