Octopus's Garden
| "Octopus's Garden" | |
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| Song |
"Octopus's Garden" is a song written by Ringo Starr with a little help from George Harrison (although it is credited solely to Starr, as "Starkey"). It is featured on The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road, and their later albums The Beatles 1967-1970, Anthology 3 and most recently the mash-up album Love.
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." Ringo's first solo composition had been "Don't Pass Me By" on The Beatles album. 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 realizing it."[1]
Conception
The idea for the song came about when Starr was on a boating trip with his family 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 said "It was OK. A bit rubbery. Tasted like chicken.")[citation needed] 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.[1] Starr said that hearing about octopuses spending their days collecting shiny objects at the bottom of the sea was one of the happiest things he had ever heard, inspiring him to write this song.
The song 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.
In the Beatles' film Let It Be, Starr is shown rehearsing the song on piano, joined by Harrison, who assists him with the "We would be, so happy you and me..." portion of the song. Starr received sole writing credit despite this.
Recording
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.), electric bass (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. [2]
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. [3] [4]
Personnel
- Ringo Starr: lead vocal, piano, drums and sound effects.
- George Harrison: lead guitar, backing vocal and sound effects.
- Paul McCartney: bass, backing vocal and sound effects.
- John Lennon: fingerstyle guitar, backup vocals.
- Credits per Ian MacDonald[5]
Love version
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 the drum solo 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".
Other versions
An early Sesame Street Muppets underwater sketch featured "Octopus's Garden" as sung by a deep sea diver, a fish and a clam, with a green octopus frolicking around the water in the background. The Muppet Show performed the song as well with 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 the band 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 indeed primarily aimed towards a child audience. [1]
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
Cultural References
- The song is referenced indirectly in the Ed, Edd, n' Eddy episode, "Once Upon An Ed". Johnny tells the Ed's that he wants to hear a story with certain things he then lists. He mentions Octopus's Garden, a clear reference to this song.
References
- ^ a b Abbey Road Lyrics
- ^ Lewisohn, Mark (2004), The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, London: Hamlyn, ISBN 0-681-03189-1.
- ^ DM Beatle's Site: Abbey Road (UK, 1969)
- ^ Only Some Northern Songs in Abbey Road
- ^ MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised Edition ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). p. 351. ISBN 1-844-13828-3.
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The song is mentioned in an episode of Family Guy in which John and Paul patronize Ringo for writing a song about an octopus. They post it on the fridge while Ringo claps.
