Beatles Countdown #85 – Dig A Pony

Mar 16

Doug1970s john lennon, the beatles No Comments

Sorry for the break, but let’s keep the countdown rolling with #85 as John Lennon tells us all he wants in a selection from the Let It Be album: “Dig A Pony!”

Later dismissed as “another piece of garbage” by John in 1980 before his death, the song was lyrical nonsense with Lennon himself addressing by saying “I just make it up as I go along.” Like “I Am The Walrus,” the song features a bunch of randomly-linked nonsensical phrases with no real set meaning. The chorus was the exception here as Lennon screams “All I want is you” aimed directly at Yoko Ono who dominated the subject matter of most of his songs at the time. With that said, perhaps the song represents Lennon’s mind at the time: a crazy mess where random thoughts pop up here & there, but his desire for Yoko always comes to the forefront. Or maybe I’m reading too into it. Who knows? The lyrics of the song do contain a bunch of funny & obscure references though. The Beatles’ one-time name Johnny And The Moondogs pops up in the line “I pick a moondog.” Mick Jagger also gets mentioned in the line “I roll a stoney, well you can imitate everyone you know” though that does seem to be a sharp take on their competition at the time, but also one that’s been repeated a lot. In the abundance of Dylan-esque phrases in the song, I’m sure you can pinpoint out more obscure references too.

The version of the song that appears on the Let It Be album is actually the live version of the song recorded during The Beatles’ legendary rooftop performance that was forever immortalized in the Let It Be film. If you haven’t seen the movie and are a Beatles fan, you are severely missing out though it will make you look at Paul in a whole new light. Anyway, it was the second-to-last song played for that set and featured the arrival of the police who would only allow them one more song after their arrival. The song featured a false start (which was left on the album) with Ringo screaming out “Hold It!” to get them to stop as he still had a cigarette in his hand and wasn’t quite ready to start performing. Perhaps showing just how nonsensical the lyrics were, John couldn’t even remember the words and had a stagehand hold a clipboard with the lyrics in front of him. This can be clearly seen in the film & John is even caught joking about it at the end of the performance. Finally, the song was John’s only new contribution to the completed album. “Don’t Let Me Down” was left off the original 1970 cut (and would be later added to Let It Be…Naked) and “Across The Universe” had already been released on a compilation album in ’69. Even more, “Everybody Had a Hard Year” was not only unfinished & coupled with “I’ve Got A Feeling,” but also dated back to The White Album sessions so the only thing new that remained for the new album was “Dig A Pony.” Interesting choice, huh?

Song: Dig A Pony
Album: Let It Be
Year: 1970

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