Magical Mystery Tour

Magical Mystery Tour
A McCartney creation through and through. This song sets up the movie, or its premise by explaining the purpose of the Mystery Tour. Lyrically, not much of a challenge for the imagination, but musically its strongest component is Ringo's drumming throughout. It is also characterised by its multiple-harmonies singing `Roll Up'. By far the catchiest song on the album, it is more McCartney `Band on the Run' style storytelling, with little purpose other than to inform about something, but nothing in particular.

The Fool On The Hill
Interesting song lyrically from McCartney, again proving to be the main imputus for The Beatles catalogue of songs. Musically, the use of double-tracked recorders giving the whole song a Pied Piper kind of feel to the storyline. Its obvious that McCartney is making comment about someone or something in this song, but I feel its not explored well enough to give any identity or dissimilarity from the people who supposedly hate him. What it has to do with the actual movie is very hard to find. If The Fool was one of the main attractions along the way, or built up to be something of an oddity along the Mystery Tour then the song might be better explained. It is a good lyric, one of his strongest actually, but the people who hate the Fool, and why he's hated isn't explored deeply enough for my interests.

Flying
This `almost'-instrumental was written by all four Beatles. As a music piece to accompany a film, it works. I've always liked this song.Particularly the mellotrons and fade out at the end of tape loops.

Blue Jay Way
Harrison's one song on this album. Again, having very little to do with any kind of storyline, but then again the Mystery Tour plot is a bit weak. It is also one of my favourite Harrison compositions, whereas a lot of people see it as one of his weaker tracks. The reason I like this song so much is because not only does it tell you about a fog upon L.A., the music is also foggy. Voices come out from a dense wash of effects, strange and ethereal. The portrayal of fog in music is creating art. But as a said, I would try and stay away from commenting about Art & Pop. This song isn't pop though . . .

Your Mother Should Know
Another McCartney contribution that makes up the finale of the Mystery Tour film, incorporating the Hollywood 1930's musical extravaganzas into the tour's sights. The song is another one of McCartney's look back to the previous generation's music. It probably has its fans in many a grandmother or dear old auntie. I personally have no thoughts about this song other than I like the background vocals and Ringo's drumwork. It's just another one of McCartney's `I Am the Showman, I Am the Entertainer' songs which could have just as easily been done by Tom Jones or Cliff Richard.

I Am The Walrus
Hmmm. Where to begin? Lennon's contribution to the Magical Mystery Tour contains mixed blessings. Musically a fantastic piece of surrealism and the last vestiges of psychedelia in the Beatles work. Lyrically. I am not even going to attempt to say this is meaningful or not. That `pornographic priestess' is actually a line in a Beatles song is an accomplishment in itself.

The basic premise of this song was this, as explained by Lennon in 1980 - It's from "The Walrus and the Carpenter." "Alice in Wonderland." To me, it was a beautiful poem. It never dawned on me that Lewis Carroll was commenting on the capitalist and social system. I never went into that bit about what he really meant, like people are doing with the Beatles' work. Later, I went back and looked at it and realized that the walrus was the bad guy in the story and the carpenter was the good guy. I thought, Oh, s**tt, I picked the wrong guy. I should have said, "I am the carpenter." But that wouldn't have been the same, would it? [Singing] "I am the carpenter...."

So basically you have a man who doesn't know what he's talking about either. If anyone here has ever read `Through The Looking Glass' by Lewis Carroll, and the story that Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum tell Alice about the Walrus & The Carpenter, the allusions to politics are pretty apparent in the way the two characters betray the clams they are about to eat. I'm not saying I'm so smart I figured it out when Lennon couldn't, but I am saying that when held up as an intellectual by the masses, Lennon again falls short by not even understanding the metaphors that Carroll deftly illustrated in the characters. Its why the works of Kafka, Orwell, Burroughs and Joyce are there. Taking the reality and submersing it in surreal or strange parallel worlds which echo the traits of our reality. It is not hard to see who is the cockroach in Kafka's `Metamorphosis'. That fans of The Beatles thought there were great underlying themes in I Am The Walrus, when the person who wrote it didn't realise what the actual Walrus was, shows the folly of believing Lennon's (or McCartney's) work has that much depth to it.

The best line of the song is the first line. The English garden section is also very well written, but the rest of the lyric is fanciful word play, allusions to previous Beatles songs by Lennon, and Lewis Carrollisms. A kind of `Ulysses' by a person who didn't quite understand that word-play CAN mean something despite its confusing or erratic prose. I can't necessarily fault the song for its lyric, but I can't praise it either. Its slightly overrated I feel, and I think Syd Barrett did this better or with greater gift.P>Overall and interesting album, faulted by its lack of cohesion, as well as the film itself.


I got a headache listening to this   February 7, 2005
Eric Kent (USA)
5 out of 45 found this review helpful

After listening to the Magical Mystery Tour, I got a headache.

Gosh already, I am sooooooo sick of the Beatles.

Are people in a time warp? This is 2005, the people are passe.

Sorry Beatles lovers, that is the reality, they are so very passe.



SHOULD BE CD/DVD COMBO, EXTENDED EDITION   May 2, 2005
dvdtrkr (San Diego CA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is considered one of their best albums by many people, and a lot of people who own the CD have never seen the film. Some people believe that the film was the beginning of the end of the Beatles....

The first part of the CD is a soundtrack to the short film for TV, the film was considered a flop at the time mostly because it had no storyline, but also because it was a color film (with color effects) that most people watched in black and white. It has become a cult classic and considered one of the first long form music videos.

"Magical Mystery Tour", sung by Paul, leads it off with a rocker, and then into Paul's keyboard driven "Fool on the Hill", both of which he does in concert from time to time.

The instrumental "Flying" is next, something you can see Austin Powers "groovin" to. George's very haunting "Blue Jay Way" inspired by getting lost in the Hollywood Hills has a lot of violin and organ music giving it that eerie sound. But then you hear Paul's peppy homage to old-time concert hall music "Your Mother Should Know". But one of the standout tracks is John's "I Am The Walrus", one of the best songs of their career with everything but the kitchen sink thrown into it, the song with it's circuslike intro, John's distorted vocals, and crazy imagery he was known for writing (but somewhat influenced by Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass") The "video" for this song is just as loony, and considered one of the first music videos.

The rest of the CD is comprised of songs that didn't make it to "Sgt Pepper" and odds and ends recorded after "Pepper". But because we're talking about the Beatles, these are no "B-sides".

"Hello Goodbye" starts off the "non-soundtrack" part of the CD, Paul on lead, and is just an upbeat song that has everything great about the Beatles in it.

"Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were hit singles that found a home on the "MMT" sountrack, and were songs that changed radio. "Penny Lane" was Paul's and was based on a real street, and was a mix of childhood memories, surreal imagery, and slid by the censors with a play on some words that were and still are pretty perverted. "Strawberry Fields" is John's take on a place he remembered from his childhood, as disorienting as "I Am The Walrus",also with the strings and drums as well as the words he used.This time he starts off with this innocent sounding keyboard but soon it goes into a really dark sounding, "serious" song. It's known that he was "chemically enhanced" when he wrote the songs, but his wit was still intact.

"Baby You're A Rich Man" follows, probably the most "throwaway" track they've done, but is one of the best representations of what made John and Paul a collaborative force. They're both featured vocalists, their writing style seems to be split down the middle, and George's Eastern influences makes it onto the song. The final song "All You Need is Love" is John on the lead, and ends the CD on an optimistic note (as most Beatle albums except Sgt Pepper have done) during a time of change, a message that still resonates almost 40 years later.

I think that they should put an extended version of the CD out for the following reasons:
Most of the album was remastered for the "Yellow Submarine" film (in surround)and soundtrack (which sounds better than the 1987 CDs) and "Anthology" (also in surround).
The film had extra songs on it and background instrumentals.

It would be great to put outtakes and their Xmas "Christmas Time Is Here Again" on an extended CD version, as well as interviews they did for the TV movie.

They should put it out as a CD/DVD package loaded with extras, including the making of the film (which was as insane as what they put into the film). There are video promos for "Hello Goodbye" (2 versions of it), "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", and the first worldwide premiere of "All You Need Is Love", which would be a great addition to an already classic album.




The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (1967)   August 12, 2005
Chad DeFeo (Philadelphia, PA USA)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful

In November of 1967, The Beatles released their fourteenth album entitled, MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. This album was to coincide with the original television series The Beatles were starring in on NBC. This album just picks on up with the 60s Cycodelic sound that I have enjoyed on the SGT. PEPPER album. This is definitely a classic Beatles album.

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
The album's classic & infamous title track. You cannot get anymore cycodelic than this. This song is just classic, especially on those synethesizers. Classic! Classic! Classic!

THE FOOL ON THE HILL
I never knew the name of this song, until I put this album on and heard the beginning of the song. This is a great song and Paul sings it perfectly well.

FLYING
Just instrumental piece. Nothing special.

BLUE JAY WAY
This is a great song. It is strange, I'll be the first to admit that, but I just love it. It's a great song.

YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW
Great.

I AM THE WALRUS
"I am the eggmen. They are they eggmen. I am the walrus. Goo Goo Goo Joob", sings John on this masterpiece work of art. This song is just outstanding and it fits the album perfectly, as well their era. Classic.

HELLO GOODBYE
A classic song.

STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
While John Lennon sang, "Strawberry Fields Forever", I sang, "The Beatles Are Indeed Forever". This song is just classic. My father's Beatles band, ALMOST FAB, includes this in their setlist when they perform their gigs. Let me tell you now that when they perform this song, it is SCARY! It sounds so much like this album version. If you saw my father's band and heard them sing this, you would have to close your eyes and just use your eyes. When you close your eyes, you would swear that you were listening to this album.

PENNY LANE
Another classic.

BABY YOU'RE A RICH MAN
This is about the only song I really do not like on this album. Sorry, guys.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
This song fits the era of this album perfectly. This song is just awesome.

All Beatles fans must have this album now. If you don't have it, I'll be looking for you. When I find you, I'll help you slam your money down onto the counter in order for you to pay for your copy of MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. This album is just outstanding. That only goes to show that The Beatles Are Indeed Forever.


The Magical Mystery Tour is coming to take you away...   September 14, 2006
5 out of 8 found this review helpful

Not my personal favorite Beatle's album, but includes some of my favorite songs. The strongest tracks are "Strawberry Fields", "I am the Walrus","The Fool on the Hill", and "Hello Goodbye", but that's not saying that the others aren't any good. Even the weakest tracks like "Blue Jay Way" and "Flying" are still very acceptable. Fitting right in with the phscidelic era and "The Summer of Love", this album is a must for people who like good music.