The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to know
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 the mac
In the pouring rain, very strange
Penny Lane is in my ear and in my eye
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
Penny Lane is in my ear and in my eye
A four of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back
Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway
In 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 ear and in my eye
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
Penny Lane is in my ear and in my eye
There beneath the blue suburban skies
Penny Lane
Of every head he's had the pleasure to know
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 the mac
In the pouring rain, very strange
Penny Lane is in my ear and in my eye
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
Penny Lane is in my ear and in my eye
A four of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back
Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway
In 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 ear and in my eye
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
Penny Lane is in my ear and in my eye
There beneath the blue suburban skies
Penny Lane
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I live in Liverpool now, and I have to drive by Penny Lane every day. At first it was quite weird, and now I'm used to it, but there is actually a barber there, and they have put photographs in their window in reference to the song.
Oh, Jeez, people, this is about the most sarcastic song I've ever heard, right up with "Sultans of Swing".
Look, it's not straightforward at all. Let me break it down for you:
"In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs Of ev’ry head he’s had the pleasure to know."
He keeps a set of photos of everyone famous he's met, like an autograph book. Not too out there, but still strange behavior.
"And all the people that come and go Stop and say ‘Hello’."
The ordinary people of Penny Lane/Liverpool want to be near greatness, so they participate in the oddity, and stop in to look at the photos of people they'll never be.
On the corner is a banker with a motorcar, The little children laugh at him behind his back."
A rich banker (the motorcar shows he's rich) has lots of illegitimate children, their presence is mocking him (probably because he has to pay off their mothers)
"And the banker never wears a mac In the pouring rain - very strange."
Mack = raincoat = rubber = condom. Even though it's likely to get him ANOTHER illegitimate child (bastard), he continues to have sex without rubbers (because he's arrogant or likes the feeling better, whichever)
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes, There beneath the blue suburban skies I sitt, and meanwhile back"
He's (Paul) sitting observing and listening and ferreting out what is driving the people he sees - what's beneath the surface of their daily lives
"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."
A man who keeps punctuality as a goal. Very indicative of the British Condition, subverting all of one's desires to an admiration and striving for a goal that one can keep, instead. He keeps a portrait of the Queen, another person he'll never reach or touch, but his perversion is that the Queen - a 'handsome' woman - is his masturbatory fantasy, and, like clockwork - punctually - he masturbates (keeps the fire engine clean) often - it is, after all, a clean machine, worthy of the Queen.
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes, A four of fish and finger pies In summer meanwhile back"
In the summer, when things are warm and free-er, boys finger women in the streets after dark...
"Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray."
She's selling medical morphine and other narcotics to supplement her income. Nothing to do with war remembrance; it's a juxtaposition of the pretty nurse trafficking in stolen narcotics.
"And though she feels as if she’s in a play She is anyway."
Her actions are surreal to her, feeling justified because it's all unreal; but all the world's a stage, and she's a player doing it for Paul's benefit (his observation).
"In Penny Lane, the barber shaves another customer, We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim"
The Banker is waiting to see a mistress, and using the barber as a reason for being out of the office.
"And then the fireman rushes in From the pouring rain - very strange."
The fireman is afraid of women - the pouring rain symbolizes (as above) the potential for fathering children - and he rushes indoors (would rather masturbate because women terrify him).
Now, children, THAT's what the song is about.
typically life then what we all fear is condendensed into one song one street
Or...to anyone who's ever been to the UK or knows McCartney's background, there's a friendly barber with pictures of haircuts on his wall, and locals stop for a chat. And there's a bank manager who drives a nice car, who pops in for a haircut. And the portrait of a queen is either on some cash in the fireman's pocket or a photo of his wife. And the nurse is selling poppies because it's close to Remembrance Day, and that's what happens in the UK. <br /> 'Finger pie' though. Yeah.
@Ummm... I think divebiker got it right, it‘s not that dirty, the finger pie reference is some dirt for the guys back home, as Paul explained it some years ago.
@Ummm... <br /> "In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs<br /> Of ev’ry head he’s had the pleasure to know"<br /> Pick a girl from a picture..... the "heads" he had the pleasure to know.....<br /> <br /> "In Penny Lane there is a fireman with an hourglass<br /> And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen.<br /> He likes to keep his fire engine clean,"<br /> <br /> A fireman (a man with a lot of desire) is always ready with his money in the pocket, and needs to conclude his business fast. (no masturbation, just a quick thing at the "barber shop")
@Ummm... Strange behavior for a barber? I doubt it -- it seems almost de rigeur among restaurateurs.
isnt it supposed to be "back"... cause i think the persona is in the suburbs while penny lane is in the city but i def could be wrong. I love all the songs in which the "Beatles" reminisce about their past.
I live near Penny Lane, too and the "shelter in the middle of the roundabout" is still a bus terminus which also hosts the famous Sgt. Pepper Bistro. Gawd.
One of the greatest songs ever written.
"penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes" great song. i compare it to johns strawberry feilds.
I live in Smithdown Road. Just next to Penny Lane, its just an ordinary street really, but thats the whole point. Its just a pretty homage to the strangeness of ordinary things when you're a child. A achingly beautifull little song really, although i admit to being biased.
I grew up listening to the Beatles daily because my older sister was a HUGE fan. She was 13 when the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. I'm Canadian, but my wife is from Liverpool and grew up just a few blocks away from Penny Lane. We went back to England on our honeymoon (20 years ago) and her grandmother walked us both down to Penny Lane. Road signs in England are usually tacked onto a corner wall at the intersections (a opposed to using a pole). The Penny Lane sign had been stolen so many times the city council finally decided to paint the name "Penny Lane" right on the brickwork! Yes, the street was in very nice, and yes there is in fact a roundabout! Rows of shops on both sides of the street, and many flower beds here and there. Penny Lane is a LOVELY song about truly nice place with warm, friendly people!
Mac is short for mackintosh (somebody said it was slang for raincoat, which it is, I'm just being nitpicky :) Anyway, they were invented by some Scottish guy named Charles Macintosh in the early 1800's (1824?? Something like that.) They added the 'k' later. Also, British people call Wellingtons (which are boots) 'wellies'. British people are cool. I wish I was British.
Wow, I just realized exactly how boring I am. Oh, well. So, back on topic, Penny Lane is a good song and I had it stuck in my head for a really, really long time.
Penny Lane was a street that Paul always used to walk passed on hs way to school... or so i've heard anyway...
Urm... I don't wanna seem like a dumbass, but what the hell do they mean by 'Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes.' How can a street road be in someones eyes?!?! It doesn't make any sense! Arg! I'm over-annalysing, i know...
CoinXOperatedXGirl: Many Beatles songs make references to LSD, which causes visual and audial hallucinations. I think that this line is referring to their perspective of penny lane on LSD. "In my ears and in my eyes"
@CoinXOperatedXGirl It simply means: 'if I close my eyes, I can still see/hear how that street looks and sounds, because it still is vivid in my memory'.
Just like it's companion piece "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane" is a song dealing with childhood nostalgia. Or to be more precise, a now grown up man achingly trying to reach for that youthful perspective of the world, which obviously makes him happy, since he is nowadays probably stuck in a more troubled life.
Because the storyteller is not really there, you see. His "observations" are rather a kaleidoscopic collage of images and impressions, assembled during his childhood days (and adolescence as well, judging from the veiled sexual allegorys - the "clean machine" part could be a reference, the "finger pie" one certainly is). Instead he quite literarily sits "behind the blue suburban skies", not so much imaging the place as reminiscing it.
While both "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields" are essentially happy nostalgic song, there are disturbing things lurking just beneath the surface. While the latter has a slightly frightening theme underlying it, the nature of "Penny Lane" is more of a sad one (would Macca ever write a truly frightening song? - never mind "Helter Skelter"). While the refrain should count as one of the peppiest pieces of pop music ever written (exactly evocative of the feeling the storyteller is trying to get across), there are certain moments in the song where the melody, if only for a few seconds, turns moodier. The point where the mood gets most anxious coincides with the line "she feels as if she's in a play - she is anyway". This must be interpreted as the cynical grown up's rationalizing of the the Childhood Dreamer, even though they are the same person (or maybe the sober Paul reaching through to the high Paul - I'll leave the drug talk to others). And this is where the tragic aspects of the song (and the whole concept of nostalgia) becomes evident; the dream can never really be realized.
But we always find ourself returning to the bittersweet nursings of nostalgia, don't we? Just as we keep returning to "Penny Lane". This is truly one of the Beatles' very best songs.