A Day In The Life

Song Meaning of A Day In The Life by The Beatles

One of the final authentic Lennon-McCartney collaborations, "A Day in the Life" had Paul McCartney's "Woke up/Fell out of bed" middle and John Lennon's "opening and closing" passages.

They hired 40 musicians, outfitted them in tuxedos and goofy hats, and gave them 15 bars to play from the lowest note on their instruments to the highest one in order to create the climax.

McCartney remarked, "Listen to those trumpets; they're freaking out".

Most of John Lennon's part of the song were influenced by news stories from the day, such as one about Tara Browne, an heir to the Guinness brewery. McCartney reflects on his younger years, which included taking the bus, smoking, and attending school, in the song's middle section. The song concludes with one of the most renowned chords in musical history, played on numerous keyboards, and lasting for more than forty seconds after the second crescendo.

'I'd want to turn you on', a rumoured drug reference, is what caused the BBC to first forbid the song from airing.

According to Lennon, McCartney also contributed the pivotal line "I'd love to turn you on." In a 1970 interview, Lennon talked about this collaboration he said:

Paul and I were definitely working together, especially on "A Day in the Life" ... The way we wrote a lot of the time: you'd write the good bit, the part that was easy, like "I read the news today" or whatever it was, then when you got stuck or whenever it got hard, instead of carrying on, you just drop it; then we would meet each other, and I would sing half, and he would be inspired to write the next bit and vice versa. He was a bit shy about it because I think he thought it's already a good song ... So we were doing it in his room with the piano. He said "Should we do this?" "Yeah, let's do that."

Lyrics of the song A Day In The Life by The Beatles

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

I saw a film today, oh boy;

The English army had just won the war

A crowd of people turned away

But I just had to look

Having read the book

I'd love to turn you on

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

Ah 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