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8.35am
18 September 2016
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sir walter raleigh said
It is a great song, but extremely direct. Plus George plays guitar. Paul was much more subtle in his criticism of John.
They all did post break up songs but it’s very cruel. It’s such a brilliant track, but the lyrics drip with so much venom that it leaves you feeling bad. Makes Dylan’s brilliant Positively 4th Street seem innocent and sweet. Lennon just went too far.
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5.43am
13 May 2017
Offline I agree with Penny Lane . With its mellow strings and ripping electric piano solo at the end, this is definitely one of my favourite Lennon songs yet it is somewhat tainted by unnecessary and vitriolic lyrics so blatantly aimed at Paul (despite John’s protestations later on). I so often wish that these lyrics were assigned to a piece of music of much lesser quality.
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penny lane3.47pm
5 July 2015
Offline I’m really torn about this song. I agree it’s one of John’s best after the Beatles music-wise, but the lyrics are hard to stomach. And like others have said, it’s ridiculous and somewhat hypocritical that such ugly sentiments would be expressed on his Imagine album. However, I don’t know that I’d want to change a thing about the song. It gives us a clearer view into John’s psyche at that time – heck, not just John’s but George’s and Ringo’s feelings about Paul as well since they each have some association with the song. In the long run, it may have actually helped John and Paul work out their quibbles.
And in making of this song, it turns out that John created one of the first examples of a diss track. Oh John, always the pioneer!
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Beatlebug, penny lane, WeepingAtlasCedars9.09am
14 November 2017
Offline I read somewhere that George didn’t really want to play on this track,as it’s clearly seen as an attack on Paul. Anyone back me up on that? I get the impression John could be very persuasive though and probably twisted George’s arm in the end. A great song, even if it was taking shots at McCartney
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9.29am
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20 August 2013
Offline Here’s what Joe wrote about it: “Contributing a slide guitar solo on the recording was George Harrison , whose complicity effectively endorsed the song’s sentiments, even if he appeared outwardly unmoved in the filmed footage of the sessions.” Maybe someone can add more.
He also adds: “More critical of the song’s lyrical content was Ringo Starr . One of the visitors to the studio during the song’s recording, he attempted to prevent in some of Lennon’s more vicious sentiments.” 
Hearts to Ringo.
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12.07pm
26 January 2017
Offline He borrowed his own riff from this song on Steel And Glass
"The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handles!"
-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues
"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"
-Brian Wilson, Surfer Girl
2.30pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
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Uploaded today, with video, takes 5 & 6, raw studio mix, out-take:
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11.49am
26 January 2017
Offline Can’t get enough of Nicky’s keyboard work on this one.
"The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handles!"
-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues
"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"
-Brian Wilson, Surfer Girl
6.52pm
14 June 2016
Offline Say what you want about the lyrics, but the tune itself is KILLER. Love the instrumental version. It’s so good that listening to that, it makes me think about John’s legacy. It takes on an aggressive, ethereal tone that while targeted at Paul, also reflects John’s personality.
1.The Beatles 2.Sgt. Pepper 3.Abbey Road 4.Magical Mystery Tour 5.Rubber Soul 6.Revolver 7.Help! 8.Let It Be
9.A Hard Day’s Night 10.Please Please Me 11.Beatles For Sale 12.With The Beatles 13.Yellow Submarine
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10.04pm
17 October 2013
Offline Always thought the song was one of solo John’s best…….
Hate the nasty lyrics……but could accept them as a repost to some of Paul’s stuff on Ram ……….Except for the complete blind hypocrisy of the line that ‘jumps’ out to me…….”Jump when your moma tell you anything” Pot and kettle John.
2.55pm
24 March 2014
Offline I wonder what does he mean with the line “
So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise”… how did it take Paul by surprise if Paul was the main brain behind it? Or he is talking about the success of the album? Has Paul ever talked about him been surprised by the positive reception it had?…
"I Need You by George Harrison"
3.05pm
11 September 2018
Offline Shamrock Womlbs said
I wonder what does he mean with the line “
So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise”… how did it take Paul by surprise if Paul was the main brain behind it? Or he is talking about the success of the album? Has Paul ever talked about him been surprised by the positive reception it had?…
I think the idea is that Paul feigned surprise when Sgt. Pepper was positively received by critics and audiences. False modesty perhaps?
8.46am
12 May 2015
Offline Shamrock Womlbs said
I wonder what does he mean with the line “
So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise”… how did it take Paul by surprise if Paul was the main brain behind it? Or he is talking about the success of the album? Has Paul ever talked about him been surprised by the positive reception it had?…
He was referring to those in the bands more middle of the road audience, who were taken aback by Sgt Pepper ‘s psychedelic sounds. And by the same token suggesting that it was a pretty shallow conceit.
No getting around it, john really wanted to hurt paul with this song. Musically it’s amazing (the strings are incredible), lyrically it shows you what a nasty s**t lennon could be. I actually think he was embarrassed by it later.
He was always impulsive as a character, and that was his strength and weakness. Some suggest ono egged him on to make the lyric more vitriolic to sever any hope of a reconciliation, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.
5.49pm
14 June 2016
Offline It was how he was feeling THEN. Years afterward your feelings change, even though the song remains a constant.
1.The Beatles 2.Sgt. Pepper 3.Abbey Road 4.Magical Mystery Tour 5.Rubber Soul 6.Revolver 7.Help! 8.Let It Be
9.A Hard Day’s Night 10.Please Please Me 11.Beatles For Sale 12.With The Beatles 13.Yellow Submarine
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4.31pm
11 June 2015
Offline When I watch this How Do You Sleep rehearsal video now, I can’t take my eyes off of a very relaxed Klaus.
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6.25am
25 February 2020
Offline been listening to this one a fair bit lately, the guitars are so good
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Rube12.47am
28 March 2014
Offline Love the song, and I bet even Macca likes it! 
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9.01am
23 January 2022
Offline I think Julian makes a reference to it in his song Every Little Moment on his new album Jude
If living a lie is the way that you live
How do you sleep when it’s time to forgive
You question your values
You question your pride
While under the covers, you mercifully hide
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11.51pm
14 December 2009
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I’ve never been able to parse that “You’d better see right through that mother’s eyes…line” – like is that ‘mother’ Linda? Or possibly “Sgt. Pepper “, either the fictional bandleader or the album, “mother” in this interpretation being “m**********r”, either meaning an individual or an object? For awhile I speculated that possibly the Mother in question was Frank Zappa, leader and figurehead of the Mothers (…Of Invention), whose music John was quite enamored of in 1969/71, and who was infamously skeptical of much of the Beatles, to the point of parodying Sgt. Pepper ‘s cover and all it represented, but that may be a stretch. I still don’t get the line…
Paul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.
11.46pm
4 September 2019
Offline Von Bontee said
I’ve never been able to parse that “You’d better see right through that mother’s eyes…line” – like is that ‘mother’ Linda? Or possibly “Sgt. Pepper “, either the fictional bandleader or the album
I’ve always taken it as you better see right through Sgt. Pepper ‘s eyes, meaning the fictional bandleader. Suggesting, I guess, that Paul has strayed from the vision of rock and The Beatles that they aspired to? I don’t understand the “Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise” line.
John has said that the lyrics are more about him than Paul, and I can believe that. The song is about the feelings and resentments, and the petty insecurities he has.
Supposedly it is in reaction to some songs on Ram , but I think John might be a little paranoid about that. The “You took your lucky break and broke it in two” line that is so often cited is, IMO, about Linda’s ex-husband, as is the rest of the song. I think this is what Paul has said, and if you listen to it (and several other songs on Ram ), it makes sense that way. Paul seems to be challenging him and rubbing it in his face a bit, “I have her now, I’m the better man”. John always thinks everything’s about him though, so…
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