Released: November 24, 1967

Songwriter: Paul McCartney John Lennon Lennon-McCartney

Producer: George Martin

[Verse 1]
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

[Verse 2]
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man, you've been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long

[Chorus]
I am the egg man, they are the egg men
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob

[Verse 3]
Mister City policeman sitting, pretty little policemen 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

[Verse 4]
Yellow-matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess
Boy, you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down

[Chorus]
I am the egg man, they are the egg men
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob

[Bridge]
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

[Chorus]
I am the egg man (Now good sir, what are you?)
They are the egg men (A poor man, made tame to fortune's blows)
I am the walrus, goo goo goo joob (Good pity)
G'goo goo g'joob

[Verse 5]
Expert, textpert, choking smokers, don't you think the joker laughs at you?
(Ho ho ho, hee hee hee, ha ha ha)
See how they smile like pigs in a sty, see how they snide
I'm crying

[Verse 6]
Semolina pilchard climbing up the Eiffel Tower
Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna
Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe

[Chorus]
I am the egg man, they are the egg men
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob
Goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob, g'goo
Joob! Joob! Joob!

[Bridge]
Joob! Joob! Joob!
Joob! Joob! Joob! Joob! Joob!
Joob! Joob!
Joob! Joob!

[Outro]
Umpa, umpa, stick it up your jumper
Everybody's got one, everybody's got one
“Villain, take my Purse
If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my Body
And give the Letters which thou findst about me
To Edmund Earl of Gloucester: seek him out upon the English Party
Oh, untimely death, death–”
“I know thee well, a serviceable Villain; as duteous to the Vices of thy Mistress as badness would desire”
“What, is he dead?”
“Sit you down, Father; rest you”

The Beatles

The Beatles are arguably the most famous, critically-acclaimed, and successful rock band of all time—certainly the preeminent group of the 20th century. They started out as four teenagers playing grimy basement clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, but they progressed to become world-beating rock stars who are still influential to this day.

John Lennon first formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen in March 1957. A fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined shortly thereafter, eventually inviting his friend George Harrison to audition for the band. After finally impressing John with his guitar skills, George was asked to join—but this juncture would be short-lived as John’s departure to college signaled the other quarrymen to go their separate ways.

By 1960, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison had re-branded from ‘Johnny & the Moondogs’ to ‘The Silver Beetles’ at the behest of their new bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe. The name would eventually evolve into ‘The Silver Beatles’ by July of that year, before settling on ‘The Beatles’ come August—just in time for their trip to Hamburg with new drummer, Pete Best. Though club residencies in Germany would prove fundamental to the group’s progress as a whole, the tour turned out to be a blessing and a curse, following the deportation of a then-seventeen-year-old George Harrison, and the eventual tragic death of Stuart Sutcliffe.

more tracks from the album

The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) Boxset