A forty-piece orchestra was used in "A Day in the Life." Paul was the leader in writing songs. He instructed the others the best because he knew when the songs didn't sound right. Most of the songs they did had some kind of inspiration behind them. Paul's song "Elenor Rigby" came to him when he was looking at a shop window in Bristol and he liked the name - Daisy Hawkins. He played the name in his head, turned it into a rhythm, and changed it to Elenor Rigby.
The only song either Paul or John thought of that just came out was "Nowhere Man." "Mr. Kite" came from a poster John was looking at one day and he put it into a song. He wasn't proud of that song because there was no real work involved. "A Day in the Life" was turned down by BBC, because it referred to drugs. John was pleased with that song.
"A Day in the Life" was turned down by BBC, because it referred to drugs. John was pleased with that song. "The lucky man who made the grade" was based on a car accident that John's friend died in.
"Goodmorning, Goodmorning" was from a cornflakes commercial on TV. One day at his home in Weybridge, John heard a police car. The rhythm of the sirens stuck in his head and he played putting words into it. "Mis-ter, Ci-ty, p'lice-man, sit-tin pre-tty. He used this as a basis for a song. He also put another tune in his head. This was the phrase "sitting in an English country garden." He put the pieces together and made, "I am the Walrus."
Most of John's songwriting was done at the piano. Paul worked on whole songs, unlike John, who worked on them in bits and pieces. On "A Day in the Life," John had written the first half and let Paul listen to it. Paul added the verse, "Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head."
It was hard for the Beatles to play a song in their head, but harder for George Martin. They left him with bits of songs that couldn't be fittted together. Martin was amused by their lack of musical knowledge. "Strawberry Fields" was one of their complicated songs, in a technical way. George Martin saw his work with them in two stages. At first, they need him most of the time. The boys knew nothing and relied on him to produce sounds. The second stage, they knew what they wanted on a record, but they still relied on George to arrange the start and finish.
Martin felt Paul had the most musical talent because he could turn songs into order. Paul needed an audience, while John didn't. John was lazy, without Paul he would've gave up. Paul played for the public, while John played to be happy. Paul produced slow, easy music such as "Michelle" and "Yesterday," while John's music was more aggressive such as "I Am the Walrus." Their music was so much like their personalities.
References to drugs had been seen everywhere. Even the "help" in a "Little Help From My Friends" meant pot. "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" was said to stand for LSD, which was a coincidence. John's son, Julian had drawn a picture for John showing Lucie, a girl in his class. They had used drug slangs in their songs. The Beatles never discussed, evaluated, or appreciated their music. John didn't like certain parts of "Lucy in the Sky", and some of the sound in "Mr Kite."
Their new songs didn't sound much different from their new old ones. The words were different but not the tunes. When they wrote "She's Leaving Home," they were thinking about bananas. There wasn't any meaning to the song "Mr Kite."