Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!

Happy #SongLyricsSunday! It is the first one for the new year! I hope you had a wonderful New Year’s Day. I celebrated it by being in Osaka and then on a train for five hours as there was a house fire next to the train tracks, preventing my train from continuing on for three hours. But, in lighter spirits, let’s talk about today’s #SLS prompt suggested by Melanie B Cee of Sparks From A Combustible Mind. I had to find a song with “Entertainment”, “Circus”, or “Show” in the title or lyrics. Since it’s January, which my mom was born in, I decided to pick a Beatles song for her. I choose “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”.

There Will Be a Show Tonight With Mr. Kite

“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” was released on the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. John Lennon found his inspiration for the song from a 19th-century poster for Pablo Fanque’s Circus Royal that he bought in an antique shop. “Everything from the song is from that poster,” Lennon said in one of his final interviews, “except the horse wasn’t called Henry.”^[1] The song mentions William Kite, an employee for Fanque. It also mentions Mr. John Hendson who was a wire-walker, equestrian, trampoline artist, and clown that performed across Europe with his wife Anges in the 19th century.

The credits for “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” lists both Lennon and McCartney as lyricists. But, Lennon has said that he wrote the whole song by himself. But Pau has stated in his 1997 memoir that he co-wrote the song. Whatever the case, John has stated that this 1967 song with a carnival atmosphere was one song that he wasn’t proud of. Yet, I like this song with its story of a circus performance. Also, I really like the odd but satisfying instrumental break in the middle with the mixture of fairground organs and calliope music. It is cool and gives off a sort of haunting avant-garde rock vibe.

What do you think of “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”? Listen below and let me know in the comments!

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Lyrics

For the benefit of Mr. Kite
There will be a show tonight on trampoline
The Hendersons will all be there
Late of Pablo-Fanques Fair, what a scene
Over men and horses hoops and garters
Lastly through a hogshead of real fire!
In this way Mr. K. will challenge the world!

The celebrated Mr. K
Performs his feat on Saturday at Bishopsgate
The Hendersons will dance and sing
As Mr. Kite flies through the ring don’t be late
Messrs. K and H. assure the public
Their production will be second to none
And of course Henry The Horse dances the waltz!

The band begins at ten to six
When Mr. K. performs his tricks without a sound
And Mr. H. will demonstrate
Ten somersets he’ll undertake on solid ground
‘ving been some days in preparation
A splendid time is guaranteed for all
And tonight Mr. Kite is topping the bill

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The Rules for #SongLyricsSunday

(This challenge is currently hosted by the generous Jim Adams.)

Anyone can participate in #SongLyricsSunday, even if you aren’t a music blogger! If you want to participate, here are the rules:

• Post the lyrics to the song of your choice, whether it fits the theme or not.
• Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due.
• Make sure you also credit the singer/band and if you desire you can provide a link to where you found the lyrics.
• Link to the YouTube video, or pull it into your post so others can listen to the song.
• Pingback to this post will eventually work, as long as you are being patient, but you can also place your link in the comments if you don’t like to wait.
• Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
• Feel free to suggest future prompts.
• Have fun and enjoy the music.

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References

[1] Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.