I Am the Walrus

Welcome to Absurdistan! You’ll lose your way in its maze of inconsistencies and drown in confusion as you try to make any sense of it all. Common sense is not simply dead, sacrificed on the altar of narcissistic perversion and blatant sociopathy; the whole of semantics has been wiped out—and so have our sensory organs. Every sense of the word—and every human sense—has died. Literally, figuratively... and very messily. And when everything goes down the drain, all that remains is golden silence, unshakeable and non-negotiable.

That's why, this week, I’m handing the floor over to the late John Lennon, who wrote this highly satirical piece meant to mock and confound the famous "eggheads" (or "eggmen") of the time, always so desperate for hidden meanings, occult messages and mystical structures in the Beatles' songs, when it was generally nothing more than gibberish and nonsense (English humour in true Monty Python style). That didn’t stop “I Am the Walrus” from both hitting number one in the UK and getting banned by the BBC for the line "Boy, you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down". I’ve told you time and time again that the pot calling the kettle black is a long-standing toxic love affair that's not going to stop overnight.

These delightfully caustic lyrics include, among other things, references to Lewis Carroll’s poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter" ("I am the Walrus Goo goo g' joob"); to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", another highly controversial Beatles song ("See how they fly like Lucy in the sky"); to George Orwell’s Animal Farm (“See how they smile like pigs in a sty”); to Edgar Allan Poe (“Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe”); and to Hindu mysticism, the spiritual sandbox hype of the Flower Power era (“Hare Krishna”).

Admittedly, in 1967, the Beatles were deep into their psychedelic trip and fascination with Eastern mysticism, but Lennon was not yet fully committed to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which may explain his ironic tone towards any fad and conformism that mindlessly repeats mantras—the exact opposite of ‘enlightenment’. 

As for Poe, the mention refers less to the author of gothic tales than to the iconoclastic and satirical creator, long scorned by critics and taste police alike. Lennon seems to use him as a figure of genius whom "textperts" would rather dismiss than understand.

So, in the final two verses, he lashes out at everyone: the eggheads ("Expert texpert"); himself, portrayed as a troublemaking clown who doesn’t take himself seriously ("the Joker laughs at you"); and would-be spiritual gurus ("Element'ry penguin singing Hare Krishna"). 

Incidentally, the penguin naturally evokes a tuxedo, and the reference to the well-known Hare Krishna mantra adds to the overall comic effect. The same goes for the grotesque image of "Semolina pilchards climbing up the Eiffel Tower". Anything goes when it comes to social or spiritual elevation. Self-righteousness in an advanced state of deconstruction drips like "yellow matter custard".

Interestingly, Lennon does not build a narrative. He strings together a series of ridiculous archetypes, as in a Dadaist collage. Coherence does not come from any single image in isolation, but from the overall atmosphere: a world in which authority figures, scholars, police officers, gurus, institutions, and prestigious symbols are all reduced to the same level of farce. This is probably where the song’s strongest underlying theme lies.

Finally, let’s mention this brilliant interlude as an ironic joke at the British weather: "If the sun don't come, you’ll get a tan standing in the English rain". 

Not in 2026, for sure!

I Am the Walrus

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 tee shirt
Stupid bloody Tuesday
Man, you've been a naughty boy
You let your face grow long

I am the eggman (Ooh)
They are the eggmen, (Ooh)
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Mister city p'liceman sitting pretty
Little p'licemen 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 (Ooh)
They are the eggmen (Ooh)
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Sitting in an English
Garden waiting for the sun
If the sun don't come
You'll 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 g' 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 snied
I'm crying

Semolina pilchards
Climbing up the Eiffel Tower
Element'ry penguin
Singing Hare Krishna
Man, you should have seen them
Kicking Edgar Allan Poe

I am the eggman (Ooh)
They are the eggmen (Ooh)
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' joob
G' goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' joob...

John Lennon, 1967

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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