Song by Song: "A Day in the Life" Quiz

Answer: The Daily Mail

"The famous opening lyric to 'A Day in the Life' reveals how John Lennon was inspired by the everyday things around him - in this case the January 17, 1967, edition of the Daily Mail," writes a Daily Mail reporter in the June 18, 2010 article "Lennon lyrics fetch more than £800,000 at NYC auction."

The song was released on May 26, 1967 as a single from the Beatles' eighth studio album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." It was recorded at EMI (Abbey Road Studios) in London and produced by George Martin.

Answer: Guinness

Tara Browne, heir to the Guinness empire, was an Irish socialite and a friend of the Beatles. He died in 1966, at the age of 21, when he ran a red light and hit a van while under the influence of alcohol. Tara was in line to inherit a one-million-pound fortune on his 25th birthday. "I didn't copy the accident," John Lennon is quoted as saying in Hunter Davies' 1968 authorized biography. "Tara didn't blow his mind out.

But it was in my mind when I was writing that verse."

Answer: Lords

Though not a member of the House of Lords himself, Tara Browne was the son of Dominick Geoffrey Edward Browne, 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne, an Anglo-Irish peer who was a member of the House of Lords for 72 years. Tara's mother was Oonagh Guinness, heiress to the Guinness fortune. On his 21st birthday, Tara threw a massive party and had private jets fly in his guests, including Paul McCartney.

Answer: "How I Won the War"

"How I Won the War," which was directed by Richard Lester, was made during the fall of 1966 and was released in 1967. The black comedy featured John Lennon in his only non-musical acting role, along with Michael Crawford, Roy Kinnear, Jack MacGowran, and Lee Montague.

It was based on Patrick Ryan's 1963 novel, which explains the song's line "But I just had to look / Having read the book."

Answer: A comb

"Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, I noticed I was late."

Rolling Stone magazine's ranked "A Day In the Life" the 24th greatest song of all time on its 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." The magazine reports that for the climax of the song, the Beatles "hired 40 musicians, dressed them in tuxedos and funny hats, and told them they had 15 bars to ascend from the lowest note on their instruments to the highest."

Answer: Paul McCartney

A "middle eight" is a short section (often of eight bars) situated in the middle of an otherwise conventionally structured song. It typically has a different mood or character than the rest of the song. Paul McCartney wrote the middle eight:

"Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream."

According to Joe Moran, writing in "The Guardian" in the June 2007 article "No change please," these lines are a nostalgic recollection of McCartney's youth, when he used to ride the bus to school. McCartney rode the "82 from Speke to Liverpool city centre," Moran reports, "the number and itinerary of which has not changed since George Harrison and Paul McCartney met on it in the early 50s. McCartney later claimed that this daily bus ride formed the inspiration for part of the Beatles' song 'A Day in the Life.'"

Answer: Potholes

The "Daily Mail" newspaper Lennon read also contained an article about the dismal state of road repair Blackburn, a large industrial town located in Lancashire, England. The article, "Far & Near: The holes in our roads" reported that according to a survey by the Blackburn Council, the town apparently had as many as 4,000 potholes. "And though the holes were rather small," Lennon sings, "They had to count them all."

Answer: Drugs

"I'd love to turn you on" is repeated twice, at the end of the third and fifth verses of the song. According to a January 2017 article in Rolling Stone Magazine, the BBC banned the song because of the line. Rolling Stone quotes Paul McCartney on the matter: "This was the time of Tim Leary's 'Turn on, tune in, drop out, and we wrote 'I'd love to turn you on.'" Tim Leary was an American psychologist, writer, and counter-culture figure who advocated the use of psychedelic drugs.

The connection between these potholes and the Albert Hall, however, is rather cryptic:

"Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall."

Answer: An alarm clock

The ring of an alarm clock leads into Paul McCartney's section of the song, which fittingly begins, "Woke up, fell out of bed." The alarm clock was sounded by Mal Evans, who also played piano during the final chord on the song. McCartney played bass guitar while John Lennon played acoustic guitar. Ringo Starr was on drums and congas, and George Harrison played maracas.

Answer: Jeff Beck

Beck first recorded the song on the 1998 album "In My Life," which was produced by George Martin. Beck's cover was also included on the soundtrack of the 2007 musical romantic drama film "Across the Universe." It was Beck's recording on his album "Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club," however, that won him a Grammy Award in 2010 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.