John Sheppard‘s 1987 documentary “It Was 20 Years Ago Today”, an examination of the classic Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, (and of 1967, the year of its debut), features, at one point, Allen surveying the album and giving a brief track-by-track assessment.
AG: It [Sgt Pepper’s..] opens with a real interesting nostalgic recall of old vaudeville and good old times..it goes on “with a little help from my friends”, a statement of communal purpose – the next is, like a statement of imagination , Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds, as being elements of importance. The next song is making everything get better….the next song he’s dealing with his mind itself and fixing a hole. Having discovered that open mind, the adolescent is leaving home, The next is a kind of a magic showor acrobatic show. The next is a little statement about illusion and space itself and space between people’s minds. The next is a look ahead to when I’m 64, growing old. The next is appreciating the ordinary everyday lovely Rita meter-maid. And the next is like going to work and saluting the day and dealing with the everyday business of the day. Then there’s a reprise, reminding us that we’re still in the old tradition. The last is A Day In The Life which I thought was the best poem. So it has a sort of thematic unity that’s kind of interesting.