US$1.2m for lyrics written by Lennon
Source: Agencies |
June 20, 2010, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
JOHN Lennon's handwritten lyrics to "A Day in the Life" sold for US$1.2 million in New York on Friday, almost double the estimated price, Sotheby's auction house said.
Considered one of the Beatles' greatest songs and the final track on "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," the lyrics were sold to a private US collector on the phone after an intense six-minute bidding battle, Sotheby's said.
"The outstanding price achieved for these handwritten lyrics is testament to the iconic status of the Beatles, John Lennon and especially this song," said David Redden, Sotheby's Books and Manuscripts Department international chairman.
Sotheby's said the record for Beatles lyrics at auction is US$1.25 million paid for "All You Need Is Love" in 2005.
Sotheby's described "A Day in the Life" as "the revolutionary song that marked the Beatles' transformation from pop icons to artists."
The single sheet of paper features a rough draft of the lyrics, including crossings out and a spelling error where "film" is written as "flim."
On the reverse side is a neater version written in capital and with fewer corrections.
Apparently added later is the line: "I love to turn you on," for which the song was banned by the BBC when it first came out in 1967 because the words were deemed to be a reference to taking drugs.
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band topped the US and UK charts, won four Grammy awards in 1968 and is ranked No. 26 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The lyrics once belonged to Mal Evans, the Beatles' road manager.
Considered one of the Beatles' greatest songs and the final track on "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," the lyrics were sold to a private US collector on the phone after an intense six-minute bidding battle, Sotheby's said.
"The outstanding price achieved for these handwritten lyrics is testament to the iconic status of the Beatles, John Lennon and especially this song," said David Redden, Sotheby's Books and Manuscripts Department international chairman.
Sotheby's said the record for Beatles lyrics at auction is US$1.25 million paid for "All You Need Is Love" in 2005.
Sotheby's described "A Day in the Life" as "the revolutionary song that marked the Beatles' transformation from pop icons to artists."
The single sheet of paper features a rough draft of the lyrics, including crossings out and a spelling error where "film" is written as "flim."
On the reverse side is a neater version written in capital and with fewer corrections.
Apparently added later is the line: "I love to turn you on," for which the song was banned by the BBC when it first came out in 1967 because the words were deemed to be a reference to taking drugs.
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band topped the US and UK charts, won four Grammy awards in 1968 and is ranked No. 26 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The lyrics once belonged to Mal Evans, the Beatles' road manager.
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