I am The Walrus
by Toufik Ismail
I Am The Walrus ditulis John Lennon dengan aransemen musik oleh Lennon/McCartney. Lagu ini masuk sebagai salah satu soundtrack film musik The Beatles ”Magical Mystery Tour” selain “Magical Mystery Tour”, ”Your Mother Should Know”, “The Fool on the Hill”, “Flying” dan “Blue Jay Way” yang dirilis di Inggris pada 8 desember 1967 (tepat 42 tahun lalu!) dalam double-extended play disk (EP)/mini album sebelum akhirnya dirilis dalam Long-Playing (LP)/full album dengan 5 lagu tambahan (side-2) yaitu “Hello, Goodbye”, “Strawberry Field Forever”, “Penny lane”, “Baby, Your Rich Man” dan “All You Need Is Love”.
John Lennon berkata bahwa 2 baris pertama “I Am The Walrus” ia buat dalam keadaan fly ketika menggunakan LSD. John menulis lirik lagu ini dengan mengombinasikan 3 ide lagu yang tak selesai ia tulis sebelumnya. Pertama, ia terinspirasi ketika mendengar sirene polisi yang lewat di depan rumahnya di Weybridge; ia menulis baris “Mis-ter cit-y police-man” menyesuaikan dengan irama sirene. Kedua adalah rima pendek tentang dirinya yang sedang duduk di ‘English Garden’ menunggu matahari. Dan ketiga tentang duduk di ‘cornflake’ menunggu datangnya mobil van. Ide ke-3 ini adalah omong kosong John ketika ia tak bisa menggabungkan 3 ide lagu menjadi 1 (I Am The Walrus). Ada juga yang mengatakan bahwa saat John Lennon mendengar guru sewaktu ia SD menyuruh murid-murid mengartikan lagu-lagu The Beatles, John menambahkan syair ini untuk membingungkan mereka.
Walrus disini merujuk pada puisi karya Lewis Carrol berjudul “The Walrus and the Carpenter” (dari buku Through the Looking Glass). John kemudian menyatakan kekecewaannya ketika mengetahui bahwa Walrus pada puisi tersebut sebagai tokoh jahat.
Komposisi I Am The Walrus:
- John Lennon – Lead vocals, electric piano, mellotron and tambourine
- Paul McCartney – Bass, backing vocals
- George Harrison – Electric guitar, backing vocals
- Ringo Starr – Drums
- Session Musicians – strings, brass and woodwinds
- Mike Sammes Singers – background vocals
- Orchestrated, directed and produced by George Martin
- Engineered by Geoff Emerick
- Mixed by Geoff Emerick and John Lennon
I Am The Walrus
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly.
I'm crying
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Corperation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday.
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob.
Mister city, police man sitting
Pretty little policemen in a row.
See how they fly like Lucy in the Sky, see how they run.
I'm crying, I'm crying.
I'm crying, I'm crying.
Yellow mother custard, dripping from a dead dogs eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pronographic priestess,
Boy, you've been a naughty girl you let your knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob.
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun.
If the sun don't come, you get a tan from standing in the English ran.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob goo goo g'joob.
Expert texpert choking smokers, don't you think the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty, see how they snied.
I'm crying.
Semolina pilchard, climbing up the eiffel tower.
Elementry penguin, singing Hari Krishna.
Man, you should have seen them licking Edger Allen Poe.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob goo goo g'joob
Goo goo g'joob goo goo g'joob goo.
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly.
I'm crying
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Corperation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday.
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob.
Mister city, police man sitting
Pretty little policemen in a row.
See how they fly like Lucy in the Sky, see how they run.
I'm crying, I'm crying.
I'm crying, I'm crying.
Yellow mother custard, dripping from a dead dogs eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pronographic priestess,
Boy, you've been a naughty girl you let your knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob.
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun.
If the sun don't come, you get a tan from standing in the English ran.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob goo goo g'joob.
Expert texpert choking smokers, don't you think the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty, see how they snied.
I'm crying.
Semolina pilchard, climbing up the eiffel tower.
Elementry penguin, singing Hari Krishna.
Man, you should have seen them licking Edger Allen Poe.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob goo goo g'joob
Goo goo g'joob goo goo g'joob goo.
Cover Version
Setidaknya ada 19 cover version “I Am The Walrus” yang pernah dirilis, yaitu :
- Spooky Tooth (The Last Puff / 1970)
- Leo Sayer (All This and World War II / 1976)
- Klaus Lage (Die Musikmaschine / 1980)
- Gray Matter (Foof for Thought / 1985)
- Freddie Wadling and Fleshquartet (The Dice Man / 1991)
- Men Without Hats (Sideways / 1991)
- Arcwelder (<single> / 1992)
- Marc Bonilla (American Matador / 1993)
- Oasis (Cigarettes & Alcohol / 1994)
- Oingo Boingo (Boingo / 1994)
- The Punkles (Pistol / 1994)
- Jackyl (Choice Cuts / 1997)
- Jim Carrey (In My Life / 1998)
- Die Toten Hosen (Crash Landing / 1999)
- Styx (<single> / 2004)
- Jeff Martin (The Fool / 2006)
- Bono (Across the Universe / 2007)
- Boris and Merzbow (Walrus/Groon / 2007)
- Les Fradkin (Guitar Revolution / 2007)
Terlepas dari siapa “the walrus” yang disebutkan di “Glass Onion” dan lagu solo John Lennon di tahun 1970 “God”, I Am The Walrus masuk sebagai salah satu lagu terbaik The Beatles dengan lirik dan musik yang revolusioner. salut!
referensi: wikipedia, philspector.wordpress.com
