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COME TOGETHER – The Beatles
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A short while ago I posted a link to the Gat Brothers performing a great version of the Beatles’ Come Together. That link is:
Today’s Bytes post, however, is about that song.
Apologies for the length, like Topsy, it just growed.
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Beatles version:
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Some comments on the Youtube site for this video:
The most innovative and futuristic song ever. 50 years later still sounds modern and fresh. Pure perfection!
The more I listen to the Beatles, the better they sound.
A brilliant song. Superb melody, harmony, tempo, lyrics, ornamentation, Pure genius! People will still appreciate this 100 years from now.
The bass in this song is just a masterpiece
In all of Pop/Rock, I’ve never heard a better beat than this. Absolute genius.
These lyrics mean nothing but also everything
John Lennon just has something in his voice that makes the whole song 1000x times better.
Lyrics are some of the most chopped ever in a song, but the track flows like water. A crazy mashup that just works. Brilliant!
# 1 in the fall of 1969-This was their 18th chart topper.
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Lyrics:
Here come old flat-top, he come groovin' up slowly
He got ju-ju eyeball, he one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker, he just do what he please
He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football
He got monkey finger, he shoot Coca-Cola
He say, "I know you, you know me"
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free
Come together, right now
Over me
He bag production, he got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knee
Hold you in his armchair, you can feel his disease
Come together, right now
Over me
Right!
Come, come, come, come...
He roller-coaster, he got early warnin'
He got muddy water, he one mojo filter
He say, "One and one and one is three"
Got to be good-lookin' 'cause he's so hard to see
Come together, right now
Over me
Ugh!
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Agh!
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together...
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About the song:
This Beatles’ classic was officially released by Apple Records on 26 September 1969. It served as the lead single from the iconic group’s final album together, entitled “Abbey Road”. In fact “Come Together”, being a double A-side along with the song “Something”, was the only single issued from “Abbey Road”.
In 1973, John Lennon was sued by a music publisher named Morris Levy who claimed that Lennon plagiarized certain sections of “Come Together”. According to Levy, Lennon “stole” a significant part of music legend Chuck Berry’s 1956 song entitled “You Can’t Catch Me”. Lennon was suffering from what has been described as courtroom fatigue at the time and decided to settle with Levy. Part of the agreement was that he had to cover other songs that Levy owned, which were later featured on the projects “Roots: John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll”, which were both released in 1975.
Officially, this track was written by two of the Beatles, John Lennon (1940-1980) and Paul McCartney. That being said, it’s important to note that Lennon actually wrote this song himself. However, its writing was credited to both him and McCartney.
This song proved to be a hit for the group. It topped America’s Hot 100 and went on to hit number 4 in Britain (the UK Singles Chart).
A likely reason “Come Together” didn’t reach number one in the Beatles’ native United Kingdom is because the BBC refused to play the track due to the namedropping of Coca-Cola. In other words, they interpreted this reference as an advertisement of the product.
The whispered lyric that sounds like "shoot" is actually Lennon saying "shoot me" followed by a handclap. The bass line drowns out the "me."
The Beatles recorded this on July 21, 1969 and it was the first session John Lennon actively participated in following his and Yoko's car accident 3 weeks earlier. John was so insistent on Yoko being in the studio with him that he had a hospital bed set up in the studio for her right after the accident, since she was more seriously injured than he was.
This has one of the most commonly misheard lyrics in the history of popular music: "Hold you in his -armchair- you can feel his disease." It's actually "Hold you in his arms, yeah, you can feel his disease." All published sheet music had the "armchair" lyric, including the inner sleeve of the 1967-1970 compilation, which contained lots of other errors too, notably on "Strawberry Fields Forever." After John heard that his lyric was incorrect in the sheet music and other folios, he decided he liked "armchair" better and kept it.
When rumours 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.
A rotary phone was used to make the sound heard before each verse and after the chorus. The sound was accompanied by the bass Paul played.
Though Ringo is best known for playing on Oyster Black Pearl Ludwig drum kit, he used for this his Ludwig "Hollywood" maple-finish equipment, with a 22" kick. Starr produced his distinctive late '60s drum muffling sound on tracks like this by wrapping tea towels (dishtowels) around his snares and toms.
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Meaning of the lyrics:
From Song Meanings and Facts, at:
…being that it is indeed a classic, people are going to continue to look for deeper meaning in the lyrics of “Come Together” than what is actually there. And yes, there may be references to real people, places and things, such as a shoutout to John’s wife, Yoko “Ono”, as well as the crew namedropping “Coca-Cola” and other particular references.Does this song really have no meaning?No! And in trying to derive too much meaning from the track, a listener once again runs the risk of applying interpretations that do not really exist. Rather this is a song which Lennon loosely framed around another (“You Can’t Catch Me” by Chuck Berry). Moreover it was written with a specific goal in mind which it never fulfilled and was likely influenced by the drug culture that both Lennon and Leary were a part of. But that being said, considered that it was handled by a talented crew during the era of their creative peak, “Come Together” still came out being one of the most endeared tracks in American music history.
Reader comments at thea bove site:
Lennon was known for sarcasm. For example, claiming that “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was just a drawing by his son of the youngster’s teacher was possible, but, Lennon knew, perfectly well, that people would interpret it as “LSD.” Since most of the lyrics have to do with himself (i.e., hair down to his knee, he shoot Coca-Cola, He got walrus gumboot, He got Ono sideboard, He got Muddy Water (his favorite blues musician)), you need only hear, “Got to be a joker, he just do what he please,” to realize that he was joking when he said that “Come Together” was a nonsense song. I doubt that he ever intended it to have anything to do with Leary’s campaign!I agree. In fact I think that each verse, however obliquely, describes the members of the band. Maybe it’s nonsense overall, but there was intent behind those lyrics.
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Comments taken from Song Meanings, where people offer their interpretations of the lyrics of songs, at:
The song is about the Beatles feeling towards eachother. during a weak time, George brought up the Yogi and the phrase "Come Together right now over me" is an excerpt from the script telling them to use this song to build their bonds again and unite as one.Each verse is dedicated to a Beatle:Verse 1: "Here come old flattop, he come grooving up slowly He got joo-joo eyeball, he one holy roller He got hair down to his knee Got to be a joker he just do what he please"This verse is obviously Ringo.Ringo's old school drum beats ("Flat top" referring to the old hair cut in the mid 1900's) were off at first with the rest of the band, but in time he got better and better ("Groovin' up slowly")."he got hair down to his knee," is a joke about his shaggy look when he first joined the group and since he's sitting down playing the drums his hair wouldnt quite reach his knees but you get the riff."Got to be a joker he just do what he please," Refers to him being the goof of the quad-squad.Verse 2: "He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football He got monkey finger, he shoot Coca-Cola He say, "I know you, you know me" One thing I can tell you is you got to be free Come together right now over me"Did someone say George?"He wear no shoeshine," well let’s face it, George wasn’t fancy and liked the bare foot thing."He got toe-jam football," Soccer was a sport usually practised outside the temples where the Yogi was practised."He got monkey finger," George was extreeeeeemly dextrous and learned many stringed instruments with ease."He say,' I know you, you know me' etc..." another reference to the Yogi.Verse 3: "He bag production, he got walrus gumboot He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker He got feet down below his knee Hold you in his armchair, you can feel his disease Come together right now over me"This is the most obvious one... give up? really??! It's John! Duh!"he bad production," refers to John constantly would stop the recordings and piss off all the rest of the band."He got walrus gumboot," John wrote 'I am the walrus" and kept making songs like that and refused to change his style, thus upsetting the rest of the band."He got Ono sideboard," a sideboard is a court term referring to pulling to the side or distracting. Yoko Ono would pull John away from the band and Is believed to be the downfall of the band."he one spinal cracker," a term related to "breaking my back," John would constantly argue with the band mates and "break their backs.""He got feet down below his knee," John refused to be openminded or "get on his knees" He was stubborn and stood up, refusing to kneel to anyone."Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease," Anyone who really knew John, or even got close to him, knew something was wrong physically with him, depression, anger, etc. etc..Verse 4:"He roller-coaster, he got early warning He got muddy water, he one mojo filter He say, "One and one and one is three" Got to be good-looking because he's so hard to see Come together right now over me "Last but not least, Paul"He roller-coaster," Paul was very emotional and would change all the time on everything whether it be a song or feelings."He got early warning," Early in, the rest of the guys knew that Paul was going to be a problem so they warned him."He got muddy water," A reference to Paul’s changing fascination to the band "Muddy Waters," Bluesy style."he one mojo filter," Paul was very persuasive and would make the rest of the members bend to his will."He say 'one and on and one is three',"iIs a reference to Paul trying to constantly tell the rest of the band that even without him, the band could survive."Got to be good-looking because he's so hard to see," Paul was the "cute" one of the group and was also very hard to get along with and read as a person.
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Like a lot of John's lyrics (and like Dylan's), there are multiple meanings. The two didn't have their songs wrapped neatly in a bow for the listener to easily decipher. Both Dylan and Lennon (who were friends) realized they were truly lyrical geniuses and immensely popular. They probably took great glee in puzzling, provoking, intriguing and teasing their listeners. Listen to Desolation Row or Like a Rolling Stone where there are countless meanings. Same with I want you (she's so heavy)--drugs, sex?The song is probably on one level about the four individual Beatles. It is also about taking drugs. It is also about sex. In fact it is eerily similar to Happiness is a Warm Gun which also had multiple meanings---an actual pistol, sex, shooting drugs, etc. (bang bang, shoot shoot).The first two verses are interesting in that they both could be about George and Ringo. Lyrrics could be interchanged. Flat top. Is that an old stodgy hair style? A guitar top? Groovin up slowly. Is that the groove of the song suggesting the drummer? Or someone who was square and was slowly becoming more hip?Shoot coca cola has a drug reference but it could be about a Coke ad Ringo was asked to be "shot" in.The most interesting verse is the fourth which seems to be about Paul who is emotionally up and down (roller coaster), was getting guff form the other members for being too bossy (early warning), he was a buzz kill (mojo filter--filtered out other musicians creative ideas?).The "one and one an one is three" seems to be John mocking Paul's overly simplistic song writing. He later sang in "How Do You Sleep," the only thing you did was Yesterday."Got to be good lookin'" refers to the fact that he was the cute Beatle but the only thing he is noticed for is his looks not his intellect...(so hard to see...empty mind, or it could simply mean "hard to read" since he was impulsive and bossy. It seems to be John mocking Paul's overly simplistic mind.The title Come Together could be John's plea to the band members to continue making great music together and not going solo. Or it could refer to the 1960's "let's all get along" ideal. Or again it could be about sex ...it could even be about Paul's death (come together over me in my grave).There are a lot of religious meanings as well from their time in India and George's stronger religious beliefs.I think it is by far their coolest song. It has a Stones-like groove with dynamic drumming and and a serious danceable groove. The song has a drug-like, happy groove with soaring lead guitar lines from George. The "shoot" parts could suggest shooting up (drugs),shooting your load (sex), or even death (shoot me).
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Cover versions:
Aerosmith recorded this song with Beatles producer George Martin for the 1978 movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which turned out to be one of the worst films ever made. Aerosmith appeared in the film performing this song (as the Future Villain Band), agreeing to the role only because they couldn't resist the chance to record a Beatles song with George Martin. They weren't the only big names in the film - Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees were also in it.
The Aerosmith version of "Come Together" made #23 in the US when it was released as a single. When we asked their guitarist Brad Whitford why some folks prefer the Aerosmith version, he replied, "I've actually never heard anybody say that." Whitford added, "But you know, it's funny, I hear our version more on the radio than I do The Beatles' version."
Ike & Tina Turner covered "Come Together" in 1970, taking the song to #57 in the US. That and the Aerosmith version are the only covers to chart, but Michael Jackson did a very popular version that he performed at the close of his 1988 concert film Moonwalker. His rendition appeared on his HIStory album in 1995.
The Arctic Monkeys performed the song during the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. Their version reached #21 on the UK singles chart in the week after the event.
On October 7, 2016, The Rolling Stones covered this song during their headline set at the Desert Trip festival in Indio, California. Before launching into the tune, Mick Jagger told the crowd: "We're gonna do a cover song of a sort of unknown beat group. I think you might remember [them], we're gonna try a cover of one of their tunes."
Others to record the song include Meat Loaf, Guns N' Roses, Soundgarden, Marilyn Manson, Nazareth, and Oasis.
Links to covers:
Michael Jackson (great performance):
Aerosmith:
Ike and Tina Turner:
Elton John:
Rolling Stones:
Meat Loaf:
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Final thoughts:
Lennon stated "Come Together" was "one of my favourite Beatles tracks. It's funky, it's bluesy, and I'm singing it pretty well."
In May 2021, Ringo Starr said it was his favourite Beatles song in an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[34]
Producer George Martin said of the song:
If I had to pick one song that showed the four disparate talents of the boys and the ways they combined to make a great sound, I would choose 'Come Together'. The original song is good, and with John's voice it's better. Then Paul has this idea for this great little riff. And Ringo hears that and does a drum thing that fits in, and that establishes a pattern that John leapt upon and did the ['shoot me'] part. And then there's George's guitar at the end. The four of them became much, much better than the individual components.
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