Glass Onion
by The Beatles

Album: The White Album (1968)
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  • I told you about Strawberry Fields
    You know the place where nothing is real
    Well, here's another place you can go
    Where everything flows

    Looking through the bent back tulips
    To see how the other half lives
    Looking through a glass onion

    I told you about the walrus and me, man
    You know that we're as close as can be, man
    Well, here's another clue for you all
    The walrus was Paul

    Standing on the cast iron shore, yeah
    Lady Madonna trying to make ends meet, yeah
    Looking through a glass onion

    Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
    Looking through a glass onion

    I told you about the fool on the hill
    I tell you, man, he's living there still
    Well, here's another place you can be
    Listen to me

    Fixing a hole in the ocean
    Trying to make a dovetail joint, yeah
    Looking through a glass onion Writer/s: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
    Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 63

  • Desmond from RomeI bet "fixing a hole" (and "filling a crack") are Liverpool slang for having sex
  • Nelson from Huntsville, AlJohn loved the nonsense wordplay in the books he was exposed to as a child (such as Sinclair Lewis). He played with word meanings in many of his songs.
  • David From North Of The Usa from Toronto, CanadaThere's a Youtube video of a George visiting John and Yoko at their country home, post-Beatles. John asks his security detail to bring a vagrant who has been hanging around the property for days in for breakfast. The spotty looking man tells John about how profound his lyrics have been for him. Lennon laughs and tells the bum that songwriting is just another job and that he writes words just to get the job done, there is rarely any special meaning.
  • Bridget from CoOh, and Adam from Perry, Ny, I'm sure everyone knows Paul did NOT die. And even if she does think Paul died, please be nice!
  • Bridget from CoI thought that John was actually thinking of a glass ball representing an onion! And that the walrus being Paul and Strawberry Fields, the fool on the hill still living there, Lady Madonna, Fixing a Hole were all a coincidence and that John was reflecting and adding some behind the scenes! Wow! I'm surprised he knew people were looking into his songs a lot! I was one of them, so yeah!
  • Rmatrix from Las VegasThere's a book that says that John Lennon played the bass guitar on this song. Ian McDonnell's book.
  • Jedijones from East Pa, PaAlternate lyric: "Well here's a clue you bloody dingo, the walrus was Ringo!"
  • Jeffrey Boe from Campbell, Ca"looking through a glass onion" is 'scrying', holding a chrystal ball up to the sun or moon, divination as in "i'm s-crying" [i am the walrus] & the second verse of the song is written about someone paul didn't see while walking his dog. "i told you 'bout the fool on the hill" in 1967, a former catholic choirboy from rockford, ill. he was" well on his way" to a career in something. "his head in a cloud" [a reference to kirlian photography] "the man of 1000 voices talking perfectly loud" on the stage of his high school theater, a double major. "I tell you man he's living there still." in 1968 i was indeed still in campbell, a few months away from learning about a dovetail joint & meeting Beatle sideman Robben Ford.
  • Adam from Perry, Nyyo' mama so stupid, she really thinks paul is dead
  • George from Belleville, NjThis is a hard rocker.The beat,the drums,the guitar work,it has a rough sound to it.John on many occasions wrote lyrics that had hidden meaning or some kind of message.In this song it's like he's doing a recap of some of the Beatles songs,making mention of them throughout the song.Another winner from the White Album.This song rocks.
  • Stacy from New York City, IlIt means whatever you want it to mean.
  • Randy from Kannapolis, NcI'm new and apparently late to the party but this thread caught my eye. This song still seems to be living up to it's reputation as having people thinking in circles. A "Glass Onion" is British slang for a Monocle. Mostly used as a corrective lens for one eye, they're used as magnifying devices to look for flaws and imperfections (like a jeweler). Also, if "The Walrus was Paul" is referring to the album cover, it's false. The Walrus is John, the hippo is Paul, the rabbit is George and the Chicken is Ringo. The movie characters are the same. The Walrus is playing the piano and the Hippo is out front playing a left handed bass. Also, on the album cover, the Hippo is the only one of the three wearing a watch on their right hand. The rabbit and chicken both have theirs on there left. You can't see the Walrus'. If you're a right handed person, on which wrist do you wear your watch?
  • Brian from Boston, MaGreat song.The white album is amazing
  • Rickylsd from Santa Ana, Caits a beatles song about beatles songs!
  • Chloe from St. Louis, Moi applaud you, john, wherever you are! i love the sarcasm- "heres another clue for you all". its hilarious how he put in cryptic little messages just to drive fans crazy.
  • Discordamongharmony from The Confinements Of My Mind, InHaha, I understand that it's been said that the "Glass Onion" is a television set, but when I read about how Lennon was using the lyrics to confuse people who analyzed his songs, it makes me think of the glass onion as the songs themselves- all the layers being peeled back are people trying to analyze it, but what you see is what you get.

    And I am one of those over-analytical people. :P
  • Pippin from Rhye, CaThis is one of my favorite songs from the White Album. The tune is pretty cool, and the lyrics are hilarious! You see, it doesn't mean anything! It's just John Lennon taking a bunch of lyrics from his previous songs, mish-mashing them together and producing another kind of "I Am the Walrus". You see, he got tired of people analyzing his songs, saying they were about drugs or whatever, when sometimes they weren't, and so he wrote songs like these and put in all sorts of stuff to confuse people! I think it's hilarious.
  • Kathryn Lewallen from Mars, PaAmen Simon from Chatanooga!!! Couldn't agree with you more. The Beatles are a great band and not some stoner hippies who were high 24/7. But I admit this song is sorta weird. I had a nightmare about it. I still like it though.
  • Amelia from Chaple Hill, NcSeeing "How The Other Side Lives" (in the lyrics) was a book by Jacob Riis, a photographer in the late 1800s who took pictures of poor people to raise awareness. just doing my history and noticed and thought I should mention that.
  • Trisha from New Smyrna Beach, FlThe line in this song "Paul was the Walrus" was thrown in becuase Lennon was feeling guilty for leaving him the way he was. Also this song is just somewhat of a throw together of everything John had ever written.
  • Peter Griffin from Quahog, RiWho cares who the walrus is? For all we know, the walrus could be George W. Bush!
  • Simon from Chattanooga , TnThe brilliance of John Lennon is truly incredible! Look at how he got you all squabbling over a song that he wrote over thirty years ago! Although, being a big Beatles fan, it is wonderful that there are many of you who stick up for them, when every one else calls them "dumb" or "drugged hippies." Many people just buy the tshirts from Target to impress their girlfriends...making them think they're classy or whatever. But John Lennon sang from the heart, as did all of the Beatles. I bet that wherever he is, in Nirvana or not, he is enjoying this whole scene. Thanks Mr. Lennon, Harrison, Mcartney and Starkey!
  • Guy from Woodinville, WaIn her autobiography, "Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me," Pattie Boyd writes that they used to enjoy a restaurant in London in which the chef would do creative thing with flowers on your plate, including bending tulip petals backward. Hence, John's line, "Looking through the bent back tulips.
  • Shane from Des Moines, IaWhat's even MORE hilarious to me, is how people keep presenting their explanation like it's the ONLY way the song can be interpreted. Lots of people haver presented lots of different, interesting, and probably "somewhat right" interpretations. You can write a song and have it reference all sorts of things in you life. One word, or phrase, etc. can mean lots of things. I suspect the true answer lies somewhere in the middle, or among, all of the answers people have presented.
  • Krissy from Boston, MaAnother brillant song Mr. Lennon. It ws just like the song I Am The Walrus. It's purpose is to confuse people into thinking something else and eventually becaming so confused they stop analyzing their songs. Which is what he did with the one simple line "The walrus was Paul". He was a very brillant man don't u think. I don't get why it matters who is the Walrus ? Does it really matetr who was the walrus? Does a walrus have some kind of death meaning ?
  • Paulo from Liverpool, Englandhahahahaha - all very interesting ideas my largely transatlantic cousins, but great as the song is most of the lyrics are no big mystery if u are actually from liverpool - its another nostalgic pre-beatle song about john and paul (walrus and me-man) in liverpool going down to the river mersey (a place where everything flows) from allerton where they lived through the suburbs (strawberry fields and bent back tulips) to the dingle where ringo lived (cast iron shore - known to scousers as the cazzy) again they mention the characters they pass just as in Penny Lane they were prob based on real locals... they are also prob drinkin beer along the way or at the riverside and thinkin bout song ideas (dove-tail) or maybe it is a play on words reference to dovedale school. The end is the only crypitic part of the song i can see perhaps the whole in the ocean is the divide created between the USA and the beatles by the infamous 'Jesus' incident - that would explain hitting the bottle and thinkin of happier times... but as i say the rest is really obvious with some good local knowledge of liverpool :)
  • Stuart from Bristol, EnglandOver analysing is exactly what John was writing about here. The title "Glass Onion" in itself is a big hint. The layers of a song that people try to draw meanings from can be compared to the many layers of an onion. Although this onion has no layers as it is made from glass, suggesting we needn't draw out meanings and over analyse things which simply aren't there or visible.
  • Kim from Houston, TxIT WAS A JOKE!!!!! WHY CAN'T SOME OF YOU SEE THAT?!?!? john lennon is in heaven (or where ever) laughing at us.
  • Tommy from Glasgow Scotland, United StatesOh my God no wonder America is in the state it is in. This song was deliberately written by Lennon to confuse the pants off people who kept interpreting his lyrics the wrong way like most of America. If you read any books on the Beatles then this will be confirmed. Lennon was well known for going for a sound rather than lyrics for most of his career. Read "in His Own Write" or "A Spaniard In The Works" to see how much he played around with the English language, and stop reading things into things that are not there. And Paul is definitely not physically dead although songwriting wise he died years ago.
  • Martin from Newcastle, EnglandI agree with the bloke going bezerk, his lyrics are far too good for anyone to analyze, afterall acid apparently changes your life and the way you think, so even though his songs might not be wrote on or about acid, lennons lyrics definitely would not of been the same if he hadnt flown a couple of times. much love, the ultimate beatles fan.
  • Matt from Leicester, England"The walrus is Paul" is a refrence to the "Magical Mystery Tour" album cover were Paul McCartney is dressed as a walrus
  • Izzy from Buffalo, Nynathan, i have two word for you : YOURE WRONG!!!
    now i got that out, i have another thing to say: NOT ALL BEATLES SONGS ARE ABOUT DRUGS AND ALCHOHOL!! my god, people, will you not understand that?!?!? its just a great song, and its about lennon being sick of people anylizing his songs, and thats exactly what you're doing here!! in respect for his spirit, i will not try to analize this song, even though i could, and you should all do the same. do you have no respect for the dead?!?!
  • Burt from Nonya, WaI hear a lot that the glass onion refers to a casket, but glass onions were also large hand blown glass bottles used aboard sailing ships to hold wine or brandy. They were round and if you tried to look through one (like a telescope), everything would look distorted. John was saying that people were viewing his songs through a distorted perception because they wanted to extract a religious meaning from every song. Most Beatle songs are actually far less mysterious than people suppose and John was sick of people over compicating them.
  • Or from Holon, IsraelIn the end of the song you can hear "It's a goal!" and noise of a crowd.
  • Michelle from Antigonish, CanadaThis is an amazing song, though a little different, it's still AWESOME!! Paul IS the Walrus!
  • Steve from Fenton, MoAfter listening to the version of "Glass Onion" on the Anthology CD, the line "looking through the bent back tulips" sounds more like "looking through the bent back two lips" which seems to be more of a sexual reference...perhaps another of John's double meanings.
  • Nathan from Defiance, OhHow is an onion like a lotus? What do all the old Beatle tunes referneces have to do with the Maharishi anyway? This song obviously has something to do with alcohol, or mind altering substances. He's saying drugs and booze is like another world where you can exiperiment and forget about your problems, just as the Beatles did while writing all the songs listed in glass onion.
  • Elbush from Greensboro, NcOk,Glass Onion refers to John's opinion of the Maharishi and the yogic concept of the lotus representing a layered consciousness stripped away through meditation. An onion is much like a lotus. John is saying the Maharishi and yogic meditation...are bull, and that the Maharishi's motives were transparent, stank, and a crying shame. Think about it. ELBush, Greensboro, NC
  • Nathan from Defiance, OhI'm telling you people, the song has something to do with alcohol. John drank a lot in the early days, and this song mentions their early songs. Coincidence? A glass onion is used to hold liquor that is indisputable. A glass onion is not a television, or coffin, or watever! If you don't trust me follow this link: http://www.cosbert.com/bottles/CosbertCollectionDisposal2_files/image174.jpg
  • Carissa from La Mirada, CaI agree with Kalissa. Good one John!
  • Stefanie Magura from Rock Hill, ScGuys don't interpret this one too much. John wrote it to show how much people were over-analyzing his songs. Listen to the lyrics for clues. I know this website is specifically for analyzing songs, but this one doesn't have any particular meaning.
  • Kalissa from New York City, NyI think this is another John Lennon joke...
    and look, he obviously got all of you who try to look into it WAY too much!
    One thing is for sure Paul is definitely NOT dead.
  • Arthur from Sydney, AustraliaI could hear it. It is faint, though.
  • Jordan from Wimette, IlIf you go to http://www.stevesbeatles.com/ and look under 'Glass Onion', you will find that after they sing 'I told you 'bout Strawberry Fields' someone screams 'Forever'.I couldn't hear this, so you can go to this site and 'Think for yourself 'cause I won't be there with you'. HAHA!! (Sorry, that song is not on 'Glass Onion')
  • Peter from Hally, CanadaJohn says that he and the walrus are as close as can be, and then he says the walrus was Paul. That means that, despite all the tension in the group, John and Paul were still good friends.
  • Jon from Danville, CaAre you being sarcastic Richard? Either way, interesting opinion. Either you are pointing out how foolish we are by reading into this crazy song, or you are quite fond of Paul. Whatever, I'm tired.
  • Richard from Newport, Isle Of Wight, EnglandOh dear. You've all got it wrong. The initials of Glass Onion spell "GO". John is asking Paul to leave the band, having realised that Paul is the superior songwriter.
  • Nathan from Defiance, OhMaybe John was commenting about his problems with alcoholism. A 'Glass Onion' is in fact a wide bottomed glass used for holding whiskey often used at sea. It's wide bottom prevents it form tipping over easily, and slightly resembles an onion.
  • Ken from Louisville, KyThe term "dovetail joint" is often used by songwriters as the point where two independently written song parts are combined to make one complete song - something John and Paul did constantly.
  • Nessie from Sapporo, JapanMore great rhythm guitar from the White Album.
  • Harry from Seaville, NjIn the song God by John Lennon, He saids " I was the walrus but now I'm John"
  • Samuel from Perth, AustraliaFrom what I know, the line "the walrus was Paul" refers to the cover of Magical Mystery Tour record where the Beatles are dressed up in costumes, and the walrus was Paul.
  • Elliott from Douglassville, PaI don't think the "walrus" symbolizes death anywhere - not in Europe, not on Mars - nowhere. I'm certain that's bull. John wrote this song, just like "I Am The Walrus," as a decoy for everyone overanalyzing The Beatles' lyrics (i. e. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" = LSD), so naturally he would reference his previous experiment in nonsense. My guess is John already had the line "well here's another clue for you all" set, and, like a magician pretending to reveal his secret, "revealed" the true identity of the walrus. Of course "Paul" was the best rhyme, so he went with that. Anyway, he couldn't say, "Well, here's another clue for you all/The walrus was George," could he?
  • Natasha from Chico, Cai thought the meaning was like an onion has many layers, like the beatles and their vast range of musical abilities and styles, which is very evident on the white album, and the glass is like how they're in the public eye, they're lives may be covered, but they're covered with glass, the world sees what they do and tries to get into the different layers to get different meanings and stuff, but then, i'm kinda doin' the same myself right now... :)
  • Roger from Harmony, PaThe mere fact that the Death Hoax wasn't sprung untill 1969, proves that despite the Beatles denial of any "clues" in their songs, something was going on."Here's another clue for you all..........The Walrus was Paul"This song was released in 1968!
  • Ellen from Nashville, Tnmike, i think a lot of people notice it. its kind of obvious
  • Mike from Jackson, NjJust creative lyrics, no body likes to notice it, but John was an artist! ;)
  • Bob from Las Vegas, NvIs it wierd that we know John wrote this just to confuse people but yet you guys still try and sit here and figure out what it means... but yeah great song.
  • Sarah from Santa Rosa, CaCoooool song!
  • Tyson from Ruidoso, NmA great Lennon song that predicts what he will write during his solo career, at least the bitter portion of it.
  • Joel from ChristchurchThe cross reference with I Am The Walrus also appears on John's Plastic Ono Band album. On God he claims quote "I was the Walrus but now I'm John". Maybe just to confuse things a little more.
  • Patrick from Durham, NcCorrection. The "Glass Onion" is a metaphor for a television set. Read the lyrics it will make sense.
  • Patrick from Conyers, GaThis song was linked to the "Paul is Dead" rumors. The line "The Walrus was Paul" was seen that it indicated Paul was dead. In some religions, the walrus symbolizes death. The term "Glass Onion" is a crude reference to a casket.
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