The Beatles - Penny Lane
Copyright - 1967 EMI Records Ltd.
"Penny Lane" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney with a small contribution from John Lennon (the slangy reference 'fish and finger pie')", recorded during the Sgt. Pepper sessions, and released in February 1967 as one side of a double A-sided single, along with John Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever". Beatles producer George Martin has stated he believes the pairing of these songs resulted in probably the greatest single ever released by the group. Both songs were later released on the US Magical Mystery Tour album in November 1967. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week before being knocked off by The Turtles song "Happy Together". The song features contrasting verse-chorus form and was credited "Lennon-McCartney", although McCartney was the main contributor to the song. The song's title is derived from the name of a street in the band's hometown, Liverpool. The area that surrounds its junction with Smithdown Road is also commonly called Penny Lane. Locally the term "Penny Lane" was the name given to Allerton Road and Smithdown Road and its busy shopping area. Penny Lane is named after James Penny, an 18th century slave trader.
McCartney and Lennon grew up in the area and they would meet at Penny Lane junction to catch a bus into the centre of the city. The street is an important landmark, sought out by most Beatles fans touring Liverpool. In the past, street signs saying "Penny Lane" were constant targets of tourist theft and had to be continually replaced. Eventually, city officials gave up and simply began painting the street name on the sides of buildings. This practice has now stopped (2007) and more thief resistant "Penny Lane" street signs have been installed, however they are still stolen on a regular basis. The Abbey Road sign is also frequently stolen for the same reason; see Street sign theft for more information.
This was also the first single by the Beatles to be sold with a picture sleeve in the UK, a practice rarely used there at that time. However, packaging singles in individually designed sleeves was standard in the US and various other countries.
The barber shop mentioned in the song was, according to McCartney, a shop owned by a Mr. Bioletti, who has claimed to have cut hair for Lennon, McCartney, and George Harrison when they were children. The fire station in the song ("It's a clean machine") was not at Penny Lane junction, but a short walk away along Allerton Road. It was around the corner near to where Mather Avenue meets Rose Lane. The station is very close to the site of Quarry Bank School, which Lennon attended. Mather Avenue leads to Forthlin Road, home of McCartney. The line about the banker with a motor car probably refers to an employee of the Penny Lane branch of Barclays Bank, which was situated on one of the corners of the junction. However, there were also two other nearby banks. These were TSB (now Lloyd's TSB) and Martin's Bank (later to be merged into Barclays Bank).
The promotional film for the song was not in fact filmed at Penny Lane — The Beatles were reluctant to travel to Liverpool. Street scenes of the Beatles were actually filmed in and around Angel Lane in London's East End. The outdoor scenes were filmed at Knole Park in Sevenoaks on 30 January 1967, where the promotional film for "Strawberry Fields Forever" was also shot. Both videos were selected by New York's MoMA as some of the most influential music videos in the late 1960s. Film of Penny Lane was included - with some scenes of green Liverpool buses and a brief overhead view of the 'shelter in the middle of the roundabout', but none of the Beatles attended.
Lyrics:
Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs
of every head he's had the pleasure to know
And all the people that come and go stop to say hello
On the corner is a banker with a motor car
the little children laugh at him behind his back
And the banker never wears a "mac" in the pouring rain
Very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Wet beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit and meanwhile back in
Penny Lane there is a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen
He likes to keep his fire engine clean
It's clean machine
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Full of fish and finger pies
in summer meanwhile back
Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
A pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway
Penny Lane, the barber shaves another customer
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim
And then the fireman rushes in from the pouring rain
very strange
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Wet beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit and meanwhile back
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies
Penny Lane
Tags: The Beatles Paul McCartney 1967 Magical Mystery Tour
