Your Mother Should Know

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Album This song officially appears on the Magical Mystery Tour (EP - Stereo) EP.
Timeline This song has been officially released in 1967

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Song facts

From Wikipedia:

Your Mother Should Know” is a song by the Beatles from their 1967 record Magical Mystery Tour, released in the US as an LP on 27 November 1967 and in the UK as a double-EP on 8 December 1967. It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) based on a line from the screenplay for A Taste of Honey.

In the Magical Mystery Tour film

McCartney said he wrote it as a production number for the movie Magical Mystery Tour, supporting an old-fashioned dance segment that starts with the Beatles coming down a grand staircase in white tuxedoes. After they descend, Boy Scouts, RAF cadets and other groups march through. John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr are wearing red carnations, while McCartney’s is black. The carnation difference contributed to the “Paul is dead” urban legend. […]

Recording

The song was recorded in four sessions on 22 and 23 August, and on 16 and 29 September 1967. The remake from 16 September was left unused, and overdubs layered on the best take from 22 August. 22 and 23 August sessions took place overnight at Chappell Recording Studios because EMI Studios was unavailable, but all the remaining sessions were at Abbey Road. Mixing took place on 29 & 30 September, and 7 November 1967. It was during the latter Chappell Studio session that the group’s manager Brian Epstein made his last visit to a Beatles recording session before his death on 27 August 1967.

Live performances

Paul McCartney performed the song live for the first time by any Beatle on 4 May 2013 at the Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil and during the Spring and Summer parts of his 2013 Out There! Tour, up to and including the show on 14 August 2013 at Mosaic Stadium, Regina, Canada, and dropped it from the set list afterwards.

Paul McCartney in "Many Years From Now", by Barry Miles:

I wrote it in Cavendish Avenue on the harmonium I have in the dining room there. My Aunty Jin and Uncle Harry and a couple of relatives were staying and they were in the living room just across the hall, so I just went to the dining room and spent a few hours with the door open with them listening. And I suppose because of the family atmosphere Your Mother Should Know came in. It’s a very music-hall kind of thing, probably influenced by the fact that my Aunty Jin was in the house.

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

  • [a] mono 2 Oct 1967.
    UK: Parlophone MMT 1 (EP) Magical Mystery Tour 1967.
    US: Capitol MAL 2835 Magical Mystery Tour 1967.
    CD: EMI EP box set 1991.
  • [b] stereo 6 Nov 1967.
    UK: Parlophone SMMT 1 (EP) Magical Mystery Tour 1967.
    US: Capitol SMAL 2835 Magical Mystery Tour 1967.
    CD: EMI CDP 7 48062 2 Magical Mystery Tour 1987, EMI EP box set 1991.

Mono [a] has “phasing” in the last verse, not in stereo [b]. The right and left channels of stereo in [b] switch twice as a special effect; the 1988 stereo mix made for the Magical Mystery Tour home video does not do so.

Last updated on December 1, 2016

The book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present", published in 2021, covers Paul McCartney's early Liverpool days, the Beatles, Wings, and solo careers, by pairing the lyrics of 154 of his songs with first-person commentaries of the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.

"Your Mother Should Know" is one of the 154 songs covered.

Lyrics

Let's all get up and dance to a song
That was a hit before your mother was born
Though she was born a long, long time ago
Your mother should know
Your mother should know

Sing it again
Let's all get up and dance to a song
That was a hit before your mother was born
Though she was born a long, long time ago
Your mother should know
Your mother should know

Lift up your hearts and sing me a song
That was a hit before your mother was born
Though she was born a long, long time ago
Your mother should know
Your mother should know
Your mother should know
Your mother should know

Sing it again
Da da da da da da da da da da da
Da da da da da da da da
Though she was born a long, long time ago
Your mother should know
Your mother should know

Officially appears on


Magical Mystery Tour (Stereo)

Official album

2:28 • Studio versionB

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums, Tambourine
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Organ
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Ken Scott :
Recording engineer
John Timperley :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Aug 22, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Aug 23, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Sep 29, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Nov 06, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road


Magical Mystery Tour (Mono)

Official album • Released in 1967

2:28 • Studio versionA • Mono

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums, Tambourine
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Organ
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Ken Scott :
Recording engineer
John Timperley :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Aug 22, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Aug 23, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Sep 29, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Oct 02, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Magical Mystery Tour (Mono)

EP • Released in 1967

2:31 • Studio versionA • Mono

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums, Tambourine
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Organ
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Ken Scott :
Recording engineer
John Timperley :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Aug 22, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Aug 23, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Sep 29, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Oct 02, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Magical Mystery Tour (EP - Stereo)

EP • Released in 1967

2:31 • Studio versionB • Stereo

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums, Tambourine
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Organ
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Ken Scott :
Recording engineer
John Timperley :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Aug 22, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Aug 23, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Sep 29, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Nov 06, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road


Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs

Official album • Released in 1972

Studio version


Anthology 2

Official album • Released in 1996

3:02 • OuttakeC • Take 27. "Do you want us to do it again, George?" mocked Paul to the Beatles' producer at the star of this recording. Your Mother Should Know had already been on the blocks for a month, initial sessions taking place at a different venue - Chappell Studios, just off New Bond Street in Central London - on 22 and 23 August (the last time that the Beatles saw their manager Brian Epstein, who died on the 27th). Now Paul was embarking on a new arrangement, with snare drum, harmonium, jangle piano and vocal. The Beatles recorded eleven such takes of Your Mother Should Know during this 16th September session, the one featured here, Take 27, being marked "best", albeit only temporarily.

George Martin :
Producer
Ken Scott :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Sep 16, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road


Magical Mystery Tour (Mono - 2009 remaster)

Official album • Released in 2009

2:28 • Studio versionA2009 • 2009 mono remaster

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums, Tambourine
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Organ
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Ken Scott :
Recording engineer
John Timperley :
Recording engineer
Paul Hicks :
Remastering
Guy Massey :
Remastering
Sean Magee :
Remastering
Allan Rouse :
Project co-ordinator

Session Recording:
Aug 22, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Aug 23, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Sep 29, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Oct 02, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Magical Mystery Tour (Stereo - 2009 remaster)

Official album • Released in 2009

2:28 • Studio versionB2009 • Stereo • 2009 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums, Tambourine
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Organ
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Ken Scott :
Recording engineer
John Timperley :
Recording engineer
Guy Massey :
Remastering
Steve Rooke :
Remastering
Allan Rouse :
Project co-ordinator

Session Recording:
Aug 22, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Aug 23, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Sep 29, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Nov 06, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road


Magical Mystery Tour (Mono - 2014 vinyl)

Official album • Released in 2014

2:28 • Studio versionA2014 • 2014 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Piano, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums, Tambourine
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Organ
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Recording engineer
Ken Scott :
Recording engineer
John Timperley :
Recording engineer
Sean Magee :
Remastering
Steve Berkowitz :
Remastering

Session Recording:
Aug 22, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Aug 23, 1967
Studio :
Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs:
Sep 29, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Oct 02, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


Anthology 2 (2016 remaster)

Official album • Released in 2016

3:02 • OuttakeC2016 • Take 27. "Do you want us to do it again, George?" mocked Paul to the Beatles' producer at the star of this recording. Your Mother Should Know had already been on the blocks for a month, initial sessions taking place at a different venue - Chappell Studios, just off New Bond Street in Central London - on 22 and 23 August (the last time that the Beatles saw their manager Brian Epstein, who died on the 27th). Now Paul was embarking on a new arrangement, with snare drum, harmonium, jangle piano and vocal. The Beatles recorded eleven such takes of Your Mother Should Know during this 16th September session, the one featured here, Take 27, being marked "best", albeit only temporarily.

George Martin :
Producer
Ken Scott :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Sep 16, 1967
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road

Bootlegs


Out There Japan Tour 2013

Unofficial live

3:08 • Soundcheck

Concert From the concert in Fukuoka, Japan on Nov 15, 2013


Complete Acetate Collection 1961-1970

Unofficial album

2:33 • Studio version


Magical Mystery Tour Sessions

Unofficial album

2:31 • Alternate take • Take 8 acetate mono


Magical Mystery Tour Sessions

Unofficial album

3:03 • Alternate take • Take 27 stereo


Magical Mystery Tour Sessions

Unofficial album

2:26 • Alternate take • Take 52 RM23? 1967 Movie mix mono


Live performances

“Your Mother Should Know” has been played in 26 concerts and 2 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where Your Mother Should Know has been played




Outside Lands Festival

Aug 09, 2013 • Part of Out There Tour




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