Producers: George Martin
Engineers: Paul Hicks, Guy Massey, Allan Rouse, Glyn Johns, Ken Scott, Martin Benge, Peter Bown, Phil McDonald
Released: 17 November 2003
John Lennon: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lap steel guitar, bass guitar, organ, whistling
Paul McCartney: vocals, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, electric piano, Hammond organ, whistling
George Harrison: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, tambura
Ringo Starr: drums, percussion
George Martin: Hammond organ, shaker
Billy Preston: Hammond organ, electric piano
An extensively remixed and reworked version of songs first released in 1970, Let It Be... Naked stripped away the studio chatter and Phil Spector post-production from The Beatles' swansong Let It Be, presenting a release closer to the group's original vision.
The project came about following a chance meeting between Paul McCartney and the Let It Be film director Michael Lindsay-Hogg. They discussed the lack of availability of the film on VHS and DVD, and spoke about the possibility of remixing the soundtrack to accompany such a release.
McCartney had long been aggrieved by the Let It Be album, particularly the Spector's 1970 post-production work which added his Wall of Sound signature to several songs. Chief among McCartney's objections was The Long And Winding Road, which he felt had been transformed from a simple piano ballad to a full-blown orchestral epic without his consent.
In February 2002 Apple's Neil Aspinall called Abbey Road Studios' Allan Rouse to ask him to remix the Let It Be recordings. Rouse recruited fellow in-house engineers Paul Hicks and Guy Massey, and the trio began assembling a new album from the 30 reels of tape, referring to the albums assembled by Spector and Glyn Johns for comparison.
Key Differences:
Rather than being a straightforward remixing project, Let It Be... Naked contained a number of significant differences from the original 1970 release. The songs' running order was changed, with the album opening with Get Back and closing with the title track.
A composite edit of two versions of Don't Let Me Down was included, rather than the original Get Back b-side recording. A composite version of two rooftop performances of I've Got A Feeling was also used.
The improvised songs Dig It and Maggie Mae were left off after being judged to be ill-fitting on a conventional Beatles album.
Get Back
The Beatles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sweet Loretta Fart, she thought she was a cleaner
But she was a frying pan (sweet Rosetta Martin, Rosetta)
The picker, the picker
Picture the fingers burning (ooh)
OK
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it couldn't last
Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back Jojo
Go home
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged
Get back Jo
Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman
But she was another man
All the girls around her say she's got it coming
But she gets it while she can
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back Loretta ooh, ooh
Go home
Oh, get back, yeah, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Yeah, get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, ooh
Thanks, Moe
I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves
And I hope we passed the audition
"Get Back" is a song by The Beatles that was written by Paul McCartney and performed by the Beatles with Billy Preston on keyboard. The song features three verses about different individuals, the first being about Sweet Loretta Martin, who believes she is a cleaner but is actually a frying pan, but the second verse about Jojo is the most well-known. Jojo is a man who thought he was a loner, and he left his home in Tucson, Arizona. The third verse is about Sweet Loretta again, and the song ends with the group thanking someone named Moe and expressing appreciation for passing an audition.
The song shows the Beatles' desire to go back to their roots and get back to where they belonged. The song is often interpreted as a reference to their early days performing in Hamburg clubs when they had to play long hours, take breaks, and eventually return to the stage to perform. This interpretation points to the fact that the lyrics reference a barmaid named Rosetta who would encourage the group to "get back" to playing.
"Get Back" was originally intended to be a political song, with lyrics like "you'd better get back to your Commonwealth homes," which were later replaced with more straightforward and understandable lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Rosetta (who are you talking about?)
Asking Rosetta Martin who she was talking about
Sweet Loretta Fart, she thought she was a cleaner
Loretta thought she was a cleaner, but she was actually a prostitute
But she was a frying pan (sweet Rosetta Martin, Rosetta)
Rosetta Martin was being compared to a frying pan, possibly indicating her mood
The picker, the picker
A reference to someone who plays a guitar
Picture the fingers burning (ooh)
Imagining how a musician's fingers feel after playing for a while
Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
Referring to a man named Jojo who considers himself a loner
But he knew it couldn't last
Knowing that his feeling of loneliness wouldn't last forever
Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
Jojo left his house in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass
Going to California to smoke weed
Get back, get back
Encouraging someone to go back to where they came from
Get back to where you once belonged
Going back to the place where one originally came from
Get back Jojo
Specifically encouraging Jojo to go back home
Go home
Asking someone to go back to their home
Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman
Loretta Martin thought of herself as a woman
But she was another man
In reality, Loretta Martin was a man
All the girls around her say she's got it coming
The other girls around Loretta think she deserves something bad to happen to her
But she gets it while she can
Loretta is trying to enjoy the moment when she can
Get back Loretta ooh, ooh
Asking Loretta to go back to where she came from
Oh, get back, yeah, get back
Repeating the request to go back to where one came from
Thanks, Moe
Thanking Moe, possibly an audience member or another band member
I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves
Thanking someone on behalf of the entire group
And I hope we passed the audition
Expressing the hope that the group did well in an audition
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Philip Kassabian
A great Beatles song.