"Something" is a song released by The Beatles in 1969. It was featured on the album Abbey Road, and was also the first song written by George Harrison to appear on the A-side of a Beatles single. It was one of the first Beatles singles to contain tracks already available on a long playing (LP) album, with both "Something" and "Come Together" having appeared on Abbey Road. "Something" was the only Harrison composition to top the American charts while he was in The Beatles. Read Full Bio"Something" is a song released by The Beatles in 1969. It was featured on the album Abbey Road, and was also the first song written by George Harrison to appear on the A-side of a Beatles single. It was one of the first Beatles singles to contain tracks already available on a long playing (LP) album, with both "Something" and "Come Together" having appeared on Abbey Road. "Something" was the only Harrison composition to top the American charts while he was in The Beatles.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney—the two principal songwriting members of the band—both praised "Something" as among the best songs Harrison had written. As well as critical acclaim, the single achieved commercial success, topping the Billboard charts in the United States, and entering the top 10 in the United Kingdom. The song's success continued after the breakup of The Beatles, when it was covered by over 150 artists including Elvis Presley, Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, James Brown, Julio Iglesias, Smokey Robinson and Joe Cocker becoming the second-most covered Beatles song after "Yesterday".
Writing
During the 1968 recording sessions for The Beatles (also referred to as the White Album), Harrison began working on a song that eventually became known as "Something". The song's first lyrics ("Something in the way she moves/Attracts me like no other lover") were adapted from an unrelated song by fellow Apple artist James Taylorcalled "Something In The Way She Moves" and used as filler while the melody was being developed.
Harrison later said that "I had a break while Paul was doing some overdubbing so I went into an empty studio and began to write. That's really all there is to it, except the middle took some time to sort out. It didn't go on the White Album because we'd already finished all the tracks."A demo recording of the song by Harrison from this period appears on the Beatles Anthology 3 collection, released in 1996.
Many believe that Harrison's inspiration for "Something" was his wife at the time, Pattie Boyd. Boyd also claimed that inspiration in her 2007 autobiography, Wonderful Tonight, where she wrote: "He told me, in a matter-of-fact way, that he had written it for me."
However, Harrison has cited other sources of inspiration to the contrary. In a 1996 interview he responded to the question of whether the song was about Pattie: "Well no, I didn't [write it about her]. I just wrote it, and then somebody put together a video. And what they did was they went out and got some footage of me and Pattie, Paul and Linda, Ringo and Maureen, it was at that time, and John and Yoko and they just made up a little video to go with it. So then, everybody presumed I wrote it about Pattie, but actually, when I wrote it, I was thinking of Ray Charles."
The original intention had been for Harrison to offer the song to Jackie Lomax, as had been done with the previous Harrison composition, "Sour Milk Sea." When this fell through, the song was given to Joe Cocker (who had previously covered The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends"); his version came out two months before that of The Beatles. During the Get Back recording sessions for what eventually became Let It Be, Harrison considered using "Something," but eventually decided against it due to his fear that insufficient care would be taken in its recording; his earlier suggestion of "Old Brown Shoe" had not gone down well with the band.It was only during the recording sessions for Abbey Road that The Beatles began seriously working on "Something."
Production notes
"Something" was recorded during the Abbey Road sessions. It took 52 takes in two main periods, the first session involved a demo take on Harrison's 26th birthday, 25 February 1969, followed by 13 backing track takes on 16 April. The second main session took 39 takes and started on 2 May 1969 when the main parts of the song were laid down in 36 takes, finishing on 15 August 1969 after several days of recording overdubs.
The original draft that the Beatles used lasted eight minutes, with John Lennon on the piano towards the end (which was recorded later as Lennon was not present during the first few sessions). The middle also contained a small counter-melody section in the draft. Both the counter-melody and Lennon's piano piece were cut from the final version. Still, Lennon's piano was not erased totally. Some bits can be heard in the middle eight, in particular the line played downwards the C major scale, i.e. the connection passage to Harrison's guitar solo. The erased parts of Lennon's piano section later became the basis for Lennon's song "Remember."
Structure and lyrics
The lead vocalist for "Something" was George Harrison. The song runs at a speed of about sixty-six beats per minute and is in common time throughout. The melody begins in the key of C major. It continues in this key throughout the intro and the first two verses, until the eight-measure-long bridge, which is in the key of A major. After the bridge, the melody returns to C Major for the guitar solo, the third verse, and the outro. Although The Beatles had initially attempted an edgier acoustic version of the song, this was dropped along with the counter-melody. A demo of the acoustic version with the counter-melody included was later released as part of Anthology 3. On the final release, the counter-melody was replaced by an instrumental break, and the song was given a softer tone with the introduction of a string arrangement by George Martin, The Beatles' producer.
The theme of the song is considered to be about doubt and uncertainty. One reviewer described it as "an unabashedly straightforward and sentimental love song" at a time "when most of the Beatles' songs were dealing with non-romantic topics or presenting cryptic and allusive lyrics even when they were writing about love".
John Lennon and Paul McCartney—the two principal songwriting members of the band—both praised "Something" as among the best songs Harrison had written. As well as critical acclaim, the single achieved commercial success, topping the Billboard charts in the United States, and entering the top 10 in the United Kingdom. The song's success continued after the breakup of The Beatles, when it was covered by over 150 artists including Elvis Presley, Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, James Brown, Julio Iglesias, Smokey Robinson and Joe Cocker becoming the second-most covered Beatles song after "Yesterday".
Writing
During the 1968 recording sessions for The Beatles (also referred to as the White Album), Harrison began working on a song that eventually became known as "Something". The song's first lyrics ("Something in the way she moves/Attracts me like no other lover") were adapted from an unrelated song by fellow Apple artist James Taylorcalled "Something In The Way She Moves" and used as filler while the melody was being developed.
Harrison later said that "I had a break while Paul was doing some overdubbing so I went into an empty studio and began to write. That's really all there is to it, except the middle took some time to sort out. It didn't go on the White Album because we'd already finished all the tracks."A demo recording of the song by Harrison from this period appears on the Beatles Anthology 3 collection, released in 1996.
Many believe that Harrison's inspiration for "Something" was his wife at the time, Pattie Boyd. Boyd also claimed that inspiration in her 2007 autobiography, Wonderful Tonight, where she wrote: "He told me, in a matter-of-fact way, that he had written it for me."
However, Harrison has cited other sources of inspiration to the contrary. In a 1996 interview he responded to the question of whether the song was about Pattie: "Well no, I didn't [write it about her]. I just wrote it, and then somebody put together a video. And what they did was they went out and got some footage of me and Pattie, Paul and Linda, Ringo and Maureen, it was at that time, and John and Yoko and they just made up a little video to go with it. So then, everybody presumed I wrote it about Pattie, but actually, when I wrote it, I was thinking of Ray Charles."
The original intention had been for Harrison to offer the song to Jackie Lomax, as had been done with the previous Harrison composition, "Sour Milk Sea." When this fell through, the song was given to Joe Cocker (who had previously covered The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends"); his version came out two months before that of The Beatles. During the Get Back recording sessions for what eventually became Let It Be, Harrison considered using "Something," but eventually decided against it due to his fear that insufficient care would be taken in its recording; his earlier suggestion of "Old Brown Shoe" had not gone down well with the band.It was only during the recording sessions for Abbey Road that The Beatles began seriously working on "Something."
Production notes
"Something" was recorded during the Abbey Road sessions. It took 52 takes in two main periods, the first session involved a demo take on Harrison's 26th birthday, 25 February 1969, followed by 13 backing track takes on 16 April. The second main session took 39 takes and started on 2 May 1969 when the main parts of the song were laid down in 36 takes, finishing on 15 August 1969 after several days of recording overdubs.
The original draft that the Beatles used lasted eight minutes, with John Lennon on the piano towards the end (which was recorded later as Lennon was not present during the first few sessions). The middle also contained a small counter-melody section in the draft. Both the counter-melody and Lennon's piano piece were cut from the final version. Still, Lennon's piano was not erased totally. Some bits can be heard in the middle eight, in particular the line played downwards the C major scale, i.e. the connection passage to Harrison's guitar solo. The erased parts of Lennon's piano section later became the basis for Lennon's song "Remember."
Structure and lyrics
The lead vocalist for "Something" was George Harrison. The song runs at a speed of about sixty-six beats per minute and is in common time throughout. The melody begins in the key of C major. It continues in this key throughout the intro and the first two verses, until the eight-measure-long bridge, which is in the key of A major. After the bridge, the melody returns to C Major for the guitar solo, the third verse, and the outro. Although The Beatles had initially attempted an edgier acoustic version of the song, this was dropped along with the counter-melody. A demo of the acoustic version with the counter-melody included was later released as part of Anthology 3. On the final release, the counter-melody was replaced by an instrumental break, and the song was given a softer tone with the introduction of a string arrangement by George Martin, The Beatles' producer.
The theme of the song is considered to be about doubt and uncertainty. One reviewer described it as "an unabashedly straightforward and sentimental love song" at a time "when most of the Beatles' songs were dealing with non-romantic topics or presenting cryptic and allusive lyrics even when they were writing about love".
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Something
by The Beatles
Come on come on, come on come on
Come on its such a joy
Come on its such a joy
Come on let's take it easy
Come on let's take it easy
Take it easy take it easy
Everybody's got something to hide except for me and
My monkey
The deeper you go, the higher you fly
The higher you fly, the deeper you go
So come on come on
Come on its such a joy
Come on its such a joy
Come on let's make it easy
Come on let's make it easy
Take it easy, take it easy
Everybody's got something to hide except for me and
My monkey
Your inside is out when your outside is in
Your outside is in when your inside is out
So come on come on
Come on its such a joy
Come on its such a joy
Come on let's make it easy
Come on let's make it easy
Make it easy, make it easy
Everybody's got something to hide except for me and
My monkey
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
by The Beatles
Come on come on, come on come on
Come on its such a joy
Come on its such a joy
Come on let's take it easy
Come on let's take it easy
Take it easy take it easy
Everybody's got something to hide except for me and
My monkey
The deeper you go, the higher you fly
The higher you fly, the deeper you go
So come on come on
Come on its such a joy
Come on its such a joy
Come on let's make it easy
Come on let's make it easy
Take it easy, take it easy
Everybody's got something to hide except for me and
My monkey
Your inside is out when your outside is in
Your outside is in when your inside is out
So come on come on
Come on its such a joy
Come on its such a joy
Come on let's make it easy
Come on let's make it easy
Make it easy, make it easy
Everybody's got something to hide except for me and
My monkey
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
Aqua
This video is actually pretty sad when you come to realise that at the point of filming this, the Beatles had grown so far apart that they decided to film their own parts at their own homes rather than come together and record it as a group. The video was also shot when McCartney fell into a deep depression over realising that the Beatles were over, and you can really see it in his untidy appearence
saint jack
I am going to lose a lot of sleep tonight after reading your comment. The Beatles put together lived the life of a million men. Seriously don't be sad for them. Paul McCartney came out of that depression. He's OK.
George Babas
@Lacertos Truer words have never been spoken. As you said, that difference and desire of everyone to do his own thing is especially evident in their post-breakup work.
I think that all of them missed in some extent the time they were together, though.
Μαστροβασιλη Καλλιοπη
@Lads Leaks shut up idiot
Edward Fong
They predicted covid 19
Msuhlcke
@Ric Boni I think he wrote Let It Be after this song.
Isaac Wale
This is an example of a song that shouldn't even have a dislike button.
prima kurien
Absolutely.
motogriso1
tanu sharma
I really like Revolution #9 even from the first time I heard it, and parts of it play in my head.
Number 9....Number 9....etc
... we become....we become naked...
Some of the musical parts too.
John and Yoko two virgins I could give thumbs down to.
But as the Beatles what bands has so many full albums of great songs that people love.
John Mulligan
@Isaac Wale Not at all. I didn't dislike it either