Hello Goodbye [Single] - Beatles (The) (CD 1991)

The release of Hello Goodbye/I Am The Walrus on November 24, 1967 by The Beatles further pointed up the contrast between John Lennon and Paul McCartney that manifested itself on the earlier single, Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever. Hello Goodbye features McCartney's amazing ability to write a commercial pop tune, while I Am The Walrus exhibits the lyrical wit and the love for the obscure that characterized the work of Lennon. There was some degree of dissension between the two great songwriters over which song should be the A-side--Hello Goodbye eventually won this honor because it was...

I've been thinking about love -- that emotion with its wildly variable peaks and valleys -- lately. Perhaps it's because Valentine's Day is almost here. Mayhap it's because I'm terribly confused about my choices in my (love) life. Or maybe it's because I am an incurable romantic, but like it or not, affairs of the heart are certainly very much on my mind as of late. Of all the human emotions, love has a complex duality to it. It seems that we all seek the warmth, security, and intimacy love often promises, yet it often brings on the worst sort of pain. It's the eternal yin-yang effect -- love.

Here's a tune that has fallen into a bit of disrepute over the years, thanks in large part to John Lennon disparaging it so much (he was disappointed that his own song, "I Am the Walrus," was relegated to the B-Side of "Hello Goodbye"). And, coming as it does in the wake of "Penny Lane," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "All You Need is Love," and SGT. PEPPER'S..., it might be easy to write this one off as a bit of pop chimera. That, however, would be a mistake. Lyrically, Paul McCartney is indeed at his "poppiest" here. Compared to some of his other work from this period, "Hello Goodbye" makes...