Written on February 29, 2020 for Music Criticism JR-310-02 at Emerson College.

“A Day In The Life” by The Beatles represents one of the band’s most distinguished bodies of work, with its experimental approach to instrumentation and humanitarian lyrics. “A Day In The Life ” makes its debut on SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND, an album that inspired iconic acts such as The Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones to take a more unconventional approach to their music. The Beatle’s  recorded the staple hit on January 19, 1967, and was specifically recorded during odd hours within the night. The late-night recording sessions of the song could potentially allude to how the entire 5 minutes and 37-second duration of the song feels like a fever dream. It was officially released on May 26, 1967, for Capitol Records with production done by George Martin and contribution from a 41-piece orchestra and roadie Mal Evans. 

Historically, “A Day In The Life” was released during the zeitgeist of psychedelic rock music with notable albums such as THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO 45TH ANNIVERSARY, SURREALISTIC PILLOW, PET SOUNDS, and BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN promoting a psychedelic sound. These notable bodies of work contain twangy guitar chords, serene woodwind instrumentation, and shoegaze style lyricism that correlates to the structure of “A Day In The Life.” In conjunction with this form of experimental rock music, the ’60s fueled the hippie movement and the “swinging sixties” in Britain. During this time Britain started to see an increased drug use rate with marijuana and LSD, a rise in feminism, an embrace of sexuality with the proliferation of contraceptive pills, and an explosion of self-expression in art, music, and fashion. The phenomenon of “Beatlemania” hysteria catalyzed a source of musical hope with the Beatles lyricism and creativity inspiring a generation of youthful progressives to express themselves through art. 

Out of all the songs on SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND, “A Day In The Life” symbolizes a cultural cornerstone track amongst the 12 preceding tracks. “A Day In The Life” references both social commentary on news and drug usage during the ’60s and pushes lyrical and instrumental boundaries with its production. Thematically, “A Day In The Life” embodies a circle of life structure where between the two verses and the bridge, John Lennon and Paul Mccartney convey a mundane narrative of going through the motions of a daily routine. In terms of songwriting, Paul and John bounce off each other with lyrical ideas. Beginning with verse 1, Lennon carries a balanced tone as he narrates the news of a man who “blew his mind out in a car.” This lyric contributed by Lennon refers to the death of his personal friend known as Tara Browne, who faced  a car accident featured in the Daily Mail on December 18th, 1966. Additionally, the lyric “I saw a film today, oh boy/The English army had just won the war” in context to John’s acting debut in the film “How I Won The War” which came out within the same year as “A Day In The Life.” Throughout the first verse, neither John’s rhythmic vocals or the steady guitar chords feel overbearing until the orchestral build-up. 

The lyric “I’d love to turn you on” in reference to both drugs and sex did not please the radio industry, such as the BBC whom ironically banned the song from receiving airplay. Before the instrumentation swells, John’s lyrics convey a habitual routine of being desensitized to consuming bad news until the hallucinatory shift bleeds into the foreboding orchestration. What John referred to as a “music orgasm” in the instrumental build-up  composed by both Paul and George Martin. Paul gained inspiration from avant-garde music and stylistically made the 41 piece orchestra purposefully play incoherently from pushing their instruments from lowest to highest pitches. In effect, the orchestration has a fantastical, LSD trip style to it that brings a profound effect not prevalent at the beginning of the song. The sensation of the concoction of sound with the woodwind instrumentation alongside the countdown voice sample creates a chaotic and jumbled atmosphere that makes the listener feel breathless. On a metaphorical level, the overwhelming swells of instrumentation create a sonic sensation of what life flashing before your eyes would sound like or a sense of escapism. 

The transition within the audio sample of the alarm ringing halts the effect of the psychedelic orchestration and brings the listener back to the primary tone of narration evident from the first verse in the song. Purposefully, the alarm comes into the song after 24 bars mirroring the same amount of hours in a day. This subtle sound underscores the prevalent theme of time and circulation of a routine in life. The alarm noise done by The Beatles’ personal roadie, Mal Evans, who worked for them from 1963 to their break up in 1970. The ringing of the alarm indicates a new day has begun and holds a tongue-in-cheek reference in wordplay within the title of the song that a new day in life is starting. The cycle of going through the mundane routine returns to the forefront of the song as Paul describes his morning, “woke up fell out of bed/ dragged a comb across my head.” As Paul describes his normal morning ritual of drinking a cup of presumed tea to grabbing his coat and heading to the bus ,as Paul says “found my way upstairs and had a smoke,” catalyzes the surrealism attributes to re-enter the song. As someone spoke and Paul goes “into a dream” the “Ahhh” background vocal harmonies envelop the song into a spellbinding sensation that feels like the listener entered the free falling sensation of going down a rabbit hole. 

The hypnotic transition between the bridge and the final second verse with John’s vocals creates an atmospheric feel of solace, even though John recites the cyclic nature of reading bad news. John’s final verse brings the mundane theme back into a full circle in which a new day has begun with “4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire.” John’s concluding vocals feel placid and soothing that the intense whirlwind build-up of orchestration emerges abruptly and in a dominant manner that it demands the listener’s entire attention. 

The whirlwind of jumbled woodwind and string instruments chaotically playing in increased, synchronized harmony drives the interpretation of the passing of time into full throttle. The immense intensity prevalent in the shrieks of the string instrumentation, specifically the violin causes a creeping feeling of anxiety that the listener can not digest the magnitude of the instrumentation until the final sharp piano “dong” sound. The closing E major piano chord took 9 times to perfect amongst Mal, John, and Ringo to get the chord hit at the same time. Metaphorically, the abrupt piano chord reflects a connotation of life-ending or a flat line. An eerie resonation of the piano key permeates for the rest of the song as if the listener has reached oblivion and slowly blends into complete quietness. The lingering effect of the piano chord quietly transitions into a distorted audio loop of Paul saying “never could see any other way.” The chilling combination of the sharp piano chord and Paul’s eerie audio loop gives a religious connotation of purgatory in conjunction with the cyclic theme of life in the song. 

Ultimately, “A Day In The Life” is nearly 6 minutes of a full circle metaphorical theme of the continuation of life. The track metaphysically spellbinds the listener into expanding their perception of time and humanity. Through the contrasting vocal verses and emphasis on a plethora of instrumentation instead of the typical drums, guitar, and bass assemblage. The Beatles effectively achieved a track that distinguishes itself from the rest of their catchy tunes by tapping into a more psychological state of mind with their listeners. “A Day In The Life” remains timeless and still resonates as a song that has set new heights to the professional standard of production.