hello, goodbye

The Beatles addressed the duality of man with this profoundly bouncey pop nugget. Though credited to both Lennon and McCartney, 'Hello, Goodbye' was written solely by McCartney. Brian Epstein's assistant Alistair Taylor played a pivotal role in the composition of the song: "I always say that it should be by Lennon/McCartney/Taylor. I always make a big joke of it. Because the original idea came from a semi-drunken night up at Cavendish Avenue. Paul and I were larking about on a little harmonium. He was saying come on Al anyone could write a song and I said if they could there would be a million Lennon & McCartneys. But we pumped some air into this harmonium and he said you hit that end and I'll hit this end and let's get a rythmn going. Then he said I'll shout out a word and you shout out the opposite. Black - White, Come - Go. A few weeks later he gave me a white acetate and said there you go that's the new single. It was a number one - 'Hello Goodbye'. So thanks buddy. He won't even speak to me now ... I wonder whether Paul really made up that song as he went along or whether it was running through his head already."

McCartney remembers: "'Hello Goodbye' was one of my songs. There are Geminian influences here I think-- the twins. It's such a deep theme of the universe, duality-- man woman, black white, high low, right wrong, up down, hello goodbye-- that it was a very easy song to write. It's just a song of duality, with me advocating the more positive. You say goodbye, I say hello. You say stop, I say go. I was advocating the more positive side of the duality, and I still do to this day."

The Beatles recorded it during October of 1967. The sessions were produced by George Martin and engineered by Ken Scott with Paul McCartney on lead vocal, bass, piano, bongos, and congas; John Lennon on backing vocal and Hammond organ; George Harrison on backing vocal and lead guitar; Ringo Starr on backing vocal, drums, maracas, and tambourine; with Kenneth Essex and Leo Birnbaum on viola.

'Hello, Goodbye' was released the same week as their album 'Magical Mystery Tour' in late November and was included on the US version of the album. It didn't appear on an album in the UK until 1973; but has appeared on subsequent releases of 'Magical Mystery Tour'.

Lennon dismissed the song as "three minutes of contradictions and meaningless juxtapositions ... That's another McCartney. An attempt to write a single. It wasn't a great piece. The best bit was at the end, which we all ad-libbed in the studio, where I played the piano. Like 'Ticket To Ride,' where we just threw something in at the end."

McCartney says: "I remember the end bit where there's the pause and it goes 'Heba, heba hello'. We had those words and we had this whole thing recorded but it didn't sound quite right, and I remember asking Geoff Emerick if we could really whack up the echo on the tom-toms. And we put this echo full up on the tom-toms and it just came alive."


'Hello, Goodbye' was a number one smash around the globe; their fifth in Spain, sixth in Germany, eighth in Denmark, tenth in Ireland, thirteenth in the Netherlands and Norway, fourteenth in Sweden, fifteenth in the UK and the US, nineteeth in Australia, and their twenty-first number one in Canada. In the UK, it spent seven weeks at the top of the charts, making it one of their biggest hits there.












http://www.thebeatles.com/












The Beatles made promotional films for 'Hello, Goodbye' featuring them wearing their outfits from 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' on November 10, 1967 at the Saville Theatre in London. The BBC refused to air them because of strict rules against lip synching in the British Musicians Union. One of the films appeared on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' on November 26, 1967.

You say yes, 

I say no.

You say stop 

And I say go go go, 

Oh no.

You say goodbye 

And I say hello

Hello hello

I don't know why you say goodbye, 

I say hello

Hello hello

I don't know why you say goodbye, 

I say hello

I say high, 

You say low

You say why 

And I say I don't know, 

Oh no

You say goodbye and I say hello

(Hello Goodbye Hello Goodbye) 

Hello hello

(Hello Goodbye) 

I don't know why you say goodbye, 

I say hello

(Hello Goodbye Hello Goodbye) 

Hello hello

(Hello Goodbye) 

I don't know why you say goodbye

(Hello Goodbye) I say hello

Why why why why why why 

Do you say goodbye goodbye, 

Oh no?

You say goodbye 

And I say hello

Hello hello

I don't know why you say goodbye, 

I say hello

Hello hello

I don't know why you say goodbye, 

I say hello

You say yes 

(I say "yes") 

I say no 

(but I may mean no.)

You say stop 

(I can stay) 

And I say go go go 

(till it's time to go ), 

Oh no no

You say goodbye and I say hello

Hello hello

I don't know why you say goodbye, 

I say hello

Hello hello

I don't know why you say goodbye, 

I say hello

Hello hello

I don't know why you say goodbye, 

I say hello hello

Hellooooo

Hela heba helloa

Hela heba helloa Cha Cha Cha

Hela heba helloa Whooo

Hela heba helloa Hela

Hela heba helloa Cha Cha Cha

Hela heba helloa Whooo

Hela heba helloa Cha Cha

Hela heba helloa

Lennon would exclaim in disgust: "'I Am the Walrus' was the B side to 'Hello, Goodbye,'! Can you believe it?"

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 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 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 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, goo goo g' goo g' goo goo g' joob joob

Joob joob...