On the 1st of June, the psychedelic-rock album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, celebrates its 50th anniversary. The album has had a huge impact on the music world because of its innovative style.
The album Sgt. Pepper’s is a kind of theater-play, with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band as an alter-ego of the four famous Beatles. The album is filled with fantastic stories and psychedelic ‘trips’ in both the music and the lyrics. The lyrics on this album are about love, growing up, life and all the confusion that comes along for that ride.
The Fab Four were ready for something entirely new after performing in matching suits and haircuts for years on end. In 1967, they wanted to make a radical change, and so they made history with the music, lyrics and the artwork on Sgt. Pepper’s.
On the 1st of June, this iconic moment in music history will be celebrated with a live tribute of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band performed by The Analogues in the Ziggo Dome. In this Top 5 list we will show you some of the most beautiful lyrics from this legendary album.
5. When I’m Sixty-Four – The Beatles (Yellow Submarine, 1967)
You know you’ve found ‘the one’ when you look at your lover and can imagine growing old together. Paul McCartney has a talent for writing the most beautiful, cute and recognisable love songs. In ‘When I’m Sixty Four’, Paul sketches an idyllic future that makes us swoon:
When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
If I’d been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty-four?
You’ll be older too
And if you say the word
I could stay with you
When I’m Sixty-Four – The Beatles
Can you see this happening between you and your crush? We wish you lovebirds all the best!
4. She’s Leaving Home – The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)
Most of us will find this next song relatable. It’s bout being ready to move out of your parent’s house and starting a life of your own. Eventually, even the most tightly knit families can become suffocating, which could mean it’s ready to leave home! Learning how to stand on your own two feet and finding out what is important for you is all part of growing up:
Wednesday morning at five o’clock
As the day begin
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She goes down the stairs to the kitchen
Clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the backdoor key
Stepping outside, she is free
She (we gave her most of our lives)
Is leaving (sacrified most of our lives)
Home (we gave her everything money could buy)
The parents don’t seem to understand that their daughter wasn’t happy at home. At the end of the song, she finally found a way to be herself and that she is having a good time
Friday morning, at nine o’clock
She is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Greeting a man from the Motortrade
She (what did we do that was wrong)
Is Having (we didn’t know it was wrong)
Fun (fun is the one thing that money can’t buy)
Something inside, that was always denied,
For so many years
She’s leaving home
She’s Leaving Home – The Beatles
3. Fixing A Hole – The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)
Whenever I need to ease my mind, I frantically start cleaning and rearranging my home. This might be a strange habit, but if I have interpreted these lyrics correctly, it seems like Paul McCartney would understand what I’m trying to do. Fixing a hole in the roof is quite different from moving a sofa, but it seems like McCartney is trying to find some peace of mind by changing his surroundings:
I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go
I’m filling the cracks that ran through the door
And kept my mind from wandering
Where it will go
And it really doesn’t matter if I’m wrong I’m right
Where I belong
I’m right where I belong
See the people standing there who disagree and never win
And wonder why they don’t get in my door
I’m painting my room in the colourful way
And when my mind is wandering
There I will go
And it really doesn’t matter if I’m wrong I’m right
Where I belong
I’m right where I belong
Fixing A Hole – The Beatles
Everyone needs their little oasis of peace and quiet, right?
2. A Day In The Life – The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)
This song is the final track of the album, and in some parts sounds quite sombre and confusing. Lennon sings about a dream he’s having, before McCartney takes over with a happy tune about ‘reality’ before slipping into a dream again. Wonder what inspired them… 😉
What I love about this song is how it shows multiple sides of ‘reality’. For example, you almost exclusively hear horrible things in the news, even though daily life can feel quite pleasant. How do you cope with this contrast?
I read the news today oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
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
And then Paul happily starts singing:
Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream
A Day In The Life – The Beatles
Are you curious how this dream ends? Read the rest of the lyrics here.
1. With A Little Help From My Friends – The Beatles (Yellow Submarine, 1967)
Can you imagine the kind of close friendship that builds up when four friends become famous and travel around the world for years? Although The Beatles eventually broke up and went their own ways, they must have had a unique bond together. There’s no need to explain why this song is a real ode to friendship!
What would you think if I sang out of tune
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song
And I’ll try not to sing out of key
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends
What do I do when my love is away?
(Does it worry you to be alone?)
How do I feel by the end of the day?
(Are you sad because you’re on your own?)
No, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends
With A Little Help From My Friends – The Beatles
Will you be singing along in the Ziggo Dome? Enjoy!
Close your eyes
When I was 14, my friend and I became obsessed with The Beatles. We owned all the music, knew the lyrics by heart and spent long nights watching their movies. At the height of our Beatle-mania we went to a fair called the Beat-meet, where you could buy old records, posters and collectors’ items. 😍
After years of being obsessed, it will be an amazing experience for me to hear a live interpretation of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at the Ziggo Dome. Especially because The Beatles never performed this album live. During the concert, I’ll close my eyes throughout the concert and imagine that I’m in the presence of my four favourite lads from Liverpool. ❤
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Would you like to continue reading about legendary artists? Earlier we asked the question: What is Queen’s music actually about?.
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