Today in Music History: July 17
1967 The Beatles single 'All You Need Is Love / Baby You're A Rich Man' (originally called 'One Of The Beautiful People') was released in the US. It became The Beatles 14th US No.1. 'All You Need Is Love' was a popular saying in the '60s anti-war movement.
Songfacts: The concept of the song 'All You Need Is Love' was born out of a request to bring a song that was going to be understood by people of all nations. The writing began in late May of 1967, with John and Paul working on separate songs. It was decided that John's "All You Need Is Love" was the better choice because of its easy to understand message of love and peace. The song was easy to play, the words easy to remember and it encompassed the feeling of the world's youth during that period.
1968 The animated film Yellow Submarine, premiered at The London Pavilion. The Beatles made a cameo appearance in the film but didn't supply their own voices for the characters.
Many music fans believe the song is really a reference to the mind-bending hallucinogenic drug LSD. It was written at the height of the Beatles psychedelic period, when they were known to be experimenting with the drug. In the 60s, a variety of LSD sold in pill form was reportedly known as 'yellow submarines'.
Analyzing the lyrics, the 'man that sailed the shore' reportedly refers to a drug dealer, while the line 'Our friends are all aboard', supposedly meant their friends were doing drugs too.
The film itself is awash with colourful psychedelic-style images, weird and whacky characters. The villains of the story are the 'Blue Meanies', who are supposed to represent the police.Notably it also includes the song 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds' which Paul McCartney admitted was 'obviously' about drugs.
[Source: Yellow Submarine: An Innocent Children's Song or An Ode to LSD?]
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