♫ Hello Goodbye ♫

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Given that I have played a large number of Beatles songs since starting these music posts back in 2018, I was really surprised to find one that I like and hadn’t played!  An added bonus, the song went to #1 in Canada, the UK, the U.S., and almost every other country in the Western World!

Written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, this was the first song released by The Beatles after the death of their manager, Brian Epstein in August 1967.  Paul McCartney wrote this. His friend and Brian Epstein’s assistant, Alistair Taylor, who was visiting McCartney, asked Paul one day how he wrote his many songs, and how he came up with his ideas. Paul took him into his dining room to give him a demonstration of his hand-carved harmonium. As an experiment, Paul asked Taylor to shout out the opposite of whatever he sang, such as black and white, yes and no, hello and goodbye, etc. From this, the song was born.

John Lennon hated the song. He viewed it as an inconsequential song of McCartney’s, saying it was “three minutes of contradictions and meaningless juxtapositions.” What further infuriated Lennon was that his I Am The Walrus, was issued as the B-side to McCartney’s A-side Hello Goodbye.  I Am The Walrus?????  Okay, who knew?  Lennon pushed for I Am the Walrus to be the A-side instead, but then ceded to McCartney and Martin’s insistence that Hello, Goodbye was the more commercial of the two tracks.  That turned out to be a good decision, for while this one charted at #1 almost everywhere, I Am The Walrus charted only at #56 and only in the U.S.  I listened to I Am The Walrus and had I even kinda sorta liked it, I was going to add it in this post, but … 🥺

In 2009 The Performing Rights Society announced this as the most ever played Beatles song in public places in the UK. One of the reasons for this is that this was the first Beatles single release after BBC Radio 1 started broadcasting and the station played this song endlessly.

Admittedly, this song’s lyrics are silly, but there’s something about that catchy tune that makes the toes tap and the lips smile.

Hello Goodbye

The Beatles

You say, “Yes”, I say, “No”
You say, “Stop” but I say, “Go, go, go”
Oh no
You say, “Goodbye”, and I say, “Hello, hello, hello”
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye”, I say, “Hello, hello, hello”
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye”, I say, “Hello”

I say, “High”, you say, “Low”
You say, “Why?” And I say, “I don’t know”
Oh no
You say, “Goodbye”, and I say, “Hello, hello, hello” (hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye)
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye” (hello, goodbye)
I say, “Hello, hello, hello” (Hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye)
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye”, I say, “Hello” (hello, goodbye)

Why, why, why, why, why, why, do you say, “Goodbye, goodbye, bye, bye”
Oh no
You say, “Goodbye”, and I say, “Hello, hello, hello”
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye”, I say, “Hello, hello, hello”
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye”, I say, “Hello”

You say, “Yes”, I say, “No” (I say, “Yes”, but I may mean, “No”)
You say, “Stop”, I say, “Go, go, go”, (I can stay still it’s time to go)
Oh, oh no

You say, “Goodbye”, and I say, “Hello, hello, hello”
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye”, I say, “Hello, hello, hello”
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye”, I say, “Hello, hello, hello”
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye”, I say, “Hello-wow, oh hello”
Hela, heba, helloa hela, heba, helloa hela, heba, helloa
Hela, heba, helloa (hela) hela, heba, helloa hela, heba, helloa
Hela, heba, helloa
Hela, heba, helloa
Hela, heba

Writer/s: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

28 thoughts on “♫ Hello Goodbye ♫”

  2. Pingback: Hello and Goodbye. | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

    • Yes, sometimes the Beatles showmanship was more important than the music they were singing! Thanks, Michael … my weekend was mostly okay! No side effects from the vaccine on Saturday, and in fact I felt better on Saturday night than I had most of the week! xx

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        • You know what is really, really odd about that? When we first scheduled our first vaccine, they asked two things: our ethnicity and our weight. They did not ask a single thing about pre-existing conditions, health issues, or anything like that. I was concerned, for I have Type I diabetes, a heart condition, and asthma, so I would have thought they would want to know that, but at no point did they ask! I was offended by them asking my ethnicity, so I refused to answer … I wonder if they would put some at the top of the list based on that? Sigh. xx

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          • Oh, that really sounding odd. Does the virus also differentiate between the ethnic groups? Would I then have to get vaccinated in the USA, because of my little knowledge of English? 😉 Mysterious things happen. But at least you had no side effects, and this – i think – is the best result ever. xx

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            • I thought so, too, and wondered if it was a way to deny the vaccine to certain ethnic groups. I could understand the weight question, for your weight determines the dosage, but … ethnicity??? Makes no sense at all!!! Yes, I am so happy not to have had any side effects, for I was concerned. xx

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  4. Jill, not logged in, so this will show up as Anonymous. This is a good song, but not among my favorites of The Beatles or even Paul McCartney’s. “I am a walrus” is a better song, in spite of it being a tad bizarre. Of McCartney’s Beatles songs, “Eleanor Rigby,” “Yesterday,” “Penny Lane,” Lady Madonna,” “Hey Jude” and others stand out more. Keith

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    • It was not among my top 5 Beatles songs either, but when you just want to tap your toes, forget about the world for a few minutes and have some fun, this one does that! I tried and couldn’t get past the 1:25 point on “I am a Walrus” … it hurt my insides, though I am sure it does have a deeper meaning than this one!

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  6. Not their most substantial piece but a lot of fun, and always a favourite of mine. If you watch it on YouTube and scroll down the comments, there is one from a young woman who says that the blonde hula dancer is her grandmother – how to feel old, in one easy stage!

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    • Oh wow, my friend! When I got married at age 19, I had an entire collection of Beatles albums, but times got hard, my late ex-husband was out of work and we had a new baby, and one day I woke to find he had sold my entire record collection for a few dollars! So, we’ve both lost ours. I’m content nowadays to find the music I want to hear on YouTube, since I no longer have a record player or even a CD player anyway! xx

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  8. Walrus is 100000x more interesting, musically and productionwise more radical, and overall just the far superior of those two songs. Hello is just harmless teenie pop,Walrus is timeless art!

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    • That’s the unique thing about music … no two tastes are exactly the same. I could not even listen to the entire song of Walrus, but for some it is a classic. We all have our own preferences … none is right or wrong, just different, and that’s what makes the world go ’round!

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    • Nah, it’s not the cream of the crop, but has a cool rhythm and I figured since it was such a hit on your side of the pond, you guys must have liked it! Yeah, I chose that video mostly for the colourful costumes!
      Cwtch

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