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It's 25 years now since it was issued,
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and there aren't many records
which really last in the memory
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00:00:18,506 --> 00:00:20,304
for a quarter of a century.
4
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I suppose it is a museum piece.
5
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♪ It was twenty years ago today ♪
6
00:00:26,881 --> 00:00:29,248
♪ Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play... ♪
7
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It invoked the spirit of the age,
8
00:00:31,486 --> 00:00:33,921
of the Carnaby Street and Mary Quant.
9
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It was a joyous Spurting-out of life.
10
00:00:37,191 --> 00:00:39,558
♪ The act you've known
for all these years ♪
11
00:00:39,661 --> 00:00:43,393
♪ Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band ♪
12
00:00:43,498 --> 00:00:47,264
♪ I get by with a little help
from my friends... ♪
13
00:00:47,368 --> 00:00:50,463
It was colourful, and it was peace,
and it was love, and it was music.
14
00:00:50,572 --> 00:00:55,203
♪ Lucy in the sky with diamonds... ♪
15
00:00:55,310 --> 00:00:58,575
The songwriting team thing will keep
going on whatever happens, will it?
16
00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,116
Yeah, we'll probably carry on
writing music forever, you know?
17
00:01:02,617 --> 00:01:06,110
♪ It's getting better all the time... ♪
18
00:01:06,220 --> 00:01:08,086
That's probably the big difference,
19
00:01:08,189 --> 00:01:10,556
is that people played it a bit safe
in popular music,
20
00:01:10,658 --> 00:01:13,719
but I think that's what we suddenly
realised, that you didn't have to.
21
00:01:13,828 --> 00:01:18,129
♪ I'm fixing a hole
where the rain gets in ♪
22
00:01:18,232 --> 00:01:23,398
- ♪ She... ♪
- ♪ We gave her most of our lives ♪
23
00:01:23,504 --> 00:01:25,404
♪ Is leaving... ♪
24
00:01:25,506 --> 00:01:27,838
♪ For the benefit of Mr Kite ♪
25
00:01:27,942 --> 00:01:31,537
♪ There will be a show tonight
on trampoline ♪
26
00:01:31,646 --> 00:01:35,981
♪ We were talking ♪
27
00:01:36,084 --> 00:01:38,143
♪ About the... ♪
28
00:01:38,252 --> 00:01:41,552
I remember track by track,
it was exciting at that time,
29
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nothing like it had ever been.
30
00:01:43,691 --> 00:01:47,093
♪ Will you still need me,
will you still feed me ♪
31
00:01:47,195 --> 00:01:49,459
♪ When I'm sixty-four ♪
32
00:01:49,564 --> 00:01:52,124
♪ Lovely Rita, meter maid ♪
33
00:01:52,233 --> 00:01:54,827
♪ Nothing can come between us ♪
34
00:01:54,936 --> 00:01:58,497
♪ When it gels dark,
I tow your heart away ♪
35
00:01:58,606 --> 00:02:02,338
♪ Good morning, good morning,
good morning ♪
36
00:02:02,443 --> 00:02:08,507
♪ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club... ♪
37
00:02:10,118 --> 00:02:12,951
♪ Found my way downstairs
and drank a cup ♪
38
00:02:13,054 --> 00:02:15,785
♪ And looking up I noticed I was late ♪
39
00:02:17,325 --> 00:02:19,487
♪ Found my coat and grabbed my hat ♪
40
00:02:20,294 --> 00:02:22,058
♪ Made the bus in seconds flat ♪
41
00:02:22,864 --> 00:02:24,229
In 1966,
42
00:02:24,332 --> 00:02:27,358
the Beatles had been working
most successfully for three years.
43
00:02:27,468 --> 00:02:30,631
They'd conquered the world in a way
nobody else had done before.
44
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♪ Ah, ah-ah-ah ♪
45
00:02:35,877 --> 00:02:40,371
♪ Ah-ah-ah... ♪
46
00:02:41,215 --> 00:02:43,115
And yet, things started to fall apart.
47
00:02:43,217 --> 00:02:45,379
All sorts of troubles beset them.
48
00:02:45,486 --> 00:02:46,976
John Lennon had made
his famous remark
49
00:02:47,088 --> 00:02:49,284
about being more popular
than Jesus Christ,
50
00:02:49,390 --> 00:02:54,055
which, although arguably true,
caused a great deal of upset in America.
51
00:03:05,273 --> 00:03:08,004
They were performing incessantly.
52
00:03:08,109 --> 00:03:10,373
They had heavy guards
wherever they went.
53
00:03:11,412 --> 00:03:14,382
And when they went to the Philippines,
they barely escaped with their lives
54
00:03:14,482 --> 00:03:16,576
after they'd offended President Marcos
55
00:03:16,684 --> 00:03:19,210
by not turning up
at one of his receptions.
56
00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,382
And Imelda Marcos was outraged
at the way the Beatles had ignored her.
57
00:03:23,491 --> 00:03:26,927
So, they decided they didn't want
to tour again. They were fed up.
58
00:03:27,495 --> 00:03:30,590
They really wanted to lead
something of a normal life.
59
00:03:33,501 --> 00:03:37,836
I remember we all used to run in the back
of these big vans they'd hired.
60
00:03:38,573 --> 00:03:42,066
And this one was like
a silver-lined van, chromium,
61
00:03:42,176 --> 00:03:45,737
nothing in it, like a furniture van
with nothing in it, just chrome.
62
00:03:45,847 --> 00:03:49,511
And we were all piled into this
after this really miserable gig.
63
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And I said, "Right, that's it!"
64
00:03:51,652 --> 00:03:53,984
No, we were absolutely fed up
with touring.
65
00:03:54,088 --> 00:03:56,182
And why were we fed up with touring?
66
00:03:56,290 --> 00:03:59,487
Because we were turning
into such bad musicians.
67
00:04:00,361 --> 00:04:03,729
Because the volume of the audience
68
00:04:03,831 --> 00:04:06,596
was always greater
than the volume of the band.
69
00:04:06,701 --> 00:04:10,103
And for me personally,
70
00:04:10,204 --> 00:04:13,572
on stage there was no chance in hell
I could do a fill,
71
00:04:13,674 --> 00:04:15,108
because it would just disappear.
72
00:04:15,209 --> 00:04:18,406
So I ended up just hanging on
to the off-beats
73
00:04:18,513 --> 00:04:20,345
and watching the other guys' bums
74
00:04:20,448 --> 00:04:23,509
and trying to lip-read
to see where we were, you know?
75
00:04:23,618 --> 00:04:26,918
It sounds marvellous,
being a multi-millionaire pop star,
76
00:04:27,021 --> 00:04:30,355
having the whole world at your feet,
girls screaming wherever you go.
77
00:04:30,458 --> 00:04:32,222
In actual fact, it's hell.
78
00:04:32,794 --> 00:04:35,525
And that was happening
wherever we went, even in India.
79
00:04:35,630 --> 00:04:38,497
You know, we went to India
from the Philippines.
80
00:04:38,599 --> 00:04:41,330
I planned to go there
to buy a sitar, actually.
81
00:04:41,769 --> 00:04:43,965
I was thinking, "At least
this is going to be one place"
82
00:04:44,071 --> 00:04:46,039
where we can have a bit of peace."
83
00:04:46,140 --> 00:04:49,440
And when we get off the plane, there
was all these Indian faces in the night,
84
00:04:49,544 --> 00:04:52,138
all shouting, "Beatles! Beatles!"
85
00:04:52,246 --> 00:04:54,476
Paul went to Kenya,
86
00:04:54,582 --> 00:04:57,916
went on a safari trip
as I remember,
87
00:04:58,019 --> 00:05:02,513
and John had already been
booked by Richard Lester
88
00:05:02,623 --> 00:05:04,489
for a part in "How I Won The War".
89
00:05:04,892 --> 00:05:07,122
So he went off to Spain to film.
90
00:05:07,228 --> 00:05:11,256
And Ringo joined him there for a while,
just to hang around with him.
91
00:05:12,066 --> 00:05:16,367
George went to India
and worked with Ravi Shankar.
92
00:05:16,470 --> 00:05:19,872
There was no question
of disbanding at that point.
93
00:05:19,974 --> 00:05:21,999
It was just,
"We gotta get off this road."
94
00:05:22,109 --> 00:05:26,342
And at that time, a lot of other things
were changing. Society was changing.
95
00:05:26,447 --> 00:05:30,782
The psychedelic era was coming in,
and we were very much part of that.
96
00:05:31,252 --> 00:05:32,742
And I think we really felt that
97
00:05:32,854 --> 00:05:36,722
it could be done better from a record
than from anything else.
98
00:05:37,391 --> 00:05:40,383
The record could go on tour,
was the theory.
99
00:05:41,229 --> 00:05:42,628
I think Paul made the phone call.
100
00:05:42,730 --> 00:05:45,324
Paul always made the phone call.
"Let's go back to the studio, lads."
101
00:05:45,433 --> 00:05:49,028
It used to terrify John and I
cos we'd be in the garden,
102
00:05:49,136 --> 00:05:53,073
and Paul would want us to work
all the time, cos he's the workaholic.
103
00:05:54,942 --> 00:05:58,173
On 24th November 1966, a Thursday,
104
00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:02,944
the Beatles came into Abbey Road
Studies to start the new album.
105
00:06:03,050 --> 00:06:06,850
And the track they started with
didn't appear on the album.
106
00:06:06,954 --> 00:06:09,150
It was a song called "Strawberry Fields",
107
00:06:09,257 --> 00:06:12,716
and the way it was done that night,
that Thursday,
108
00:06:12,827 --> 00:06:16,058
was virtually complete,
we actually made virtually a master.
109
00:06:17,064 --> 00:06:19,761
And it was the way I heard it originally
when John sang it to me,
110
00:06:19,867 --> 00:06:23,326
and it was a sweet, gentle,
simple song,
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00:06:23,437 --> 00:06:25,098
starting with the verse, you'll notice,
112
00:06:25,206 --> 00:06:27,971
- not the chorus.
- ♪ Misunderstanding all you see ♪
113
00:06:30,044 --> 00:06:32,979
♪ It's getting hard to be someone,
but it all works out... ♪
114
00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:37,415
We were still in our primitive slate
in technology in those days, 1966.
115
00:06:37,518 --> 00:06:39,850
We were just recording on 4-track.
116
00:06:39,954 --> 00:06:43,584
- ♪ No one I think is in my tree ♪
- Bass and guitar, add to it.
117
00:06:45,192 --> 00:06:48,059
- ♪ I mean, it must be high or low ♪
- Still nothing else.
118
00:06:48,162 --> 00:06:50,153
Dead simple.
119
00:06:50,264 --> 00:06:54,428
♪ That is you can't you know tune in,
but it's all right... ♪
120
00:06:55,403 --> 00:06:59,636
Now we have a slide guitar
played by George added.
121
00:06:59,740 --> 00:07:02,471
- Curiously enough, on the vocal track.
- ♪ Let me take you down ♪
122
00:07:02,576 --> 00:07:04,840
- Listen.
- ♪ Cos I'm going to ♪
123
00:07:05,947 --> 00:07:08,245
- ♪ Strawberry Fields ♪
- Just on the vocal track.
124
00:07:11,018 --> 00:07:13,248
♪ Nothing is real ♪
125
00:07:14,355 --> 00:07:18,087
♪ And nothing to get hung about ♪
126
00:07:18,192 --> 00:07:21,253
♪ Strawberry Fields forever ♪
127
00:07:22,697 --> 00:07:24,688
♪ Strawberry Fields forever... ♪
128
00:07:24,799 --> 00:07:27,029
I think that version is very charming.
129
00:07:27,134 --> 00:07:29,569
♪ Strawberry Fields forever ♪
130
00:07:29,670 --> 00:07:32,605
A very simple version
of a very simple song.
131
00:07:33,507 --> 00:07:37,375
But in fact, it never appeared like that,
and no one's ever heard that one since.
132
00:07:37,945 --> 00:07:39,208
We left that waning,
133
00:07:39,313 --> 00:07:43,216
and John thought about it, and
Paul thought about it over the weekend,
134
00:07:43,317 --> 00:07:46,048
and on Monday we tackled it
again quite differently.
135
00:07:46,587 --> 00:07:49,022
John decided he wanted it
in a lower key.
136
00:07:49,123 --> 00:07:50,921
It had an introduction
for the first time
137
00:07:51,025 --> 00:07:54,552
which was played on that
weird instrument, the mellotron,
138
00:07:54,662 --> 00:07:56,824
and became a really key feature.
139
00:07:57,431 --> 00:08:00,423
And it started with the chorus
rather than the verse.
140
00:08:04,605 --> 00:08:06,596
"Strawberry Fields" immediately, isn't it?
141
00:08:10,811 --> 00:08:12,745
♪ Let me take you down ♪
142
00:08:12,847 --> 00:08:16,181
- Double-tracked voice right away.
- ♪ Cos I'm going to
143
00:08:16,283 --> 00:08:17,444
♪ Strawberry Fields... ♪
144
00:08:17,551 --> 00:08:20,486
Again, all rhythm instruments
on one track.
145
00:08:22,490 --> 00:08:24,822
Voices on three and four.
146
00:08:25,359 --> 00:08:28,693
♪ And nothing to get hung about... ♪
147
00:08:28,796 --> 00:08:32,494
But John thought about it and said,
"I think I can do it better than that."
148
00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,093
He said, "I want to have
a bit more bite in it. Brass. Strings."
149
00:08:36,203 --> 00:08:38,570
So, I said,
"OK, let's give it a whirl."
150
00:08:39,573 --> 00:08:44,306
♪ Let me take you down cos I'm going to ♪
151
00:08:44,412 --> 00:08:46,744
♪ Strawberry Fields... ♪
152
00:08:48,149 --> 00:08:53,815
Double-tracked voices on three and four,
but with percussion as well on three.
153
00:08:55,022 --> 00:08:58,048
♪ Strawberry Fields forever... ♪
154
00:08:58,159 --> 00:09:00,025
Swarmandala.
155
00:09:02,563 --> 00:09:05,965
An Indian instrument
that George had brought back.
156
00:09:06,067 --> 00:09:08,968
Like a kind of harp.
Had a marvellous effect.
157
00:09:10,871 --> 00:09:14,307
♪ That is you can't you know tune in,
but it's all right
158
00:09:14,408 --> 00:09:18,936
- Backward cymbal on track one.
- ♪ That is I think it's not too bad... ♪
159
00:09:21,782 --> 00:09:24,717
Always sounds like
Russian language to me.
160
00:09:24,819 --> 00:09:27,151
♪ Strawberry Fields ♪
161
00:09:28,989 --> 00:09:30,115
♪ Nothing is real... ♪
162
00:09:30,224 --> 00:09:32,886
Brass slabs and so on with a cello.
163
00:09:32,993 --> 00:09:36,987
But underlying it all,
this wonderful rhythm section.
164
00:09:40,801 --> 00:09:42,860
About nine or ten players there.
165
00:09:44,872 --> 00:09:47,773
♪ Strawberry Fields forever ♪
166
00:09:48,709 --> 00:09:51,735
♪ Strawberry Fields forever ♪
167
00:09:51,846 --> 00:09:54,543
♪ Strawberry Fields forever ♪
168
00:09:54,648 --> 00:09:57,583
Well, we finished up then with a track
169
00:09:57,685 --> 00:10:00,279
which would show the way
that "Pepper" was going to be.
170
00:10:00,387 --> 00:10:03,914
This was our first psychedelic track.
171
00:10:04,024 --> 00:10:07,153
I mean, when I started songwriting,
it wasn't to write rock 'n' roll,
172
00:10:07,261 --> 00:10:09,355
it was to write for Sinatra.
173
00:10:09,463 --> 00:10:11,227
It was to write cabaret.
174
00:10:11,332 --> 00:10:14,768
In fact, one of my first songs was
"When I'm Sixty-Four", which was...
175
00:10:14,869 --> 00:10:18,032
♪ Da-da-doo-da-da,
Ba-Dee-oo-eh, hey! Ooh bop! ♪
176
00:10:18,139 --> 00:10:20,403
You know, it's big band stuff
kind of thing.
177
00:10:20,508 --> 00:10:26,003
And so your aims weren't set
to doing rock 'n' roll.
178
00:10:26,113 --> 00:10:28,980
But when we started working together,
179
00:10:29,083 --> 00:10:32,053
I think... I certainly,
and I think John, too,
180
00:10:32,620 --> 00:10:36,022
wanted to be a Rodgers and
Hammerstein, a Lennon/McCartney.
181
00:10:36,123 --> 00:10:40,026
We consciously wanted to be a team.
182
00:10:40,127 --> 00:10:42,721
I mean, the funny things is,
I wanted McCartney/Lennon,
183
00:10:42,830 --> 00:10:45,162
but of course John was
always bossier and he said,
184
00:10:45,266 --> 00:10:48,531
"No, no, it sounds much better
the other way, Lennon/McCartney."
185
00:10:48,636 --> 00:10:49,865
So I gave in.
186
00:10:49,970 --> 00:10:52,564
The next song we did, actually,
was "When I'm Sixty-Four",
187
00:10:52,673 --> 00:10:56,507
but that was one that harked back
quite a long way.
188
00:10:56,610 --> 00:11:00,808
The one immediately after that was
curiously allied to "Strawberry Fields".
189
00:11:00,915 --> 00:11:01,939
It was "Penny Lane".
190
00:11:02,383 --> 00:11:04,374
Penny Lane was a place
that John knew about,
191
00:11:04,485 --> 00:11:07,546
so for me to just say,
"I've got a song called "Penny Lane",
192
00:11:07,655 --> 00:11:09,521
he knew flatly what I was doing.
193
00:11:09,623 --> 00:11:11,182
Similarly, "Strawberry Fields".
194
00:11:11,292 --> 00:11:15,752
I knew about that from when I used
to go and visit him when we were kids.
195
00:11:15,863 --> 00:11:17,558
It was the place right opposite him,
196
00:11:17,665 --> 00:11:20,532
where you used to go and play
in the garden.
197
00:11:20,634 --> 00:11:24,093
So it was kind of a magical
childhood place for him.
198
00:11:24,205 --> 00:11:28,506
And we transformed it
into the sort of psychedelic dream.
199
00:11:28,609 --> 00:11:32,239
It's like everybody's magic place,
instead of just ours.
200
00:11:32,346 --> 00:11:36,476
We took them from being little localised
things and made them more global.
201
00:11:45,793 --> 00:11:49,195
That actually was what
Paul heard me play on television.
202
00:11:49,296 --> 00:11:51,788
It's the second "Brandenburg Concerto",
as you know.
203
00:11:51,899 --> 00:11:56,393
And he was obviously sitting at home
and saw this little trumpet,
204
00:11:56,503 --> 00:11:59,962
and thought, "Well, that's a new
gimmick and a new sound,"
205
00:12:00,074 --> 00:12:04,170
and he'd just written "Penny Lane"
and had had a rather bad backing track,
206
00:12:04,278 --> 00:12:07,612
so apparently that was
how I came to do it.
207
00:12:08,082 --> 00:12:10,551
And eventually, of course,
we got to what he liked,
208
00:12:10,651 --> 00:12:13,416
and this is what he wrote.
209
00:12:30,804 --> 00:12:33,796
♪ Penny Lane is in my ears... ♪
210
00:12:33,907 --> 00:12:36,433
The reason that
"Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane"
211
00:12:36,543 --> 00:12:37,942
didn't appear on the album
212
00:12:38,045 --> 00:12:40,275
was that Brian Epstein,
their manager, was worried,
213
00:12:40,381 --> 00:12:43,043
and said to me, "The boys need a lift.
They need a great single."
214
00:12:43,150 --> 00:12:44,777
"What have you got?"
215
00:12:44,885 --> 00:12:47,354
Well, I said,
"We've got two wonderful songs."
216
00:12:47,454 --> 00:12:49,149
"Let's issue them both."
217
00:12:49,256 --> 00:12:51,657
In those days, we didn't include
single releases on albums,
218
00:12:51,759 --> 00:12:53,921
as we thought that was
rather conning the public.
219
00:12:54,028 --> 00:12:56,463
One of the biggest errors I ever made.
220
00:12:58,432 --> 00:13:02,335
♪ Please release me ♪
221
00:13:02,436 --> 00:13:06,168
♪ Can't you see... ♪
222
00:13:06,273 --> 00:13:09,334
A newcomer with the unlikely name
of Engelbert Humperdinck
223
00:13:09,443 --> 00:13:11,935
had a song called "Please Release Me",
224
00:13:12,046 --> 00:13:17,815
and for the first time, a Beatles single
failed to reach No.1 in the UK charts.
225
00:13:21,221 --> 00:13:28,491
♪ To live a lie would be a sin ♪
226
00:13:31,332 --> 00:13:36,771
We were in this
big white room that was very dirty.
227
00:13:36,870 --> 00:13:39,464
It hadn't been painted
for years and years,
228
00:13:39,573 --> 00:13:42,770
and it had all these old sound baffles
hanging down
229
00:13:42,876 --> 00:13:45,436
that were all dirty and broken.
230
00:13:45,546 --> 00:13:47,173
Not a very nice atmosphere.
231
00:13:47,281 --> 00:13:51,377
When you think of the songs
that were made in that studio, No.2,
232
00:13:51,485 --> 00:13:53,749
it's amazing, cos there was
no atmosphere in there.
233
00:13:53,854 --> 00:13:56,380
We had to make the atmosphere ourselves.
234
00:13:56,490 --> 00:13:59,391
The great thing about these studies
in Abbey Road
235
00:13:59,493 --> 00:14:02,724
was that you were always
bumping into people.
236
00:14:02,830 --> 00:14:06,130
Sir Malcolm Sargent would look in
at the session and wave
237
00:14:06,233 --> 00:14:09,533
in his pin-striped suit and his carnation:
"Hello, boys."
238
00:14:09,636 --> 00:14:12,162
And George would say,
"Sir Malcolm would like to say hello."
239
00:14:12,272 --> 00:14:14,969
"Hello, Mal." "Hello, boys."
240
00:14:15,075 --> 00:14:17,703
I remember seeing Sir Tyrone Guthrie
on the steps here,
241
00:14:17,811 --> 00:14:19,779
you know, the great man himself.
242
00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:21,279
So, it was always very like that.
243
00:14:21,782 --> 00:14:26,310
It was a joke, really.
They had this toilet paper like lino
244
00:14:26,420 --> 00:14:29,481
that had EMI on every piece.
245
00:14:29,590 --> 00:14:32,321
The refrigerator had a padlock on it,
246
00:14:32,426 --> 00:14:34,394
so if you wanted a cup of tea,
247
00:14:34,495 --> 00:14:38,329
we'd have to break open the padlock
on the fridge to get the milk out.
248
00:14:38,432 --> 00:14:42,164
EMI being this huge monster company,
249
00:14:42,269 --> 00:14:46,638
when they bought the 8-track,
the first 8-track in England,
250
00:14:46,740 --> 00:14:49,835
they were so cheap,
they didn't buy the plug to plug it in.
251
00:14:49,943 --> 00:14:52,571
It was going to be boring
to just make another Beatles album.
252
00:14:52,679 --> 00:14:57,446
And we'd stopped touring, we now had
this huge, liberated opportunity.
253
00:14:57,551 --> 00:14:59,485
We could do anything we wanted.
254
00:14:59,586 --> 00:15:02,783
I went on a trip to America
and came back
255
00:15:02,890 --> 00:15:05,018
and had this idea on the plane.
256
00:15:05,125 --> 00:15:07,389
"Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band".
257
00:15:07,494 --> 00:15:11,158
It was all very
"Uncle Joe's Medicine Show"
258
00:15:11,265 --> 00:15:15,259
"with dancing bears
and elixir of life",
259
00:15:15,369 --> 00:15:17,565
you know,
those kind of jokey titles.
260
00:15:17,671 --> 00:15:19,969
Everything about the album
will be imagined
261
00:15:20,073 --> 00:15:22,064
from the perspective of these people.
262
00:15:22,176 --> 00:15:23,905
So it doesn't have to be us,
263
00:15:24,011 --> 00:15:26,105
it doesn't have to be the kind of song
you want to write,
264
00:15:26,213 --> 00:15:28,443
it could be the song
they might want to write.
265
00:15:29,049 --> 00:15:31,484
"Sgt. Pepper",
the opening track of the album,
266
00:15:31,585 --> 00:15:34,316
really a good, old-fashioned rocker,
267
00:15:34,788 --> 00:15:38,691
starts off with applause
or rather atmosphere noise
268
00:15:38,792 --> 00:15:42,751
from a recording I made up in Cambridge
with the "Beyond the Fringe"-crowd,
269
00:15:42,863 --> 00:15:45,298
Dudley Moore and company,
270
00:15:45,399 --> 00:15:49,336
and this super electric guitar.
271
00:15:50,404 --> 00:15:54,568
And tied together beautifully
by a great rock voice from Paul.
272
00:15:54,675 --> 00:15:56,734
- ♪ It was 20 years ago today ♪
- Listen to this.
273
00:15:56,844 --> 00:15:59,336
♪ Sgt. Pepper
taught the band to play ♪
274
00:15:59,446 --> 00:16:01,938
♪ They've been going
in and out of style ♪
275
00:16:02,049 --> 00:16:03,710
♪ But they're guaranteed
to raise a smile ♪
276
00:16:03,817 --> 00:16:07,151
- He got sawdust in his voice there.
- ♪ So may I introduce to you ♪
277
00:16:07,254 --> 00:16:09,780
♪ The act you've known
for all these years... ♪
278
00:16:09,890 --> 00:16:14,225
And then a bit of classical work,
bringing in four French horns.
279
00:16:21,268 --> 00:16:25,262
Always there's the audience
punctuating the whole thing.
280
00:16:27,374 --> 00:16:29,308
♪ We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely... ♪
281
00:16:29,409 --> 00:16:31,969
And then the chorus,
singing the chorus.
282
00:16:32,579 --> 00:16:36,209
♪ We hope you will enjoy the show ♪
283
00:16:37,584 --> 00:16:42,420
♪ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ♪
284
00:16:42,523 --> 00:16:45,754
♪ Sit back and let the evening go... ♪
285
00:16:47,394 --> 00:16:49,522
And together with the audience
and the horns,
286
00:16:49,630 --> 00:16:53,032
it's an exciting thing saying,
"Come and join our show, listen to it."
287
00:16:53,133 --> 00:16:56,569
- "We're a great band."
- ♪ ...Lonely Hearts Club Band ♪
288
00:17:08,882 --> 00:17:13,945
♪ Picture yourself
in a boat on a river ♪
289
00:17:14,054 --> 00:17:20,221
♪ With tangerine trees
and marmalade skies ♪
290
00:17:21,495 --> 00:17:26,899
♪ Somebody calls you,
you answer quite slowly... ♪
291
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:28,695
I remember him
going up on the roof.
292
00:17:28,802 --> 00:17:31,828
John went up on the roof
and got lost and came back.
293
00:17:35,008 --> 00:17:36,339
♪ Cellophane flowers... ♪
294
00:17:36,443 --> 00:17:39,970
He took an aspirin. Know what I mean?
And it turned out to be something else.
295
00:17:40,347 --> 00:17:44,113
♪ Towering over your head... ♪
296
00:17:44,785 --> 00:17:47,083
He accidentally took some LSD.
297
00:17:47,187 --> 00:17:50,179
It'd certainly keep him awake
for a while.
298
00:17:53,226 --> 00:17:57,254
♪ Lucy in the sky with diamonds... ♪
299
00:17:57,364 --> 00:18:00,425
At that point, the session
was in effect over.
300
00:18:03,337 --> 00:18:05,897
I was rather offended
when the album came out
301
00:18:06,006 --> 00:18:09,067
and people said, "Lucy In the Sky
with Diamonds" - "LSD, you know?"
302
00:18:09,176 --> 00:18:10,166
Which was nonsense.
303
00:18:12,546 --> 00:18:14,878
The real story about
"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" was
304
00:18:14,982 --> 00:18:17,542
I showed up at John's house one day,
305
00:18:17,651 --> 00:18:20,951
and he said to me, "Look at this
great drawing Julian's just done."
306
00:18:21,054 --> 00:18:22,988
And he showed me,
I remember it very well.
307
00:18:23,090 --> 00:18:27,459
It was a kid's drawing, and kids
always have people floating around
308
00:18:27,561 --> 00:18:30,531
like Chagall does in all his things.
They're always just floating.
309
00:18:30,631 --> 00:18:32,998
I think it's something to do
with kids not realizing
310
00:18:33,100 --> 00:18:34,932
that people have to be put on the ground.
311
00:18:35,035 --> 00:18:38,096
I've seen the painting
that this little kid does.
312
00:18:38,205 --> 00:18:39,730
I don't know if you've get kids,
313
00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,673
but they just slap paint everywhere
and say it's a painting.
314
00:18:42,776 --> 00:18:46,770
And of course we put them in frames
and put them on the well. And...
315
00:18:47,547 --> 00:18:50,482
And it was just this crazy little kid's
painting. "What is that?"
316
00:18:50,584 --> 00:18:52,678
John had said,
"What's it called, then?"
317
00:18:52,786 --> 00:18:56,279
And Julian had said,
"Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds."
318
00:18:56,390 --> 00:18:57,824
And John went, "Ding!"
319
00:18:59,826 --> 00:19:02,761
They were able to
conjure up a wonderful, evocative image
320
00:19:02,863 --> 00:19:04,592
with very sparse material.
321
00:19:05,065 --> 00:19:07,625
And the opening to "Lucy"
is really a case in point.
322
00:19:13,740 --> 00:19:16,038
And it's a most wonderful phrase.
323
00:19:16,143 --> 00:19:19,977
I think, if Beethoven was around,
he wouldn't have minded one of those.
324
00:19:20,947 --> 00:19:23,575
And over that very, very simple
and beautiful phrase,
325
00:19:23,684 --> 00:19:26,483
John sang just one note.
326
00:19:26,586 --> 00:19:31,046
He developed it. He had a way
of finding out what he wanted to sing,
327
00:19:31,158 --> 00:19:32,922
even as we were recording.
328
00:19:33,026 --> 00:19:36,018
But to begin with, all he sang was,
329
00:19:36,129 --> 00:19:41,067
"Picture yourself on a boat on a river..."
330
00:19:41,168 --> 00:19:44,399
♪ Newspaper taxis
appear on the shore... ♪
331
00:19:44,504 --> 00:19:47,269
Notice the tape echo
on the voice already,
332
00:19:47,374 --> 00:19:49,968
even though this is
a very early rehearsal take.
333
00:19:51,411 --> 00:19:53,971
♪ Climb in the back
with your head in the clouds... ♪
334
00:19:54,081 --> 00:19:55,913
- No bass again.
- No.
335
00:19:56,016 --> 00:20:00,510
Because it was much better for me
to work out the bass later, you knew?
336
00:20:01,421 --> 00:20:04,254
And it allowed me to do...
337
00:20:04,925 --> 00:20:05,949
That's me.
338
00:20:06,059 --> 00:20:13,625
The good thing about doing it later was
it allowed me to get melodic bass lines.
339
00:20:15,936 --> 00:20:18,564
Which was always... All the bass lines
were always very interesting.
340
00:20:18,672 --> 00:20:22,336
On this album,
I think that was one of the reasons.
341
00:20:22,442 --> 00:20:27,676
♪ With plasticine porters
with looking glass ties ♪
342
00:20:29,049 --> 00:20:34,044
♪ Suddenly someone
is there at the turnstile ♪
343
00:20:34,154 --> 00:20:38,955
♪ The girls with kaleidoscope eyes... ♪
344
00:20:39,059 --> 00:20:40,220
Go for it!
345
00:20:42,129 --> 00:20:48,364
The climate was influenced
by the psychedelic era.
346
00:20:48,468 --> 00:20:52,564
I think the only difficulty about
talking honestly about that period
347
00:20:52,672 --> 00:20:55,733
is that new the drug scene
is a much heavier thing,
348
00:20:55,842 --> 00:21:03,579
and if you're now in any way seen
to incite or advocate drug-taking,
349
00:21:03,683 --> 00:21:06,983
you're now talking about crack,
you're now talking about glue sniffing,
350
00:21:07,087 --> 00:21:09,215
you're now talking about
life-threatening things.
351
00:21:09,322 --> 00:21:13,657
So, I don't actually like doing it,
because it can easily be misconceived.
352
00:21:14,427 --> 00:21:16,156
If you could get back to the period
353
00:21:16,263 --> 00:21:19,927
and everyone could understand how
the period was and how innocent it was,
354
00:21:20,467 --> 00:21:22,697
then it is easier to talk about it.
355
00:21:23,770 --> 00:21:28,173
It mightn't have affected creativity
for other people.
356
00:21:28,275 --> 00:21:30,744
I know it did for us,
and it did for me.
357
00:21:30,844 --> 00:21:38,581
I mean, the first thing that people who
smoked marijuana and were into music
358
00:21:38,685 --> 00:21:43,088
is that somehow it focuses
your attention better on the music.
359
00:21:43,190 --> 00:21:46,490
And so you can hear it clearer.
360
00:21:46,593 --> 00:21:48,891
Or that's how it appeared to be.
361
00:21:50,197 --> 00:21:53,690
You could see things much different,
362
00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,293
I mean, LSD was something else.
It wasn't just...
363
00:21:57,404 --> 00:22:01,466
I mean, marijuana was just like
having a couple of beers, really,
364
00:22:01,575 --> 00:22:04,408
but LSD was more like
going to the moon.
365
00:22:04,511 --> 00:22:08,106
We found out very early on that,
366
00:22:08,215 --> 00:22:11,412
you know, if you played stoned
or derelict in any way,
367
00:22:11,518 --> 00:22:14,283
it was really shitty music,
you know?
368
00:22:14,387 --> 00:22:19,325
So we would have the experiences
and then bring that into the music later.
369
00:22:20,026 --> 00:22:24,793
Famous old story of one of the cleaners
at the Hammersmith Odeon saying,
370
00:22:24,898 --> 00:22:27,833
"That Ray Charles must be a mean git,
you know?
371
00:22:27,934 --> 00:22:32,167
"I just saw two of his musicians
in the toilets sharing a cigarette."
372
00:22:32,272 --> 00:22:33,762
"He can't pay them anything!"
373
00:22:33,874 --> 00:22:36,969
I knew that the boys smoked pot,
374
00:22:37,077 --> 00:22:41,139
and they equally knew that I disapproved,
and they never did it in front of me.
375
00:22:41,248 --> 00:22:43,546
They would always have Mal
roll them a joint
376
00:22:43,650 --> 00:22:46,244
and they'd nip out to the canteen
and lock it
377
00:22:46,353 --> 00:22:49,152
or else to the loo and have a smoke
and come back again,
378
00:22:49,256 --> 00:22:50,587
beaming all over their faces.
379
00:22:51,291 --> 00:22:52,986
We mainly wrote
in the afternoons.
380
00:22:53,093 --> 00:22:55,653
I'd either go to John's house
or he'd come to mine.
381
00:22:55,762 --> 00:22:57,457
So I'd drive out to Weybridge.
382
00:22:57,564 --> 00:23:00,829
Now, you don't want
to be stoned doing that.
383
00:23:00,934 --> 00:23:03,904
So we'd go out, and we'd have
an afternoon of it,
384
00:23:04,004 --> 00:23:08,168
and it would be later, listening,
in the evening
385
00:23:08,708 --> 00:23:12,076
that the little wine might come out
and this and that might come out.
386
00:23:12,178 --> 00:23:14,613
But I say, you know...
it's very difficult for me
387
00:23:14,714 --> 00:23:17,877
because I realise now
being a father of four kids
388
00:23:17,984 --> 00:23:21,716
that if I make this sound
as exciting as it was,
389
00:23:21,821 --> 00:23:24,188
the natural corollary is
for someone to say,
390
00:23:24,291 --> 00:23:26,487
"Well, why don't we write like that?"
391
00:23:26,593 --> 00:23:28,823
And I don't want to be seen to do that,
392
00:23:28,929 --> 00:23:31,762
cos now, as I say, it's a much more
dangerous ballgame.
393
00:23:31,865 --> 00:23:34,232
There was a kind of spirit of adventure
that they both had.
394
00:23:34,334 --> 00:23:36,098
They were going to conquer the world.
395
00:23:36,202 --> 00:23:38,637
But there was that element
of competition,
396
00:23:38,738 --> 00:23:42,038
and the competition was the essential
thing that made them work so well.
397
00:23:42,142 --> 00:23:45,578
He'd write "Strawberry Fields",
I'd go away and write "Penny Lane".
398
00:23:45,679 --> 00:23:51,243
If I'd write "I'm Down", he'd go away
and write something similar to that,
399
00:23:51,351 --> 00:23:53,149
to compete with each other.
400
00:23:53,253 --> 00:23:55,483
But it was very friendly competition,
401
00:23:55,588 --> 00:23:58,114
because we were both going to share
in the rewards anyway.
402
00:23:58,224 --> 00:24:01,489
But it was a real... it was this.
It really helped step...
403
00:24:01,594 --> 00:24:04,393
So we were getting better and better
and better all the time.
404
00:24:05,465 --> 00:24:09,299
John and Paul always
wrote a song for Ringo on every album.
405
00:24:09,402 --> 00:24:12,428
"With a Little Help from My Friends"
proved to be the song.
406
00:24:12,839 --> 00:24:16,298
And Paul wrote that song
and wrote it beautifully simply
407
00:24:16,409 --> 00:24:19,208
with just five notes
that Ringo had to carry,
408
00:24:19,312 --> 00:24:24,079
all within one little phrase,
which was...
409
00:24:31,057 --> 00:24:33,048
All in those notes.
410
00:24:34,661 --> 00:24:37,187
Terribly simple. Terribly effective.
411
00:24:38,465 --> 00:24:42,026
♪ What would you think
if I sang out of tune... ♪
412
00:24:42,936 --> 00:24:45,871
Like his drumming,
Ringo's voice is most distinctive.
413
00:24:45,972 --> 00:24:48,703
And on this track,
he put in a really super performance
414
00:24:48,808 --> 00:24:50,833
that makes the song his very own.
415
00:24:50,944 --> 00:24:54,539
♪ And I'll try not to sing out of key ♪
416
00:24:54,647 --> 00:24:58,880
♪ Oh, I get by
with a little help from my friends ♪
417
00:24:58,985 --> 00:25:02,944
♪ Mmh, I get high
with a little help from my friends... ♪
418
00:25:03,056 --> 00:25:05,184
The original line was,
419
00:25:05,291 --> 00:25:07,316
"What would you do
if I sang out of tune,"
420
00:25:07,427 --> 00:25:10,294
"would you stand up
and throw tomatoes at me?"
421
00:25:10,397 --> 00:25:12,365
Or "Would you throw tomatoes at me?",
422
00:25:12,465 --> 00:25:15,628
and I would not sing that line,
"tomatoes at me", because...
423
00:25:16,603 --> 00:25:18,264
I hated the line anyway,
424
00:25:18,371 --> 00:25:22,535
and in those days they used to throw
all sorts of stuff at us on singe,
425
00:25:22,642 --> 00:25:25,407
and I didn't want this
to become a habit either.
426
00:25:25,512 --> 00:25:28,709
And I just hated the line, so I refused
to sing that line, "tomatoes",
427
00:25:28,815 --> 00:25:33,048
so they changed it to, "Would you
stand up and walk out on me?"
428
00:25:33,586 --> 00:25:37,750
♪ Do you need anybody ♪
429
00:25:38,725 --> 00:25:42,025
♪ I need somebody to love... ♪
430
00:25:42,128 --> 00:25:43,892
Besides changing that line,
431
00:25:43,997 --> 00:25:48,127
it took a lot of coaxing from Paul
to get me to sing that last note.
432
00:25:48,768 --> 00:25:51,169
I just felt it was very high.
433
00:25:51,271 --> 00:25:53,467
I always worry about the vocals,
you know?
434
00:25:53,573 --> 00:25:57,441
I'm insecure when I do the vocals.
I still am, and I was then.
435
00:25:57,544 --> 00:26:03,313
And so he would get me up,
and we finally got that last note.
436
00:26:03,416 --> 00:26:08,479
♪ ...from my friends ♪
437
00:26:11,057 --> 00:26:13,719
The role of a producer
had changed over the years.
438
00:26:13,827 --> 00:26:16,091
I mean, when we started in 1962,
439
00:26:16,196 --> 00:26:18,927
my job was really an organizer
to get them into some kind of shape,
440
00:26:19,032 --> 00:26:22,332
make sure they were tidy in the studio,
musically, I mean.
441
00:26:22,435 --> 00:26:23,732
Gradually that changed.
442
00:26:23,837 --> 00:26:25,771
By the time "Pepper" had come along,
443
00:26:25,872 --> 00:26:29,831
I suppose I was a realiser
of their ideas,
444
00:26:30,510 --> 00:26:33,707
so that if John wanted
something really weird,
445
00:26:33,813 --> 00:26:35,372
I had to try and provide it for him.
446
00:26:35,482 --> 00:26:38,884
Or if Paul wanted some
extraordinary orchestration,
447
00:26:38,985 --> 00:26:41,545
I had to try and find out
what he wanted.
448
00:26:41,654 --> 00:26:46,717
What I think his great skill then was
to allow us to do what we wanted.
449
00:26:46,826 --> 00:26:50,694
So his role changed
from really deciding what was done
450
00:26:50,797 --> 00:26:52,424
to allowing us to do it.
451
00:26:52,799 --> 00:26:55,325
I think the role with George
became easier,
452
00:26:55,435 --> 00:26:59,372
because at first he was to us...
we were kind of frightened,
453
00:26:59,472 --> 00:27:01,463
because we were these nervous kids,
454
00:27:01,574 --> 00:27:05,101
and he was like this big
schoolteacher sort of person
455
00:27:05,211 --> 00:27:10,741
who we had to find
and have a relationship with.
456
00:27:10,850 --> 00:27:12,841
George was like the big cheese.
457
00:27:12,952 --> 00:27:15,250
He would come in as the producer,
458
00:27:15,355 --> 00:27:18,052
and we were all a little...
not afraid, but...
459
00:27:18,158 --> 00:27:20,354
We knew he was the man.
460
00:27:20,460 --> 00:27:24,488
And he was very good,
and he was very humorous, so...
461
00:27:24,597 --> 00:27:27,692
That's how George really got
into our good books,
462
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:29,564
because we were very tight,
463
00:27:29,669 --> 00:27:32,229
the little four of us were
really tight together.
464
00:27:33,106 --> 00:27:35,473
Very seldom did we let anybody in.
465
00:27:35,975 --> 00:27:38,273
We always felt George
had just get off his Spitfire:
466
00:27:38,378 --> 00:27:41,211
"Oh, hello, chaps.
Yes, it's chock away."
467
00:27:41,314 --> 00:27:43,749
We always felt
he was a bit one of them.
468
00:27:43,850 --> 00:27:46,012
And I think we just grew
through those years together,
469
00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:49,646
him as the straight man
and us as the loonies.
470
00:27:50,924 --> 00:27:55,521
He was always there for us
to interpret our strangeness.
471
00:27:55,628 --> 00:27:57,118
Da, da...
472
00:27:58,198 --> 00:28:00,633
When George Harrison came to me,
473
00:28:00,733 --> 00:28:02,633
I didn't know what to think.
474
00:28:04,037 --> 00:28:06,768
But I found he really wanted to learn.
475
00:28:10,243 --> 00:28:13,440
I never thought our meeting
would cause such an explosion.
476
00:28:14,047 --> 00:28:16,914
I'd heard the name of Ravi Shankar,
477
00:28:17,016 --> 00:28:21,886
it must have been around 1965,
maybe 1966.
478
00:28:21,988 --> 00:28:25,390
The third time I heard this name,
I went out and bought the record.
479
00:28:25,825 --> 00:28:29,887
It was strange, because intellectually
I didn't know what it was.
480
00:28:29,996 --> 00:28:31,555
It didn't make any sense to me,
481
00:28:31,664 --> 00:28:34,463
but somewhere inside of me,
it made absolute sense.
482
00:28:34,567 --> 00:28:37,036
It made more sense
than anything I'd ever heard before.
483
00:28:37,136 --> 00:28:41,004
♪ We were talking ♪
484
00:28:41,107 --> 00:28:48,138
♪ About the love that's gone so cold... ♪
485
00:28:48,248 --> 00:28:51,218
I found it very fascinating, actually,
working with George on that.
486
00:28:51,317 --> 00:28:54,309
Him trying to get
from English musicians
487
00:28:54,420 --> 00:28:56,616
what the Indians
were already giving us.
488
00:28:56,723 --> 00:28:59,920
It started out by George working
with a dilruba player,
489
00:29:00,026 --> 00:29:02,825
which is a kind of Indian violin.
490
00:29:02,929 --> 00:29:08,629
And then I had to copy that
with a bank of English violinists.
491
00:29:08,735 --> 00:29:11,432
Here we have the dilrubas on two,
492
00:29:11,537 --> 00:29:15,872
and our English instruments joining in
on track three,
493
00:29:15,975 --> 00:29:18,808
but George answering on sitar.
494
00:29:22,015 --> 00:29:23,483
Here it is.
495
00:29:29,555 --> 00:29:32,889
And pizzicato strings
accompanying him.
496
00:29:35,895 --> 00:29:38,364
A bit of slurpy cello.
497
00:29:39,999 --> 00:29:42,331
Doing the same thing as the dilruba.
498
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,785
♪ We were talking... ♪
499
00:30:04,624 --> 00:30:08,356
And here he is singing the same tune
as the dilruba
500
00:30:08,461 --> 00:30:11,294
in flatly the same way,
the same kind of swoops
501
00:30:11,397 --> 00:30:13,559
that the dilruba does.
502
00:30:13,666 --> 00:30:15,225
You hear his voice.
503
00:30:15,335 --> 00:30:17,429
You hear the dilruba.
504
00:30:19,405 --> 00:30:23,433
♪ And lose their soul... ♪
505
00:30:24,277 --> 00:30:26,974
"Within You, Without You" was just my way
506
00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,208
of trying to make a Western pop song
507
00:30:29,315 --> 00:30:32,546
using some of those instruments
and some of those sounds.
508
00:30:32,652 --> 00:30:34,950
We all knew George liked Indian music,
509
00:30:35,054 --> 00:30:37,853
and there was a kind of toleration,
if you like.
510
00:30:37,957 --> 00:30:42,394
But it was a welcome one,
because we actually liked the sounds.
511
00:30:43,496 --> 00:30:45,965
The joss sticks even were OK.
512
00:30:46,065 --> 00:30:48,693
They covered the smell of pot.
513
00:30:51,270 --> 00:30:53,796
♪ Wouldn't it be nice if we were older
514
00:30:53,906 --> 00:30:57,467
♪ Then we wouldn't have to
wait so long... ♪
515
00:30:57,910 --> 00:31:01,574
To me, the single biggest influence
on "Sgt. Pepper"
516
00:31:01,681 --> 00:31:04,514
was the Beach Boys' record
"Pet Sounds".
517
00:31:04,617 --> 00:31:07,814
And I think Brian Wilson
was a great genius.
518
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:10,685
♪ You know it's gonna make it
that much better ♪
519
00:31:10,790 --> 00:31:16,194
♪ When we can say goodnight
and slay together... ♪
520
00:31:17,096 --> 00:31:21,033
I think of "Pet Sounds" in my head,
and I think of "Sgt. Pepper's",
521
00:31:21,667 --> 00:31:24,102
and I think, "Gosh! That's not..."
522
00:31:24,804 --> 00:31:26,704
Those two albums
aren't very alike at all,
523
00:31:26,806 --> 00:31:29,036
only in that they're very creative.
524
00:31:29,142 --> 00:31:33,943
They must've picked up on the creativity
of "Pet Sounds", not the sound.
525
00:31:34,046 --> 00:31:36,515
It's actually very clever on any level.
526
00:31:36,616 --> 00:31:39,779
If you approach it from a writer's
point of view, it's very cleverly written.
527
00:31:39,886 --> 00:31:42,378
The harmonic structures
are very, very clever.
528
00:31:42,488 --> 00:31:44,923
If you approach it
from an arranger's point of view,
529
00:31:45,024 --> 00:31:50,360
the kind of instruments he's got
on there, an oscillator, a harpsichord...
530
00:31:50,463 --> 00:31:52,124
It's got some crazy stuff on there.
531
00:31:52,231 --> 00:31:57,670
Well, I remember...
I combined an organ with the guitar.
532
00:31:57,770 --> 00:32:01,172
And phew! What a sound,
It really worked great.
533
00:32:01,274 --> 00:32:05,575
We get them so that they were
absolutely enhancing each other.
534
00:32:05,678 --> 00:32:09,012
It was like a miracle,
a miraculous process.
535
00:32:19,292 --> 00:32:22,318
♪ Keep in mind love is here... ♪
536
00:32:23,229 --> 00:32:25,823
Because of the work they'd done,
537
00:32:25,932 --> 00:32:30,233
it didn't seem too much of a stretch
for us to get further out than they'd get.
538
00:32:46,018 --> 00:32:49,648
We always loved
the Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang.
539
00:32:49,755 --> 00:32:51,587
When we were kids, it was a TV thing,
540
00:32:51,691 --> 00:32:53,989
a little bloke came on
and they all pushed him out of the way.
541
00:32:54,093 --> 00:32:58,087
But it was those giant big bass...
542
00:32:58,197 --> 00:33:01,565
And John used to play harmonica,
so we always liked that.
543
00:33:01,667 --> 00:33:04,398
But when I heard them
on "Pet Sounds"...
544
00:33:04,504 --> 00:33:07,769
There's a lot of harmonica,
bass harmonica, he uses that...
545
00:33:07,874 --> 00:33:12,368
The instruments he uses and the way
he places them against each other,
546
00:33:12,478 --> 00:33:15,379
it's very cleverly done,
it's a really clever album.
547
00:33:15,481 --> 00:33:20,920
So we were inspired by it
and nicked a few ideas.
548
00:33:25,224 --> 00:33:27,318
♪ The celebrated Mr K. ♪
549
00:33:27,426 --> 00:33:30,521
♪ Performs his feat on Saturday
at Bishopsgate... ♪
550
00:33:30,630 --> 00:33:35,329
I remember we walked into
an antique shop in Sevenoaks in Kent,
551
00:33:35,434 --> 00:33:38,301
and we were looking
at what they had there,
552
00:33:38,404 --> 00:33:40,668
and John pulled out this thing
that he found,
553
00:33:40,773 --> 00:33:43,333
which said, "The Benefit of Mr Kite".
554
00:33:43,442 --> 00:33:46,605
And it was virtually
all the lyrics to that song.
555
00:33:46,712 --> 00:33:47,907
When I saw it,
556
00:33:48,014 --> 00:33:51,109
it was hanging up in the hall
in his house in Surrey,
557
00:33:51,217 --> 00:33:53,777
and it had everything
that the song has on it.
558
00:33:53,886 --> 00:33:57,117
It had the Henderson Twins
and Pablo Fanque's Fair,
559
00:33:57,223 --> 00:33:59,191
all those words were written
on the poster.
560
00:34:00,059 --> 00:34:05,589
And it obviously inspired him to write
a song about a fairground or a circus.
561
00:34:05,698 --> 00:34:07,792
That's how you do it.
562
00:34:07,900 --> 00:34:10,597
You get ideas,
you hear people say stuff, or...
563
00:34:10,703 --> 00:34:14,799
you hear a phrase that sounds good
and you write it down or remember it.
564
00:34:14,907 --> 00:34:18,639
So I think he was just advanced
for those days
565
00:34:18,744 --> 00:34:23,181
in his awareness of putting...
everything could be put into a song.
566
00:34:23,282 --> 00:34:26,582
He wanted to create a sound picture
567
00:34:26,686 --> 00:34:28,586
of what the song was all about.
568
00:34:29,121 --> 00:34:32,557
And he actually said to me,
"I want to smell the sawdust."
569
00:34:32,658 --> 00:34:34,990
But to get the smell of the sawdust,
570
00:34:35,094 --> 00:34:38,496
we, John and I,
both sat on different organs,
571
00:34:38,598 --> 00:34:42,159
Wurlitzers and Lowreys
and Hammonds,
572
00:34:42,268 --> 00:34:46,262
and with double-speed techniques
created a kind of whirly atmosphere.
573
00:34:46,372 --> 00:34:50,673
And the backing... I had visions
of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
574
00:34:50,776 --> 00:34:53,040
who had a little pipey organ in their hut.
575
00:34:53,145 --> 00:34:55,739
John thought slightly differently.
He thought of "Magic Roundabout".
576
00:34:55,848 --> 00:34:59,284
But it was a tooty kind of sound
that we were able to create,
577
00:34:59,385 --> 00:35:03,253
and together with that, we had
this weird and wonderful tape
578
00:35:03,356 --> 00:35:06,883
consisting of all little sections
of real steam organs,
579
00:35:06,993 --> 00:35:11,362
cut up, joined together in a very
haphazard manner, some back to front.
580
00:35:11,464 --> 00:35:13,489
To give us no tune at all,
581
00:35:13,599 --> 00:35:16,967
but just a noise that would convey
what we wanted.
582
00:35:17,069 --> 00:35:18,468
And this is what it is.
583
00:35:20,506 --> 00:35:22,565
♪ The band begins at ten to six ♪
584
00:35:22,675 --> 00:35:25,337
♪ When Mr K. performs his tricks
without a sound... ♪
585
00:35:25,444 --> 00:35:27,606
Double-tracked vocal form John.
586
00:35:29,115 --> 00:35:31,106
♪ And Mr H. will demonstrate ♪
587
00:35:31,217 --> 00:35:32,776
♪ Ten summersets he'll undertake ♪
588
00:35:32,885 --> 00:35:34,614
- Ringo on his cymbals.
- ♪ On solid ground ♪
589
00:35:36,222 --> 00:35:40,591
♪ ...days in preparation,
a splendid time is guaranteed for all ♪
590
00:35:41,394 --> 00:35:45,126
- And now, here, in come the whirly bits.
- ♪ And tonight Mr Kite is topping the bill ♪
591
00:35:49,268 --> 00:35:51,737
This is the track
with all the little sounds on it,
592
00:35:51,837 --> 00:35:54,238
the melange of tapes.
593
00:35:59,545 --> 00:36:03,277
And along with that is the little
tooty backing on this track, track four.
594
00:36:12,058 --> 00:36:15,585
And that's it. A splendid time
is guaranteed for all.
595
00:36:16,696 --> 00:36:20,291
I mean, when I first met them,
they really couldn't write a decent song.
596
00:36:20,399 --> 00:36:22,561
"Love Me Do" was the best
they could give me.
597
00:36:22,668 --> 00:36:27,765
Yet they blossomed as songwriters
in a way that is breath-taking.
598
00:36:28,941 --> 00:36:32,377
It had an amazing effect
on the way people saw records.
599
00:36:32,478 --> 00:36:35,539
I mean, people suddenly thought,
"Oh, you can do that?"
600
00:36:35,648 --> 00:36:37,343
Well, they've done it,
so of course you can do it.
601
00:36:37,450 --> 00:36:39,714
So I suppose it made...
602
00:36:40,720 --> 00:36:44,122
it opened a door and showed everybody
that there was another room
603
00:36:44,223 --> 00:36:46,885
and that you could play around
in that other room,
604
00:36:46,992 --> 00:36:50,394
and actually it could still be called
a commercial record.
605
00:36:50,496 --> 00:36:52,521
♪ Good morning, good morning ♪
606
00:36:52,631 --> 00:36:54,565
♪ The best to you each morning ♪
607
00:36:55,034 --> 00:36:58,265
♪ Sunshine, breakfast, Kellogg's
Cornflakes, crisp and full of sun... ♪
608
00:36:58,370 --> 00:36:59,462
Ah, "Good Morning".
609
00:37:00,039 --> 00:37:04,169
"Good Morning" of course
was inspired by a commercial.
610
00:37:04,276 --> 00:37:05,937
You know, a breakfast commercial.
611
00:37:06,045 --> 00:37:10,073
And I suppose that triggered something
in John that made him write the song,
612
00:37:10,182 --> 00:37:12,480
and again he drew his inspiration
613
00:37:12,585 --> 00:37:16,351
from very mundane, ordinary things
like "Time for tea" and "Meet the Wife...
614
00:37:16,455 --> 00:37:18,321
"Meet the Wife"
was a television serial.
615
00:37:18,424 --> 00:37:23,157
It kind of indicates
the suburbanality of his songs
616
00:37:23,262 --> 00:37:25,287
and the very Englishness
of the whole thing.
617
00:37:25,765 --> 00:37:27,961
"Good Morning" was typical of him
618
00:37:28,067 --> 00:37:32,561
that it was of odd meters,
but sounded perfectly natural.
619
00:37:32,671 --> 00:37:35,072
I mean, he would have
a 3/4 bar, 4/4 bar,
620
00:37:35,174 --> 00:37:37,006
5/4 bar even, without knowing it.
621
00:37:37,676 --> 00:37:40,077
One-two-three, one-two,
622
00:37:40,179 --> 00:37:44,741
one-two-three-four, one-two,
one-two-three-four.
623
00:37:44,850 --> 00:37:47,444
It was to be a very hard-driving,
punchy thing.
624
00:37:47,553 --> 00:37:50,022
The tune itself is quite simple.
625
00:37:53,192 --> 00:37:55,923
But it was full of accents
all over the place.
626
00:37:56,028 --> 00:37:57,689
♪ Go to a show you hope she goes... ♪
627
00:37:57,797 --> 00:38:02,325
John wanted to finish this song
with a collection of animal noises,
628
00:38:02,434 --> 00:38:05,529
starting off with a cock,
identifying with a Kellogg's commercial...
629
00:38:05,638 --> 00:38:09,165
...and then each animal was capable
630
00:38:09,275 --> 00:38:12,404
of either devouring
or frightening the one before it.
631
00:38:12,945 --> 00:38:14,640
And we had a whole string of them here.
632
00:38:28,694 --> 00:38:30,594
It took a long time,
633
00:38:30,696 --> 00:38:34,724
and it took longer for me,
because I would do the basic track.
634
00:38:34,834 --> 00:38:39,635
We would do the basic backing track.
We'd do the drums.
635
00:38:39,738 --> 00:38:43,333
And then it would be days or weeks,
636
00:38:43,442 --> 00:38:47,106
even months sometimes,
to come back to the track
637
00:38:47,213 --> 00:38:51,116
and put on overdubs like the hi-hat
638
00:38:51,217 --> 00:38:57,020
or, listening again,
there's lots of conga drums.
639
00:38:57,456 --> 00:38:59,447
I'm not a percussionist.
640
00:38:59,558 --> 00:39:01,754
That's another field of drums.
641
00:39:02,228 --> 00:39:05,721
I'm on playing the congas,
and there's lots of maracas,
642
00:39:05,831 --> 00:39:08,528
and all that stuff
sort of came on at the end.
643
00:39:08,634 --> 00:39:11,626
So there was lots of huge gaps.
644
00:39:11,737 --> 00:39:15,605
The biggest memory I have of "Sgt.
Pepper" is, I learned to play chess on it.
645
00:39:16,842 --> 00:39:19,971
We were changing our method
of working at that time,
646
00:39:20,079 --> 00:39:24,516
and instead of now looking for catchy
singles, catchy singles, catchy singles,
647
00:39:24,617 --> 00:39:31,080
it was more like writing a novel,
"Sgt. Pepper", I think for me, definitely.
648
00:39:31,190 --> 00:39:34,592
It was much more a kind
of an overall concept, "Wow...!"
649
00:39:34,693 --> 00:39:36,422
And you can see that in the packaging.
650
00:39:36,528 --> 00:39:40,897
♪ And it really doesn't matter
if I'm wrong I'm right ♪
651
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:42,968
♪ Where I belong I'm right ♪
652
00:39:43,068 --> 00:39:45,230
♪ Where I belong ♪
653
00:39:45,704 --> 00:39:48,674
♪ Silly people run around,
they worry me ♪
654
00:39:48,774 --> 00:39:53,109
♪ And never ask me
why they don't get past my door... ♪
655
00:39:53,212 --> 00:39:55,476
Cover art in the mid-Sixties
656
00:39:55,581 --> 00:39:58,243
hadn't really been exploited
up to "Pepper",
657
00:39:58,684 --> 00:40:01,984
and when the boys decided
what they wanted,
658
00:40:02,087 --> 00:40:05,387
they wanted really to put
all of their heroes on the album
659
00:40:05,491 --> 00:40:07,289
in some form or another.
660
00:40:07,393 --> 00:40:13,491
And by recruiting Peter Blake,
who was an avant-garde artist again,
661
00:40:13,599 --> 00:40:16,694
to assemble their ideas
and realise them,
662
00:40:16,802 --> 00:40:18,930
in the same way
I was realizing the music,
663
00:40:19,038 --> 00:40:22,030
they did, I think, a pretty smart thing.
664
00:40:22,141 --> 00:40:27,170
I think what happened straightaway
was that it was very mysterious.
665
00:40:27,279 --> 00:40:28,747
It was like a game.
666
00:40:28,847 --> 00:40:32,181
There were quizzes to see
if you could spot who everyone was,
667
00:40:32,284 --> 00:40:34,776
and of course nobody could.
668
00:40:34,887 --> 00:40:37,788
And I think a kind of cult
built up around it,
669
00:40:37,890 --> 00:40:42,919
and then the myths and stories
that built up around it,
670
00:40:43,028 --> 00:40:47,124
it became an interesting talking point,
I think.
671
00:40:47,633 --> 00:40:50,568
I think we just thought
we'll do the best we can
672
00:40:50,669 --> 00:40:54,162
in this very far-out new way
that we had of thinking.
673
00:40:54,273 --> 00:40:55,570
Get it to be something...
674
00:40:55,674 --> 00:40:59,611
I still think that is the best philosophy,
to really try and please yourself.
675
00:41:00,212 --> 00:41:03,113
Probably the most momentous song
on the album, "A Day in the Life",
676
00:41:03,215 --> 00:41:05,343
began in a very simple way.
677
00:41:05,451 --> 00:41:08,421
And we've got the rehearsal fake,
take one,
678
00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:10,488
the very first time we heard it,
679
00:41:11,523 --> 00:41:14,788
with John giving a few instructions
to people, as usual,
680
00:41:14,893 --> 00:41:16,725
just before he starts it.
681
00:41:17,696 --> 00:41:20,495
"Have the mike on the piano
quite low."
682
00:41:20,599 --> 00:41:22,328
"Keep it like maracas, you know."
683
00:41:22,434 --> 00:41:25,631
John was singing while he was playing
his acoustic guitar.
684
00:41:25,738 --> 00:41:29,368
Paul was on piano.
George was playing maracas, I think.
685
00:41:29,475 --> 00:41:31,910
And certainly Ringo was on bongos.
686
00:41:32,011 --> 00:41:35,242
John counts in by saying,
"Sugar plum fairy, sugar plum fairy."
687
00:41:39,585 --> 00:41:42,577
"Sugar plum fairy,
sugar plum fairy."
688
00:41:55,567 --> 00:41:59,697
♪ I read the news today, oh boy ♪
689
00:42:01,607 --> 00:42:04,133
♪ About a lucky man
who made the grade... ♪
690
00:42:04,243 --> 00:42:07,543
Even in this early take,
he has a voice...
691
00:42:07,646 --> 00:42:12,106
- ♪ And though the news was rather sad ♪
- ...which sends shivers down the spine.
692
00:42:13,652 --> 00:42:16,883
♪ Well, I just had to laugh ♪
693
00:42:19,625 --> 00:42:22,617
♪ I saw the photograph ♪
694
00:42:25,831 --> 00:42:29,096
♪ He blew his mind out in a car ♪
695
00:42:31,904 --> 00:42:36,364
♪ He didn't notice
that the lights had changed... ♪
696
00:42:38,811 --> 00:42:41,644
Well, I think
he's vastly underrated, Ringo.
697
00:42:44,249 --> 00:42:48,482
The drum fills on "A Day in the Life"
are in fact very, very complex things.
698
00:42:48,987 --> 00:42:52,423
You could take a great drummer
from today
699
00:42:52,524 --> 00:42:55,755
and say, "I want it like that,"
and they really wouldn't know what to do.
700
00:42:57,663 --> 00:43:00,132
♪ They'd seen his face before ♪
701
00:43:00,232 --> 00:43:04,032
♪ Nobody was really sure
if he was from the House of Lords... ♪
702
00:43:06,805 --> 00:43:10,503
I could only play the drums
the best I could, you know?
703
00:43:10,609 --> 00:43:13,169
You know, I've said it before
that I was very lucky
704
00:43:13,278 --> 00:43:17,340
that I was surrounded
by three frustrated drummers.
705
00:43:17,449 --> 00:43:24,287
All three of them can play drums,
but only one sort of style.
706
00:43:24,389 --> 00:43:27,359
There was one great moment
with John who played a record to me
707
00:43:27,459 --> 00:43:29,791
and wanted me to...
"Well, play it like that, Ringo."
708
00:43:29,895 --> 00:43:34,025
I said, "But, John, there's two guys."
He says, "Don't let that bother you."
709
00:43:34,133 --> 00:43:36,966
The first part of the song
"A Day in the Life" was John's,
710
00:43:37,069 --> 00:43:38,434
but it was incomplete.
711
00:43:38,537 --> 00:43:41,666
He went to Paul and said, "Have you got
anything to pad it out in the middle?"
712
00:43:41,773 --> 00:43:43,901
Paul had another song
which he was working on,
713
00:43:44,009 --> 00:43:47,707
which really had no connection with
"A Day in the Life", but it was good.
714
00:43:47,813 --> 00:43:50,646
♪ Woke up, fell out of bed ♪
715
00:43:50,749 --> 00:43:53,150
♪ Dragged a comb across my head ♪
716
00:43:55,087 --> 00:43:58,113
♪ Found my way downstairs
and drank a cup ♪
717
00:43:58,223 --> 00:44:01,056
♪ And looking up, I noticed I was late... ♪
718
00:44:01,994 --> 00:44:03,928
So John said,
"Well, let's shove it in the middle"
719
00:44:04,029 --> 00:44:06,054
"and see if we can't connect them up
in some way."
720
00:44:06,698 --> 00:44:10,760
We connected them
with a series of empty bars
721
00:44:10,869 --> 00:44:16,069
on either side of Paul's section
before we came back into John's reprise,
722
00:44:16,175 --> 00:44:20,510
and we knew we had to fill those bars
with something sensational.
723
00:44:20,612 --> 00:44:22,273
And we didn't know
what it was going to be yet.
724
00:44:22,814 --> 00:44:24,578
In order to keep the 24 bars
725
00:44:24,683 --> 00:44:27,084
so that everybody knew
when to come back in again,
726
00:44:27,186 --> 00:44:30,622
dear old Mal Evans stood
by the piano counting the bars.
727
00:44:30,722 --> 00:44:35,489
"Seven, eight, nine, ten..."
728
00:44:35,594 --> 00:44:37,426
And just to add further weight to it,
729
00:44:37,529 --> 00:44:41,124
he set off an alarm clock at the end of it
to trigger everybody back into it.
730
00:44:42,067 --> 00:44:44,764
Seventeen, eighteen,
731
00:44:44,870 --> 00:44:48,966
"nineteen, twenty!"
732
00:44:49,341 --> 00:44:53,175
They told me they wanted an orchestral
climax to fill these empty bars,
733
00:44:53,278 --> 00:44:55,269
a giant orgasm of sound
734
00:44:55,380 --> 00:44:59,283
rising from nothing at all
to the most incredible noise.
735
00:44:59,384 --> 00:45:00,783
And this is what we came up with.
736
00:45:25,644 --> 00:45:28,944
And with that, we joined up
the two parts of the song.
737
00:45:29,047 --> 00:45:31,914
♪ Woke up, fell out of bed ♪
738
00:45:32,017 --> 00:45:34,577
♪ Dragged a comb across my head... ♪
739
00:45:36,221 --> 00:45:40,454
I think there's lots of better songs
out on different records.
740
00:45:40,559 --> 00:45:43,961
It's just...
it was the time, the attitude,
741
00:45:44,062 --> 00:45:46,827
it was the concept,
the world was trying to change.
742
00:45:46,932 --> 00:45:49,424
It didn't quite make it,
but it made a small move.
743
00:45:50,135 --> 00:45:52,536
It was in the air...
744
00:45:52,638 --> 00:45:55,869
For me, the psychedelic years
were the most exciting.
745
00:45:55,974 --> 00:45:59,069
It's like a period. If you listen to music
from the '20 or the '30s,
746
00:45:59,177 --> 00:46:03,136
it has a sort of sound to it,
and I think that's important.
747
00:46:03,248 --> 00:46:09,346
If you want to listen to something like
a Hoagy Carmichael tune,
748
00:46:09,454 --> 00:46:13,118
well, it's partly the song that you like,
and it's partly the way he did it,
749
00:46:13,225 --> 00:46:15,785
and it's also partly the way
it was recorded,
750
00:46:15,894 --> 00:46:17,988
how the microphones
sounded in those days,
751
00:46:18,096 --> 00:46:20,656
how the tube amplifiers
in the boards...
752
00:46:20,766 --> 00:46:23,736
You know,
it's all that kind of atmosphere,
753
00:46:23,835 --> 00:46:25,963
and it becomes a little period piece.
754
00:46:26,638 --> 00:46:28,299
The concept of the thing,
755
00:46:28,407 --> 00:46:30,774
I mean, before concept albums
became a dirty word,
756
00:46:30,876 --> 00:46:32,935
you'd put it on and sit down and say,
757
00:46:33,045 --> 00:46:36,538
"For the next 50 minutes,
I'm gonna be going there."
758
00:46:36,648 --> 00:46:38,707
So, it was very new
from that point of view.
759
00:46:40,352 --> 00:46:43,720
♪ And though the holes
were rather small... ♪
760
00:46:46,224 --> 00:46:50,718
Well, you know, the whole
flower power thing fell apart in the end.
761
00:46:50,829 --> 00:46:54,288
I mean, there's still some
great, old hippies out there,
762
00:46:54,399 --> 00:46:56,561
travelling in their vans, but...
763
00:46:56,668 --> 00:47:00,627
It wasn't the movement
that I felt it could have been.
764
00:47:01,006 --> 00:47:03,566
I must confess that when we were
going through "Pepper",
765
00:47:03,675 --> 00:47:06,337
people were saying, "How's it
coming along?" I'd say "Fine."
766
00:47:06,445 --> 00:47:10,075
And I must confess, as we were getting
longer and longer into the album
767
00:47:10,182 --> 00:47:12,981
and more and more avant-garde,
768
00:47:13,085 --> 00:47:16,111
I was wondering whether we were
being a little bit over the top
769
00:47:16,221 --> 00:47:18,588
and a little bit... maybe pretentious.
770
00:47:18,690 --> 00:47:22,820
Just a slight niggle of worry. I thought,
"Is the public ready for this yet?"
771
00:47:22,928 --> 00:47:25,761
The musical papers
which I used to read
772
00:47:25,864 --> 00:47:28,697
were starting to slag us off,
because we hadn't done anything,
773
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:31,098
because it took five months to record.
774
00:47:31,203 --> 00:47:34,195
And I remember with great glee
seeing in one of the papers,
775
00:47:34,306 --> 00:47:37,435
"Oh, the Beatles have dried up.
There's nothing coming from them."
776
00:47:37,542 --> 00:47:39,840
"They've been in the studio.
They can't think what they're doing."
777
00:47:39,945 --> 00:47:43,438
And I was sitting rubbing my hands,
saying, "You just wait."
778
00:47:49,454 --> 00:47:54,153
♪ Friday morning,
at nine o'clock ♪
779
00:47:54,259 --> 00:47:57,559
♪ She is far away ♪
780
00:48:00,966 --> 00:48:06,496
♪ Waiting to keep
the appointment she made ♪
781
00:48:06,605 --> 00:48:11,372
♪ Meeting a man from the Motortrade ♪
782
00:48:12,411 --> 00:48:13,776
♪ She...♪
783
00:48:13,879 --> 00:48:17,372
♪ What did we do that was wrong ♪
784
00:48:17,482 --> 00:48:19,177
♪ ...is leaving ♪
785
00:48:19,284 --> 00:48:23,312
♪ We didn't know it was wrong ♪
786
00:48:23,422 --> 00:48:24,753
♪...fun ♪
787
00:48:24,856 --> 00:48:28,986
♪ Fun is the one thing
that money can't buy ♪
788
00:48:29,094 --> 00:48:33,656
♪ Something inside
that was always denied ♪
789
00:48:33,765 --> 00:48:37,633
♪ For so many years ♪
790
00:48:40,272 --> 00:48:44,675
♪ She's leaving home ♪
791
00:48:44,776 --> 00:48:49,338
♪ Bye, bye...♪
68990
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