There are very few Beatles songs out there that would make anyone clutch their pearls today. However, the 1960s were a very different time. Quite a few of The Beatles’ songs were banned from radio stations in England and even the United States. One such song, surprisingly, was “I Am The Walrus” from the 1967 album (and film) Magical Mystery Tour. This psychedelic, fun track was actually outright banned by the BBC.
This is probably the silliest song by The Beatles to have been banned by the BBC. It’s a great track, don’t get us wrong. But its lyrics are quite surreal and comical, and also borderline nonsensical. Why on earth would any network ban this particular song from being played?
“I Am The Walrus” is a bizarre odyssey that links together Edgar Allen Poe, eggmen, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Earl of Gloucester, cornflakes, and dead dogs. However, none of those lyrics resulted in “I Am The Walrus” getting banned. Rather, it was the brief mention of a “pornographic priestess” and “knickers” that ruffled a few feathers over at the BBC.
Why Was the Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” Banned From the BBC?
The lyrics in question that got the song booted from the network were as follows: “Crabalocker fishwife / Pornographic priestess / Boy, you’ve been a naughty girl / You let your knickers down.”
It didn’t really matter that the song was intended to be surrealist poetry. The BBC was not happy about the words “pornographic” or “knickers” being in the song, and they deemed it to be too sexually explicit to be aired.
Again, it was definitely the silliest ban of a Beatles song ever. Even John Lennon said that the song had little meaning and was intentionally tongue-in-cheek.
“The words didn’t mean a lot,” said Lennon of “I Am The Walrus” getting banned by the BBC. “People draw so many conclusions, and it’s ridiculous. I’ve had tongue-in-cheek all along… all of them had tongue-in-cheek.”
It’s worth noting that a lot of people loved to pick apart the lyrics of The Beatles’ songs by that point. One should remember that The Beatles were just a few guys making music; they weren’t hiding the secrets of the universe in their song lyrics. Plus, they had gotten quite experimental by the time Magical Mystery Tour was written and recorded. It’s not that crazy to think that Lennon just wanted to write a silly goofy song.
“Just because other people see depths of whatever in it…” Lennon continued. “What does it really mean, ‘I am the Eggman?’ It could have been ‘The pudding basin’ for all I care. It’s not that serious.”
“It’s not that serious” are wise words from the late Beatles leader.
