anonymous February 21st, 2008 02:49PM  
This may sound silly but it sounds reasonable to me. Did anybody ever think about going back and figuring out where and when John wrote this song and look at the newspaper from that day and see if the articles match the lyrics of the song? Maybe this will answer questions about the "Paul is dead hoax" and clear up what is still foggy in people's minds.

anonymous February 22nd, 2008 11:56AM  
Anybody know what the end is supposed to say? It sounds like a bunch of jibberish but I don't think it is. What does it mean?

drencrom68 September 27th, 2008 09:57PM  
Anonymous said:

"Some of the interpretations of this song are way off base. This song is actually comprised of two songs that John and Paul put together. John constantly read newspapers about world events and was often fascinated by them. When he says, "I read the news today, oh boy," he means it quite literally.

The first verse is about the newspaper story about the guiness heir's (lucky man who made the grade) fatal car accident. He ran an intersection and was killed. At the scene, the passersby thought they recognized him as someone famous.

The second verse is literally about a movie that John had saw. The movie was a flop, but John found it interesting because he had read the book. The last line in the second verse is a throwaway line, and true to john's love to put sexual innuendo in his songs, it is simple and suggestive.

Originally, the song had 24 bars of dead time that John didn't know what to do with. It started with an alarm clock that had went off in the studio (by accident) and was left on the four track tapes. Paul was working on a simple song about a typical hectic day in a working joe's life. He sings the third verse about this uneventful morning.

The final verse was about another newspaper story John had read. The english government had spent a fortune counting potholes in the streets of blackburn lancashire. He thought it was absurd to spend the money that way instead of fixing the streets.

It really is that simple. The crescendo's of the orchestra were paul's idea to give the song drama. The final notes were made by bringing a bunch of grand pianos in the studio and having all of the beatles, george martin and geoff emerick pound the chord and then turn the recording volume up gradually to make the chord last as long as possible."

and he was close, but off on a few things.

The second verse is about "How I Won The War", a movie John
had made with "A Hard Day's Night" director, Richard Lester.
He hadn't read the book, he had been in the movie, but, you know, songs tend to rhyme.

The twenty four bars of dead time do not start with the sound of an alarm clock, they end with it. It WAS accidentally set off when Mal Evans was counting out the bars. That's his voice you can hear in the background during the initial "swell." He is counting to twenty four.

Also, it was Mal who was involved in the simultaneous piano chord, not Geoff Emerick, who was the recording engineer and in the booth at the time. Additionally, it was not all
grand pianos, but whatever pianos they could find in Abbey
Road at the time.

The line "I'd love to turn you on", was not a throwaway
sexual innuendo. Both John & Paul said in several post-Beatles interviews that it was a deliberate drug reference.

mgc October 19th, 2008 04:50PM  
A day in the life

I read the news today oh, boy
About a lucky man who made the grade (about jfk)
And though the news was rather sad (and though it affected me)
Well, I just had to laugh (there was something funny about it)
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car (the gunman blew jfk's mind out while he was in a car)
He didn't notice that the lights had changed (jfk was unaware of the danger)
A crowd of people stood and stared (loads of people saw it happen but froze)
They'd seen his face before (they knew the killer?)
Nobody was really sure if he was from the house of lords (ppl questioned if he was from the government?)

I saw a film today oh, boy
The english army had just won the war ("they" "found" the "killer")
A crowd of people turned away (and attention dropped)
But I just had to look (but not mine)
Having read the book (cause I knew what was going on)
I love to turn you on. (ill tell you more)

Woke up, got out of bed (my eyes had opened and I decided to take action)
Dragged a comb across my head (I reviewed past events)
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup (found the answer and got very pissed)
And looking up, I noticed I was late (in retrospect, I saw I was way behind)
Found my coat and grabbed my hat (found something to protect me and took the evidence I needed)
Made the bus in seconds flat (didnt delay)
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke (and met with high up people and told them my story)
Somebody spoke and I went into a dream (then they told me theirs and it opened my eyes for another reality)
Ah (lamenting, screaming)

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 (I can't tell you more)

This last verse is supposed to be about corrupt politicians but doesn't seem to connect to the rest of the story except that its all about corrupt politics.. maybe it's about a different kind of holes.. like bullet holes.. Though I don't understand 4 thousand.. maybe he just wanted to illustrate there were (to) many?

anonymous October 20th, 2008 03:48AM  
This was a song about the heir to the Guinness (brewery) fortune, who was a member of the House of Lords. His name was Wade, and he was killed in a car accident shortly before the song was written; he was in his early 20s. The whole song is written and sung from a detached third-person perspective, as if you are reading the news getting ready for work, in a hurry to rush out the door to catch your bus, then going out to a movie later ("I saw a film today...")

"Four thousand holes in Blackburn...": "Holes" is a British dialect pronunciation of "halls", common in Blackburn at the time.

justme November 3rd, 2008 05:32PM  
I'm only 17 however I'm doing this in college and I reckon that the song was written to show how people read the news and see horrific things like war and instead of doing things to stop it or to find another solution to it they just ignore it and go on with their everyday life. They make the same mistakes and only care about their day in their life, not how others are living. For example in the first two verses they are talking about the news and all bad things then the third verse is all about going out and being late for somewhere and completely forgetting about what they have seen and read.

anonymous January 28th, 2009 08:15AM  
first verse is about tara browne, the heir to guiness beer. he was john's friend and didn't know he had died in a car accident until he read the news. second verse is about the movie "how i won the war" which john was in. the song then is merged with an orchestral crescendo cacophony(thanks to george marin's expertise) into a separate piece that paul had written, but not completed. the song then reprises with another verse from john about the counting the pot holes in blackford, a town in lancashire.

Vallick February 7th, 2009 09:58AM  
For me its sound like John wrote this song by himself on the day he received the news that they found a replacement for paul.

John is upset because Paul is dead. The song is about finding a replacement for paul. I read the news today oh boy about a lucky man who made the grade. Johns clearly talking about pauls replacement faul who made the grade. Though the news was rather sad John just has to laugh looking at the photo graph. Johns having conflicting emotions about Pauls death and can't help but laugh at the photo of Pauls replacement.

John is not reading the main stream news. Instead John gets the inside news that they found a replacement for paul

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.

The above lyrics paint a very clear picture that Paul died in a car accident

For me its sound like John wrote this song by himself on the day he received the news that they found a replacement for paul.

Its sounds crazy at first Paul dyed in 1966 but this type of thing happens. I found out about Paul after I was investigating Henry Paulson who was assassinated jan 2007 but for some reason Henry paulson is still alive.
I then watched the beatles rooftop concert and then I found all these videos about Paul dieng in 1966. I first found out about Henry paulson and this seems to be a true story and then I find out about Paul who died in 1966 but is still alive hmmm. I hope the illuminati didn't sacrifice Paul or anything dirty like that but who knows. This is a crazy thought maybe a satanic group of people murdered Paul and they cut of his head for there rituals. They then put him into a car and crash it to make it look like he was decapitated in the crash. you never no hollywood is ruled by people who worship satan and the Beatles were friends with the aleister crowley crowd right???

anonymous March 30th, 2009 06:17PM  
Ok I know it doesn't really have to do with an interpretation but if you wait until the last few lines which are "Never could be any other way" repeated, and play it backwards, you hear "When will Paul be back as superman" and not I want to **** spider man like some idiot posted...The Beatles put many messages like this in their songs and album covers to make people think Paul was dead. They were funny people and they just wanted to see how crazy people would go trying to figure out if he was actually dead.

beatlesfan101 April 9th, 2009 06:55PM  
this song is about a friend of the bands who was killed in a car crash he and his girlfriend were driving and he did not see that the street light had change and he died from severe head injuries and john was reading the storie and was just writing as her read he truly is a geneous (musically) his friend was also an heir of a famous beer company but i forget which one. :))

JamesPaul April 14th, 2009 06:22PM  
This is kind of a general statement regarding all songs. Art is self portaiture, the lyrics probally reveal some unconscious insecurities, desires, fears, etc of the writer. Another theory- art is only percieved through the eyes of our own psyches, so there is no pure art. something that paul meant may mean something totally different to another person.

anonymous July 30th, 2009 12:25PM  
At the end of A Day in the Life, after the final chord, you will a high-picthed note intended only for dogs to hear, because John didn't want dogs to be left out of Sgt. Pepper's finale. After that, you will a strange message. The message is "will Paul comeback as Superman". That is related to the "Paul is Dead" hoax.

shoveitin August 5th, 2009 06:26AM  
if you imagine john being a master pulling strings of peoples imaginations with words and imagery, then this is what this song is. we make the meanings. he only picks them out of our brains. because he knows exactly how you think as a human being and the what various thoughts you think. there

crackerjack January 29th, 2010 06:22AM  
This song, like many others (It's Only Rock and Roll - The Rolling Stones ... Limelight - Rush) expresses the frustration that songwriters feel in consequence of their writing efforts going entirely over the heads of their (adoring) audiences... They'd truly love to "turn you on" ... to the significance of a tragic death in a motor car, for example ... but you might only be wondering if the deceased is famous ... ... a member of the House of Lords, let's say ... (otherwise, how interesting is it, really?) ... or to the inhuman horrors of war ... (but the war is over, isn't it? ... so why bother to watch a dreary film about it?) ... In the third verse, he tells you just how many holes (empty suits ... vacant minds) it takes to fill a premier performance venue in England - The Albert's Hall ... It got to be that the Beatles couldn't even hear themselves play above the wailing of the audiences ... so they ... stopped ... :) ... Pal McCartney's contribution is almost disgracefully ironic ... All his (entirely amiable .. even admirable) fellow is concerned with is getting to work on time ... and not looking too disheveled when he gets there ... to have a smoke and a (well -deserved, right?) cup of "joe" ... ... Well ... with all that's wrong with the world (as was then ... as is now) can you blame him ...? :)

anonymous February 14th, 2010 02:12PM  
The song is one of a myriad of clues concerning Pauls' death, back in the 60's by being hit by a car.