DECEMBER 29, 1966 – Working at Abbey Road studios in London, Paul McCartney began work on his new song “Penny Lane”, recording six takes of keyboard tracks and various percussion effects. The song’s title is derived from the name of a street near Lennon’s house in the band’s hometown of Liverpool. McCartney and Lennon would meet at Penny Lane junction in the Princes Park area to catch a bus into the center of the city. During the 1960s, this was a significant bus terminus for several routes, and buses with “Penny Lane” displayed were common throughout Liverpool. The name is also used for the area that surrounds its junction with Smithdown Road, Smithdown Place (where the terminus was located) and Allerton Road, including a busy shopping area. Penny Lane is believed to be named after James Penny, an 18th-century slave trader.
LYRICS: 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 On the corner is a banker with a motorcar The little children laugh at him behind his back And the banker never wears a mack In the pouring rain, very strange Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes There beneath the blue suburban skies I sit, and meanwhile back In Penny Lane there is a fireman with an hourglass And in his pocket is a portrait of the queen He likes to keep his fire engine clean It’s a clean machine Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes A four of fish and finger pies In summer, meanwhile back Behind the shelter in the middle of a roundabout The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray And though she feels as if she’s in a play She is anyway In Penny Lane the barber shaves another customer We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim And then the fireman rushes in From the pouring rain, very strange Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes There beneath the blue suburban skies I sit, and meanwhile back Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes There beneath the blue suburban skies Penny Lane
