On Sunday, February 4th, 1968, John Lennon brought “Across The Universe” into EMI Studio Three as consideration for The Beatles' next single. Immersed in his highly spiritual state of thinking at the time, a regular practicer of Transcendental Meditation, he felt very strongly about the song, wanting his band-mates to embrace it as fully as he had. This was his first composition of this subject matter, which sounded immensely different from “I Am The Walrus.” he offered to The Beatles back on September 5th, 1967.
But was “Across The Universe” enthusiastically accepted as he had hoped? “Nobody was interested in doing it originally,” John related in 1980. “Everyone was sickened. The tune was good, but subliminally people don't want to work with it sometimes. I was so disappointed.” To further describe the atmosphere on this day, Lennon elaborated to Playboy magazine in 1980: “I was psychologically destroyed. Nobody was supporting me or helping me with it, but we would spend hours doing little detail cleaning on Paul's (songs). When it came to mine, somehow this atmosphere of looseness and casualness – 'Let's try a few experiments' – would come over. It was subconscious sabotage, yeah. He will say this doesn't exist, that I'm paranoid, but I'm not paranoid. It's the absolute truth.”
It was under these psychological circumstances that The Beatles laid down their attempt at recording “Across The Universe” on this day, reverting to their earlier practice of booking both an afternoon and evening recording session. The earlier session ran from 2:30 to 5:30 pm, with tapes revealing that John wasn't entirely sure of how he wanted to present the song.
'Take one' was an instrumental track consisting of John on his newly acquired Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, George on tamboura and Ringo on tom-toms, all fed through a rotating Leslie speaker and subject to a process known as “flanging.” 'Take two' changed things up a bit, Paul playing his new Martin D-28 acoustic guitar along with John, while George changed to sitar and Ringo moved to svaramandal, an exotic instrument George had previously used on “Strawberry Fields Forever” back in December of 1966. John also provided a guide vocal on this take, which was only flawed by his struggle to insert breaths at appropriate places in his delivery of the lengthy lyrical phrases. The result of this take was a gorgeous recording that eventually appeared on the 1996 compilation album “Anthology 2.”
The master tape does not reveal a 'take three' (this possibly being a false start that was spooled back and recorded over), but takes four and five show the group further experimented with the arrangement. It was decided by 'take six,' included on the "Super Deluxe" 50th Anniversary “White Album” box set, that all Indian instrumentation would be dropped, at least for the rhythm track. This take featured only John on acoustic guitar and vocals with Ringo on tom-toms, the recording beginning with John asking, “Are you alright, Richie?” John still struggles at times to insert his breaths in strategic places of the lyrics, but otherwise, it is an engaging rendition.
'Take seven' appears to be the result of an overdub onto 'take six,' evidenced by John's identical "Are you alright, Richie?" introduction at the beginning of the song. George overdubbed tamboura as all of the instruments ran through a rotating Leslie speaker and subject to artificial double tracking. 'Take seven' deemed best, which ending the afternoon session at 5:30 pm.
After a 2 1/2 hour break, The Beatles returned to EMI Studio Three at 8 pm to concentrate on more overdubs for “Across The Universe,” starting with John re-recording his lead vocals. To accommodate John's indecisiveness, George Martin played the rhythm track at a slightly slower speed, making Lennon's voice appear to have a higher pitch when played back at the standard rate.
Once accomplished, someone decided that high falsetto voices were needed, possibly evidence of Paul's “Let's try a few experiments” attitude that John later resented. Since these desired backing vocals were apparently out of John and Paul's range and hiring professional singers on a Sunday evening appeared impossible on such short notice, Paul had a brainstorm. “There was a whole crowd of girls outside,” engineer Martin Benge remembers, “and Paul went out to find a couple of suitable ones. They were so excited. They couldn't believe they'd actually been invited by Paul not just inside the building but into the studio itself, to sing with The Beatles.”
After quickly arranging an impromptu audition of a few of the “Apple Scruffs,” as they eventually would be nick-named, 16-year-old Lizzie Bravo (a Brazilian native temporarily living near the studio) and 17-year-old Gayleen Pease (a native Londoner) acceptably fit the bill and were ushered into the studio. They accepted the task of adding their voices to the “nothing's gonna change our world” lyrics in each chorus, singing the straight melody line in their higher voices. With this complete, they were thanked and ushered out of the studio to allow The Beatles to add one final overdub to the master tape of “Across The Universe” that evening. Since all four tracks of the four-track tape had now filled, a reduction mix took place to accommodate this last overdub. Thus reduction mix turning 'take seven' into 'take eight.'
This overdub consisted of yet another “experiment,” consisting of backward recordings of Paul's bass and Ringo's drums added to track four of 'take eight.' This didn't end the experimentation for the day, however. Onto a separate four-track tape, the fellows recorded 15 seconds of humming, then overdubbed three more times with identical humming to fill up all four tracks of the tape, documentation identifying this as “Hums Wild.” The result was nearly identical, and in the same key, as recorded and proposed for the conclusion of “A Day In The Life” in February of 1967, although never used.
Then, they recorded a guitar and droning harp-like sound, the tape box indicating that all of these recordings were “to be played backward” and added to “Across The Universe.” Before the session was complete, these backward recordings indeed added to another open track of 'take eight,' a prepared mono mix then followed and given as an acetate for John to review at home. This unique mix, as circulated on bootleg recordings, has become known as the “Hums Wild” version. While this mix is appealing, presenting the song with a trippy, hallucinogenic arrangement, this evidence solidifies John's assessment that the experimenting liberties given to Paul on this day had taken his song in a direction far removed from its composer's intentions. That being said, this productive session came to a close at 2 am the following morning.
After four days to think about it, John returned with The Beatles to EMI Studio Two on February 8th, 1968, to have another go at presenting “Across The Universe” in a way that he felt suitable. Extensive work lingered on this day to 'take eight' from the previous session, pressured to nail down what would be the next Beatles single before they left for India the following week. While the trippy “Hums Wild” version of the song, with its spiritual themed lyrics bestowing the teachings of the Maharishi, would have been a suitable Beatles single while the group was in India under the tutelage of this very teacher, John had other things in mind.
Shortly after they arrived in the studio on this day at 2:30, the first order of business was adding the final touch to George's Indian influenced “The Inner Light,” John and Paul overdubbing a small snatch of backing vocals to the final lyric of the song. After a mono mix of “The Inner Light” was created, they turned their attention back to “Across The Universe,” this being the focus for the remainder of the day.
Engineer Geoff Emerick, in his book “Here, There And Everywhere,” recounts his observances of this day. “We started overdubbing onto another track that Ken (Scott) had begun in my absence. “Across The Universe' was probably the gentlest, sweetest John Lennon song I'd heard to date, and it took me very much by surprise. At around the time of Brian's death, the four Beatles had been studying with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and on this night, it occurred to me that perhaps meditation had done John some good. The song represented a drastic change for him, and it was an eye-opener for me. It was true that in recent weeks the cutting, sarcastic John Lennon had been mostly absent; we were seeing a softer side in him, a side I didn't ever know existed. I knew that McCartney could be a rocker as well as a balladeer, but, up until this session, I'd pretty much just thought of Lennon as a basher. I really loved the song, and John's gentle, lyrical vocal definitely connected with me.”
John had decided that all of the backward recorded elements from the previous session needed to be removed, including the hums. He was still not quite sure what was needed to complete the recording to his satisfaction, however, so various experiments were overdubbed onto 'take eight' of the song, all of these played forward this time around. John re-recorded his lead vocals and then added a mellotron and tone pedal guitar part, George Martin recorded an organ part, George Harrison played maracas and then a wah-wah guitar part, and Paul added some piano. Onto track four of the tape, John, Paul, and George recorded some high harmonies in the choruses of the song, thus wiping out the backward bass guitar and drums from the previous session.
As for John's lead vocal recorded on this day, with the rhythm track played back slightly slower than normal, engineer Geoff Emerick recalls that it was not an easy task. “We recorded that vocal over and over again because John was unhappy with the job he was doing, despite the fact that we, and the entire group, were effusive in our praise. It was a problematic vocal to do because of phrasing; there were just too many words to sing, so many points at which he had to take breaths. Because of that, John wasn't satisfied that he'd gotten the feeling into the words that he was hoping for, and he was a bit upset about that. The song clearly meant a lot to him, and he was frustrated because it hadn't come out the way he'd heard it in his head.”
“It wasn't a very good recording,” John insisted in 1971 about the end results of this day in the studio, adding, “it was a shame because I liked the song.” “It is a lousy track of a great song,” he said in 1980. “I was so disappointed by it, The guitar is out of tune, and I'm singing out of tune because I was psychologically destroyed.” Lennon had also stated: “The Beatles didn't make a good record of it. I think, subconsciously, sometimes, we, I say 'We' though I think Paul did it more than the rest of us, Paul would, sort of, subconsciously, try and destroy a great song.”
It was towards the end of this recording session that The Beatles needed to make a decision as to what two songs recorded this week would adorn the A- and B-side of their next single. John's enthusiasm for “Across The Universe” waned so dramatically because of his dissatisfaction with the recording that he opted for it not to be released at all. Therefore, Paul's recently recorded “Lady Madonna” was chosen for the a-side while George's “The Inner Light” would be the b-side, the first Harrison composition to grace a Beatles single.
Interestingly, there was a guest in the studio that evening, one that The Beatles had long admired. Geoff Emerick, in “Here, There And Everywhere,” explains: “The legendary comedian and ex-Goon Spike Milligan (who was one of John's idols) happened to be at the session that night as a guest of George Martin's. He was so impressed with what he heard that he asked Lennon if the track, in its current state, could be used to help raise funds for a charity he supported. A distracted, aggrieved John simply said, 'Yeah, whatever,' and that's how 'Across The Universe' found a place on a charity record for the World Wildlife Foundation.” Since this album’s release lagged until the end of 1969, this excellent recording of “Across The Universe” was unheard by the general public for twenty-two months.
This session concluded at 9 pm, but a mono mix of the day's accomplishments was worked on after 10 pm by George Martin and engineers Ken Scott and Richard Lush. Two attempts were made, the second undoubtedly being the keeper, although this mono mix was shelved indefinitely in the EMI library because all eventual releases of “Across The Universe” were in stereo, mono releases became discontinued by the time any version was released.
Meanwhile, with the mono mix of the song created, the February 8th, 1968 session came to a close at 12:15 the following morning, everyone leaving the studio a little disappointed. Everyone but Spike Milligan, that is, who had acquired a verbal commitment from John for an excellent recording to be released exclusively by him at a later time.
After their return from India, The Beatles worked at putting together a plethora of tracks for their next project, which resulted in the double-album simply entitled “The Beatles” (aka, the “White Album”). Because of John's disillusionment with the Maharishi, his teachings, and with meditation, he returned to regular drug use and added heroin into the mix as well, with Yoko Ono by his side the whole time. The result was a return to the old sarcastic, temperamental and self-indulgent John Lennon that everyone was used to experiencing in the recording studio, magnified even more because of his drug use. Although brilliant, a lot of his compositions during this period tended to be more biting and dark, “Yer Blues,” “Sexy Sadie,” and “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” being prime examples. The gentle and spiritual “Across The Universe,” although unissued at the time, was nowhere near the mentality Lennon had during these later 1968 sessions and, therefore, was not even thought of for inclusion on the “White Album.”
Nonetheless, when Paul insisted that they quickly prepare fresh material for a new project he envisioned, for what became the "Let It Be" film and soundtrack album, and began a month after the “White Album’s” release, John found himself scrambling for new compositions. “We're lazy f*ckers,” John explained in 1970, “and we've been playing for twenty years, for f*ck's sake – we're grown men, we're not going to sit around rehearsing. And we couldn't get into it, and we put down a few tracks, and nobody was into it at all.”
Although Lennon developed a couple of new songs from scratch during these January 1969 rehearsals, namely “Don't Let Me Down” and “Dig A Pony,” he had to dig deeper into his back catalog to come up with enough material in an attempt to match the usually prolific McCartney. Therefore, out came one of John's earliest written songs, “One After 909,” as well as the unreleased “Across The Universe.”
On January 6th, 1969, their third day of rehearsals at Twickenham Film Studios for what became the “Let It Be” project, John re-introduced “Across The Universe” to the group. They ran through two rough rehearsals of the song with John on electric guitar and lead vocals (flubbing the lyrics here and there), Paul on bass and harmony vocals (sung throughout some of the verses as well as the choruses), George on electric guitar through a wah-wah pedal, and Ringo tapping out the beat on tom-toms as he had done on the original recording. The song was then dropped for the time being, given their focus to “Don't Let Me Down” and “Two Of Us” before the rehearsal ended.
The following day, January 7th, 1969, witnessed the group return to “Across The Universe” at Twickenham Studios, running through the song twelve times. “I think it's just a waste banishing it, I'd sooner stick it in here,” John says concerning the song for the “Let It Be” project. Preferring to contribute more rockers to their song list, John laments the fact that “Across The Universe” is “another slow one – I know we'll knock off a couple of fast ones. If I just wasn't so tired when I got in.” George then assures him that it's alright to contribute some slower songs.
Since John wasn't sure of the lyrics the day before, he had requested a set of lyrics to be sent to him from the Apple office. “What's the first line?” he asked before the lyric sheet arrives. When he receives them from Apple employee Eric Brown, he reviews the lyrics and questions his own poetry, dumbfoundedly asking, “tumble blindly??”
When discussing the earlier recording of the song and why John was dissatisfied with those results, he explains: “When we were doing it last time, we did it alright in the end. The thing I don't like about the version we did, is we didn't dig it the time we did it. All that tamboura was great.” George replies: “I liked those girls singing as well, which you didn't like. The whole record is great, really. It's just another idea, another way of doing it.” John then adds: “I haven't heard it in a long time.”
The extensive rehearsals on this day show the song becoming somewhat tighter, although attention did wane after awhile as these renditions started to sound lethargic. John plays electric guitar once again, performing the guitar intro himself on the earlier run-throughs as he had done on the original recording. He sings all of the words perfectly on this day, thanks to the lyric sheet. Paul continues to play bass and harmonize throughout the verses while singing in unison with John during the “nothing's gonna change my world” section of each chorus. John counters this with “I wish it f*cking would” on one version, this possibly being his response to the disagreements they were having earlier in the day. George continues his use of electric guitar using a wah-wah pedal, sometimes playing the guitar introduction instead of John. Ringo plays a steady full drum pattern in the verses, sometimes losing the beat with the changes in the time signatures, stops at the beginning of the chorus to highlight the “nothing's gonna change” vocals, and then focuses on his toms for the remainder of each chorus.
An edit of two rehearsals from this day is featured in the “Let It Be” movie. It begins with John requesting to hear their original recording of "Across The Universe" from February of 1968, saying: "We can start hearing the tapes now - like do it and hear what it is." In this footage, we can witness Paul acting unattentive to John's song, possibly tired (or high) at this point or simply just not very interested. He fumbles through some bass lines while John is talking as if he wasn't even paying attention to him at all. "Is it just 'cause we don't feel like it," John asks, "or is it - does the guitar sound alright really? Should we just try it?" he pleads. "We'll just have less of those 'nothing's gonna change' bits. We'll just have one each time and two at the end." The movie shows them going through the second verse and chorus before cutting to John's attempt to interest Paul in his composition "Dig A Pony," which also falls flat soon after.
Other arrangement discussions for the song took place on this day. Since John liked the tamboura drone on the original recording, he stepped over to an organ to attempt something similar, giving up rather quickly because he said it was “too hard.” When an issue of speeding the tempo emerged, John stated, “It couldn't be any other way...I couldn't get the words out. There's no breath.” As for George's wah-wah guitar phrases, John gives him free rein by saying, “Whatever you'd like. You're on your own there.”
Towards the conclusion of the session on this day, John got his wish to hear the original recording of “Across The Universe” that they had recorded back in February of 1968. An acetate pressing of the song materialized at Twickenham Studios and was played for the group, heard by them for the first time. Interestingly, the bird sound effects were already in place on this acetate, the liner notes in the 2009 released box set “The Beatles In Mono” specifying that this mono mix happened in January of 1969, which means it was created just prior to this day, January 7th, 1969. George is heard complaining, “I don't like that flapping. It takes too long before it does it,” probably meaning until the song starts. The group discusses the recording further while they mildly attempt to play along with the acetate.
Two days later, January 9th, 1969, The Beatles ran through twelve more rehearsals of “Across The Universe,” undoubtedly spurred on from hearing the original recording two days earlier. These rehearsals, unfortunately, were rough, unfocused performances occasionally strewn with semi-humorous lyrical changes.
On January 21st, 1969, after George had quit The Beatles and then returned to continue the rehearsals at Apple Studios on Savile Row in London, a decision was made to shelf “Across The Universe.” The reason for this decision was the complaints coming in regarding the “Yellow Submarine” soundtrack album released four days prior. This album contained only four new Beatles tracks, along with the film's title track, “All You Need Is Love,” and George Martin's orchestral score. The Beatles were accused, for the first time, of not giving the public good value for their money. In response to this, the band decided to release the four new soundtrack songs, along with a bonus track, as a lesser-priced EP, to give their fans a choice to purchase the new material without having to buy the whole soundtrack album. The bonus track chosen was the February 1968 recorded version of “Across The Universe” that they had just listened to at Twickenham Studios on January 7th, 1969. Therefore, there would be no need to include a newly recorded version of the song on the “Let It Be” project.
George remained uninformed of this decision and, when he asked John if they were going to continue working on “Across The Universe” during their January 23rd, 1969 session at Apple Studios, Lennon explained to him that the older version of the song would be released soon instead. This being the case, The Beatles never touched the song again. Incidentally, a master tape of this "Yellow Submarine EP," which was compiled and banded on March 13th, 1969, is still in the EMI library. Instead of releasing said EP, the idea was dropped,and the mono mix of “Across The Universe” eventually landed on “The Beatles In Mono” box set.
When asked by Paul on January 7th, 1969, about the status of the World Wildlife Fund charity album, John replied, “they haven't got it together yet.” On October 2nd, 1969, however, George Martin and engineers Jeff Jarratt and Alan Parsons met at EMI Studios in Room 4 at 9:30 am to create the stereo mix of “Across The Universe” for inclusion on this LP. Named “No One's Gonna Change Our World,” referencing the key line in John's song, this album featured tracks by other notable British acts such as The Hollies, The Bee Gees, Cliff Richard and Cilla Black, although the appearance of The Beatles was clearly the focal point.
For this mix, George Martin decided to mimic his January mono mix of “Across The Universe” by incorporating bird sound effects, as well as children at a playground, at the song's beginning and then briefly near its conclusion, the source of these being the EMI sound effects tape cabinet. Curiously, engineers increase the speed of the master tape, raising the key from D major to E flat in order to lift the pitch of John's voice, possibly a suggestion from the singer who was never happy with his vocal sound on record. Nonetheless, by 11 am, the second of two stereo mixes won the opening track of this British LP, banded together the following day by George Martin at EMI Studios. The album released in the UK on December 12th, 1969.
With the “Let It Be” film promised for release in early 1970, engineer Glyn Johns initially received the task of preparing the soundtrack album. Because a segment in the movie shows The Beatles rehearsing “Across The Universe,” some decided that it should also be fit on the album. Since no proper recording of the song occurred during their early January rehearsals, Glyn Johns had no choice but to revert back to the February 1968 recording.
On January 5th, 1970, Glyn Johns entered Olympic Sound Studios in London to create a suitable mix of the song. Since the above-mentioned charity album had just been released, he intended to differ this mix from what many fans may have become familiar with. Omitting the bird sound effects, he created a stereo mix of 'take eight' running at the correct speed but without John, Paul, and George's backing vocals. He undoubtedly also wanted to omit the backing vocals of Lizzie Bravo and Gayleen Pease but, since their performance had locked onto the reduction mix of 'take seven,' their singing couldn't be mixed out. To make the song fit in with the loose atmosphere of the project, Glyn kept John's “Are you alright, Richie?” at the beginning of the recording. He also faded the song slightly early to provide a crossfade into the reprise of “Get Back” that ended the album. The Beatles were not happy with Glyn John's attempt at putting this soundtrack album together, however, nor was Lennon happy about Glyn insisting on a producer's credit for the album, so this mix of “Across The Universe” never saw the light of day.
Due to John and George's recent acquaintance with producer Phil Spector during the recording of Lennon's “Instant Karma,” a decision was made to recruit him to oversee the “Let It Be” soundtrack album. As for “Across The Universe,” Spector, along with engineers Peter Bown and Roger Ferris, took his first crack at creating a stereo mix on March 23rd, 1970, in Room 4 of EMI Studios. He created eight stereo mixes of the song from the same 'take eight' master tape of February 8th, 1968. These mixes, as it turned out, were only preliminary and were never used, Spector coming up with another plan for a later session.
This later session occurred on April 1st, 1970, in EMI Studio One, beginning at 7 pm and ending at an undocumented time well after midnight. A total of 50 musicians and vocalists, including Ringo on drums, filed into the cavernous Studio One while the sound fed into the control room of Studio Three, all captured on tape. After Spector, along with engineers Peter Bown and Richard Lush, made a reduction mix of The Beatles' February recording to an eight-track tape, this becoming 'take nine,' this was piped into the headphones of the performers to assist arranger Richard Hewson in conducting them through the score he had prepared for the song. The reduction mix of The Beatles original performance filled the first three tracks of the final eight-track tape as follows: the 'take seven' reduction mix of the rhythm track from February 7th (track one), John's re-recorded vocal from February 8th (track two), and the overdubs of Paul's piano and George's maracas and wah-wah guitar (track three).
Phil Spector insisted on applying various forms of echo at the point of recording for him to hear his famous “wall of sound” production as the track rolled to tape. Spector filled the remaining open tracks of the eight-track tape as follows: general strings (track four), violins (track five), brass, drums and acoustic guitar (track six), choir (track seven), and brass, choir and Ringo's drums (track eight).
The following day, April 2nd, 1970, was devoted to creating the final stereo mixes for the “Let It Be” soundtrack album. Phil Spector and engineers Peter Bown and Roger Ferris entered Room 4 of EMI Studios to create mixes of the three songs that received orchestral overdubs the previous day. In the case of “Across The Universe,” the tape was slowed down, adding nine seconds to the song and dropping its key from D to D flat in the process. In order to remove the backing vocals of Lizzie Bravo and Gayleen Pease, Spector made sure to fade out the February 7th rhythm track during the choruses, the orchestration, and addition of new acoustic guitars, as well as Ringo's drums and George's wah-wah guitar and maracas from February 8th, filling out the arrangement nicely. This became the version of "Across The Universe" that the general public is most familiar with to this day.
Sometime in 1996, George Martin and Geoff Emerick returned to EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) to create a stereo mix of 'take two' of “Across The Universe” as recorded on February 7th, 1968. This gorgeous rendition, with George's sitar introduction and dual acoustic guitar work from John and Paul, shows a glimpse of the work-in-progress of this song.
Then in 2003, the engineering team of Paul Hicks, Guy Massey, and Allan Rouse returned to the master tapes of "Across The Universe" to create a new mix for the album “Let It Be...Naked.” John's acoustic guitar, Ringo's subtle drums, and George's tamboura from February 7th, along with John's re-recorded lead vocal from February 8th, are the only elements used for this rendition, although much delay and/or studio manipulation was introduced to the mix as the track progresses. This created mix moved at the proper speed, unlike the sped up World Wildlife version, and the slowed-down “Let It Be” version. Beatle fans could finally hear the song in the proper key and tempo for the first time.
As a side note, a section of the bird sound effects from the World Wildlife version of the song was added to the new mix of “Because” as heard on the Beatles 2006 compilation album “Love.” Sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and his son Giles Martin thought it interesting to add this element to the opening track on the album.
Sometime in 2018, Giles Martin, along with engineer Sam Okell, brought out the master tape of “Across The Universe” once again to create a stereo mix of 'take six' for inclusion in the "Super Deluxe" 50th Anniversary edition of the “White Album.” Although roughly recorded during the time of the “White Album” sessions, thoughts to include an outtake of this song benefited us fans.
Song Structure and Style
The structure of “Across The Universe” is an interesting mix of folk and Indian elements predominantly in 4/4 time with some disruptions along the way. The basic format amounts to 'verse/ verse/ pre-chorus/ chorus/ verse/ verse/ pre-chorus/ chorus/ verse/ verse/ pre-chorus/ chorus' (or aabcaabcaabc) with a separate intro and conclusion rounding out the structure. (Note here that we will be analyzing the most commonly known version of the song, this being the one contained on the multi-platinum selling “Let It Be” soundtrack album.)
A three-measure acoustic guitar introduction starts things off. This consists of a clever rising and falling figure played by John alone in the first measure and then a simple pulsing finger-picking riff that changes chords as a segue to the first verse that follows. Ringo taps away lightly on his toms in measures two and three. As can be witnessed in the “Let It Be” movie, John skillfully and effortlessly performs this intro on guitar, although it is four measures long during these rehearsals.
The first verse runs four measures long and is in 4/4 time except for the fourth measure. Since there was hardly enough time for John to take a breath at the end of the fourth measure after the word “universe” (witness “Anthology 2”), his final measure was changed to 5/4 on the released recording in order to facilitate the problem. The second verse follows immediately, which is actually a variant from the first verse that we'll hear once more later in the song. The difference in this verse is that the third of the four measures is in 2/4 time, the rest being in 4/4. Also, the chords used in the final two measures here differ from the first verse. Nonetheless, John and Ringo are the only instrumentalists in these verses, treated to flanging and artificial double-tracking to create fullness.
The pre-chorus is next, which is three measures long, all of them in 4/4 time. The strings make their first appearance here, starting directly on the downbeat of the first measure, along with additional acoustic guitars as recorded during Phil Spector's orchestra overdub. During the third measure, the original Beatles instrumental rhythm track is faded down, John's acoustic guitar being accentuated by Spector's overdubbed unnamed guitarists, and Ringo's original tom-tom beats gets replaced by the drums he played during the orchestral overdub. The choir appears for the first time in this final measure of the pre-chorus, during the word “Om.”
The chorus is an even four measures in length, all measures in 4/4 time. With the Beatles instrumental rhythm track now completely faded out by this time, John's re-recorded lead vocal are to the fore, along with George's overdubbed maracas from February 8th, 1968 appearing throughout the chorus. The strings, choir, acoustic guitars, and Ringo's drums from April 1st, 1970, fill out the chorus and bring it to a pleasant crescendo.
Next comes another set of verses, the third four-measure verse being strictly in 4/4 time while the fourth four-measure verse ends with a measure in 5/4 time to allow John the ability to take a breath (which he can barely do on the “Anthology 2” take). Note here also that the chords used in both of these verses are identical to those used in the first verse. The orchestra and choir are in full volume throughout these verses, the score allowing movement to display an impressive counter-melody line this time around.
The second pre-chorus and chorus follow, which is nearly identical to the first, with the exception being the appearance of George's wah-wah guitar part in the chorus. His riffs are heard in the open spaces and appear after John's “nothing's gonna change my world” lines.
Next, we hear another set of verses, another pre-chorus, and then a final chorus, the instrumentation sounds identical to what was just heard in the previous set. The first verse heard here, which actually numbers the fifth verse of the song, brings a structural repeat of the variant verse we witnessed in verse two with the 2/4 measure and differing chords.
The climax to the song unfolds the final outro, or conclusion, which runs twelve measures in length and consists of John's lyric “Jai guru deva” repeated six times as the song fades out. Interesting features here are George's ascending and descending guitar notes in measures two and three, and then Paul's rising lower piano notes that repeat the pattern in measures four through twelve, also accentuated by the orchestral overdub.
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