Fixing a Hole

Song infobox
Name = Fixing a Hole
Artist = The Beatles
Album = Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Released = 1 June 1967
track_no = 5
Recorded = Regent Sound Studio
9, 21 February 1967
Genre = Pop, Psychedelic rock
Length = 2:36
Writer = Lennon/McCartney
Label = Parlophone
Producer = George Martin
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Type = studio
Tracks = Side one
# "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
# "With a Little Help from My Friends"
# "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
# "Getting Better"
# "Fixing a Hole"
# "She's Leaving Home"
# "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"Side two
# "Within You Without You"
# "When I'm Sixty-Four"
# "Lovely Rita"
# "Good Morning Good Morning"
# "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"
# "A Day in the Life"

"Fixing a Hole" is a song mainly written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and performed by The Beatles on the 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

Recording

The first of two recording sessions for the song was at Regent Sound Studio in London on February 9 1967 in three takes. Regent was used because Abbey Road was not available that night. This was the first time the Beatles used a studio other than Abbey Road for recording a track for an EMI album.cite book |author=Mark Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |year=1988 |pages=95, 99 |isbn=0-517-57066-1]

The lead vocal was recorded at the same time as the rhythm track, a change from their post-1963 approach of overdubbing the vocal.

According to McCartney, on the night of the session an unusual man appeared at the gate of McCartney's home and identified himself as Jesus Christ. After a cup of tea, and after getting him to promise to be quiet and sit in a corner, McCartney brought the man to the recording session. [ [http://www.geocities.com/~beatleboy1/dba08sgt.html Beatles Songwriting & Recording Database: Sgt Pepper ] ] After the session the man left and was never heard from again.

In another version of the story, John Lennon arrived at the studio, found the man hanging around the front door, and it was Lennon who invited him in.Fact|date=February 2007

Inspiration

A common theory is the song was about heroin injection (in reference to "hole" and "fix" lyrics) but McCartney said the song was "another ode to pot", and considering the song's slightly psychedelic vibe (due to the heavy use of echo on McCartney's vocals and the overall use of rather surrealistic imagery in the lyrics), this may very well be true. He further said the song was about having the freedom to let one's mind roam freely. Another theory is that the song is about McCartney repairing the roof of his Scottish farmhouse, but McCartney said he didn't get around to that until much later.cite book |author=Barry Miles |title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now |publisher=Henry Holt & Company |location=New York |year=1997 |pages=314-315 |isbn=0-8050-5249-6]

McCartney has added to the confusion:

*In an interview with Q magazine from around the time of his 1997 album "Flaming Pie", McCartney said that the song's lyric began with the simple idea of someone mending a hole in the road, and that he was living alone and smoking a lot of marijuana when he wrote it.Fact|date=February 2007

*In a 1967 interview, McCartney said the following lines were about those fans who hung around outside his door day and night and whose actions put him off.cite web | title = Beatles Ultimate Experience: The Beatles Interview Database | url=http://www.geocities.com/~beatleboy1/dba08sgt.html | accessdate = 2007-02-17 ]

"See the people standing there
who disagree, and never win
And wonder why they don't get in my door"

According to his diaries, Mal Evans—the Beatles' roadie—may have made some contribution to the writing of the song.

Other versions

*In the 1978 film "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", the song was performed by George Burns in a soft shoe style.
*A classical version of the song was recorded on "Sgt. Pepper for Classical Guitar", the first full classical version of Sgt. Pepper. The album was released in 2004 by concert artist and composer Branimir Krstic [http://www.branimir.net] .
*The Fray performed the song on June 2, 2007. The remake was part of a 40th anniversary tribute to "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"
*Les Fradkin has an instrumental version on his 2007 release- "Pepper Front To Back".

Notes