| "Octopus's Garden" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles
from the album Abbey Road |
||||
| Released | 26 September 1969 | |||
| Recorded | 26 April 1969 (32 takes) 29 April 1969 (overdubs) 17 July 1969 (overdubs) 18 July 1969 (overdubs) |
|||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 2:51 | |||
| Label | Apple Records | |||
| Writer | Richard Starkey | |||
| Producer | George Martin, The Beatles | |||
| Abbey Road track listing | ||||
|
||||
"Octopus's Garden" is a song by The Beatles written by Ringo Starr from their 1969 album Abbey Road.
George Harrison worked on the song with Starr; perhaps out of solidarity as his own songs were often dismissed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.[1] Harrison commented: "'Octopus's Garden' is Ringo's song. It's only the second song Ringo has ever written, mind you, and it's lovely." Harrison added that the song gets very deep into your consciousness "because it's so peaceful. I suppose Ringo is writing cosmic songs these days without even realising it."[2]
Contents |
The idea for the song came about when Starr was on a boat belonging to comedian Peter Sellers in Sardinia in 1968. He ordered fish and chips for lunch, but instead of fish he got squid (it was the first time he'd eaten squid, and he said, "It was OK. A bit rubbery. Tasted like chicken.")[3] Then the boat's captain told Starr about how octopuses travel along the sea bed picking up stones and shiny objects with which to build gardens.[4] The Let It Be film included a scene in which Harrison is shown helping Starr work the song out on piano.
The song, which contains the lyrics "Oh what joy for every girl and boy / Knowing they're happy and they're safe,"[5] is sometimes thought of as being a song for children, like "Yellow Submarine", "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" or "All Together Now". It has also been performed by the Muppets several times in various episodes of their shows.[6]
The basic instrumental track was recorded 26 April 1969, with the classic Beatles lineup of two electric guitars (Harrison and John Lennon, the latter using his fingerstyle technique as on "Julia", "Dear Prudence", etc.), bass guitar (Paul McCartney), and drums (Starr). Starr also provided a temporary guide vocal. In the absence of George Martin the Beatles themselves were listed as producer, with Martin's apprentice Chris Thomas present in the control room to assist. Thirty-two takes were required before the Beatles were satisfied with the track.[7]
The backing vocals by McCartney and Harrison during the guitar solo were put through compressors and limiters to create a gurgling sound. Starr added the sound of bubbles being blown into a glass of water using a straw.[8][9]
On the album for the Cirque du Soleil production Love, which features re-imagined and re-interpreted Beatles songs, "Octopus's Garden" is track 16. It begins with the dropped key music from "Good Night," (it is in E major, instead of its original G major), some chords from "Good Night," an occasional, minute sound from "Tomorrow Never Knows," the grinding noise from "All Together Now," and slowed down lyrics from "Octopus's Garden". It then speeds up with the actual music from the song after a drum fill from "Lovely Rita". Background noise from the song "Yellow Submarine," some xylophone chords from "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill," and the background acoustic guitar with some percussion from "Polythene Pam" can be heard. A few small random shouts from "Revolution 9" can be heard along with the "Yellow Submarine" background talking. Other noises can be heard including Lennon saying things like, "Sensational!" during the guitar solo. At the end, some of the guitar ladder chords from "Helter Skelter" play behind the vocals before moving to music from "Sun King" mixed with the wave noises from "Yellow Submarine." This leads into the track 17, "Lady Madonna".
Jim Henson's Muppets made three video cover versions of the song, on Sesame Street, episode 019 in 1969, The Ed Sullivan Show in October 1970, and The Muppet Show episode 312 in 1978, which was performed by Robin the Frog, Kermit the Frog, and Miss Piggy.
Mary Aiese, former lead singer with Reparata and the Delrons recorded the song as a solo single in 1972 under the name of Reparata.
Noel Gallagher of Oasis adds adapted lyrics from "Octopus's Garden" to the end of their song "Whatever" during some of his live performances. The phrase "I'd like to be under the sea" is in the refrain of one of Oasis' most popular b-sides, "Take Me Away". Also, the refrain from the chorus of "Octopus's Garden" can be heard about forty seconds from the end of "The Masterplan", also by Oasis.
The song was covered and recorded by Raffi Cavoukian in the 1980s; like most of Raffi's songs, this version was aimed towards a child audience.[11]
The Punkles did a Punk cover on their fourth Album For Sale sung by their drummer Markey Starkey.
Samuel E. Wright sang the song on a Disney video, Sebastian's Party Gras!.
A mash up with Blondie's "Heart of Glass" circulated on the Internet in 2007, as Glass Octopus
CollegeHumor did a parody of the song called "Ringo Wants to Sing More" in which Starr sings about how he wants to be a larger part in the band's music.
 |
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| "Octopus's Garden" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles
from the album Abbey Road | ||||
| Released | 26 September 1969 | |||
| Recorded | 26 April 1969 (32 takes) 29 April 1969 (overdubs) 17 July 1969 (overdubs) 18 July 1969 (overdubs) | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 2:51 | |||
| Label | Apple Records | |||
| Writer | Ringo Starr | |||
| Producer | George Martin, the Beatles | |||
| Abbey Road track listing | ||||
| ||||
"Octopus's Garden" is a song by The Beatles written by Ringo Starr from their 1969 album Abbey Road.
George Harrison worked on the song with Ringo Starr; perhaps out of solidarity as his own songs being dismissed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.[1] Harrison commented: "'Octopus's Garden' is Ringo's song. It's only the second song Ringo has ever written, mind you, and it's lovely." He added that the song gets very deep into your consciousness "because it's so peaceful. I suppose Ringo is writing cosmic songs these days without even realising it."[2]
Contents |
The idea for the song came about when Ringo Starr was on a boat belonging to comedian Peter Sellers in Sardinia in 1968. He ordered fish and chips for lunch, but instead of fish he got squid (it was the first time he'd eaten squid, and he said, "It was OK. A bit rubbery. Tasted like chicken.")[3] Then the boat's captain told Ringo Starr about how octopuses travel along the sea bed picking up stones and shiny objects to build gardens.[4] The Let It Be film had a scene where George Harrison is shown helping Ringo Starr work the song out on piano.
The song, which contains the lyrics "Oh what joy for every girl and boy / Knowing they're happy and they're safe,"[5] is sometimes thought of as being a song for children, like "Yellow Submarine", "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" or "All Together Now". It has also been performed by the Muppets several times in episodes of their shows.[6]
The basic instrumental track was recorded April 26, 1969, with the lineup of two electric guitars (Harrison and John Lennon), bass guitar (Paul McCartney), and drums (Starr). George Martin did not produce the song, so the Beatles themselves were listed as producer, with Martin's apprentice Chris Thomas present in the control room to help. Thirty-two takes were required before the Beatles were happy with the song.[7]
The backing vocals by McCartney and Harrison during the guitar solo were put through compressors and limiters to create a gurgling sound. Harrison added the sound of bubbles being blown into a glass of milk using a straw.[8][9]
   | Octopus's - Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Octopus's Garden" |
| | Abbey Road Lyrics - Abbey Road Lyrics - The Beatles |
| | DM Beatle's Site: Abbey Road (UK, 1969) - Abbey Road (UK, 1969) |
| | The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions - Amazon.com: Complete "Beatles" Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years: Mark Lewisohn: Books |
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