Why was The Beatles’ submarine yellow: “It couldn’t be purple”

‘Yellow Submarine’ has become firmly entrenched in The Beatles‘ discography and, by extension, the modern musical lexicon, thanks to its release as a double A-side single, alongside ‘Eleanor Rigby’ from the era-defining album Revolver and the jukebox animated film of the same name. It’s a song that tends to inspire strong reactions, whether that be ‘a whimsical, merry ditty that encapsulates the spirit of the ’60s’ or ‘a novelty song that is beneath the pioneering experimentation which The Beatles are lauded for’.

Love or loathe it, there’s no doubt that ‘Yellow Submarine’ is an iconic part of The Beatles’ history. I’m willing to bet that, as you read this, images from the film of crudely drawn members of the band are circulating in your brain, and the chorus is running on a loop, whether you want it to or not. Sure, it might not be measurable as a masterpiece, but it is quite often the first Beatles song many people hear.

Vocal duties are handled by Ringo Starr, the band’s perennially underrated drummer and poster boy of the peace sign. “The boys used to write a song for me, and they’d present whatever they thought would be good for me,” he once said of the song. Starr sang lead on 11 songs by the Liverpudlian legends, including ‘Octopus’s Garden’, ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ and the simplistic genius of ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’.

His happy-go-lucky ways were perfect for the whimsy this time out. But what colour would he decide? Well, Starr explained, “It could have been in a green submarine, but a yellow submarine is much better. Or a deep purple submarine that would have been like, ‘What are they talking about now?’” Also, given the fact that neither “green” nor “deep purple” would fit the syllabic structure of the song, Ringo’s point is bolstered further.

To give Starr credit, the purple submarine (sans “deep”) doesn’t have the same ring to it, and the orange submarine doesn’t trip off the tongue quite in the same way that “yellow” does. Silver works syllabically but isn’t anywhere near as striking an image, and the hard c at the end of lilac doesn’t flow well into the word “submarine”. But above all, yellow offers up the right iconography—something that the Beatles always nailed beyond the music.

Ian Mcdonald’s book Revolution in the Head states that McCartney started writing the song in bed as a children’s song and proffers that the march tempo may have been inspired by Bob Dylan’s ‘Rainy Day Women No.s 12 and 35’, which had entered the UK charts just a fortnight previously. Backing vocals were provided by an assorted chorus of hangers-on, including Marianne Faithfull, Brian Jones from The Rolling Stones and Alf Bicknell, the band’s chauffeur. And just like that, a slice of pop culture history was made.

The release of the song coincided with Lennon’s off-the-cuff remark that The Beatles were now more popular than Jesus, which led to some US radio stations imposing a ban on the band’s music, comically indicating the wholesome and childlike track as a marring stain on the public psyche.

‘Yellow Submarine’ also inspired some to theorise that the song might be a sociopolitical statement against the Vietnam War, something that The Beatles had previously spoken out against. It is, however, likely simply about a yellow submarine—and, as Ringo asserted, it couldn’t be anything else.