Writers: John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Producer: George Martin
Recorded: January-February 1967 at Abbey Road studios, London.
| Players: | John Lennon – vocals, piano, guitar Paul McCartney – vocals, piano, bass George Harrison – guitar Ringo Starr – drums 40-piece orchestra conducted by McCartney and producer George Martin |
| Album: | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Capitol, 1967) |
“A Day in the Life” combines two songs – one of John Lennon's (the beginning and end) and one of Paul McCartney's (the middle).
The working title of the song was “In the Life of…”
The song's reference to the 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, England came from a newspaper report about road holes in the community.
The “film today, oh boy,” refers to How I Won the War, a movie Lennon acted in – which premiered after Sgt. Pepper's release.
The man who “blew his mind out in a car” was Tara Browne, an Irish socialite living in Britain and great grandson of the brewer Edward Cecil Guinness (yes, that Guinness). Browne had befriended the Beatles and other rock stars, and for his 21st birthday party had flown the Lovin’ Spoonful over from New York to play. He died in a car accident on December 18, 1966.
References to having a smoke, dreams and “turn-ons” had “Day” banned in several countries.
The arrangement for the 24-bar orchestral build cost 18 pounds. The section used 40 musicians, who recorded it four times to simulate 160 players. They were instructed to: start very quietly and end very loud; start very low in pitch and end up very high; and make your own way up the scales independent of your neighbor.
McCartney and producer George Martin took turns conducting the orchestra.
During the orchestral recording – February 10, 1967 – the musicians wore formal dress but also wore novelties such as clown's noses, gorilla paws and funny hats.
Guests at the orchestra recording included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Donovan, Marianne Faithfull, and the Monkees‘ Mike Nesmith.
The original ending was supposed to be a choir of voices rather than the famous piano chord.
The final piano chord (E major) lasts for 53 seconds and is played simultaneously on three pianos by Lennon, McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Mal Evans. It took nine takes to get right.
Hidden after the end of the song are a few seconds of a fifteen-kilocycle tone, a very high pitch audible to dogs, not humans.