The song remains a standout track, if only for its all around oddness.

Today’s “Technically Amazing Beatles Songs” is “I Am The Walrus”.




The song remains a standout track, if only for its all around oddness. 

Whether George Martin could fully comprehend the images and concepts of the LSD influenced Beatles is unknown, but his execution of warped moods remains peerless. 

As with “Eleanor Rigby,” the cellos were close-miced, bringing out the scratchiness over the warm notes. John’s voice is deliberately distorted, one of the earliest such treatments on a vocal. 

In the middle of the two halves, the song breaks down and the whine of a radio being tuned (Ringo) is inserted. 

In the mix, the radio experiment caught just a snippet of Shakespeare's King Lear being broadcast (these were the days before sample clearances). When it came time to do the stereo mix, the happenstance of the radio breakdown could not be recreated, so it had to be 'borrowed' from the mono mix, with some special EQ on opposite sides to fake a stereo effect. 

The Mike Sammes Singers were brought to add a backing chorus, which was an odd choice, given they were a light, poppy act. 

But George Martin's score, and the surreal text ("Stick it up your jumpah!") gave a disturbing effect that delighted John. 

“Enough little bitties to keep you going, even 100 years later,” John said, who composed the song to confound listeners and critics. 

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