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“Hello, Goodbye was one of my songs. There are Geminiani influences here I think: the twins. It’s such a deep theme in the universe, duality – man woman, black white, ebony ivory, high low, right wrong, up down, hello goodbye – that it was a very easy song to write. It’s just a song of duality, with me advocating the more positive. You say goodbye, I say hello. You say stop, I say go. I was advocating the more positive side of the duality, and I still do to this day.”
– Paul McCartney (Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now)

So often, simplicity is mistaken for “being easy”. McCartney’s pop jewel is not easy, it is pop-music perfection.  It’s infectious, catchy and clever beyond what initially meets the ear but that’s hard to pull off. Lennon was more than annoyed about this, he was angry about McCartney’s ability to churn out these perfect “pop-ditties”. It happened with this single as it had happened before with Strawberry fields/Penny Lane single. Talk about duality, Lennon and McCartney.

The song belies its simplicity, it sounds like a young man in a hurry. The “calm” lyrics and the insistent  melody, it is a paradox.

It is a masterpiece!

Wikipedia:

“Hello, Goodbye” was released as a single in November 1967, and topped the charts in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Norway. The song also was a number two hit in both Austria and Switzerland.

Single by The Beatles
B-side	“I Am the Walrus”
Released	November 24, 1967
Format	7″
Recorded	2 October – 2 November 1967, EMI Studios, London
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:27
Label	Parlophone (UK), Capitol (US)
Writer(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)	George Martin

Number of takes: 21
Oct 2, Oct 19, Oct 20, Oct 25, Nov 1 and Nov 2

Written by Paul McCartney.

“Paul marched me into the dining room, where he had a marvellous old hand-carved harmonium. ‘Come and site at the other end of the harmonium. You hit any note you like on the keyboard. Just hit it and I’ll do the same. Now whenever I shout out a word, you shout the opposite and I’ll make up a tune. You watch, it’ll make music’…

‘Black,’ he started. ‘White,’ I replied. ‘Yes.’ ‘No.’ ‘Good.’ ‘Bad.’ Hello.’ ‘Goodbye.’

I wonder whether Paul really made up that song as he went along or whether it was running through his head already.”
– Alistair Taylor (Epstein’s  personal assistant and later the GM of Apple Corps.)

The Beatles – Hello, Goodbye:

“I remember the end bit where there’s the pause and it goes ‘Heba, heba hello’. We had those words and we had this whole thing recorded but it didn’t sound quite right, and I remember asking Geoff Emerick if we could really whack up the echo on the tom-toms. And we put this echo full up on the tom-toms and it just came alive.”
– Paul McCartney

It wasn’t a great piece; the best bit was the end, which we all adlibbed in the studio.
~John Lennon (Sept 1980, John Lennon and Yoko Ono: The Playboy Interview)

Recorded after most of the filming for Magical Mystery Tour was finished, this blandly catchy McCartney song became The Beatles’ first post-Epstein single (much to Lennon’s disgust, his I AM THE
WALRUS being harmlessly diverted to the B-side).
~Ian MacDonald (Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties)

Paul McCartney: vocals, bass, piano, bongos andconga
John Lennon: backing vocals, lead guitar and organ
George Harrison: backing vocals and lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums, maracas and tambourine
Leo Birnbaum and Kenneth Essex : violas

Anthology 2 version of Hello, Goodbye.
Although the basic track of Hello Goodbye was the one featured in this take, it has important differences with the finished version. The most remarkable one is the prominent lead distorted guitar which replaces the backing vocals that would later be added in the chorus. It is also the second, and not so well known,  promo with The Beatles in more casual clothes. In this version Ringo’s bass drum carried the familiar Beatles ‘drop-T’ logo, whereas in the first one it had been absent.:

 

Hello, Goodbye (lyrics):

You say “Yes”, I say “No”.
You say “Stop” and I say “Go, go, go”.
Oh no.

You say “Goodbye” and I say “Hello, hello, hello”.
I don’t know why you say “Goodbye”, I say “Hello, hello, hello”.
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello.
I say “High”, you say “Low”.
You say “Why?” And I say “I don’t know”.
Oh no.

You say “Goodbye” and I say “Hello, hello, hello”.
I don’t know why you say “Goodbye”, I say “Hello, hello, hello”.
(Hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye. Hello, goodbye.)
I don’t know why you say “Goodbye”, I say “Hello”.
(Hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye. Hello, goodbye. Hello, goodbye.)
Why, why, why, why, why, why, do you
Say “Goodbye, goodbye, bye, bye”.
Oh no.

You say “Goodbye” and I say “Hello, hello, hello”.
I don’t know why you say “Goodbye”, I say “Hello, hello, hello”.
I don’t know why you say “Goodbye”, I say “Hello”.
You say “Yes”, I say “No”.
(I say “Yes”, but I may mean “No”).
You say “Stop”, I say “Go, go, go”.
(I can stay still it’s time to go).
Oh, oh no.

You say “Goodbye” and I say “Hello, hello, hello”.
I don’t know why you say “Goodbye”, I say “Hello, hello, hello”.
I don’t know why you say “Goodbye”, I say “Hello, hello, hello”.
I don’t know why you say “Goodbye”, I say “Hello-wow, oh. Hello”.
Hela, heba, helloa. Hela, heba, helloa. Hela, heba, helloa.
Hela, heba, helloa. (Hela.) Hela, heba, helloa. Hela, heba, helloa.
Hela, heba, helloa. Hela, heba, helloa. Hela, heba, helloa.

34. Hello Goodbye (written by Paul McCartney ~100%)
35. I Am The Walrus (written by John Lennon – 100%)
36. All My Loving (written by Paul McCartney ~100%)
37. I Want To Hold Your Hand (Lennon/McCartney – 50/50%)
38. Taxman (written by George Harrison ~100%)
39. Because (written by John Lennon ~100%)
40. All You Need Is Love (written by John Lennon ~100%)

-Hallgeir & Egil