"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" By The Beatles Video Showcase

"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a Beatles song originally released on the double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album), and later released as a single.

It is a Paul McCartney composition (credited to Lennon/McCartney). The song was a conscious homage to the emerging reggae movement (lyrical reference: "life goes on, brah"), possibly related to the growing Jamaican population in Britain, although it is heavily blended with honky tonk.

Aside from the syncopated beat, the song also employed metre schemes and devices not used in the Beatles' previous works and demonstrated the group's highly experimental nature at the time of its recording.

The unique piano introduction to the song was a happy accident created by John Lennon. As recounted by Richard Lush, on the fourth night of recording the song Lennon came to the studio under the influence and proceeded to "smash the keys with an almighty amount of volume, twice the speed of how the'd done it before." In the end, this was the version that was used on the final recording.

The character of Desmond is a reference to ska and reggae legend Desmond Dekker. The light-hearted lyrics tell and retell the story of a couple named Desmond and Molly; the simple, upbeat lyrics are often punctuated by laughter, shouts, and sounds that accompany the lyrics in the background.

The second time that the story is retold, the names are switched around in certain places. McCartney described the switch as a slip of the tongue; he decided to keep it in because none of the other Beatles wanted to run through the song again.

Also, the first time the line "lets the children lend a hand" is sung, it is possible to hear two Beatles in the background saying "arm" and then "leg" instead of "hand". The second time it is sung, you can hear "foot". Longtime Beatles associate Pete Shotton, who was present at the session, confirmed Paul's statement that the switch-up was accidental in his memoir The Beatles, Lennon and Me.

Read the Wikipedia article about Yesterday...

Photo author: Fonk from flickr.com