Penny Lane / Hello, Goodbye

It has been a while since I had time to update this blog and two songs have been sung since last time. In November we had the marvelous bit of nonsense verse that is Penny Lane and this month we have just started with Hello, Goodbye, which makes a bit more sense, but not much. Both from the eventful year that was 1967.

Penny Lane was written about the sights and sounds to be seen and heard about the eponymous location in the suburbs of Liverpool. Penny Lane is named after James Penny who was an 18th century slave trader and a strong opponent of abolition. McCartney and Lennon grew up in the area and they would meet at Penny Lane junction in the Mossley Hill area to catch a bus into the centre of the city. The street is now an important landmark, sought out by most Beatles fans touring Liverpool. In the past, street signs saying "Penny Lane" were constantly being stolen for souvenirs and had to be continually replaced. Eventually, the Liverpool city officials gave up and simply began painting the street name on the sides of buildings. This practice was stopped in 2007 and more theft-resistant Penny Lane street signs were installed though some are still stolen. In July 2006, a Liverpool Councillor proposed renaming certain streets because their names were linked to the slave trade. Ultimately, city officials decided to forego the name change and re-evaluate the entire renaming process. On 10 July 2006, it was revealed that Liverpool officials said they would modify the proposal to exclude Penny Lane.

The students had a lot of fun singing Penny Lane especially when I explained the slightly naughty nature of some of the lyrics.

Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to have known
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello

On the corner is a banker with a motorcar
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
There 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 a clean machine

(Trumpet Solo)

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Four of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back

Behind the shelter in the middle of a 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
Then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain...
Very strange

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There 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.

About half-way through the month of November, the TOEIC results were announced and it turned out that 95% of the students who had been part of this singing experiment had managed to improve their score. Half a dozen individuals had added 100 points or more. Whether this was really due to the singing is impossible to prove, of course, but it does no harm to be aware that they happened at the same time.


Hello, Goodbye was released in November 1967 as a monophonic 7-inch single. It was not available in stereo until it was included in the 1973 compilation album 1967-70. With the release of the song, McCartney gave an explanation of its meaning in an interview with Disc: “The answer to everything is simple. It's a song about everything and nothing. If you have black you have to have white. That’s the amazing thing about life.”
In the UK Hello, Goodbye spent seven weeks at Number One including Christmas.
The students are having an easier time with this one than they did with Penny Lane, but on the other hand there is less to discuss.

You say yes, I say no -- You say stop and I say go, go, go
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say Hello
Hello, Hello -- I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, Hello --I don't know why you say goodbye
I say Hello

I say high, you say low -- You say why, and I say I don't know
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say Hello
Hello, hello -- I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, Hello -- I don't know why you say goodbye
I say Hello

Why, why, why, why, why, why
Do you say Good bye
Goodbye, bye, bye, bye, bye

Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, Hello --I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, Hello -- I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, Hello --I don't know why you say goodbye I say Hello
Hello

Hela, heba helloa
Hela, heba helloa