Somebody once commented that the entire career of Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra consisted of little more than endless attempts to re-write 'I Am The Walrus'.* Bitchy perhaps, but it contains no small kernel of truth. Yet much of the immediate, post Pepper Magical Mystery world inhabited by The Beatles always seemed to me the sound of a different, lesser band riding on the Sergeant's coattails to produce a pastiche sound of that source material which ticked all the boxes but fell short as a whole. Much like ELO and 'I Am The Walrus' in fact.It's this studio enhanced jiggery pokery that gives 'Hello, Goodbye' sufficient substance to make it stand upright. And it needed it - it's as if McCartney was out to prove that whatever Lennon couldn't do on 'All You Need Is Love', he couldn't do either; like Lennon's song, 'Hello, Goodbye' is a phantom of a song with a fragment of a lyric that wraps itself limpet tight around it's own catchiness. Unlike Lennon's tune however, 'Hello, Goodbye' has precious little to say for itself beyond showing off its own sparkle.
"You say yes, I say no, you say stop and I say go, go, go" sings McCartney unhelpfully, but it's just an excuse to get to the steaming "I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello. Hello, hello" chorus/middle eight that repeats like a mantra and is kept fresh by some powerhouse key changes, a monster false ending and George Martin's smoke and mirrors production that shovels fake jewels with abandon to hide the base metal beneath. The chug-a-lug "Hela, heba helloa" outro anticipates the arms-liked sing song of 'Hey Jude', but though this party is fun while it lasts, the pleasure doesn't linger long.
* Which despite being the stronger song by a king's ransom, was relegated to a definite B side rather than a double A. Which is why I will say no more about it here.
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