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The Beatles - Till There Was You

The first line was written on one acid trip one weekend.

(John Lennon, September 1980, interview with David Sheff for Playboy)

It was my first trip with John, or with any of the guys. We stayed up all night, sat around and hallucinated a lot. <...> You're looking into each other's eyes and you would want to look away, but you wouldn't, and you could see yourself in the other person. It was a very freaky experience and I was totally blown away. There's something disturbing about it. You ask yourself, "How do you come back from it? How do you then lead a normal life after that?"' And the answer is, you don't. After that you've got to get trepanned or you've got to meditate for the rest of your life.

(Paul McCartney in Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 1997)

I am he as you are he as you are me And we are all together <…> I am the walrus Goo goo g' joob

(I Am a Walrus, 1967)

‘Walrus’ is just saying a dream — the words don’t mean a lot people draw so many conclusions, and it’s ridiculous.”

(John Lennon in Disc And Music Echo, interview with Ray Coleman, December 16, 1967)

I told you about the walrus and me, man You know that we're as close as can be, man Well, here's another clue for you all The walrus was Paul

(Glass Onion, 1968)

There was a song of his called ‘Glass Onion’ where he had a line about, ‘Here’s another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul.” And he wanted to keep it but he needed to check it with me. He said, ‘what do you think of that line.’ I said, ‘It’s a great line.’ You know, it’s a spoof on the way everyone was always reading into our songs. I said, ‘here you go, you know, you’ve given them another clue to follow.’ So we would check stuff against each other and it was obviously very handy for our writing to be able to do that.

(Paul McCartney, 2001, interview with Terry Gross)

 ...if you're listening, I'm the Walrus too

(George Harrison, October 8th 1969, at Apple Offices in London, interview with David Wigg)

That’s what I’m saying: I was the Walrus, whatever that means.

(John Lennon, December 1970, interview with Jann Wenner for Rolling Stone)

Yesterday I was the dreamweaver But now I'm reborn I was the Walrus But now I'm John And so dear friends You'll just have to carry on The dream is over

(God, 1970)

John would say things like, ‘It was rubbish. The Beatles were crap.’ Also, ‘I don’t believe in The Beatles, I don’t believe in Jesus, I don’t believe in God.’ Those were quite hurtful barbs to be flinging around, and I was the person they were being flung at, and it hurt. So, I’m having to read all this stuff, and on the one hand I’m thinking, ‘Oh fuck off, you fucking idiot,’ but on the other hand I’m thinking, ‘Why would you say that? Are you annoyed at me or are you jealous or what?’ <…> I tried. I was sort of answering him here, asking, ‘Does it need to be this hurtful?’ I think this is a good line: ‘Are you afraid, or is it true?’ – meaning, ‘Why is this argument going on? Is it because you’re afraid of something? Are you afraid of the split-up? Are you afraid of my doing something without you? Are you afraid of the consequences of your actions?’ And the little rhyme, ‘Or is it true?’ Are all these hurtful allegations true? This song came out in that kind of mood. It could have been called ‘What the Fuck, Man?’ but I’m not sure we could have gotten away with that then.

(Paul McCartney, on Dear Friend in The Lyrics, 2021)

from the sketches for The Bruce McMouse Show (1969/1973, Antigua)

My name is Morse* Moose and I'm calling you

(Morse Moose And The Grey Goose, 1978)

*a "morse" also is the archaic or alternative English term (derived from Russian morž - морж) for the walrus, and it remains the standard word for "walrus" in French - un morse)

Q: But what about “Here’s another clue for you all, the walrus is Paul” from “Glass Onion”? A: Well, that was a joke. The line was put in partly because I was feeling guilty because I was with Yoko and I was leaving Paul. I was trying—I don’t know. It’s a very perverse way of saying to Paul, you know, “Here, have this crumb, this illusion, this—this stroke, because I’m leaving.”

(John Lennon, 1980, in All We Are Saying by David Sheff)

Every day we used to make it love So why can’t we be making love It’s easy The time has come the Walrus said For you and me to stay in bed again It’ll be just like starting over

((Just Like) Starting Over, 1980)

I’m still a Walrus*

(Paul McCartney, The McCartney Interview, released December 4th 1980)

*If you play the outgroove the end of side two backwards, Paul says: “I’m still a Walrus.”

Yeah, you’ve guessed it. I am the Walrus.

(Paul McCartney, June 2012, from Greenpeace's campaign to protect the Arctic support letter)

And who was the Walrus? We will never know.

(Paul McCartney, 2012, interview for Mojo The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour Special Edition)

He [a young squirrel named Wirral] sets out to find his mother’s old bandmates – played by McCartney (as a walrus named McKenzie, obviously), Starr (a bird named Roy) and Richie (a bison named Gladstone) — and accidentally sparks a revolution.

(‘High in the Clouds’ Shares Original Music, Early Art and a Beatles Reunion in Annecy Sneak Peek By Rafael Motamayor for Variety, June 13, 2025)

A street in Beverly Hills, 1982

John Lennon on the roof of his East 52nd Street penthouse, New York, photographed by Bob Gruen. (August 29th, 1974)

-

“Writing songs,” says Paul McCartney, “is like following a trail – and you never know where it will lead you.”

Today, the trail has led us to McCartney’s studio in rural Sussex. Rabbits snuffle around the garden and the English Channel shimmers in the distance. There are worse places to work. A quick scan of the studio kitchen reveals a copy of Mary McCartney’s recipe book and a John Lennon calendar; March’s pin-up is “Moody John” in sunglasses posed against the New York skyline.

Happy McLennon Monday! Literally all John did was stand up lmaooooo

(Source: Video posted by Twitter user rockstarroyco)

October 22nd, 1969 (Apple Corps, London): Detroit DJ John Small presses an increasingly harried John (who is looking to promote his upcoming releases with Yoko) on the “Paul is dead” story which has recently been building up conspiracy steam amongst fans across the Atlantic. In between, John (along with Yoko) talks about the distinction between self-motivation and self-expression, Paul’s almost-straightness, and the ingenuous quality of the Beatles myth. 

SMALL: John Lennon, there is no doubt in your mind about the fate of Paul McCartney?

JOHN: No. I mean, it’s a joke, you know. I mean, Paul isn’t dead. And if he was, we would have told you. We’d be the first to know.

YOKO: And he’s got—

JOHN: He’s also got a baby!

YOKO: [laughs] He’s got a baby.

JOHN: He’s recording music for Ringo’s film and producing Mary Hopkin, so he’s very much alive.

SMALL: How did the rumours, uh, affect the both of you at this point?

JOHN: It’s a joke to us. It’s just a joke.

SMALL: It’s so hard to believe that something like this would be going on – similar to a James Dean thing.

JOHN: I can’t understand it because – I can understand the James Dean kind of, he still lives crippled but won’t come out, you know, I mean there’s some kind of idea you can guess, “Well maybe, maybe…”

SMALL: Yeah.

JOHN: But Paul McCartney couldn’t die without the world knowing it.

SMALL: Mmhmm.

JOHN: The same as he couldn’t get married without the world knowing it. It’s impossible! He can’t go on holiday without the world knowing. How – how could he – how could he die without anybody, everybody knowing it?

John Lennon's Rolls-Royce Phantom V (left) next to George's Mini cooper S (right)