Jude, 'e in disguise (with glasses)

[Paul Bearer]

This song came out in 1968, supposedly a spoof of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds...but is it more than a spoof?

Judy In Disguise (with Glasses)
By John Fred and his Playboy Band

Judy in disguise, well that's what you are
Lemonade pie with a brand new car
Cantaloupe eyes come to me tonight
Judy in disguise with glasses

Keep wearing your bracelets and your new rara
Across your heart - yeah - with your living bra
Chimney sweep sparrow with guise
Judy in disguise with glasses

Come to me tonight, come to me tonight
Taking everything in sight
Except for the strings on my kite

Judy in disguise, hey that's what you are
Lemonade pies hey got your brand new car
Cantaloupe eyes come to me tonight
Judy in disguise with glasses

Come to me tonight, come to me tonight
Taking everything in sight
Except for the strings on my kite

Judy in disguise, well what you aiming for
A circus of horrors, yeah, well that's what you are
You made me a life of ashes
I guess I'll just take your glasses

Remember that photo from the white album poster?

Jude, 'e in disguise with glasses!

[fourthousandholes]

Sing along! ;D
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeXKLdY6bro

I never could make sense of the lyrics, but now that I see them, I can see some curious lines.
Still....it's all bullsh**.

[Paul Bearer]

Don't you think the glasses dsiguise bit is kind of a "coincidence" though?

[fourthousandholes]

Well, maybe. And you could say the "strings of the kite" relate to 'being for the benefit of',
but lines like: "Across your heart - yeah - with your living bra" are a take off of the then current
Playtex "Cross Your Heart" Living Bra.
I really can't take the song too seriously.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_in_Disguise

www.tsimon.com/fred.htm

[JoJo]

I always suspected it was a takeoff of Lucy, (In The Sky) but I was never able to find any info that cooberated that, just seemed to have this sound-alike thing goin' on. (in disguise - in da skize..you get the idea)

I confess I looked at this song for any connection beyond that, but it would have to be pretty well hidden.. The only question that might be asked is: was this song a notable departure from their usual style?

[mommybird]

That's a weird parady. The first thing that struck me was the name of the artist - John Fred. It made me think of John & his da Fred !
Judy in disguise, well what you aiming for
A circus of horrors, yeah, well that's what you are
You made me a life of ashes
I guess I'll just take your glasses
Paul used to wear disguises all the time & he wore glasses. The boys used to call each other by girls's names & such to be obnoxious. I know that in death, Paul looked like a circus of horrors. His death did effectively ruin John's life. I wonder if John kept Paul's glasses to remember him by ?

Great post, PB !

[beatlies]

Did this song by John Fred and the Playbodys (clues in the band name) come out before or after "Hey Jude"?

The circus of horrors, an apt description of the intelligence agencies' imposter "rock and roll circus," (1968) being for the benefit of Mr. Kite.

[mommybird]

I didn't catch the word "playbody" in their name. Holy smoke !

[JoJo]

Isn't it the Playboy Band?

[Paul Bearer]

Oops! A typing error on my part....or was it?

[mommybird]

I remember hearing awhile ago that Paul used to call John, "Judy". I wanted to verify that before I posted it. I also remember hearing that John used to call Paul "Pru". "Dear Prudence" could very well be about Paul, not Mia Farrow's sister.
Back in the 50's & 60's, male scousers would call each other by girl's names to be insulting. We have to keep in mind that things were different back then.

DEAR PRUDENCE

Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play
Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day
The sun is up, the sky is blue
It's beautiful and so are you
Dear Prudence won't you come out to play

Dear Prudence open up your eyes
Dear Prudence see the sunny skies
The wind is low the birds will sing
that you are part of everything
Dear Prudence won't you open up your eyes?

Look around round
Look around round round
Look around

Dear Prudence let me see you smile
Dear Prudence like a little child
The clouds will be a daisy chain
So let me see you smile again
Dear Prudence won't you let me see you smile?

Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play
Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day
The sun is up, the sky is blue
It's beautiful and so are you
Dear Prudence won't you come out to play

And no, I don't think that the lyrics to this song mean that Paul was reduced to a near vegetative state. If it is about Paul, it could be that John wanted to be able to see him again. I have a feeling that John dropped the amount of acid that he did trying to have visions of Paul. He wanted to coax Paul's spirit into coming to him. I wonder if he ever did

[fourthousandholes]

(Sigh) I hate to be disagreeing with you all the time Mommybird, but someone has to do it.
I'm not doing it to be mean, but to see where the clues fit; trying to get the whole picture.
I don't think that Paul was ever in a "vegetative state". None of the clues I've seen say that.
Child-like, yes. Vegetative, no.

Dear Prudence like a little child

The clouds will be a daisy chain (Oh goodie goodie goodie!)
So let me see you smile again! - (Spoken as if to a child)

Dear Prudence, Won't you come out to play? (like a child does)


I'll agree with you that this is likely a song to Paul. I think it may have been written by John
about a time when Paul was still alive, but had chosen to lock himself up in his house,
and live a nocturnal existence. A somewhat child-like existence.

"Men at Work" had this cleverly titled hit in 1981. It was cleverly titled because in the context
of the song, the person is wondering who it can be that is knocking at his door, but the
title also is saying to the listening public: "Who do you think this song is about?"

Who Can It Be Now?
Men At Work

hear it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOuEYSJCFqE

Who can it be knocking at my door?
Go 'way, don't come 'round here no more.
Can't you see that it's late at night?
I'm very tired, and I'm not feeling right.

All I wish is to be alone;
Stay away, don't you invade my home.
Best off if you hang outside,
Don't come in - I'll only run and hide.

Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now? ("Who can this person be?")

Who can it be knocking at my door?
Make no sound, tip-toe across the floor.
If he hears, he'll knock all day,
I'll be trapped, and here I'll have to stay.

I've done no harm, I keep to myself;
There's nothing wrong with my state of mental health. (He boldly declares)
I like it here with my childhood friend; (A small guitar amplifier is shown)
Here they come, those feelings again!

Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?
Who can it be now?

Is it the man come to take me away?
Why do they follow me?
It's not the future that I can see,
It's just my fantasy (possible link to Bad Company's "Rock and Roll Fantasy")

Oh...Who can it be now?
Oh...Who can it...Who can it...
Yeah yeah yeah
(end)
-------------------------

You can say, "But that could be anybody", but I don't think it is "just anybody".
In the "Signs of Life" song by Pink Floyd, it is clearly stated that someone had become childlike.
The statement is made over an obvious audio portrait of wreckage in water.
Also the entire Pink Floyd "Division Bell" album seems to be about someone who took a vow of
silence, locked himself up in his house for a long time, and then decided he wanted to emerge
from his "tomb" after many months had passed. I will be doing an analysis of the imagery in the
"High Hopes" video when time permits. There's a scene where you're standing in front of
someone's mansion, and a box of apples hits the street and spills out all over the road.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ioavsW0tgI (48 seconds to 53, and who does the person
look like in the opening shot at 14 seconds?)
The symbolism is there. I'm sorry if that doesn't fit a timeline you have in mind, but in the famous
WABC Robey Young PID broadcast, "two girls reported seeing Paul, dressed just as he is on
the Abbey Road cover, near the mortuary". He was obsessed with somebody's death,
but alive. I have no doubt that he is now dead; even Bill has said so, but I'm having to
believe that the first time he 'died', it was faked, just as in "The Passover Plot" (which opens
iamaphoney's "special A" video). I'm not saying he wasn't ultimately shot, I'm just saying
that there are boxloads of clues that tell a different story.
I'll end this post here, but in one to come shortly, I'll discuss a possible solution for how he
could be both "dead and alive" at the same time.
I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass; I'm really not. But there has to be an explanation where
all the pieces fit. That's where I'm trying to get to.

[mommybird]

4000, I can see what you're getting at. You have to understand that we don't know when John wrote "Dear Prudence". For all we know, Paul might've gone through a period in 1966 where he locked himself in his house & wouldn't come out. Just looking at photos of him from that time period, you can see that he is depressed & unwell. There was a time period when his face was very swollen. I've considered that might've been from steroid use. Most likely prescribed for him because of a stomach disorder.
It could very well be Paul's disenchantment with where his life was heading, and his own issues dealing with his celebrity, that ultimately led to his demise. I wouldn't be surprised if they were considering replacing him before it became necessary to do so.
I think that secondlifer was right when he posted that you both might be right at the same time. I think that we need to try to dig more into what Paul did the entire last year of his life. I don't think that anyone has yet done that. I wish that I had the time & energy to undertake that. Unfortunately, between taking care of my disabled daughter & my mom, my computer time is now more limited than it was. < sigh >
I don't have time to go further into this right now. I do see that you are trying very hard to make sense of it all. For that, you have my total respect.

[eyesbleed]

Ya but none of this has anything to do with the song Judy in Disguise.
Of course I got zero research to back this up, but I'm pretty sure that was just a jokey song.... total screwin' around, bein' silly, & doin' an impersonation of The "New" Beatles.
Then somebody realized.... hey this is actually good enough to be the single....!
At that time every 60's rocker was tryin' to be as much like The "New" Beatles as possible.
Appearance, sound, & lyric.
The more New Beatle influence you could pile on, the better chance you had at a hit.
Sure enough... Judy In Disguise was their only big hit.