The Land of Submarines
Roy Bentley
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…
—Paul McCartney John Lennon, “Yellow Submarine”
I knew Ringo Starr was one good-hearted man--
the kind to sing a song with the requisite reverence
and delight—but I was surprised to hear of the Land
of Submarines. I knew Paul had a British sense of humor
and cherished a bunch of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.
I knew George Harrison loved fast cars, gardening.
Still, I was shocked—bigtime flabbergasted--
to hear about this country where peace prevailed,
where Pepperland and the Blue Meanies reconciled.
Paul’s neighbor Donovan contributed the “sky of blue,
sea of green” and is singing backup vocals. Nevertheless,
I’m not surprised bubble noises are John Lennon blowing
through a paper drinkstraw inserted into a half-filled beaker.
I mean, the Fab Four do save Pepperland from Blue Meanies;
though anytime Ringo sings, I hear Thomas the Tank Engine
& Friends, the UK version of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
If Existence has guidelines reducible to the capitalists
breaking our hearts over and over without the least regret,
we yet have the Beatles to save us. Save the world. Which
they did, if you were around in 1966 with its Top 40 Hits
soundtrack of warring ideas and unplanned, mock-flatulent
moments of recognition nothing is going down here, really.
Meaning John Lennon and his antics with the drinkstraw
describe the Land of Submarines as much as anything.
Roy Bentley
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…
—Paul McCartney John Lennon, “Yellow Submarine”
I knew Ringo Starr was one good-hearted man--
the kind to sing a song with the requisite reverence
and delight—but I was surprised to hear of the Land
of Submarines. I knew Paul had a British sense of humor
and cherished a bunch of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.
I knew George Harrison loved fast cars, gardening.
Still, I was shocked—bigtime flabbergasted--
to hear about this country where peace prevailed,
where Pepperland and the Blue Meanies reconciled.
Paul’s neighbor Donovan contributed the “sky of blue,
sea of green” and is singing backup vocals. Nevertheless,
I’m not surprised bubble noises are John Lennon blowing
through a paper drinkstraw inserted into a half-filled beaker.
I mean, the Fab Four do save Pepperland from Blue Meanies;
though anytime Ringo sings, I hear Thomas the Tank Engine
& Friends, the UK version of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
If Existence has guidelines reducible to the capitalists
breaking our hearts over and over without the least regret,
we yet have the Beatles to save us. Save the world. Which
they did, if you were around in 1966 with its Top 40 Hits
soundtrack of warring ideas and unplanned, mock-flatulent
moments of recognition nothing is going down here, really.
Meaning John Lennon and his antics with the drinkstraw
describe the Land of Submarines as much as anything.
