Walruses and knickers
“Daddy! He said knickers!”
I fell in love with I am the walrus when I realised that John Lennon sang about knickers in the song. Knickers was a blasphemous word for me at that age. It ranked alongside poo-poo, willy and bottom as words to cause offence.
I knew the song because my dad had a home recorded cassette tape of The Beatles 1967–1970 double album — AKA “the blue one”. It was played a lot in the car on long journeys. I remember the tape well: it said “BEATLES 67–70” written down the side on red Dymo adhesive tape. The majority of the other cassette tapes that my dad had in the car had blue Dymo adhesive tape with things like “EAGLES GREATEST”, “DEREK & THE DOMINOS”, “SIMON & GARFUNKEL”. The red Dymo tape made the Beatles tape stand out and for me it was “the red one”. This would confuse me later in life.
My dad also had the other Beatles collection — The Beatles 1962–1966 — AKA “The red one”. But I always preferred the other one: my red one. I preferred it mainly because it had I am the walrus — the song where they sang “knickers”.
A few years after my obsession with knickers subsided, and before it resumed again in adolescence, I was in Paris with my family. I was waiting in the car for my mum and sister to come back from somewhere and we were parked somewhere close to The Eiffel Tower. My dad and I were listening to the same Beatles tape with the red Dymo tape. I am the walrus came on and I remember thinking “Hey! We’re looking at The Eiffel Tower while they’re singing ‘Semolina pilchards climbing up The Eiffel Tower’!” It seemed the most appropriate song for that moment.
That was almost 40 years ago and since then I’ve got to know and appreciate the catalogue of Beatles music in much more detail. At the same time my musical taste has broadened and developed. However, my favourite track of the Beatles is still I am the walrus. For me, the song is where their talents for invention and music combined to best effect. Others will argue that Strawberry Fields, A day in the life, Come together, among many others candidates, have better claims. But I’ll always prefer I am the walrus, and maybe that’s because John Lennon captured me young by singing “knickers”.
About 15 years ago I made a collection of Beatles songs on a C90 cassette tape. After many years of compiling them, this was one of the last compilation tapes I made. All those hours spent trying to fit everything into 90 minutes has been made much simpler with Spotify playlists. So, as the Beatles have arrived on Spotify, I have remade the compilation for the modern age. I hope it please pleases you: The Beatles #2s.
