Hello, Goodbye
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- For the power pop band, see hellogoodbye.
| "Hello, Goodbye" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by The Beatles | ||
| from the album Magical Mystery Tour | ||
| B-side(s) | "I Am the Walrus" | |
| Released | 1967-11-24 (UK) 1967-11-27 (U.S.) |
|
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | Abbey Road: 1967-10-02–1967-11-02 | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Length | 3:27 | |
| Label | Parlophone (UK) Capitol Records (U.S.) |
|
| Writer(s) | Lennon/McCartney | |
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |
| Chart positions | ||
|
||
| The Beatles singles chronology | ||
| "All You Need Is Love" (1967) |
"Hello, Goodbye" (1967) |
"Lady Madonna" (1968) |
| Magical Mystery Tour track listing | ||
| "I Am the Walrus" (6) |
"Hello, Goodbye" (7) |
"Strawberry Fields Forever" (8) |
"Hello, Goodbye" is a 1967 song by The Beatles. It was the Christmas single for 1967, and topped the charts in both America and Britain (where it spent seven weeks at number one). It also appeared on the American album Magical Mystery Tour.
Though the songwriting credit is Lennon/McCartney, it was written only by Paul McCartney.
Alistair Taylor, who worked for The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, once asked McCartney how he wrote his songs, and McCartney took him into his dining room to give him a demonstration on his harmonium. He asked Taylor to shout the opposite of whatever he sang as he played the instrument. Taylor later said, "I wonder whether Paul really made up that song as he went along or whether it was running through his head already." In any case, McCartney soon had completed a demo of his newest single — originally titled "Hello Hello".
John Lennon wasn't fond of the song, which he called "three minutes of contradictions and meaningless juxtapositions." His distaste for the song grew further when it pushed "I Am the Walrus" to the B-side of the single. Though Lennon had anticipated "I Am the Walrus" being the A-side of the single, Paul McCartney and George Martin believed that "Hello, Goodbye" was the more commercial tune (their judgement was vindicated when the song hit Number 1, and was particularly popular in the American charts). This dispute fed the series of debates over single releases between Lennon and McCartney which prompted Lennon to say after The Beatles' breakup, "I got sick and tired of being Paul's backup band". Lennon felt that some of his best and most innovative pieces ("I Am the Walrus", "Across the Universe") were wrongly placed as B-sides to songs he regarded as "un-worthy" ("Hello, Goodbye" and "Lady Madonna"), although he was willing to compromise with fellow songwriter McCartney during this period with songs he considered stronger, such as "Hey Jude".
The final lines of the song, where the entire band sings "Hela, hey-ba hello-a" (the portion that plays over the end titles of the Magical Mystery Tour film) came spontaneously in the studio. When the song was released, McCartney gave a more mystical explanation of the meaning of his song in an interview with Disc: "The answer to everything is simple. It's a song about everything and nothing. If you have black you have to have white. That's the amazing thing about life."
At least three promotional videos were filmed for "Hello, Goodbye", but not aired by the BBC due to its strict rules on miming.
An alternate version of the song was released on The Beatles Anthology series, containing a guitar part for melody rather than the original strings.
[edit] Trivia
- "Hello, Goodbye" was the song used by Paul McCartney to open his Back in the U.S. and Back in the World tour concerts during 2002/2003.
- In 2006 and 2007, the song (as a cover) was used in an advertising campaign for Telstra's Next G network. In early 2007, a television commercial for the Target Corporation used a cover of "Hello, Goodbye" by American singer Sophia Shorai. The Coca-Cola corporation has also used the Beatles' song, "Hello Goodbye," in their television commercials. Although, the song is not original and a different voice is singing the song.
- Hellogoodbye, a power pop band, derived its name from the song.
| Preceded by "Daydream Believer" by The Monkees |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single December 30, 1967 |
Succeeded by "Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)" by John Fred and His Playboy Band |
| Preceded by "Let The Heartaches Begin" by Long John Baldry |
UK number one single December 6, 1967 |
Succeeded by "Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" by Georgie Fame |
| Preceded by Tom Jones The Green Green Grass of Home |
UK Christmas Number One single
Hello, Goodbye 1967 |
Succeeded by The Scaffold Lily The Pink |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Turner, Steve. A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song, Harper, New York: 1994, ISBN 0-06-095065-X
