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3.55pm
16 February 2011
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Well, I can see perfectly well why they didn’t use either of the versions( especially the second one..) It would have needed a lot of polishing, and what’s with the usually so perfect John/Paul harmony, it’s so off. Because of all of the tensions they had? John’s comments are funny, though
4.54pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
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To be fair those two versions were recorded at Twickenham not Apple where it was more ‘why are we here?, what the heck are we doing?’ than ‘lets try and make something’. John wasnt that interested in recording a decent performance of ATU and that spread to the others, possibly because he knew the Wildlife mix was to be released on the charity lp. No doubt he was stoned, drunk or both.
I like it because its so bad, there are a few examples of that from the Get Back sessions.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
4.18pm
12 April 2012
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I’ve always loved the two-part harmony in the get back session versions of Across The Universe and I always missed them in the official versions. I just listened to the wildlife version and in the end (when the piano plays) you can hear a second voice in the often repeated “jai guru deva”. It’s definitely not the girls. And it sounds very much like the get back sessions harmony. It’s not easily audible and maybe only in the Past Masters version but it’s definitely there
Once there was a way to get back homewards. Once there was a way to get back home; sleep pretty darling do not cry. And I will sing a lullaby
7.59pm
4 September 2009
Offline The first version I heard was the LIB version. I never had heard the Wildlife version until the Past Masters came out in the late 80s. When I heard it, I thought John sounded like a chipmunk. 
I always assumed that the wildlife version was sped up so the bird could be added to the intro and outro to fit into a predetermined time constraint.
I like all the versions, but IMO, I believe the …Naked version is the best.
Look Up The Number
4.16am
1 May 2010
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hear hear!! Since I listened to Across The Universe LIB Naked I love that album.
Here comes the sun….. Scoobie-doobie……
Something in the way she moves…..attracts me like a cauliflower…
Bop. Bop, cat bop. Go, Johnny, Go.
Beware of Darkness…
11.55am
25 August 2012
Offline My preferred version of what’s available is either the Anthology 2 or the Naked version, depending on my mood. But I think the definitive version would STILL be the Let It Be version at the correct speed and the choir and orchestral overdubs completely mixed out (is there any way for Apple to do this?? 
) — mostly because I like the Wah-Wah flourishes and the tamboura is more prominent.
12.00pm
12 April 2012
Offline Don’t forget the piano which I miss very much in the naked version. Anyway I’va always though that the let it be version would have been better without the tamboura, it doesn’t really fit with the orchestra. I love the orchestra in the let it be version but not with the tamboura, that’s what makes it sound over produced for me
Once there was a way to get back homewards. Once there was a way to get back home; sleep pretty darling do not cry. And I will sing a lullaby
7.33pm
3 May 2012
Offline I´ve just listened to this for the upteenth time. It still blows me away.
John Lennon really was a genius.
The following people thank fabfouremily for this post:
BeatlebugMoving along in our God given ways, safety is sat by the fire/Sanctuary from these feverish smiles, left with a mark on the door.
(Passover - I. Curtis)
8.18pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline The lyrics are sublime and make the whole song regardless of the musical arrangement, IMO. I don’t care who did or did not produce or overproduce it.
If the musical arrangement was nothing but a 20-piece kazoo and cow bell orchestra and it was produced by a deaf pygmie with no musical background, I would still love it.
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Beatlebug, BongoTo the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
10.13pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline Zig said
The lyrics are sublime and make the whole song regardless of the musical arrangement, IMO. I don’t care who did or did not produce or overproduce it.If the musical arrangement was nothing but a 20-piece kazoo and cow bell orchestra and it was produced by a deaf pygmie with no musical background, I would still love it.
The 20-piece kazoo and cow bell orchestra produced by a deaf pygmie with no musical background has probably been done or someone is doing it now. You have dips on any royalties they make Zig.
The following people thank meanmistermustard for this post:
Beatlebug"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
4.42pm
12 April 2012
Offline Imo all versions are great because what really matters in this songs are the awesome lyrics (which make this song to one of my favourite beatles songs) and they are the same in all versions
Once there was a way to get back homewards. Once there was a way to get back home; sleep pretty darling do not cry. And I will sing a lullaby
6.54pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline meanmistermustard said
Zig said
The lyrics are sublime and make the whole song regardless of the musical arrangement, IMO. I don’t care who did or did not produce or overproduce it.If the musical arrangement was nothing but a 20-piece kazoo and cow bell orchestra and it was produced by a deaf pygmie with no musical background, I would still love it.
The 20-piece kazoo and cow bell orchestra produced by a deaf pygmie with no musical background has probably been done or someone is doing it now. You have dips on any royalties they make Zig.
Yes, I got my royalty check the other day for all of the recordings sold thus far. The cup of coffee I bought with the royalty money was delicious.
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BeatlebugTo the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
7.22pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline If a cup of stewed lukewarm coffee in a half-ass cleaned cup with smudges around the sides served in some horrid supermarket cafe by a seller dangling a cigarette from their mouth and coughing all over you then yeugh
.
But if a grande with lashings of cream, caramel and grated chocolate trimmings served to you by a friendly happy individual whilst sitting in a big comfy seat with the sun shining thru the window and some fabulous music played in the background…
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Beatlebug"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
7.29pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline Wow – a lot of thought went into that. It seems a shame to tell you that I drink my coffee black.
And now, I will hit myself with a …
Um, “Across The Universe “…great song!
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
9.08pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline I dont like coffee, eat chocolate or buy hot drinks in supermarkets. 
As for the on topic thingy… erm… erm… yeah.
Very important. Across The Universe . Silly Spector.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
8.50pm
14 December 2009
Offline “Words are flowing out like endless cream into a coffee cup…”
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BeatlebugPaul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.
9.08pm
14 February 2012
Offline Von Bontee said
“Words are flowing out like endless cream into a coffee cup…”
I’m diggin’ this, Von.
<—Apparently, Ringo does, too.
"I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know? I'm just one of those people."
1.04pm
25 August 2012
Offline GeorgeTSimpson said
Don’t forget the piano which I miss very much in the naked version. Anyway I’va always though that the let it be version would have been better without the tamboura, it doesn’t really fit with the orchestra. I love the orchestra in the let it be version but not with the tamboura, that’s what makes it sound over produced for me
The Naked version is probably more appropriate for Let It Be , since the tamboura and Wah-Wah guitar strongly indicate overdubbing… of which they were making a point to steer clear on that project.
I actually managed to correct the pitch/speed of the Spector version on an audio editing program I downloaded. However, I’m having trouble converting it to mp3 form, and I also haven’t been able figure out how to mix out the choir and orchestra (or if it’s even possible on this program — probably not).
3.18pm
20 January 2012
Offline One of my favorite Lennon songs, I grew up with the LIB version, liked the WWF version better (including the bird effects, made me feel as if the song were lifting off into the ether), now like the “Naked” version a bit better still — I probably need to spend a bit more time with the Anthology rendition to see if it really wins me over. Despite the flaws of each, it’s a goosebump kind of song for me regardless of which I’m listening to.
In the very early ’70s my folks announced (on the last day of school, no less — what a bummer!) that we were putting our house in CT up for sale and moving to Maine as soon as it was sold. As a mid-high school teen looking at leaving the friends I’d grown up with, I was completely devastated and depressed by the news — was in denial for weeks, I was probably still in denial for months after we’d gotten to Maine. I apparently spent a bunch of time walking around the house singing my new mantra: “Nothing’s gonna change my world/Nothing’s gonna change my world.” Often, repeatedly, and out-loud-enough for others to hear.
I think that my Dad started getting sick of it, probably sick to death of it, because one day he looked at me and said, “You know, you can say that as many times as you like, but it doesn’t make it true. We ARE moving!”
Gee, thanks, Dad for the life-lesson. A couple of years ago my Mom made this remark to me: “You know, looking back on it, I really don’t know why we ever moved to Maine.” If she wasn’t my mother, if I didn’t love her like no other, I might have choked her at that moment.
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Oudis, ewe2, BeatlebugIt's gotta be rock and roll music if you wanna dance with me
7.20am
15 September 2012
Offline I am laughing as I write this, BluemeanAl! What a great story, and identifiable to anyone who has kept a ‘Beatle Mantra’ running through their head during the most distressing times.
So you wound up in NC and I’m here in SC – apparently, our moving decisions aren’t always the best!
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