According to Peter Shotton, a childhood friend of John's, in his book The Beatles, Lennon, and Me there is an amusing story behind the lyrics of I Am The Walrus. For those who may not know who Peter Shotton was or his signifigance in Beatle history, Shotton played the washboard in John's first band, The Black Jacks who shortly thereafter became the Quarrymen. It was also Shotton who arranged for the Quarrymen to play at St. Peter's Parish church in Woolton on July 6, 1957 which is where John met Paul McCartney for the first time.
John and Peter remained friends for many years. Once the Beatles became a world wide success Lennon could no longer go out in public so Shotton was often invited over. One night Peter and John were sitting around reading fan mail when Shotton opened a letter written by a student who was attending the same art school that Lennon had attended around 1958. It seems that there was a teacher who had failed Lennon in his class and now, nine years later, was telling his students what the Beatles really mean in their lyrics. This angered Lennon at first but his anger turned into amusement because an idea had come to him. He asked Shotton What was that dead dog's eye song we used to sing at Quarreybank? Shotton remembered Yellow matter custard, green slop pie, all mixed together with a dead dog's eye, slap it on a butty, ten foot thick, then wash it all down with a cup of cold sick. That's it! Fantastic! said Lennon who then grabbed a pen and began writing the words to I Am The Walrus Inspired by the thought of a Quarreybank teacher trying to explain the meaning of Lennon / McCartney, John put in the most absurd images he could create. Semolina (a nasty tasting pudding John had been forced to eat as a child) pilchard (a sardine sometimes fed to cats) climbing up the Eiffel tower..... he said the words to Shotton and then began writing them down with obvious glee. As he did so he said to Shotton, Let's see what the bastard makes out of this, Pete! (a later version of Shotton's book has Lennon using a stronger expletive) When read in that context, the lyrics make perfect sense. For sheer creativity driven by a spark of revenge, I rate this song five stars.
