Beatles: Yellow Submarine Meaning

Song Released: 1969

Yellow Submarine Lyrics

In the town where I was born
Lived a man who sailed to sea
And he told us of his life
In the land of submarines.
So we sailed up to the sun
Till we found the sea of green
And we lived beneath the waves
In our yellow submarine.
We all live...

1. anonymous

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   May 17th 2008 !⃝

   I am a huge, huge beatle fan but it is kind of obvious that drugs were a major part of their life and this song is a reference...
   When The Beatles came out with I Want To Hold Your Hand Bob Dylan thought they said I get high when they really say I can't hide...
   "And he told us of his life in the land of submarines"- the world of drugs
   "And all our friends are on board"- all The Beatles used drugs
   "As we live a life of ease"- the drugs eased the pressure on them
   Yellow Submarine- hypnotic Nembutal capsules
   /Users/Daniel/Desktop/Pentobarbital_DOJ.jpg check out the pic
2. anonymous

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   May 13th 2008 !⃝

   The yellow submarine is the world and the song is how it should be (HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!) nothing to to with drugs! You people make it seem like the beatles lived for drugs! They wer not bad people! Sure, they have a ton of crazy songs but they were cool guys! CHILL!
3. anonymous

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   Apr 25th 2008 !⃝

   This is just a happy song! You people ARE obsessed with the whole drug thing.
4. anonymous

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   Apr 7th 2008 !⃝

   The Beatles used a lot of drugs, they actually didn't make many direct references to it. This is actually just meant to be a catchy children's tune.
5. anonymous

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   Mar 3rd 2008 !⃝

   All you sober people who don't agree with drug interpretations are wrong..
   
   drop acid, not bombs!
6. anonymous

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   Jan 9th 2008 !⃝

   The driver for the Beatles at the time the song was written describes how John spent a night at someone house (it may have been George's, see rockqueen88 post) high on LSD attempting to keep a submarine afloat. I have the DVD describing the incident but have not watched it for a while.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
7. Beatlesfan91

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   Dec 25th 2007 !⃝

   It is about LSD. Drugs opened the minds of the Beatles to new kinds of music so I am not saying it is a bad thing.
   
   "The man who sailed to sea." was Bob Dylan who supposedly showed them the world of drugs, "He showed us of his life in the land of submarine"
   And obviously as so many pointed out. The Yellow Submarine is a pill.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
8. hole830

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   Nov 15th 2007 !⃝

   Ok so the person that said the beatles did not do drugs??? Have you seen them. They were drug heads. not to judge them cause its rock, it's common. Just saying they looked like they were strung out on drugs. I had always heard it was a song about drugs. and from what I heard about them they were not nice people. love their music though.
9. anonymous

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   Nov 12th 2007 !⃝

   Sometimes songs don't have a certain meaning, and you should just take it for what it is. It's a good song, maybe just made to brighten spirits and put people in a good mood........
10. anonymous

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    Oct 31st 2007 !⃝

    Oh dear that is wonderfully hilarious and I love how much people seem to NEED to find a meaning in even just the most amazing of songs. Stop your pseudo-intellectual blabber and enjoy the beatles for what they were: genius.
11. randomperson

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    Oct 27th 2007 !⃝

    The honest truth is that they got high and wrote about their experience.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. anonymous

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    Oct 11th 2007 !⃝

    It's an extended metaphor for their feelings of the Vietnam-era. About how when society was smothered by the war and the turmoil of the time, they hoped to escape their dreary and confused world to return to the carefree and childish youth, carried out by something as innocent and adealessan as a fantastic submarine.
13. anonymous

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    Sep 9th 2007 !⃝

    Yellow submarine = yellow pill = DRUGS!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
14. anonymous

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    Aug 4th 2007 !⃝

    During the era of The Beatles drugs were a major conflict, whether this song be about drugs or not you can't just completely throw that option out. Let's not be naive, their is a great possibility that the song could be about drugs- it's not like their past drug use is a secret. I'm not sure what the song meaning may be considering art is 50% the artist and 50% the viewer (in this case the listener), anyhow, keep your minds open. Unless a member of the band himself comes up to you and tells you exactly what they meant you don't really have any motive to claim someone else's idea is incorrect.
15. Beatlemaniac

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    Aug 1st 2007 !⃝

    OK dummies! First of all, and most important, you all need to stop talking about the drugs! Sure the Beatles did it a little, but some of the time they were just being funny.
    
    Lennon was a very smart man, and also very open. He did most of the drugs that are grouped with the Beatles. The anonymous guy, Paul Hardly ever did any drugs. The CD is like a soundtrack, and they just had fun with it. Now personally, I never did drugs, so I'm not too sure what it feels like, but you all need to stop with this persistent nonsense.
    
    The Beatles were the greatest band ever, hands down, and just because they all did drugs a couple times doesn't mean you imbeciles out there have to classify them as druggie hippies. They did the whole peace thing,but if you listen to other albums, you'll see that they weren't taking LSD or other drugs. Look at the white album. Abbey Road. Rubber Soul. Just great musicians who were out to have a great time.

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