Released 1 June 1967 Label Parlophone | Genre Rock
hard rock Writer(s) Lennon–McCartney | |
Recorded 8 and 16 February,
13, 28 and 29 March 1967,
EMI Studios, London Length 2:41
2:35 (mono version) | ||
"Good Morning Good Morning" is a song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and recorded by the Beatles, featured on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Inspiration for the song came to Lennon from a television commercial for Kellogg's Corn Flakes. Another reference to contemporary television was the lyric "It's time for tea and Meet the Wife", referring to the BBC sitcom.
Contents
Recording
The basic track was recorded on 8 February 1967, with overdubs on 16 February (bass guitar and lead vocals), 13 March (brass section), 28 March (backing vocals and guitar solo), and 29 March (animal noises). The guitar solo was played by Paul McCartney on a Fender Esquire. At Lennon's request, George Martin brought in Sounds Incorporated to provide the song's prominent brass backing.
Lennon asked engineer Geoff Emerick to arrange the animal noises heard at beginning (and end) of the song so that each animal heard was one capable of devouring (or frightening) the animal preceding it. The final sound effect of a chicken clucking was so placed that it transforms into the guitar on the following track, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)". These animal noises were inspired by the coda of "Caroline, No" that ended The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, one of the main inspirations for this whole album. They begin with the crow of a rooster, while the other animal sounds heard at the end of the song include birds, a cat, a dog, a cow, a horse, a sheep, a lion, an elephant, and a group of bloodhounds accompanying fox hunters on horseback with horns blasting, suggesting that a fox hunt was in progress.
The rapid 16th note bass drum fills were done on two bass drums according to The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn. The length of the mono version of "Good Morning Good Morning" is 2:35, whereas the stereo version (due to a lengthier fade out of animal sounds) runs to 2:41.
For the Beatles' 2006 remix album Love, the horse sounds were mixed into "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
Rhythm
The song is played at 117 beats per minute, has an unusual rhythmical feel and uses different time signatures. Beats are played in groups of 2, 3 and 4, and time signature changes frequently. Parts with 5/4 and 4/4 bars alternate, with 3/4 transitions. Most of the song uses simple time, where the beats are divided into two, but the middle eight sections use compound time, where the beats are divided into triplets.
The song is divided into seven sections, two of which are repeated once and one twice, in a time-symmetric pattern A, B, C, B, C, B, A (disregarding the fade out of the last bar):
A: 4,4,4,4,4 (introduction: five bars, 20 beats)
B: 5,5,5,3,4,5,4,3,3,4,4 (eleven bars, 44 beats)
C: 5,5,5,3,4,4,4,4,4,4 (contains refrain: ten bars, 42 beats)
B: 5,5,5,3,4,5,4,3,3,4,4 (eleven bars, 44 beats)
C: 5,5,5,3,4,4,4,4,4,4 (contains refrain: ten bars, 42 beats)
B: 5,5,5,3,4,5,4,3,3,4,4 (eleven bars, 44 beats)
This adds up to 64 bars with 260 beats, which at published 117 beats per minute would result in a length of 2:13,333… minutes.
Cover versions
Personnel
Personnel per Ian MacDonald: