Famous
Musical Pieces
Come Together
Performed by: The Beatles
Released: 31 October, 1969
Album: Abbey Road
Written by: Lennon/McCartney
Produced by: George Martin
Check out the song here
Background
Believe it or not, the song was originally
meant to be a jingle for a political campaign. American
psychologist, psychedelic drugs advocate, and overall shining
beacon of the 1960s counterculture Timothy Leary
decided to contest the 1969 California gubernatorial election against Ronald Reagan. He asked John Lennon to write a campaign song for him. It is quite conceivable that both these decisions were taken in an "alternate state". Come Together, Join The Party was Leary's campaign slogan (a reference to the drug culture he supported) and was the original title of the song. But the campaign expectedly never quite took off, as Leary was imprisoned for possession of marijuana. Lennon, however, took the catchphrase, added his own nonsense lyrics to it, and brought it to the studio.
"The thing was created in the studio. It's gobbledygook. 'Come Together' was an expression that Tim Leary had come up with for (perhaps for the governorship of California against Reagan), and he asked me to write a campaign song. I tried and I tried, but I couldn't come up with one. But I came up with this, 'Come Together,' which would've been no good to him - you couldn't have a campaign song like that, right?"
- John Lennon, 1980 interview with Playboy
decided to contest the 1969 California gubernatorial election against Ronald Reagan. He asked John Lennon to write a campaign song for him. It is quite conceivable that both these decisions were taken in an "alternate state". Come Together, Join The Party was Leary's campaign slogan (a reference to the drug culture he supported) and was the original title of the song. But the campaign expectedly never quite took off, as Leary was imprisoned for possession of marijuana. Lennon, however, took the catchphrase, added his own nonsense lyrics to it, and brought it to the studio.
"The thing was created in the studio. It's gobbledygook. 'Come Together' was an expression that Tim Leary had come up with for (perhaps for the governorship of California against Reagan), and he asked me to write a campaign song. I tried and I tried, but I couldn't come up with one. But I came up with this, 'Come Together,' which would've been no good to him - you couldn't have a campaign song like that, right?"
- John Lennon, 1980 interview with Playboy
Lyrics
The lyrics are quintessential Lennon-style
gibberish, including such nonse
nsical phrases as
"joo-joo eyeballs", "toe-jam football" and
"Ono sideboard" (the last one being an obvious reference
to Yoko Ono, but an abstract reference nevertheless). There is also
a nod to Beatles' earlier song I Am the Walrus in the line "he got walrus gumboot". Looking at the lyrics alone, the song
almost sounds like a sequel to I Am the Walrus.
Which also means that the
lyrics don't mean anything and are impervious to interpretation.
But that hasn't deterred people from looking for meanings
anyway.When rumors were
spreading that Paul McCartney was dead, some fans thought the line
"One and one and one is three" meant that only George,
John and Ringo were left. The line "Got to be good lookin' cuz
he's so hard to see" was supposed to be Paul's spirit. The BBC
banned this song for some time because of the line "he shoot
Coca Cola", which they considered either a cocaine reference
or advertising.
nsical phrases as
"joo-joo eyeballs", "toe-jam football" and
"Ono sideboard" (the last one being an obvious reference
to Yoko Ono, but an abstract reference nevertheless). There is also
a nod to Beatles' earlier song I Am the Walrus in the line "he got walrus gumboot". Looking at the lyrics alone, the song
almost sounds like a sequel to I Am the Walrus.
Which also means that the
lyrics don't mean anything and are impervious to interpretation.
But that hasn't deterred people from looking for meanings
anyway.When rumors were
spreading that Paul McCartney was dead, some fans thought the line
"One and one and one is three" meant that only George,
John and Ringo were left. The line "Got to be good lookin' cuz
he's so hard to see" was supposed to be Paul's spirit. The BBC
banned this song for some time because of the line "he shoot
Coca Cola", which they considered either a cocaine reference
or advertising.
Music
An ominous-sounding bassline accompanied by
a cute drum roll lends the song a very unique sound. The verses are
accompanied by a monotonous tub-thumping sort of drum beat, and
guitar rhythm comes in prominently with the chorus. A rotary phone
was used to make the sound heard before each verse and after the
chorus. The sound was accompanied by the bass McCartney
played. There's a hint
of a guitar solo too towards the end, in Harrison's signature
style - short, simple, but sweet.
Although Lennon wrote the lyrics by himself, the other three contributed significantly to the music. This was quite rare at the time the album came out. The band was nearly on the verge of breaking up. Band relations were strained and not too much collaboration happened. In fact, this is said to be the last time all four Beatles cut a song together.
"I said, 'Let's slow it down with a swampy bass-and-drums vibe.' I came up with a bass line, and it all flowed from there."
- Paul McCartney in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs entry
Although Lennon wrote the lyrics by himself, the other three contributed significantly to the music. This was quite rare at the time the album came out. The band was nearly on the verge of breaking up. Band relations were strained and not too much collaboration happened. In fact, this is said to be the last time all four Beatles cut a song together.
"I said, 'Let's slow it down with a swampy bass-and-drums vibe.' I came up with a bass line, and it all flowed from there."
- Paul McCartney in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs entry
Lawsuit
John Lennon was sued for stealing the
guitar riff and the line "Here comes old flat-top" from Chuck Berry's You Can't Catch Me The lawsuit did not come from Berry, but
from Morris Levy, one of the music industry's most infamous
characters. He owned the song along with thousands of other early
rock songs that he basically stole from the poor, black, and
unrepresented artists. Levy sued the Beatles, or more accurately,
John Lennon, over the song around the time the Beatles broke up.
For years, Lennon delayed the trial while he and the Beatles tried
to sort out all the legal and business problems that plagued Apple
Records. Finally, in an attempt to avoid the court room as much as
he could (Lennon felt like he was appearing in court more often
than not), he settled with Levy. In return for dropping the suit,
Lennon agreed to record his Rock N Roll album, which was just a series of covers of
songs Levy owned.
Acclaim and
influence
The song ranked #202 on Rolling Stone's
500 Greatest Songs of All Time, which makes it
sound somewhat mediocre
by The Beatles' usual standards - they have four songs in the top
20. But the influence of the song has been phenomenal. It has since
become one of the most covered songs of all time, being covered by
a slew of artists including hard rock band Aerosmith, new
wave/synthpop duo Eurythmics, R&B/soul singer Tina Turner,
"King of Pop" Michael Jackson (who also owns the rights to the
song), grunge band Soundgarden, and many others.
Aerosmith's version was a success in its own right, reaching #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is still frequently played on mainstream rock radio stations, and the band occasionally performs it in concert too.
The way the song has influenced such a wide variety of artists exemplifies the genre-bending quality that it, and a lot of other Beatles' music has. It underlines the fact that you don't have to be a rock 'n' roll nut or a pop fan to be a Beatlemaniac. It's a totally independent affliction.
Reference: Wikipedia, Songfacts
Images Credit by:Wikimedia, Freewebs,MySpace
sound somewhat mediocre
by The Beatles' usual standards - they have four songs in the top
20. But the influence of the song has been phenomenal. It has since
become one of the most covered songs of all time, being covered by
a slew of artists including hard rock band Aerosmith, new
wave/synthpop duo Eurythmics, R&B/soul singer Tina Turner,
"King of Pop" Michael Jackson (who also owns the rights to the
song), grunge band Soundgarden, and many others.Aerosmith's version was a success in its own right, reaching #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is still frequently played on mainstream rock radio stations, and the band occasionally performs it in concert too.
The way the song has influenced such a wide variety of artists exemplifies the genre-bending quality that it, and a lot of other Beatles' music has. It underlines the fact that you don't have to be a rock 'n' roll nut or a pop fan to be a Beatlemaniac. It's a totally independent affliction.
Reference: Wikipedia, Songfacts
Images Credit by:Wikimedia, Freewebs,MySpace
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