Glass Onion

The White Album

**"Glass Onion"** is a song released by the English rock band The Beatles, and is the third track of their self-titled ninth album, *The Beatles* (also known as "*the White Album*)" (1968). This is the first track on the album to feature Ringo Starr on drums. Starr briefly left the group during recording sessions for the album and was replaced on drums by Paul McCartney on both "*Back in the U.S.S.R.*" and "*Dear Prudence*." As apparent through it's psychedelic nonsense, the song was made in spite of schools and fans analyzing Beatles songs when there wasn't supposed to be a meaning. The song is famous for deliberately references previous famous Beatles songs including, "*Strawberry Fields Forever*," "*I Am the Walrus*," "*Lady Madonna*," "*The Fool on the Hill*," and "*Fixing a Hole*." The song was worked on together by every member of the band, though only credited to Lennon–McCartney.

## Lyrics

[Verse 1]

I told you 'bout Strawberry Fields

You know the place where nothing is real

Well here's another place you can go

Where everything flows

[Refrain]

Looking through the bent back tulips

To see how the other half lives

Looking through a glass onion

[Verse 2]

I told you 'bout the walrus and me, man

You know that we're as close as can be, man

Well, here's another clue for you all

The walrus was Paul

[Refrain]

Standing on the cast iron shore, yeah

Lady Madonna trying to make ends meet, yeah

Looking through a glass onion

[Bridge]

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

Looking through a glass onion

[Verse 3]

I told you 'bout the fool on the hill

I tell you, man, he living there still

Well, here's another place you can be

Listen to me

[Refrain]

Fixing a hole in the ocean

Trying to make a dove-tail joint, yeah

Looking through a glass onion

## Personnel

* John Lennon – double-tracked vocals, acoustic guitar
* Paul McCartney – bass guitar, piano, recorder
* George Harrison – lead guitar
* Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine

## Info

* A glass onion were a shape of bottle used during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; it was typically used for storing wine.
* John Lennon used meaningless lyrics to confuse people who were reading too much into his songs. He got a kick out of people trying to analyze his lyrics.
* A glass onion is a coffin with a see-through lid. Because of this, it became a big part of the "Paul is Dead" hoax. Another clue for those who believed the hoax: Lennon sang, "The Walrus is Paul." In many European countries, a walrus represents death.
* Lennon wanted to name one of the bands they signed to Apple Records "*Glass Onion*." They chose "*Badfinger*" instead.
* One theory is that "Glass Onion" refers to Lennon's opinion of the yogic concept of the lotus with its layered petals (layers of consciousness to be stripped away, much like an onion, through meditation) as a bunch of transparent bull used by the Maharishi to manipulate and seduce. He's also saying the Maharishi's whole shtick stinks and is a crying shame.
* Paul McCartney had the original idea for writing a song that had a poke at all those who read too much into the Beatles lyrics. McCartney came up with its structure and he and Lennon wrote it roughly fifty-fifty.
* When Lennon sings about the "Cast Iron Shore," he's referring to what was an area of beach at Liverpool, that is now partly built over. This area of Liverpool is called Otterspool.

## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Beatles\_discography
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Beatles\_(album)
3. ↑ https://www.thebeatles.com/glass-onion
4. ↑ https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/glass-onion-story-behind-song-beatles/
5. ↑ https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/glass-onion/
6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass\_onion
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-beatles/glass-onion