The purpose of this page is to prove that the lyrics of this song by the Beatles are poetry. The lyrics being analyzed were written by John Winston Lennon who was one of the Beatles.

I wrote this page in college. It is based on my opinion and utilized the tools I had at my disposal at that time.

It is a fantasy that I believe was inspired by the Walt Disney feature Alice In Wonderland. The voice is in the narrative and the purpose is that of pure entertainment. The occasion is perhaps a drug trip and the song is I Am The Walrus.

Starting things off at the first line of the first stanza is, "I am he as you are he and you are me and we are all together." The meaning here is that we are all in this one world together and God is in all of us. This line is written with the accents arranged in an anapestic pentameter. The word together brings a connotation of oneness and family. The words we, he, and me rhyme as well as have assonance.

The second line goes like this, "See how they run like pigs from a gun see how they fly... I'm crying." This is likely to be addressing the meaningless manner in which the majority of the human race stampedes around on a daily basis. The simile here is that people are running around like frightened animals. Selfishness and cowardly are connotations of the word run and pigs connote foul smelling dirty beasts that eat too much food. Most people with guns have them for reasons which involve authority and the ultimatum of death or at least being hurt very badly. Escape from death is what comes to mind when hearing the word fly. There is an example of assonance here with the words run, gun, fly, and cry.

The third line states, "Sitting on a cornflake-waiting for the van to come." This person is waiting for a change in life. When people think of cornflakes they think of breakfast, morning, wholesome, and home. Traveling and going places are connotations of the word van.

Line four seems to have an abundance of devices, just look and see, "Corporation teashirt, stupid bloody Tuesday, man you been a naughty boy you let your face grow long." An allusion referring to the Saint Valentines Day Massacre and figurative language like "Bloody Tuesday". The whole tone is of sarcasm. This is quite an understatement here calling a cold blooded murderer a naughty boy and an irony referring to the boy as a man or vice-versa.

Wrongful living can surely make your face project an image of sadness. Power and wealth are connotations of corporation and you could equate teeshirt to a companies brand stamped on your back.

The chorus or hook line of this tune goes like this, "I am the eggman, they are the eggmen-I am the walrus Goo Goo Goo Joob." It would be safe to say that he thinks that all people who conform to the daily grind are egghead idiots. Those folks who are considered silly fools could also be eggheads and walrus is a term that connotes obesity. This line has an alliteration at the end "Goo Goo Goo Joob".

At the first line of the second stanza, "City policeman sitting pretty little policeman in a row, see how they fly like lucy in the sky see how they run,...I'm crying." The tone is very sarcastic. These must have been his thoughts when he passed his local police station. "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" is alluding to Three blind mice and then there is his own famous song by that same name. He is using the "ducks in a row" metaphor with policeman in a row. Then he has the rhymes fly, sky, and cry proceeded by an assonance "city sitting pretty."
Policemen have the connotations of authority and bullies, while sitting pretty has that of laziness and vanity. Run could mean that police are attacking or chasing someone which, nevertheless leads to unhappiness.

The second line of the second stanza says, "Yellow mater custard dripping from a dead dogs eye." This is meant to give you a feeling of horror. It is some very gross imagery with alliteration of words "Dripping dead dog." Yellow mater custard obviously connotes puss or some other sickening biological fluid. The next line is a wild combination of made up words to play on your senses, "Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess, boy you been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down." The meaning of this is a mean and promiscuous wife of a priest who gets caught in an act of profanity with another man. Crabalocker is, as far as all resources available are concerned, this mans own word. The definition of fishwife is a course and scolding woman. It is an irony to call a woman a boy and then a girl and that is also a metaphor. The first four words of this phrase are done with a definite meter.

The first word is a tetrameter followed by a dimeter and then another tetrameter followed by another dimeter. A promiscuous or nasty person is a connotation of pornographic and priestess connotes the wife of a clergyman.

The next section is the part of the song known as the bridge and it reads as follows, "Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun, if the sun don't come, you get a tan from standing in the English rain." The meaning is that you should live with life the way it is, instead of waiting for so called ideal conditions. It seems that the words tan and stand sort of rhyme and that there is an apostrophe referring to you in the second line. The sun has a positive connotation usually associated with warmth and light, while the rain has a negative connotation being cold and wet. The first time the word English is used it connotes lush surroundings and wealth, but the second time it is used to exemplify harsh whether. However, if you have a tan body you are considered attractive.

At the first line of the third stanza it reads, "Expert texpert choking smokers don't you think the joker laughs at you." Sarcasm is of the very essence in this one with another one of his own words "Texpert." This creates an image of a wise guy having a laugh at you which is meant to be humiliating. There is a lot of repetition of consonant sounds in both the beginning and end of words. Intelligence and knowledge are connotations of expert and with the use of his own word, "texpert," it would be in line to say this is implying that the "Texpert expert" connotes a pseudo expert. These two words rhyme in this phrase as do smoker and joker. In this application smokers could be equated with those who are fuelish and the verb choking is cause and affect.

Reading further down the page it states, "See how they smile, like pigs in a sty, see how they snied,...I'm crying." This is saying that it makes him very sad when some folks love to look down their noses at you. Here in the last line John personifies pigs because these animals do not smile and that is also a metaphor. Also, three of these words rhyme "Sty, snied, and cry" and the sty in this application could be a closed circle of people where outsiders are not welcome.

At the third line of the third stanza is written, "Semolina Pilchard climbing up the Eiffel tower." All resources say that semolina is course particles of wheat flour and that pilchard is canned fish, which leads one to believe that this is a sarcastic made to order name.

The last line of the song is, "Elementry penguin singing Hare Krishna man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allen Poe." Here is an allusion referring to Edgar Allen Poe. It is safe to say that John experienced actors that where not doing Poe justice. Maybe, Joe Shaw Guitar-Player is not doing Lennon justice! Beginners and youth are connotations of elementary, which is spelled "elementry" here, and tuxedos are often times called penguin suites.

This is, without a doubt, proof that song lyrics are poetry. Found here are a few devices and if researched further more angles could be explored. This song was most likely influenced by psychedelic substances, but in judging this work as poetry one should take into account the hundreds of beautiful John Lennon poems written prior to this one.