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The Beatles, Good Morning Good Morning - Amy’s First Listen and Analysis (Patreon)

Published:
2025-01-04 12:28:19
Imported:
2026-06
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Yay, it’s morning on the farm! The rooster is waking us all up! Oh, this isn’t just any farm … this is THE Farm!

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Comments

Ye_Humble_Scrivener

Amy, this is my favorite of your "Sgt. Pepper" analyses -- in fact, I feel personally vindicated, because I have never understood why some folks are so dismissive of this catchy, well-observed, action-packed song. The shifting rhythms, the internal rhymes, the jaded attitude -- it's just great. The "Animal Farm" connection had never occurred to me before; that's an inspired observation. The sequencing and the links between tracks are so important on this album. The rooster crowing at the beginning is a wryly suggestive joke, as it immediately follows the (ahem) climax of "Lovely Rita," at which point our narrator presumably falls asleep. And then the whole world comes crashing in. Even though the lyrics are about how there's nothing happening, the song itself is hyperactive, as if John has all this pent-up energy that his surroundings aren't giving him an outlet for. Many of John's assessments of his Beatles-era songs come from a period where he was eager to debunk the Beatleolaters, and the mythic status the band had acquired. Always the iconoclast, even when the icon was himself.

Lynn Poole

John: double-tracked lead vocal, guitar; Paul: backing vocal, bass, drums, lead guitar; George: backing vocal, lead guitar; Ringo: drums, tambourine. Additional instruments: Three saxophones, two trombones, and French horn. The saxophones were played by a band "Sounds Inc." that they met in 1962 when they were in Hamburg. Both Ringo and Paul played drums on one track. Paul played the guitar solo on another track. No information provided as to why there were two drummers. "The sound of the horns was altered with heavy compression and flanging".

Lynn Poole

Animal sounds were from the sound effects library under the stairs. "The order in which the animals were sequenced was guided by John's request that each should be capable of eating or at least scaring its predecessor".

Rea Lavi

Brilliant stuff! Lennon was known to be extremely well-read (addicted to reading one might say). I have no doubt he read Animal Farm.

Peter Buwen

I've always liked the song and I don't think it's trash. There are many Lennon songs - especially from the Beatles era - that John has later described as trash. I rarely agree with him. I think he's either flirting with it, as if he wanted to say "of I could do much, much better if I only tried harder." Or he just wants to shake off that phase of his life with the Beatles and therefore calls a lot of it "trash." In any case, he's wrong. I don't think John ever understood what the Beatles actually meant in social history. There's also a famous exchange of letters where Lennon accuses McCartney of being on his own high horse when he thinks the Beatles were somehow important or had achieved something. Of course they were. John just didn't want to believe it.

Lynn Poole
>>160269759

In my limited experience with chickens, I can see them "thinking" they are in control. Although I'm not sure they are "thinking".

Lynn Poole

The horses, dogs and horn were sounds from a fox hunt.

Lynn Poole

I listened to the take with John's vocals, guitars, the drums (Ringo and Paul), and the bass. On that you can hear clearly that there are two drum tracks but we are left to wonder who is doing what. But In Wikipedia it notes that Mark Lewisohn reported that the 16 note bass drum fills were done on two drums.

Lynn Poole
>>160279686

I wonder if he was thinking of this as filler or trash when compared to the other of his songs on the album, "Lucy in the Sky", "A Day in the Life" and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite", but especially the first two. And "Strawberry Fields" which was recorded at the same time.

Paul D. Hoffmaster III

OK, this isn't a song that I think that any couple would say to the other. Gee honey, they are playing our song. But, it does, for me, fit into the album. It has many lines that are in normal conversations. There is Ringo, going for it in the left channel. I will say this, THIS IS NOT A MORNING SONG. Good review Amy.

David Taylor

Great review and analysis Amy, I really enjoyed that. Although John dismissed many of the Beatles songs,(especially right after the breakup) his stance had mellowed a bit by 1980. At least he started calling them "throwaways". Lol 😆 Vlad, I'm curious about how you're going to handle MMT. Are you going to treat It as an album, or a double EP and singles? After all, the American album has for several years been recognized and listed in most publications. And what about Yellow Submarine? Hope you at least review "Hey Bulldog". 🤞 Once again, thanks for the review, and all that you do! 😁

Jazz C.

Watching this I think this song is the perfect example to use as like a contrast between johns solo work and his work with the Beatles. I think there’s a real thread here from good morning to say something like watching the wheels… to me the biggest difference you know you have this kinda little song but with the Beatles they try and elevate the song a big by adding all these other things both musically and humorously to take it to a different level… a pastiche thing. Whereas John on his own doesn’t really do that it kinda stays in that initial phase realm which is good too I mean I love to listen to johns Beatles takes I think they’re so nice but at the same time you can just really see the difference. Whether that’s Paul’s influence or big George or little george or ringos like everyone is contributing in some way to give it a little something more. Anyway I’m so so so excited to go to MMT soon! I personally love it very much

Gary Sjoberg

The Beatles were so good at changing time signatures and rhythm .The seamless shift into triplets in this song is a perfect example of this. Lennon, specifically, did it very instinctively,

Julian Ortiz

Brilliant analysis! I never considered this song a throw away. John always disappointed me with his overly deprecated words about many Beatles songs. It may be that he felt that he was often misunderstood because he went a little too deep with the meanings of his words and he decided a song was trash if his audience didn’t get it? I always picked up on his boredom with the day-to-day mundane goings on in this song. That part is pretty clear, but now I wonder if Amy’s theory about connecting it to Orwell’s Animal Farm was what Lennon intended? That’s a very interesting idea. I also know he wasn’t a morning person either so I also like the part of the repeated “Good Morning” possibly meant to convey irritation. I hadn’t ever considered that, but I suppose that’s also a possibility. This song is definitely deeper than some people may have given it credit for. In any case, I’ve always enjoyed this song. It’s one that fits well on the Sgt. Pepper album. Great job as always, Amy. It looks like you changed Vlad’s mind. 🤭

TangoEliott

It took me years to appreciate this song. As a teen it was my least favorite on the album. But that is because I was unable to grasp the whole of it. The Beatles, and in this case Lennon, were always challenging their audience. Oh and I always thought it was "glad that I'm here". You just made me 15 again.

dnlng 118

It's a kind of slice of life song - art of the banal. Focusing on the mundane repetive parts of life, but then transforming them. Clothes Line Saga by Bob Dylan might be another example, for comparison. Also, it is a kind of reply song to McCartney's much more cheery Good Day Sunshine on Revolver.

dnlng 118
>>162861566

As for the Animal Farm reference, Harrison wrote a song in 68 - the year after this - which is explicitly influenced by Animal Farm.

brovold72 .

Even if it were a "throwaway song" with little content, it is an important linking track between the other songs. Also, note that there is a wake-up call placed so near the end of the album. Hmm... why could that be?

brovold72 .

I'm beginning to notice that whenever one of them leans into a "British" accent it's often indicative of sarcasm or irony.

brovold72 .
>>162872566

Super-obvious, perhaps, but maybe the main thing the Beatles did NOT borrow from the American/African-American scene was their sense of humor; it strikes me as 100% home-grown. Maybe that's the #SecretSauce.

Rob Reed

Good analysis Amy. I've always liked this song. Some further observations. "...You hope she goes", I always thought this was suggestive of the term "goer" which was in vogue in the 60s (a woman who is sexually active with a lot of people: example "Apparently, she was a bit of a goer before she got married.") I think Lennon is also comparing the mundane domestic married life (work, meet the wife, time for tea (which means the meal, not the drink)) with life outside (flirting, going to a show, hoping she's a goer, even telling someone the time). The sound at the end with horses, bugle and foxhounds is a foxhunt. If you were in the British countryside and you heard this you knew the hunt was coming your way. It's now banned.

RAD1

Hope you'll eventually get to Pink Floyd's brilliant take on Orwell's 'Animal Farm'. Maybe The Beatles influenced them in that regard also.

MARK Stacy
>>160335263

I would think to leave out the already covered title track and All You Need is Love and just cover the new ones used for the soundtrack. Since this applies to the original soundtrack, also leave out the George Martin instrumentals. At least for the individual songs.

Lawrence Swan

Next to A Day in the Life this is my favorite and I think the two are closely related. Both start right off with a man’s death and Paul’s part in the second song revisits the theme of waking to being half asleep or going into a dream. And so on.

Tom Hawk

Intuitive commentary...As a songwriter I always picked up on ths

Rea Lavi
>>162872566

Also I don't remember which member it was but one of the Pythons said the Beatles were like the Python before the Pythons

Tom Hawk

Intuitive commentary! As a songwriter I always picked up on these elements also. Also as a songwriter I also see John's point of view. Apparently he couldn't think of anything to write about, which I believe is why he probably regarded the song as "foolishness". So ended up writing about everyday stuff which is in fact the real foolishness! Today I find this song more deeply related to "Day In The Life" than I previously recognized.

brovold72 .
>>162872566

I think it was Eric who said it, but might've been the general consensus amongst the troupe.

Clay Beat-E-O
>>160301227

I'm glad someone (Lynn) pointed out the double-time bass drum pattern. If I remember the story correctly, John or Paul suggested that Ringo try using a 2nd bass drum to double the bass beat, but this was rejected by Ringo, as he had never used alternating foot pedals on his kit. So Paul decided to play the 2nd alternating bass drum hits at the same as Ringo. Just goes to show how talented Paul was and how versatile The Beatles were in the studio. Thanks Lynn!

Ricardo Roth

PLEASE react to Serge Gainsbourg! Best and most innovative french songwriter of the 60s with great orchestral elements and nice basslines. Bonnie And Clyde for example

Jim Bledsoe

Only loosely related to this post... I very much hope that when you listen to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", you'll do it in the same manner that you did with this album. ItIt will make for a better analysis, and it will be more rewarding for you.

Ross Henderson

Who's going to tell Amy that there's another Lennon composition called 'Good Night' coming up?