After a few days off, today The Beatles returned to the studio, where they worked on “The Fool on the Hill” and “Hello Goodbye” (still under its working title, “Hello Hello”). So at this point it’s all Paul, all the time. Did John get a little fed up, I wonder? Was there a dialogue something like this?
John: Can we please say goodbye to “Hello Hello”? Enough already.
Paul: Hmm…“Hello Goodbye.” That’s a better title, you know.
George Martin: That’s a hit for sure. We’ll make it the A side and “I Am the Walrus” the flip.
John: (vomiting sounds)
We do know that years later John said of “Hello Goodbye,” “That’s another McCartney. Smells a mile away, doesn’t it?” That was John in his Mean and Dismissive phase, so it should be taken with a grain of salt, but then so should this song. A pleasant trifle at best, it should not be overanalyzed…though “Paul Is Dead” partisans eventually did just that, interpreting the lyrics along the lines of “You (the late Paul McCartney) say goodbye, and I (the impostor) say hello.”
Is that the bell I hear? Yes, when I start talking “Paul Is Dead” theory, it’s time to call it a day. But this is not goodbye, just au revoir.
I didn’t know John said that about “Hello Goodbye.” He was so spot-on, always. “Smells a mile away …”
The chanting at the end minimizes the vomiting smell a bit though