| "Piggies" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles | |||||
| Album | The Beatles | ||||
| Released | 22 November 1968 | ||||
| Recorded | 19 September 1968 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 2:04 | ||||
| Label | Apple Records | ||||
| Writer | George Harrison | ||||
| Producer | George Martin | ||||
| The Beatles track listing | |||||
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"Piggies" is a Beatles song from double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album). It was written by George Harrison as social commentary on class and corporate greed.
Contents |
Production
Instrumentation
Piggies features a Baroque-style harpsichord and string quartet — which take an unexpected turn at one point playing a blues riff. Chris Thomas (producing in George Martin's absence on some of the 'White Album' sessions) played the harpsichord part.
Lyrical Input
Harrison's mother provided the line "What they need's a damn good whacking",[1] and Lennon contributed with the line "clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon"[1].
Alternate Lyrics
There was an additional verse written for the song in 1968 but omitted during the actual recording. It involved the "piggies" playing "piggy pranks" in order to achieve its rhyming couplet of "piggy banks". Harrison reinstated this verse in all live performances of the song in the 1990s. A version can be heard on his double album 'Live in Japan'. Yeah, everywhere there's lots of piggies Playing piggy pranks And you can see them on their trotters Down at the piggy banks Paying piggy thanks To thee pig brother The original lyrics read "to cut their pork chops" (as heard on the Anthology 3 album). Lennon created the tape loop for the pig noises that were sampled for this song.
Track Placement
"Piggies" is sandwiched between two other songs with animals in their titles ("Blackbird" and "Rocky Raccoon"). This was a deliberate decision on the part of Lennon and McCartney while preparing the sequencing of the songs for the album.
Interpretations
Though Harrison intended the song as social commentary, it was often misinterpreted as an anti-police anthem.
Charles Manson Family
Charles Manson interpreted many of the songs from The White Album to justify his murders, and took the phrase "what they need's a damn good whacking" to mean that he should attack the police. During the murders of Sharon Tate, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Hinman and others, knives and forks were used to stab them because these utensils were mentioned in the song. The words 'political piggy', 'pig' and 'death to pigs' were written with the victims' blood on the walls.
Credits
- George Harrison-Acoustic Guitar, Vocals and Arrangements
- Paul McCartney- Bass and Backing Vocals
- Ringo Starr- Tambourine
- John Lennon-Backing Vocal, Tape Effects and Arrangements
- Chris Thomas-Harpsichord
- George Martin-Arrangements
Notes
- ^ Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison; Joshua M. Greene; Bantam Books; 2006
