They don’t have to have any melody, like a poem, you can read them.” – John Lennon, Rolling Stone, 1970 See, the ones I like are the ones that stand as words, without melody. It’s good poetry, or whatever you call it, without chewin’ it. “It’s one of the best lyrics I’ve written. That’s always in the middle of the bloody night, when you’re half awake or tired and your critical facilities are switched off.” – John Lennon It won’t let you sleep, so you have to get up, make it into something, and then you’re allowed to sleep. It’s like being possessed like a psychic or a medium. I didn’t want to write it, I was just slightly irritable and I went downstairs and I couldn’t get to sleep until I put it on paper, and then I went to sleep. I don’t know where it came from, what meter it’s in, and I’ve sat down and looked at it and said, ‘Can I write another one with this meter?’ It’s so interesting: ‘Words are flying out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe.’ Such an extraordinary meter and I can never repeat it! It’s not a matter of craftsmanship it wrote itself. They were purely inspirational and were given to me as – boom! I don’t own it, you know it came through like that. I went downstairs and it turned into sort of a cosmic song rather than an irritated song rather than a ‘Why are you always mouthing off at me?’ or whatever, right? But the words stand, luckily, by themselves. She must have been going on and on about something and she’d gone to sleep and I’d kept hearing these words over and over, flowing like an endless stream. “I was lying next to my first wife in bed, you know, and I was irritated. Their contribution was taped on February 4, 1968. Chosen were 16-year old Brazilian Lizzie Bravo and 17-year old London native Gayleen Pease – the first and only fans ever invited to participate in a Beatles recording. These vocalists were chosen by Paul outside the Abbey Road studios after he and John realized the song was lacking harmony vocals. On the original recording, two female vocalists are heard singing the lines “nothing’s gonna change my world” after John’s choral line “jai guru deva ohm”. That EP was mixed for mono only and was later issued on the Mono Masters compilation included in The Beatles In Mono. That mono mix was also intended for inclusion on an aborted EP with the four new songs which appeared on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. The guitars are out of tune and I'm singing out of tune cause I'm psychologically destroyed and nobody's supporting me or helping me with it."īoth the original and the Spector Let It Be version have their merits, and though it's hard to say which one wins, there is something about that first one that is missing from the Spectorized version.The No One’s Gonna Change Our World version (the “wildlife version”) was released in stereo for that compilation but was originally mixed in mono on the day it was recorded. When Phil Spector was brought in to produce Let It Be, he dug it out and overdubbed it. "It was a lousy track of a great song and I was so disappointed by it," Lennon told Sheff. That was not, however, the last we'd hear of the song. This left "Across the Universe" in need of a home, which it finally found in late-1969 as part of the World Wildlife Fund charity album, No One's Gonna Change Our World. Ultimately, McCartney's "Lady Madonna" won out as the A-side, with the George Harrison classic "The Inner Light" on the flip. "Across the Universe" was going to have been the band's next single, to be released while they were off on their visit to India. The original recording features an interesting assortment of instruments including svaramandal, tambura, violas, and cellos, in addition to guitars, bass and drums. Sessions were wrapped up a few short days later on Feb. I went downstairs and it turned into sort of a cosmic song." The general translation of the refrain 'Jai guru deva,' is 'I give thanks to the heavenly teacher.' He later told author David Sheff in the book All We Are Saying, "I'd kept hearing these words over and over, flowing like an endless stream. "He put so much feeling into the song, and his vocal was just incredible." At the time, Lennon himself was pleased with the song, if not the recording, telling Rolling Stone in 1970, "It's one of the best lyrics I've written. "'Across the Universe' was such a superb performance from John," said engineer Geoff Emerick.
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