British expressions in "You Never Give Me Your Money"
Mark Andrews
Saw this cited in a British expressions page describing the use
of british expressions in beatles songs. I was wondering if this
one was ever resolved. A verse of YNGMYM contains:
Any jobber got the sack
Monday morning, turnining back
Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go
I've added punctuation where I think is applicable. First, what I
think:
Sentence 1 - with the arrival of Allen Klein in `69, lots of Apple
employees were let go, i.e.: got the sack
Sentence 2 - all the "jobbers" were fired on a Monday. This is a
guess
Setence 3 - No real idea. Lorry is british for wagon or cart. Yellow
is a sour or depressing color. I was also wondering if
"yellow lorry" might refer to one of the underground
(subway) lines. I visited London this fall and one of
of the District or Circle lines is depicted by yellow
on maps and in the stations. As for the rest of the
phrase, "nowhere to go". If you don't have a job, you
have nowhere to go in the morning.
I'm very curious about this sentence.
Of course, this may be all be nonsense text (i.e.: a partially
unfinished song) that has no special meaning.
Mark
Pat Wigfull
> Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go
> Sentence 1 - with the arrival of Allen Klein in `69, lots of Apple
> employees were let go, i.e.: got the sack
> Sentence 2 - all the "jobbers" were fired on a Monday. This is a
> guess
I always thought these were just "general" lyrics about working in
general. The "Monday morning turning back" line always made me think of
the sacked worker starting over the next week (looking for a new job?).
Or perhaps the worker is reminded of his predicament the following MOnday
when he/she has no job to return to?
> Sentence 3 - No real idea. Lorry is british for wagon or cart. Yellow
> is a sour or depressing color. I was also wondering if
> "yellow lorry" might refer to one of the underground
> (subway) lines. I visited London this fall and one of
> of the District or Circle lines is depicted by yellow
> on maps and in the stations. As for the rest of the
> phrase, "nowhere to go". If you don't have a job, you
> have nowhere to go in the morning.
> I'm very curious about this sentence.
I think it's just gibberish. A lorry is the American equivalent of a
truck, not a wagon or cart. I think this is just a line that McCartney
liked the "sound" of... perhaps inspired by a yellow lorry driving by his
window at the time?
I personally don't think there's any meaning to these lyrics. They're
about as meaningful as "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window". I mean,
what does "protected by a silver spoon" mean? "Attracted by a silver
spoon" I could understand, as if "she" flew in through the window
attracted by a shiny object, like a starling. "She could steal but she
could not rob", "She worked at fifteen clubs a day", "She thought I knew
the answer... I knew but I could not say", etc... I'd love to see someone
explain all of these!
Ethan Skinner
In article <57ic8g$i...@bertrand.ccs.carleton.ca>,
pwig...@superior.carleton.ca (Pat Wigfull) wrote:
> Mark Andrews (mand...@aw.sgi.com) wrote:
> > Any jobber got the sack
> > Monday morning, turning back
> > Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go
>
> >There's no denying that You Never Give Me Your Money is about the
breakup. The lines any jobber got the sack are kind of Macca's way of
saying that he;s lost his job-- "out of college, money spent, got no
future, pay no rent," is a wry "banalization" of his own situation. Idon't
know why he refers to "yellow lorry"-- it does not have to do with the
British equivalent of an American U-Haul moving-to-another-town scenario,
because mobility is pretty rare in England (or at least was in 1969/70).
But in any case, the song refers to the fact that McCartney has lost his
job, his dream, the last twelve years of his life-- where does he go from
here? Well, he doesn't despair too long. He may have no job (ie, he's not a
beatle) but all of a sudden he's free. This is his chance to claim a new
life, have a whole new career. He had just married Linda, and it is perhaps
with that in mind that he sings, "Pick up your bags/get in the
limousine/soon we'll be away from here/step on that gas and wipe that
tear/away." There is PLENTY OF MEANING and even more poignancy in this
beautiful, aching song.
KALYAN DASGUPTA
Ed Igoe
Jeffrey French wrote:
>The singer's a cop and he's fallen for a girl who works as a dancer
>and an occassional cat thief. Maybe she's not a dancer at all. Her
>story does sound ridiculous (15 clubs). She grew up rich, so she's
>spoiled. He wants to "save" her--- give her the answer to solve her
>problems, but he can't. He doesn't have one and she doesn't listen
>anyway. She doesn't listen to anyone.
Well, I agree with some of what you've written, but how about:
The singer's a cop and he's fallen for a girl who works as a dancer
(Or is she a stripper? They often work at many different clubs at
one time). She's so cute she can STEAL you heart, but she would
never ROB you of your dignity (Or anything else). She grew up rich,
so she's spoiled. He wants to "Save" her, give her the answer to
solve her problems, but he can't. He doesn't have one and she
doesn't listen anyway. She doesn't listen to anyone.
--
////\\ //||\\ //\|\\ ///||\
/`O-O' ` @ @\ //o o// a a
] > ) | ( _)
- - - ~
--------------John--------Paul------George------Ringo-------------
"Got to get some Bo-Bo he's just so hard to please" - John Lennon
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed Igoe (EJI...@IX.NETCOM.COM)
Jeffrey French
>I personally don't think there's any meaning to these lyrics. They're
>about as meaningful as "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window". I
>mean, what does "protected by a silver spoon" mean?
It means that she is from an affluent family, and is thereby, won't get
in trouble for breaking into someone's house.
I.E., the old expression "born with a silver spoon in her mouth."
"She could steal but she could not rob",
There's a legal difference that he's refering to: "Robbery" is when you
take something from someone, directly--- i.e., armed-robbery,
purse-snatching, etc.
"Stealing" includes burglary, i.e., climbing through windows to steal
things from someone's house while they're away).
I think what he's saying is that she's brave enough to break into a
house and take something, but couldn't do it to the person's face.
>"She worked at fifteen clubs a day",
She's a dancer (or at least, "she said she'd always been a dancer").
And apparently, a very busy one, at that.
I agree that much of the lyrics are nonsense. But he's the way I always
thought about them---
The singer's a cop and he's fallen for a girl who works as a dancer and
an occassional cat thief. Maybe she's not a dancer at all. Her story
does sound ridiculous (15 clubs). She grew up rich, so she's spoiled.
He wants to "save" her--- give her the answer to solve her problems,
but he can't. He doesn't have one and she doesn't listen anyway. She
doesn't listen to anyone.
And of course, all of that is nonsense, too. It's just the way I heard
them the first time and I guess I'll never shake it.
ANDREW B
In article <329C9B...@aw.sgi.com>, Mark Andrews
<mand...@aw.sgi.com> writes
>Saw this cited in a British expressions page describing the use
>of british expressions in beatles songs. I was wondering if this
>one was ever resolved. A verse of YNGMYM contains:
>
> Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go
>
>think:
>
> employees were let go, i.e.: got the sack
>Sentence 2 - all the "jobbers" were fired on a Monday. This is a
> guess
> is a sour or depressing color. I was also wondering if
> "yellow lorry" might refer to one of the underground
> (subway) lines. I visited London this fall and one of
> of the District or Circle lines is depicted by yellow
> on maps and in the stations. As for the rest of the
> phrase, "nowhere to go". If you don't have a job, you
> have nowhere to go in the morning.
> I'm very curious about this sentence.
>
>unfinished song) that has no special meaning.
>
>Mark
--
ANDREW B
David Linley
> I personally don't think there's any meaning to these lyrics. They're
> about as meaningful as "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window". I mean,
> spoon" I could understand, as if "she" flew in through the window
> attracted by a shiny object, like a starling. "She could steal but she
> could not rob", "She worked at fifteen clubs a day", "She thought I knew
> the answer... I knew but I could not say", etc... I'd love to see someone
> explain all of these!
Protected by a silver spoon is probably a reference to the idiom Born with a silver spoon in
your mouth, which means you are very rich or very upper class. Hence also the Who's lyric I
was born with a PLASTIC spoon in my mouth (Substitute). Somebody who's protected by a silver
spoon is probably somebody who is quite naive and can rely on their parents wealth to get
them out of any kind of trouble.
David Linley
Stephen
In article <es_skinner-ya02308...@news.fandm.edu>,
Ethan Skinner <es_sk...@acad.fandm.edu> wrote:
>> > Any jobber got the sack
>> > Monday morning, turning back
>> > Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go
>> >There's no denying that You Never Give Me Your Money is about the
>breakup. The lines any jobber got the sack are kind of Macca's way of
>saying that he;s lost his job-- "out of college, money spent, got no
>future, pay no rent," is a wry "banalization" of his own situation. Idon't
>know why he refers to "yellow lorry"-- it does not have to do with the
Yes, out of college and a bit confused about what to do next is a
similar situation to what Paul was going through at the time. But what
about the mysterious 'line 3'?
Well, what do you do when you go out Monday morning, but then turn
back because you've got nowhere to go? You notice a yellow lorry moving
slowly down the street, that's what! It all fits your mood, it's a part
of the picure of the moment. It even seems as if the lorry is wandering
around with nowhere to go, just like you.
This is the final and absolute meaning of line 3.
Ethan is quite right about the part that follows,
at that moment of seemingly idle reverie, you notice what a magic feeling it
is to have nowhere to go.
- Steve Pipkin
Simon James
Ethan Skinner (es_sk...@acad.fandm.edu) wrote:
> There's no denying that You Never Give Me Your Money is about the
> breakup. The lines any jobber got the sack are kind of Macca's way of
> saying that he;s lost his job-- "out of college, money spent, got no
> future, pay no rent," is a wry "banalization" of his own situation. Idon't
> know why he refers to "yellow lorry"-- it does not have to do with the
> because mobility is pretty rare in England (or at least was in 1969/70).
> But in any case, the song refers to the fact that McCartney has lost his
> job, his dream, the last twelve years of his life-- where does he go from
> here? Well, he doesn't despair too long. He may have no job (ie, he's not a
> beatle) but all of a sudden he's free. This is his chance to claim a new
> life, have a whole new career. He had just married Linda, and it is perhaps
> with that in mind that he sings, "Pick up your bags/get in the
> limousine/soon we'll be away from here/step on that gas and wipe that
> tear/away." There is PLENTY OF MEANING and even more poignancy in this
> beautiful, aching song.
Hm. Odd. I always saw that part of the song as sort of a fond look back
at the old days of pre-Beatlemania. I could be completely off base here.
Paul was certainly unemployed in these days (besides the band), I don't
know if he was ever "out of college," etc.
THEN, the limosine arrives and "one sweet dream" comes true; i.e. he hits
the bigtime! (in exchange for his freedom).
_______
/ o o|
/ ____
\\ / ___\ //
\ \ ::::::::::::::::::::: / /
\ \=:::::::::::::::::::::=/ /
:::::::::::::::::::::
/ |
/ |__/_
__/ \ by Simon James
Susan Juliano
nice...@ix.netcom.com(Jeffrey French) wrote:
[...]
>The singer's a cop and he's fallen for a girl who works as a dancer and
>an occassional cat thief. Maybe she's not a dancer at all. Her story
Much as I hate it when some people always try to interpret things as "dirty",
I have to admit that I always interpreted "dancer" as "hooker". In pop music,
there's a long history of 'dancing' being a euphemism for something else.
===========================================================
Susan Juliano <sjul...@gte.net> "We all shine on." -John Lennon
Susan Juliano
Bluebird
>> Mark Andrews (mand...@aw.sgi.com) wrote:
>> > Any jobber got the sack
>> > Monday morning, turning back
>> > Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go
>>
>breakup. The lines any jobber got the sack are kind of Macca's way of
>saying that he;s lost his job-- "out of college, money spent, got no
>future, pay no rent," is a wry "banalization" of his own situation. Idon't
>know why he refers to "yellow lorry"-- it does not have to do with the
>British equivalent of an American U-Haul moving-to-another-town scenario,
>because mobility is pretty rare in England (or at least was in 1969/70).
>But in any case, the song refers to the fact that McCartney has lost his
>job, his dream, the last twelve years of his life-- where does he go from
>here? Well, he doesn't despair too long. He may have no job (ie, he's not a
>beatle) but all of a sudden he's free. This is his chance to claim a new
>life, have a whole new career. He had just married Linda, and it is perhaps
>with that in mind that he sings, "Pick up your bags/get in the
>limousine/soon we'll be away from here/step on that gas and wipe that
>tear/away." There is PLENTY OF MEANING and even more poignancy in this
>beautiful, aching song.
As for "yellow lorry slow", I think it just shows the mood.
I don't know why, but a poem comes to mind:
"An omnibus across the street
Crawls like yellow butterfly..."
'Symphony in Yellow' by Oscar Wilde
???
Bluebird.
Roger K Adams
David Linley wrote:
>
> > I personally don't think there's any meaning to these lyrics. They're
> > about as meaningful as "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window". I mean,
> > what does "protected by a silver spoon" mean?
>
I also think a lot of the Beatles lyrics contained "nonsense" words, probably chosen for
or because of any of the following reasons:
-rhyming convenience
-limited vocabulary (no insult meant, but I'm sure they didn't know every word
in the English language)
-for sheer fun, in the knowledge that they would confuse the "analyzers"
F.Y.I, I was raised in Liverpool and was there throughout the early and middle Beatles
years, a lot of us Liverpudlians didn't even try to make sense of all the Beatles
lyrics, we just accepted that some of them were good sounding nonsense.
Re the "protected by a silver spoon", I never understood the meaning of it, however
someone told me it was a reference to the way heroin is prepared (melted in a spoon), it
made sense to me at the time so I always assumed this was the true meaning. Any thoughts
on this possibility?
Best Regards. Roger K Adams
December 1, 1996
1:34 pm
peter tucker
Any jobber got the sack
Monday morning, turning back
Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go
Steve Pipkin said:
> Well, what do you do when you go out Monday morning, but then turn
> back because you've got nowhere to go? You notice a yellow lorry moving
> slowly down the street, that's what! It all fits your mood, it's a part
> of the picure of the moment. It even seems as if the lorry is wandering
> around with nowhere to go, just like you.
>
> This is the final and absolute meaning of line 3.
>
> Ethan is quite right about the part that follows,
> at that moment of seemingly idle reverie, you notice what a magic feeling it
> is to have nowhere to go.
A popular "tongue-twister" among British school kids is to say
"Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry...." over and over as
quickly as possible without making mistakes.
Pete.
James Winston
It's from an old saying.
To be "born with a silver spoon in one's mouth" is a metaphor
meaning that someone was born into a well off family. I would
say that "protected by a silver spoon" is harkening back to
that saying.
J.W.
Brett Pasternack
Quoting pwigfull to All re: Re: British expressions in "You Never Give Me
Your Money"pw>From: pwig...@superior.carleton.ca (Pat Wigfull)
pw>Subject: Re: British expressions in "You Never Give Me Your Money"
pw>I think it's just gibberish. A lorry is the American equivalent of a
pw>truck, not a wagon or cart. I think this is just a line that McCartney
pw>liked the "sound" of... perhaps inspired by a yellow lorry driving by h
pw>window at the time?
pw>I personally don't think there's any meaning to these lyrics. They're
pw>about as meaningful as "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window". I me
pw>what does "protected by a silver spoon" mean? "Attracted by a silver
pw>spoon" I could understand, as if "she" flew in through the window
pw>attracted by a shiny object, like a starling. "She could steal but she
pw>could not rob", "She worked at fifteen clubs a day", "She thought I kne
pw>the answer... I knew but I could not say", etc... I'd love to see someo
pw>explain all of these!
Well, a silver spoon is a symbol of wealth and priviledge ("born with a
silver spoon in her mouth"), so the reference would be that she could get
away with her intrusions because she was rich.
Why the rich woman needs to dance in 15 different clubs for money, though,
is beyond me! B^)
* Wave Rider 1.20 [NR] *
... UNREGISTERED EVALUATION COPY
Paul A R Kearley
In article <57ic8g$i...@bertrand.ccs.carleton.ca>, Pat Wigfull <pwigfull@
superior.carleton.ca> writes
>I personally don't think there's any meaning to these lyrics. They're
>what does "protected by a silver spoon" mean? "Attracted by a silver
>the answer... I knew but I could not say", etc... I'd love to see someone
>explain all of these!
Well If you realy want someone to explain these lyrics here go's :-
"She came in through the bathroom window" because she was a thief (I
refer to she could steal but she could not rob) Not sure who's window
she came through though it might have been a freands window and it was
force of habbit to enter a building through the window.
"Protected by a silver spoon" A well Known British saying is Brought up
with a silver spoon in your/there mouth, this means that you/they are
brought up by a wealthy well to do family (who would normally have a lot
of influence) so protected by a silver spoon would mean if she was
caught the influence of her parents standing in the comunity would
likley lead to her getting off lightly from any legal retrebution.
"She could steal but she could not rob" I took this to mean that she was
a theif with a conciense. Stealing is different from robbing (Im not
sure what the dictionary has to say but there is a difference). The way
I see it stealing is taking somthing without someones consent. Robbing
on the other hand is an aggravated form of stealing on a personal
nature. E.G. shoplifting = stealing. Mugging = Robbing.
anyway this is only my own interpretation of these lyrics. Others might
paint a different picture but growing up in the same country,culture and
time as the beatles this is how I read it.
--
Paul A R Kearley
d.
In article <$naaFAAO...@solg.demon.co.uk>, Paul A R Kearley
<pa...@solg.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <57ic8g$i...@bertrand.ccs.carleton.ca>, Pat Wigfull <pwigfull@
> superior.carleton.ca> writes
> >I personally don't think there's any meaning to these lyrics. They're
> >about as meaningful as "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window".
> Well If you realy want someone to explain these lyrics here go's :-
> "She came in through the bathroom window" because she was a thief (I
> refer to she could steal but she could not rob) Not sure who's window
> she came through though it might have been a freands window and it was
> force of habbit to enter a building through the window.
[snip]
> "She could steal but she could not rob" I took this to mean that she was
> a theif with a conciense. Stealing is different from robbing (Im not
> sure what the dictionary has to say but there is a difference). The way
> I see it stealing is taking somthing without someones consent. Robbing
> on the other hand is an aggravated form of stealing on a personal
> nature. E.G. shoplifting = stealing. Mugging = Robbing.
>
> anyway this is only my own interpretation of these lyrics. Others might
> paint a different picture but growing up in the same country,culture and
> time as the beatles this is how I read it.
Good interpretation. There is an actual story behind this. Supposedly, a
fan that had been hanging around Paul's London house had mustered the
kahunas to scale the wall and enter the house while he was out, via the
second-story bathroom window which had been left open. Once inside she
took some "souvenirs," including something of great sentimental value to
Paul (I seem to remember that it was a photograph of his parents, but who
knows?)
When he got back he immediately noticed it was gone, and had to go through
a diplomatic process with the regular girls who hung out outside of his
house (the Apple Scruffs--the fan who did the stealing was apparently a
newcomer) in order to get it back.
On one of the many hours of "Get Back" tapes ('Sweet Apple Trax' is where
I have it) Paul can be heard introducing the song by saying, "This is
something that happened to me just the other week" or something to that
effect, and singing alternate humorous lyrics that jibe with the original
story even more than the finished lyrics.
--
========= Dorothy A. Northcutt - nort...@mindspring.com ============
rasm...@aol.com
In article
<northcut-061...@user-168-121-27-50.dialup.mindspring.com>,
nort...@mindspring.com (d.) writes:
>There is an actual story behind this. Supposedly, a
>fan that had been hanging around Paul's London house had mustered the
>kahunas to scale the wall and enter the house while he was out, via the
>second-story bathroom window which had been left open. Once inside she
>took some "souvenirs," including something of great sentimental value to
>Paul (I seem to remember that it was a photograph of his parents, but who
>knows?)
>
>When he got back he immediately noticed it was gone, and had to go
through
>a diplomatic process with the regular girls who hung out outside of his
>house (the Apple Scruffs--the fan who did the stealing was apparently a
>newcomer) in order to get it back.
>
>On one of the many hours of "Get Back" tapes ('Sweet Apple Trax' is where
>I have it) Paul can be heard introducing the song by saying, "This is
>something that happened to me just the other week" or something to that
>effect, and singing alternate humorous lyrics that jibe with the original
>story even more than the finished lyrics.
Yes yes yes. Funny thing, one of the scruffs wrote a book "waiting for the
Beatles", or some such. She was visiting England, I believe, and was an
Apple scruff for a relatively short time. She told a good story, but
claimed to have been present when the breakin occured, to know who did it,
and to have been instrumental in getting some of the photographs returned.
She even states that Paul told her he was writing a song about it.
Unfortunately, the boots you mention make it clear that this song existed
in January of 1969, and the break-in clearly took place prior to this. the
woman who wrote the book was only present in the summer of 1969.
Therefore, she dun made it up (her involvement). Wonder what else she made
up?
Eric Adam Smith
d. (nort...@mindspring.com) wrote:
: On one of the many hours of "Get Back" tapes ('Sweet Apple Trax' is where
: I have it) Paul can be heard introducing the song by saying, "This is
: something that happened to me just the other week" or something to that
: effect, and singing alternate humorous lyrics that jibe with the original
: story even more than the finished lyrics.
So what are the alternate lyrics. (I love alternate lyrics but since I
can't find any bootlegs I never get to hear any.)
--
Eric Adam Smith
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt6699b
Internet: gt6...@prism.gatech.edu
rasm...@aol.com
In article <58c1aj$6...@catapult.gatech.edu>, gt6...@acmez.gatech.edu
(Eric Adam Smith) writes:
>: On one of the many hours of "Get Back" tapes ('Sweet Apple Trax' is
where
>: I have it) Paul can be heard introducing the song by saying, "This is
>: something that happened to me just the other week" or something to that
>: effect, and singing alternate humorous lyrics that jibe with the
original
>: story even more than the finished lyrics.
>
>So what are the alternate lyrics. (I love alternate lyrics but since I
>can't find any bootlegs I never get to hear any.)
Some of them are:
She said she'd always been a dancer
I said my name was Dan LaRue
And when she said "I got the answer"
I Said "but who the hell are you?"
No kidding. I think there is more, but this is offa the top of my head.
Also, this take starts with John counting the song off in German, then
yelling the opening lines in a cockney accent, as Paul answers:
J: SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BAT'ROOM WINDOW
P: Yes she did now
J: PRCOTECTED BY A BLOODY SPOON
P; a bloody spoon, a bloody spoon, a bloody silver spoon
Shortly after this, there is an edit, where the film tape ran out. When it
resumes, John is answering Paul, for example:
P: And so I quit the P'lice Department
J: GET A JOB, COP!
P: And got myself a proper job
J: BLOODY 'BOUGHT TIME, TOO, IF YA ASK ME!!!!!!!!!
One of the greatest moments in recorded history. I am not joking.
