“I am the eggman! (Whoo!) They are the eggmen! (Whoo!) I AM THE WALRUS! GOO GOO G’JOOB!” The refrain from 1967′s “I Am the Walrus” is one that every Beatles fan knows by heart — perhaps even one that you yourself have shouted aloud at one point or another. Yet beneath the walrus’ mask lies a mystery. Don’t we all wonder sometimes what John Lennon meant by those strange words?
“It’s just psychedelic nonsense,” you might say. And you would probably be right. The fearless lexicographers at the Visual Thesaurus, however, have refused to settle for that answer, instead launching a formal investigation into the etymological origins of the phrase “goo goo g’joob” (which they spell “goo goo goo joob” for some reason). Some of the related phrases they’ve unearthed include “googoo goosth” (from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake), “coo coo ca-choo” (from Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson”), and “boop-oop-a-doop” (from Betty Boop).
While the Visual Thesaurus doesn’t come to any definitive conclusions, their piece makes for a fun 9/9/09 read. Click over to peruse the full report, or watch the Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” below to re-acquaint yourself with the source of this puzzle. Then grab a semolina pilchard, let your face grow long, and tell us: What do you think “goo goo g’joob” means?
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Sorry can’t help, busy trying to figure out what movement on your shoulder means.
It means roughly the same thing as:
beep beep m beep,yeah
or
yeah, yeah, yeah
or
na-na-na-na nananana
nanananana
but it is the very best of a fine lot.
In the copyrighted lyrics it’s spelled goo goo ga joob.
it means “i’m on some great acid AND it makes me wildy pretentious – eat that critics”
+1
well some people say that it was the last words that humpty dumpty said but if you look up the origin it never says anything i think that thats what a walrus sounds like, but who knows…
lennon imitating the sounds of a walrus, no doubt about it. but strangely, like anything lennon did, it sounds clever, with a bit of [self]irony, maybe.
i would ike to say that humpty dumpty said that right befor falling off the wall eggman=humtydumpty am i th eony on who sees it
Don’t be silly goo goo ga joob is
backwards for oog oog ag booj…..
Ooo Mama! This is it! You is right!
I think it’s just The Beatles letting out their fun, whimsical side – but with a good acid trip.
I thought it was something Billy Cosby said.
very good pls. c 9627962940
Hmmmm. Goo Goo Ga Joob, ya say??? Hmmmm.Let me see. Hmmmmm. Let me see. Hmmmmm.
John Lennon found out that a former elementary school teacher was having his students analyze beatles lyrics, so he threw in nonsense words in this song. Apparently people haven’t gotten the joke yet.
its goo goo gjoob not coo coo kchoo peoples
Goo goo g’joob is the noise that the Walrus makes when it’s sleeping. It is just too high pitched for a human ear to hear.
P.S. Walruses are excruciatiingly intelligent creatures.