ob-la-di  ob-la-da...

Yesterday while browsing through The Beatles’ playlist, the phrase “ob-la-di ob-la-da” caught my attention. It at once sent ringing in my ears a similar phrase from the Kumar Shanu hit “do dil mil rahe hain”, from the movie Pardes where it has been extended with an ‘ob-la-do’(to rhyme with “I love u”). without further ruminating on issues of plagiarism, I double-clicked on the title and the speakers sang aloud,

       “Desmond had a barrow in the market place”.

Cheerful music, simple and sweet lyrics- but what made me google the song was a sudden reversal of ideas in the concluding stanza. The lines,

                       “Desmond lets the children lend a hand...
Molly stays at home and does her pretty face...
And in the evening she still sings it with the band...”

 gets reversed to

                    “Molly lets the children lend a hand...
Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face...
And in the evening she's a singer with the band...”

This unexpected reversal of gender roles amused me, rather intrigued me. On a little research I discovered these amusing theories and rumours about this song.

The least interesting of them was that vocalist Paul McCartney reversed it by mistake while recording and the Beatles let it be for a humorous punch. However, what’s a dish without a dab of spices. So, with no considerations for dyspeptic complaints, allow me to catalogue the more interesting rumours.

The most popular among them is the notion that Desmond and Molly are gays. However, Desmond has been clearly referred to as a “he” and Molly as a “she”. So, I would rather reject this one too.

 A more feminist read comes to the conclusion that it is an attack on the popular discourses of the feminine and the masculine. The lady is no more the only one who stays at home “doing her face”. She works to earn bread while the man rears the children nd tends to his “beauty”.

But the best is yet to unfold. There was a rumour in the September of 1969 that Paul McCartney died in a car accident. The Beatles kept it under covers and Will Campbell underwent a Paul McCartney plastic-surgery. Molly is Paul’s wife, Linda McCartney who went out singing in her band while the new Paul took care of his operated face. So, you want to tell me that the Paul who lives to this day is not the real Paul! Duh! What about the voice? If there is any voice-surgery too, let me know. I have long wished for a Lata Mangeshkar voice.

The most accepted theory is that the Beatles were high on marijuana while recording this song. Infact, there is a lot of laughing going on with the song. And their advice at the end,

    “Take ob-la-di ob-la-da”

Refers to getting a similar high. The more virtuous have been horrified at this because they believe “ob-la-di ob-la-da” is a phrase straight out of the language of the Yoruba tribe which means “life goes on”. But they did clearly mention “take ob-la-di ob-la-da”. Those tricky geniuses!

I guess, after all, the Beatles have succeeded in what they had intended to achieve through a Desmond-Molly reversal. Loads of amusing theories indeed. Till then,

  “ob-la-di ob-la-da brah..

Life goes on.”