"In Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs

Of every head he's had the pleasure to know

And all the people that come and go

Stop and say, "Hello"…"

This is true, apart from the bit about having photographs of every head he's had the pleasure to know. But he does have photographs of some people who have visited his shop.

Penny Lane is a street in Liverpool, L18, off the A562 road. Locals also refer to the general area around the street as Penny Lane – so it’s a kind of district. It was important to Liverpool in the 1960s as the site of one of the city’s main bus terminals.

Of course, most people have heard of Penny Lane because of the Beatles song, “Penny Lane”, which was mostly written by bassist, Paul McCartney, though like all their songs was credited to Lennon and McCartney.

It was released in February, 1967 as a double ‘A’ side with Strawberry Fields (which, coincidentally is also about an actual place in Liverpool – the Strawberry Fields Salvation Army children’s home near where John Lennon lived. Lennon attended their summer Garden Fetes as a child.)

Anyway, back to Penny Lane. It had originally been recorded in December, 1966 as part of the ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’ album. But was released when the record company put the band under pressure to release a single.The Beatles had a policy of not including previously released singles on albums, so it did not make the iconic album. It did, however, appear on the 1967 U.S. version of the ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ album for reasons unknown.

Penny Lane" was a top-five hit across Europe and topped the US Billboard Hot 100. However, in Britain, due to chart protocol regarding double A-sides, it was the first Beatles single since "Please Please Me" in 1963 to fail to reach Number 1 on the Record Retailer chart.

Although the song is a cheerful and optimistic ditty, reflecting the character of Penny Lane itself, the street in Liverpool was named after James Penny, an eighteenth-century slave trader and has, like many streets in the city, been the subject of debates about a change of name. Thankfully, the latter history of the street and its place in Liverpool and world pop-culture is deemed too iconic to lose.

On a side note, Liverpool (much like Berlin and its relationship with its own historic links to the holocaust) tries to treat its role in the slave trade in a way that admits and accepts the wrongs, respects and commemorates those who were wronged, whilst recognising that events in the past cannot be hung on the shoulder of those of us who live in the present. It has an excellent and regularly updated exhibition acknowledging the wrongs of the Slave Trade as part of its Maritime Museum, at the Albert Docks – well worth a visit.

Penny Lane is still a pleasant place to visit, combining memories of old Liverpool with modern facilities. The bus terminal has gone, but there is a barbers shop as well as wine bars and antique shops.

And of course, you can’t drive, walk or take a bus through Penny Lane without the Beatles’ song playing in your head…

"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes

There beneath the blue suburban skies

I sit, and meanwhile back

In Penny Lane …”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-rB0pHI9fU

Norwegian Wood! A song by The Beatles. The track reminds me of being a jilted lover. It plays all throughout the song, this theme of being jilted. Over and over again, poor John Lennon (who lends vocality this particular Beatles song) is jilted by a girl he visits.

First she shows him her nice furniture, but later on,

“...I looked around and I noticed there wasn’t a chair”

This is the first jilt because she told him to sit anywhere. Before I start nitpicking at the song I just want to point out that she could have been a more gracious host. She should have prepared for having company. Maybe grab a damn chair from the kitchen so your company can relax.

Another jilt came in the form of her saying “it’s time for bed” instead of letting the man leave with his dignity in tact. So she worked in the morning, whatever, give the man a chance to save face, and time, and let him leave. I’m sure by bed time, poor John didn’t want to be there anymore.

Then he slept elsewhere instead of in bed with her, he even complained, saying “I didn’t come crawled out to sleep in the bath.” Of course not. You want to get what you came for. At least you hope to.

I’ve been jilted myself and I’m glad he ended up burning her Norwegian Wood. I’ve been fooled. Led to the room, been shown how nice it was, and then I was asked to pay for what I wanted. I then refused and went to the party without her. Needless to say, a guy shouldn’t feel guilty for burning the gal’s wood if she treats him so bad. It’s better than the alternative.