Anatomy Of A Song: "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" Quiz

Answer: Southampton

They were "Standing in the dock at Southampton".

"The Ballad Of John And Yoko" was The Beatles' 17th and last number one hit on the UK singles chart. The Beatles' first UK number one hit was "From Me To You" (on the Parlophone record label), it was number one for seven weeks in 1963.

Answer: Holland

They were "Trying to get to Holland or France".

"The Ballad Of John And Yoko" was number one for three weeks on the UK singles chart for The Beatles in 1969. It had replaced "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe, (his only UK number one hit). "Dizzy" had replaced "Get Back" by The Beatles on the UK singles chart and ended its six week run at number one.

Answer: Seine

They were "Honeymooning down by the Seine".

"The Ballad Of John And Yoko" was written by John Lennon but attributed to Lennon/McCartney. When back in England, John Lennon brought the song around to Paul McCartney's home on the 14 April 1969 and they recorded it the same evening.

Answer: Peter Brown

"Peter Brown called to say you can make it OK. You can get married in Gibraltar near Spain".

The Spanish government under the dictator General Francisco Franco Bahamonde, objected to the song because of the words "You can make it OK, you can get married in Gibraltar near Spain". The status of Gibraltar has been a long running subject of debate between Spain and the United Kingdom with both claiming sovereignty.

Answer: Amsterdam

They "Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton".

"The Ballad Of John And Yoko" was written by John Lennon while on his honeymoon in Paris. It tells of the events of his marriage to Yoko Ono in March 1969 and their very public honeymoon activities. These included their Bed-In at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel and their demonstration of Bagism.

Answer: A week

They "Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton, talking in our beds for a week".

"The Ballad Of John And Yoko" peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. There would still be three number one hits to come on the Billboard Hot 100 from The Beatles. "Come Together"/Something" (1969), "Let It Be" (1970) and "The Long And Winding Road" (1970).

Answer: Vienna

"Made a lightning trip to Vienna, eating chocolate cake in a bag"

The recording of "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" marks the return of recording engineer Geoff Emerick at a Beatles recording session. He had quit working with the group during the tensions of the recording sessions for "The Beatles" (The White Album) nine months earlier.

Answer: 50 acorns

"Caught the early plane back to London, fifty acorns tied in a sack".

"The Ballad Of John And Yoko" was the first Beatles' single to be released in stereo in the UK. Also in the UK it was their third single and third number one hit on the Apple record label. It was also the last of six consecutive UK number one hits by The Beatles, which started with "All You Need Is Love" in 1967.

Answer: Old Brown Shoe

"Old Brown Shoe" written by George Harrison was the B-Side of "The Ballad Of John And Yoko".

John Lennon is said to have been responsible for the choice of "Old Brown Shoe" as the B-side for "The Ballad Of John And Yoko". A solo demo version of "Old Brown Shoe" by George Harrison was released on the 1996 Beatles' compilation "Anthology 3".

Answer: Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney and John Lennon were the only members of The Beatles to play on "The Ballad Of John And Yoko".

Paul McCartney sang harmony and played bass, drums, maracas and piano, John Lennon sang vocals and played lead guitar and acoustic guitar. George Harrison was on holiday and Ringo Starr was filming the movie "The Magic Christian", starring Peter Sellers.