What are you listening to now?
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Phylo
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Song by The Beatles
I read the news today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
I'd love to turn you on
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-me...he-Albert-Hall
Raf Smith
Lives in Kelowna, BC, Author has 217 answers and 1.6M answer views
It’s a crude play on words.
Lennon had read the story in the newspaper mentioning 4,000 potholes in the roads in Blackburn, Lancashire. It struck him as amusing that they would have made the effort to count them all.
Then he makes a comparison with the aging Albert Hall, as if to imply it needs some work done on patching it up. (The management of the Albert Hall weren’t pleased by that inference, when they found out about the proposed lyrics). But actually, John was referring to the hall’s seating capacity: It takes 4,000 butts to fill the Albert Hall. (It seats a little more than 5,000 people these days).
…Think about it. You’ll get the joke.
The Royal Albert Hall management completely missed the joke (could not make the psychedelic leap from potholes to assholes) - or chose to ignore - and went off on other tangents and meltdowns, eventually banning performance of the song in the Hall by any artist.
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The Royal Albert Hall letter labours to point out that the song's lyrics misleadingly give the impression that the Royal Albert Hall is in Blackburn, Lancashire when infact it is in London. The reply letter cheekily rubs salt to wounds by stating they will not be saying sorry as it takes too long to get to Blackburn (county of Lancashire) from their studio in Abbey Road (county of London). Also, the reply letter is addressed "Dear Prince Albert and friends"... - There is no Prince Albert. While the Hall is named after Prince Albert, the Prince is long gone since 1861.
Dated 24 June 1967:
“Despite firm correspondence sent to the management of The Beatles and the directors of Capitol Records over the factually incorrect lyrics about the Royal Albert Hall in their popular song ‘A Day In The Life’ (as minuted in Council meeting ref. 120567/F2), the band have refused to acknowledge our concerns or apologise for the offence caused, let alone change the lyrics of the song. As a result, Council have voted unanimously to ban indefinitely the performance of the song by any artist performing at the Royal Albert Hall.”
https://www.royalalberthall.com/abou...uments-reveal/
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