Lyrics for A Day in the Life as interpreted by Ice

A Day in the Life Lyrics
I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph

He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure
If he was from the House of Lords

I saw a film today, oh boy
The English Army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But I just had to look
Having read the book

I'd love to turn you on

Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up I noticed I was late

Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream

I heard the news today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes
To fill the Albert Hall

I'd love to turn you on

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rescuemefromthesewaves
10-31-2009

Rated 0 
what are the saying in the end?? after the sustaining note...

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Kenetikxx
10-20-2009

Rated 0 
At the end of the song I believe they are saying "Never to see any other way" repeatedly. What it could mean..my only thoughts would be that, close minded politicians not being able to have empathy for others. However Beatles could of just thrown it in there because they can, just to mess with us. Great song. One of my faves from Beatles! Rock on!

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Poddlesnoop
10-10-2009

Rated 0 
I always thought this song was about someone who was disallusioned with their life, and found it boring and repetitive, hence the description of their daily routine. They read the paper, and find a story about someone who "blew his mind out in a car" and find that they don't really care. And they read the story about the "4000 holes in Lancashire" they wonder whether someone took the time to count all the potholes, and that illustrates the pointlessness of life for them.

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icexe
10-10-2009

Rated 0 
Definitely in my top 5 favorite Beatles songs.

I think the point was to show how the world affects our daily lives. We can turn on the TV or read the newspaper and accept shocking news not with horror, but mild curiosity, humor or even disinterest, and it doesn't stop us from carrying on with our own mundane activities (get up, get dressed, go to work, worry about being late..). The routine only ends when we ourselves fade away in the finality of death (the long fading keystroke at the end)..

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stpittss
10-04-2009

Rated 0 
John Lennon was an awesome songwriter, this song is one of his best with the Beatles

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BAMxitsxKatie17
08-05-2009

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"he didn't notice that the lights had changed"

was suppose to be another clue about Paul's death.
He left the recording studio on a Wednesday morning after having an argument with the rest off the band, ran a light and was supposedly killed.
thank god that didn't really happen though!


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sexdrugsrocknroll
08-01-2009

Rated 0 
It's about how humourously screwed up the world actually is.

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saythisismine
07-14-2009

Rated 0 
This song came out right when stereo became popular. It is one of the first to use the shifting lennon's voice does. They used lots of reverb on lennon's voice to give it the visual image of a dream while lines about waking up are dry

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Divided_Pie
05-13-2009

Rated +1 
I always thought this song was essentially contrasting the conscious mind with the subconscious mind. The conscious mind being the one that goes through the motions of the day (getting out of bed, combing hair, catching bus, etc.)... meanwhile the subconscious mind is all the while going through all these random thoughts that sort of linger in the back of one's brain as they go through the day. And the listener drifts between these two types of consciousness that are coexisting in the same person (the one in the song). It takes both of these to make a whole, functioning person... one could draw a parallel to the artistic styles of Paul (who expresses himself more in a conscious mode) and John (who expresses himself more in an abstract subconscious mode) - it take both to make a whole, functioning band.

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teffie123
04-27-2009

Rated 0 
do the 4000 holes have any thing to do with the holes in the film yellow submarine?

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teffie123
04-27-2009

Rated 0 
i wonder if they planned to make out the fact that paul
was dead?
and whos idea was it
surly they would be too devistated to keep singing if
he had died anyway?
and pauls singing voice pattern is the same before and after he
supposedly died.
from what i can tell anyway

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wasp2020
04-23-2009

Rated 0 
Media and humans in general creating a desentisized, cold society, filled with such lonely hearts (aw yeah). I love how he says "Laugh" in such a broken way, like he's about to break down and cry himself, but hey now, stop that, you're not supposed to do that, just stand and stare. But when good news happens like the war ends, you're supposed to ignore that - it's just the way the world works! But then he suggests that we "I'd love to turn you on..." Let's TURN ON, let's really start living. Right then, a nightmare sets in - aaaalmost done, but nope, not yet, alarm clock, wake up, time for work!

Paul's verse...I thought it to be a separate character, just living out his own life as well (because it's A day in the Life of anyone in particular). Normal guy, has a happy go-lucky morning, and all of a sudden BAM gets sent into a dream state, literally out of nowhere. Personally I always thought it's because he heard the news of the suicide, and goes into reflection, or it could just be the little everyday things that can just completely change a persons outlook on the world.

Then it shifts right back into John's melancholy parts, the "holes filling Albert Hall" I just take as empty, lonely people who fill up city streets. And then, the crescendo sets in again...and this time, manages to reach it's apex, before finally making an end to it all.

Is that nightmarish orchestra section what "reality" is, if they choose to ignore the fantasies we create and "turn on"? Is that final chord enlightenment after realizing the dream-like beauty of the world, or is it someone "blowing their mind out" out of depression after not being able to handle how insane the world is? Either way, both set the person free, so they both have that major tonality, but drastically change the message of the song...

Well, I guess I can go on until I pick it apart so it's even more barely recognizable, doesn't change the fact it's a very interesting, emotional, and moving song.

In short, enough of this Paul is Dead shit.

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opsmikea
01-17-2009

Rated 0 
I think this is, arguably, the best thing John ever wrote. Paul's middle eight at first seems odd, but to me it goes so well with John's lyric to paint such a vivid picture. Probably my favorite Beatles song.

As to the meaning...

First off this song was widely banned due to :drug references". Specifically, "he blew his mind out in a car", "4000 holes" and (improbably enough Paul's line) "had a smoke and...went into a dream". John wrote his parts at Kenwood while watching tv (nearly muted) and scanning newspapers and magazines. He often did this and seemed to absorb both sources of information on some nearly subconscious level. The man who "blew his mind out in a car" refers to the death of Tara Browne- a friend of Paul's. The holes in Blackburn Lancashire are potholes.

John was definetley into drug use at this time, he counted himself into the song by saying "sugar plum fairy"- slang for a drug dealer, but the only "real" drug reference is "I'd love to turn you on". By all accounts, that line was a collobaration between the two. Contrary to what most believe the band was remarkably clean during the recording sessions. John NEVER did LSD in the studio except for one accidental trip that found him freaked out and on the roof of Abbey Road Studios.

Paul's middle eight was just a half-finished song that they made work. As to the "noise", it's a forty-one piece orchestra told to go from the lowest notes on their instruments to the highest with no direction.

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dhawk
01-03-2009

Rated 0 
PAUL IS NOT DEAD!!! He was on the cover of Rolling Stone in July! He also did tons and tons of interviews saying that he's not dead, he was never dead, why do you keep on insisting? He is alive! He's part of an animal rights activist group! He just came out with a new album from his band The Fireman! Don't you all feel stupid or what?

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LubyLou7
01-02-2009

Rated 0 
Wait, so everyone thinks this song may be a hoax of Paul's death? I was guessing it was of the world being screwed. Like when you hear the news everyday and hear that someone's dead, or whatever rubbish. Yeah, I might be wrong.

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Dr WInston O Boogie
12-25-2008

Rated 0 
well a reeeaaally good explanation of this song is in the book: "here there and everywhere", if you ever go to a bookstore, look for it, it's the first song they mention. the explanation makes sense, but it's really long to write down. it's almost overwhelming what this song could mean, it's amazing really.

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BCKnight
12-23-2008

Rated 0 
This is the greatest song ever written.

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anamberz
12-14-2008

Rated 0 
One day, John Lennon was reading a newspaper while he was fiddling on the piano and then he decided to write a song. This song was spawned from utter boredness. True story, it ain't no lie.

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bertillon42
12-11-2008

Rated 0 
In order to escape the mundanity of our own lives, people love to turn on to the media. It provides a distraction for us in witnessing the irony in the lives of others, which it loves to turn us on to. Focusing on a man who inadvertantly caused his own demise, a victory that no one cares about, and the counting of potholes instead of the fixing of them allows people to ignore the image of their own uninspiring lives. No one wants to face the fact that thier own lives carry negligible signifigance, and that ordinary is all we are. That is every day in our lives.

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Demonas
11-05-2008

Rated 0 
in the end loop if u listen closley there are three vocies one i cant tell but theres a woman and paul talking it sounds like the woman is saying (never kiss me again any hope) and in the background sounds like he is saing im so sorry or something like it srry i cant rly tell but at the beggining there is laughing ^^... this is what i hear i could be rong and hearing it diffrently ^^

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RaygunShaun
11-02-2008

Rated 0 
You know that extremely high tone at the end of the piano chord? I unexpectedly heard in my headphones. Pardon my French, but it scared the shit out of me.

I couldn't hear for maybe a minute or two after that.

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nick29rules
11-01-2008

Rated 0 
Its about Lennons mother, who was killed after being hit by a car. If you want to know she was hit by a off-service police-officer who was drunk

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sandraa4211
10-28-2008

Rated 0 
I think this song is about the media and how it plays with people. "I love to turn you on" refers to the way the media dictates what stories are worth telling and how they arouse people's attention. When the song states, "Now you know how mny holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall," Paul is referring, with sarcasm, how useless some media coverage actually is.

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isolated_
10-09-2008

Rated 0 
can everyone forget the 'paul is dead hoax'.just forget about it and appreciat the beatles music for what it is. 'a day in the life' appeals to us because we all get up and read the paper, it is merely a song about the day unfolding and a description of the events read about in the morning paper, namely the death of socialite tara browne

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givepeaceachance64
10-08-2008

Rated 0 
ON the version I have, at the end after the really high note theres a mumbo jumbo of words. It sounds like "never could be any other way" has anybody else heard that?

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