The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill

no, this song is to be taken literally. it is about an american, richard cooke III, who met the beatles while they were in india meditating with the maharishi. this dude went on a tiger hunt and took his mother with him. during the hunt, a tiger jumped towards richard and his mother and he shot it. he later came back and shared his experience with the maharishi, who became disturbed by richard's story of killing. John commented, "Don't you call that slightly life destructive?" and Cooke replied, "Well, John, it was either the tiger or us. The tiger was jumping right where we were." Which became "If looks could kill it would've been us instead of him".

It's MUM...they were English...the word is MUM :P

I like to get drunk and yell this song at the top of my lungs! ...my little sister and her friends used to laugh at me until they tried yelling it too, now they love it. I suggest you try it too.

well i think this song should be taken pretty litteral... but when he says "Not when he looked so fierce, his mother butted in. If looks could kill it would have been us Instead of him." i find it pretty funyn because if he wouldn't have gone hunting in the first place the tiger would have not even been there... i guess its sort of mocking the mental take of people who hunt for fun.. the attitude people have of me or him when theyre would be no scenario if they hadnt eve ngone in the first place

ya know?

got this off wiki

This song mocks the actions of a young American named Richard A. Cooke III, known as Rik who was visiting his mother, Nancy Cooke de Herrera, at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh at the same time that The Beatles were staying with the Maharishi. According to his mother, both she and her son maintained friendly relations with all of The Beatles except for Lennon, who by Cooke de Herrera's account was "a genius" but distant and contemptuous of the wealthy American Cooke de Herrera and her clean-cut, college-attending son. According to Nancy's life account, Beyond Gurus, the genesis of the song occurred when she, Rik, and several others, including native guides, set out upon elephants to hunt for a tiger (allegedly presented by their Indian guide as a traditional act). The pack of elephants was attacked by a tiger, which was shot by Rik. Rik was initially proud of his quick reaction and posed for a photograph with his prize. However, Rik's reaction to the slaying was mixed, as he has not hunted since. Nancy claims that all present recognised the necessity of Rik's action, but that John Lennon's reaction was scornful and sarcastic, asking Rik: "But wouldn't you call that slightly life-destructive?" The song was written by Lennon as mocking what he saw as Rik's bravado and unenlightened attitude.[2] Lennon later told his version of the story in a Playboy interview, stating that: "‘Bungalow Bill’ was written about a guy in Maharishi's meditation camp who took a short break to go shoot a few poor tigers, and then came back to commune with God. There used to be a character called Jungle Jim, and I combined him with Buffalo Bill. It's sort of a teenage social-comment song and a bit of a joke."[3] Mia Farrow, who was also at the ashram during the period supports Lennon's story in her autobiography; she writes, "Then a self-important, middle-aged American woman arrived, moving a mountain of luggage into the brand-new private bungalow next to Maharishi's along with her son, a bland young man named Bill. People fled this newcomer, and no one was sorry when she left the ashram after a short time to go tiger hunting, unaware that their presence had inspired a new Beatles' song - 'Bungalow Bill.'"[4]

na this song is the shit and if u sing this song at the top of your lungs with it and try and feel the song you'll see what im saying. and i think this song is about poachers or somethin like that and how they think what they kill is justified but i may be wrong

It's about the vietnam war. The "Elephant and tiger" war. It goes on about how bill went out with his elephants and gun. "Deep in the jungle" the jungle of 'nam. "Not when he looked so fierce" is how they can't tell the difference between the VC and regular vietnamese people. But i do agree this song is the shiznit

gsession1: as to "this song is the shit and if u sing this song at the top of your lungs with it and try and feel the song you'll see what im saying. " maybe you arent supposed to sing it at the top of your lungs. its a song, not a line of screams.

its a really good song. its really funny, really, if you dont take it literally. i hate how they hide the meaning in frivilous words, though. ah, well, its still a great song.

I always wondered if this song is an allegory for the Vietnam War. It's a song about an American going into a jungle to "hunt a tiger". It seems to me like they're mocking what they view as a typical American soldier, or, more likely, Bill is the American involvement in Vietnam personified.

I think the correct lyric is "his mommy butted in".