‘Come Together’, the lead song on The Beatles’ Abbey Road album, was conceived by John Lennon as a political rallying cry for the writer, psychologist and pro-drugs activist Timothy Leary.
It was a funky record – it’s one of my favorite Beatle tracks, or, one of my favourite Lennon tracks, let’s say that. It’s funky, it’s bluesy, and I’m singing it pretty well. I like the sound of the record. You can dance to it. I’d buy it!
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
‘Come Together’ was composed for Timothy Leary’s campaign to stand against Ronald Reagan as governor of California. Leary and his wife Rosemary had traveled to Montreal for John and Yoko’s bed-in for peace, which took place on 1 June 1969. The Learys participated in the recording of Lennon’s ‘Give Peace A Chance’, and were both namechecked in the lyrics.
Everybody’s talking about:
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer, Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna
Hare Hare Krishna
The following day Lennon offered to help Leary’s campaign. His slogan was ‘Come together, join the party’. Lennon sent Leary a demo tape of song ideas. However, the campaign ended when Leary was imprisoned for cannabis possession, allowing Lennon to record the song with The Beatles.
The thing was created in the studio. It’s gobbledygook; ‘Come Together’ was an expression that Leary had come up with for his attempt at being president or whatever he wanted to be, and he asked me to write a campaign song. I tried and 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?
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
Leary was bemused when he came to hear The Beatles’ recording of the song.
Although the new version was certainly a musical and lyrical improvement on my campaign song, I was a bit miffed that Lennon had passed me over this way… When I sent a mild protest to John, he replied with typical Lennon charm and wit that he was a tailor and I was a customer who had ordered a suit and never returned. So he sold it to someone else.
A Hard Day’s Write, Steve Turner
‘Come Together’ was Lennon’s last politicised stance in The Beatles, although much of it was shrouded in imagery: the song lampooned the hippy figureheads who would seek followers among the dropouts of society.
Musically, ‘Come Together’ took its cue from Chuck Berry’s 1956 song ‘You Can’t Catch Me’; both songs contain the lines “Here come old flat-top”. Lennon was later sued by Berry’s publisher Morris Levy. They settled out of court, and Lennon agreed to record more songs owned by Levy.
‘Come Together’ is me – writing obscurely around an old Chuck Berry thing. I left the line in ‘Here comes old flat-top.’ It is nothing like the Chuck Berry song, but they took me to court because I admitted the influence once years ago. I could have changed it to ‘Here comes old iron face,’ but the song remains independent of Chuck Berry or anybody else on earth.
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
The result was his 1975 album Rock ‘N’ Roll, which contained Berry’s ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’ and ‘You Can’t Catch Me’, along with Lee Dorsey’s ‘Ya Ya’ (also recorded with the 11-year-old Julian Lennon on drums for 1974’s Walls And Bridges).
A version of ‘Come Together’ was included on The Beatles’ Love album. Its lengthy fade-out is augmented with elements from ‘Dear Prudence’. After the song, the “Can you take me back” snippet that followed ‘Cry Baby Cry’ on the White Album can be heard.
Thanks for the post and drilling down so deeply into Abbey Road’s opening track. It does sound like Paul but I don’t think anyone could be sure as there is a lot of distortion on it.
There’s more to the song than that isn’t there? I’ve heard that each verse is a description of each Beatle – goes George, Ringo, John and lastly (and least?) Paul. It seems to make sense. What is your take there? Thanks.
I agree but the order is George/Paul/John/Ringo
I’ve held that belief for many years. However, I would flip Ringo and John.
I played the song revolution the slow version backwards eerily it is the sound of come together listen yourself it’s real easy to hear it
I love Lennon’s flippant comment for one of his greatest songs ever….”its gobbledygook!”
Question: Why wasn’t Paul included in the lawsuit. Is he not legally a co-writer?
Not only that…but why was John sued at all? Didn’t he not own the publishing rights to that song at that time?
John did not own the publishing rights to any Chuck Berry songs.
Lennon played the piano part, not Paul.
On your article:
“Initially, Paul played the electric piano part, but John kind of looked over his shoulder and studied what he was playing. When it came time to record it, John played the electric piano instead of Paul. Paul might have been miffed, but I think he was more upset about not singing on the choruses – John did his own backing vocals.”
But in the end Paul’s intro was used
Yes, there is some confusion as to whether it was John or Paul who played the Fender Rhodes and again, their memories were not 100% infallible or perfect – nobody has a flawless or infallible memory of events that happened so long ago and that’s life.
If some sources erroneously state that Billy Preston played it, they are wrong, because he had a very limited role on “Abbey Road” and played organ on just two songs.
John could have easily played the electric piano solos if it was within his capacity and like Paul, he was a very capable keyboardist in his own right – who cares if he wasn’t Beethoven or Liberace? He was a very multitalented guitarist, keyboardist and harmonica player as well as singer and songwriter.
It just amazes me that people think THEY know better than the composer what the lyrics mean.
Right . So you believe everything you hear and read ? Just because someone who ,at the best of times , isnt giving it to you straight up? Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds? Had nothing to do with LSD ? Like John has told the press/world that it had nothing to do with that? Hmmmn ?? sure it doesnt. Lol. The lyrics are hallucinations… Just like the “Paul is Dead” stuff . Yes the Paul McCartney we all know and love isnt dead . Lol but to think they didnt place clues in lyrics, on lp covers and movies is absurd.. They are total artists . The best ever obviously . To give a correct answer if someone asked, would take away their mystique imo. Keep EVERYONE guessing .
COME TOGETHER to me , is about something totally different than what everyone else thinks its about. Everyone has their opinion. You may or may not get a truthful answer from the band themselves. To me Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is 110% about LSD… sure Jules lennon showed his dad the drawing with that title in place. But to think John didnt have the “lightbulb” go off and come up with trippin lyrics for that idea is naive. . The tuned in certainly read the lyrics and can see that he is/was trippin balls lol… just my opinion
I’m pretty sure John plays the lead guitar parts. The sound of his guitar at the Time Epiephone Casino, while George played Telecaster and Les Paul. It’s the same sound and style as John’s solos in Get Back- Honey Pie I Want You.George’s style is very different with more chord progression and playing on bass ( low) strings and more sharper sound ( Telecaster) e.g. Old Brown Shoe, Maxwell, Polythene Pam etc
If George is the lead guitarists in this song, then he’s playing a rarely used guitar by him at the time plus perfectly imitating John guitar style
I hear the guitar solo on “Come Together” to be very reminiscent of George’s solo on “Something.”
George plays lead
Both John and George play the lead guitar on the track. John plays the middle solo. George plays the lead guitar fills during the outro.
George plays lead. The solo is Harrison’s slide guitar. Notice how the tone of it sounds somewhat like his slide intro on My Sweet Lord.
George didnt start playing slide till after this was recorded .
Definitely George playing slide. The isolated tracks are available on line. At least they used to be. Just like the slide work on Dear Prudence in 68. George clearly was working out his slide technique which he further developed playing with Delaney and Bonnie on a short tour in December of 69. George mentions in several interviews that while studying the sitar so intensely he kind of ignored the guitar for awhile. When he turned his focus back to guitar he felt he had been somewhat left behind. Commenting on the likes of his buddy Eric Clapton and hot new players like Hendrix and Page he told crawdaddy “all the young kids coming up were all playing so good… that was one of the reasons I started playing slide, you know, because I felt so far behind in playing hot licks.” Just my 2 cents!
For me this is a border song of Lennon, it’s obvious he sings “come together over me” over the crashed group. He was outside that time, he believed after Toronto concert he could make it, but as an artist, a group leader he was gone forever.
I’m going to bullet point my theories on this tune. Come Together is the real ‘Glass Onion’:
– McCartney IS doing the lower register harmony vocal. NO question about it. But…he kind of sounds like John.
– George is playing the rhythm guitar throughout (in Lennon’s kind of way/style). Solos and outro licks are all Lennon. Listen to rehearsal/jamming clips. Kind of sounding like John.
– During the verses, Ringo plays it ‘dry’…no cymbals. AND, ALL ‘beat’ on towel muffled snare and toms…as in BEATles…the very essence of the band itself…no wonder this tune opens Abbey Road..it’s a doorway…
– The verses are NOT about the four Beatles. Here’s what I think:
Verse 1 – Maharishi
Verse 2 – Timothy Leary
Verse 3 – Lennon/Ono
Verse 4 – McCartney
= John Lennon
(make no mistake, this song is about an amalgam of all these people, sum total, John. Ono’s name is the ONLY name mentioned because he saw her as already part of him/bonded/soul mates).
– Here’s John’s glass onion kind of clue: He say, ‘One and One and One is three…etc.’
See it as, the ONE (John/Yoko) is made of THREE…
– the line: He say, ‘I know you, you know me’…one thing I can tell you is you’ve got to be free……many people see this as the singer decreeing – one thing I can tell you…etc…this is incorrect. The WHOLE line is being said by the person the verse is describing and John is describing what he says, Should be seen as:
HE SAY, ‘I know you, you know me, one thing I can tell you is you’ve got to be free (now) Come Together..’ (etc)
– Verse 1, Laced with bitterness. Lennon had many instances of disliking himself too. He himself could be a ‘holy roller’ espousing his beliefs etc.
Verse 2, liked Leary but was ‘leery’ that he MIGHT get disappointed again by another one claiming he had ‘the answer’. Often sat around in bare feet in ‘rap sessions’, seminars etc. Lennon often times didn’t trust himself to make the right decisions
Verse 3, Lennon with a side of Ono…yes, ‘spinal cracker’ means: he’s funny, he cracks me up. Feet solidly on the ground but, diseased…John/Ono understand the challenges and the sickness of humanity…feel his disease…
Verse 4, McCartney…Up/down, in/out, hello/goodbye…he’s got soul/muddy water but, he’s a ‘buzz kill’ sometimes, one and one and one are the three Beatles without John as well…the audience thinks he’s good looking so you don’t get to know the REAL guy..a deceiver…Lennon could be that way too…indecisive, not always fully truthful etc…
John saw HIMSELF in all these people….
Okay, blast away…lol…
Happy New Year to all!
Paul played,the elctric piano. Why distort this?
What you say may have some validity because no one knows. We do agree about the 4th stanza refers to Paul. I will only bore you with my reasoning that the first stanza refers to George. “Here come old flat top” eludes to a policeman. You can see during the filming of “Get Back”, George is not only perturbed by Yoko’s presence, I think he is the only Beatle to complain to John about it. John is pissed that George is acting like a traffic cop opining that Yoko doesn’t belong. “He got ju ju eyeballs, he one holly roller,” could be an anti-Semitic slur equating George’s religious fervor as a “holy roller”. “He got hair down to his knee,” appears to be a generic reference to someone with long hair and obviously could apply to many people. “Got to be a Joker, he just do what he please.” I really think this is in reference to George’s, “see you around the clubs,” statement as he walked out of the sessions. John exclaims, “let him go, we’ll get Clapton,” clearly expresses his opinion that George has an exaggerated opinion of himself and that he is not an essential member of the group.
Paul did not sing on this song
on some lines he does; for example, “one and one and one is three” and “I know you, you know me” I think McCartney does harmonies.
Yes, those lines are where Macca’s voice is most clear.
Yet another example where Geoff Emerick is incorrect. I think that makes it 200. John didn’t sing the backing vocals. Clearly anyone can tell it’s paul. It’s frustrating that Emerick has a beef against Lennon and has never recovered from some of the things Lennon said to him but the constant attack on most things Lennon and on the remixes and alternate versions is embarrassing
Emerick clearly says that Paul did not sing on the chorus, which is correct. He perhaps could have worded it better because one might get the impression that he meant that John did all the backing vocals. I don’t think Emerick has been shown to be wrong on too many things… I realize that his accounts on average slightly favor McCartney over Lennon, but that doesn’t necessitate some unyielding bias against John. I think Lennonites can be narrow-minded when it comes to the positive things Paul contributed to the band.
“Clearly anyone can tell…”? Sorry. It, in fact, sounds like John (as anyone can tell).
It’s Paul!
Ha! I’m not sure what I was writing about – or did I put a reply to something else in the wrong place? . That link points it out clearly, but I knew Paul sang backing in the verses. Oh, well…..
The song he wrote for Leary was completely different in tempo and melody. He briefly sang it in an interview.
“Come together
and join the party.
Cooo oo ome to gether”
The song he wrote for Leary was completely different in tempo and melody. He briefly sang it in an interview.
“Come together
and join the party.
Cooo oo ome to gether”
Emerick’s recollections are nonsense. The el. piano part is quite complicated. The middle solo has tricky left hand playing, beyond Lennon’s capabilities. Plus, John said in 1972 that the el. piano was played by Paul and Paul said the same in 1984.
Because, of course, you know better. You were there, after all……
Emerick didn’t remember in 1979 who played piano on “A day in the life” – he thought it was John!
That book of his is mostly made up stuff written by his ghostwriter. Sad and annoying, but true.
Of all the opinions in the world, yours is certainly one of them…
Was listening to the Beatles Channel on Sirius XM when Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me” came on (for those of you who don’t have the channel, they frequently play artists who influenced the Fabs). Even before the “flat top” line, my son, who didn’t know about the whole lawsuit, just blurts out that it sounds like Come Together. I found it quite amusing.
Everybody talks about the lyrics and who sung a second voice.
The song is clearly a Lennon-song, but the contribution from Paul’s bass makes it unique. Everybody who covers the song takes care on it, ( as also on the famous drum-line.) Hear Bobby Mc Ferrin.
Today all additions and small changes on the lyrics and/or the music are credited. So it isn’t wrong to say that this is a Lennon/McCartney song.
What amuses me is the constant bickering, firstly among the Beatles themselves, then their associates and finally their fans, over who did what. While it’s nice to know if Paul sang harmony vocals or Ringo played euphonium, at the end of the day it’s the sound of the record that matters, and the record sounds fab. I don’t care who played what. If The Beatles were worried about the general public knowing these facts, they would have made more of an effort to record them; but they didn’t, so we shouldn’t. If it takes knowing who did what to enjoy the record, you shouldn’t be listening to it.
This song is an example of collaboration, as always the Fab Four did. The demo or the naked composition is nothing great, or just one more of the Lennon’s didn’t care about song to be improved and performed as a final masterpiece. As always or almost always, George, Paul and Ringo were more inclined to did it and in this case, they reached a high altitude, with each one of them working on the song that Lennon just casted to the studio with his rhythm guitar, and then said “goodbye”. Lennon high performance in The Beatles was just because of his companions, specially Paul. He was just a teddy boy, a good rock and roller with a fantastic voice and feeling, pushed in competition by Macca, who really was a formal musician interested in brilliant and more complex harmonies. And here, he showed his selfishness and ego proclaiming the great song as “a Lennon song”.
The drum beat in this song is interesting–“shoot boom boom boom boom…”. But I am a little puzzled how the sound “shoot”(I don’t know how to describe it precisely) was made? Is it maraca, or anything in the drum kit, or just human voice?
Lennon is singing “shoot me” and the “me” part is hidden by the drums. You can still hear it though
You can hear the “Shoot Me” part more clearly in the Anthology 3 version of the song. He also says it in the song “Watching Rainbows”.
One of the best and nicer guitar solos by Harrison. Not only the bending notes, but the whole timbre and the counterpart between the 2 lead guitars. It kind of announces George’s slide style, but only in a transitory way, since it was not slide guitar, but it feels so.
Does any one know the lyrics in the beginning of the song? Is it shoot me or shoop shoop? If it is shoot me does anyone know why he would sing that?
It was a common expression if someone disagreed with you on everything, you said “So shoot me!”
one of the coolest and best songs that john wrote
The vibe of this song doesn’t feel like anything is coming together. The direct opposite. It has an ominous feeling. A darkness. And by the time the song fades out it’s a little creepy.
Found out recently that the legal issues concerning “Come Together” and Morris Levy continued long after John’s “Rock and Roll” LP (and Levy’s infamously unauthorized “Roots” LP) came out. It wasn’t fully resolved until the late ‘70s. I had no idea it dragged on for that long.
I wonder what the two lines in Come Together were which George claimed to have written, along with the three lines in Eleanor Rigby…
Kalle,
I do not know about the two lines that George claim to have in written in “Come Together”. But Geoge claims to written “Ah, Look at All the Lonely People”, hook.
George never claimed to have written the hook and no one else has ever claimed George wrote it either. Somewhere along the line somebody thought it important that George receive credit for Paul’s songs (but not John’s). So what were the two lines of Come Together that George wrote along with the other two of Eleanor Rigby?
Nope, it’s well established and accepted by all involved that George wrote that part.
This is one of my favourite Beatles songs.
Much of this thread is about who played what but as I am neither a musician nor any sort of expert on recording techniques I can only say how it makes me feel, and what stands out for me.
I can easily hear Ringo throughout this track whereas I am not always aware of him all the time, and his contribution is massive.
The guitars blend together in a way I can only describe as “warm” – I feel like I’m luxuriating in a bath of warm water up to my neck when I hear this song! I’m guessing it has something to do with Paul’s bass guitar which is also easy to follow throughout.
Maybe it has something to do with placement of microphones, or something to do with my particular stereo equipment (not top of range, but OK).
I could never, ever tire of this! But I guess if I understood what goes into its makeup, it would add to my appreciation.
It is neither well-established nor accepted by anybody involved, Wilhelm, that George wrote the hook to Eleanor Rigby. Wishful thinking at best as you and others are unable to provide a source. In fact, the lyrics to both songs are not even remotely George’s style.
A quick search on the web will give you the well established answers. And maybe you should go to the Eleanor Rigby page to ask your question. Here’s a quote I found in 6 seconds. “John was annoyed because I didn’t say that he had written one line of this song, Taxman… I also didn’t say how I wrote two lines to Come Together or three lines to Eleanor Rigby” George Harrison Let it Be sessions.
And here’s another quote from John –
“I do know that George Harrison was there when we came up with ‘Ah, look at all the lonely people.’ [Paul] and George were settling on that as I left the studio to go to the toilet, and I heard the lyric and turned around and said, ‘That’s it!’”