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| Written by John Lennon, it was one of his favorites. He especially liked the lyrics. |
| The refrain "Jai Guru Deva Um" is a mantra intended to lull the mind into a higher consciousness. The words are in Sanskrit, and they mean "I give thanks to Guru Dev," who was the teacher of The Maharishi. The "Um" at the end is the drawn out "oooohm" used in meditation to relate to the natural vibration of the universe. |
| This first appeared on No One's Gonna Change Our World, a charity album for the World Wildlife Fund (They're the ones who sued the World Wrestling Federation and made them stop using "WWF"). Bird noises were dubbed in to this version to create a nature theme. |
| For a while, this was not going to be part of Let It Be. The album was going to be called "Get Back" and was supposed to be recorded in front of a live audience for a TV special, with film footage of The Beatles practicing the songs in the studio used for a companion special. When things didn't go well, they decided to scrap the TV project but use the footage for their last movie, which became Let It Be. The tapes of them practicing in the studio would be worked into an album to go with the film. The first version of the album did not include this, but when the movie was edited, it included a scene where The Beatles play this, so it was added to the album. |
| While the Let It Be movie and album were being sorted out, The Beatles recorded their last album, Abbey Road, and then broke up. George Harrison and John Lennon asked Phil Spector to take the tapes from the Let It Be project and produce the album from them. Spector took out the bird sounds, slowed the tape down, and added an orchestra and choir. The result was a very lush arrangement using his "Wall Of Sound" technique. |
| This was later recorded by David Bowie with Lennon on guitar. It appears on Bowie's 1975 album Young Americans. |
| This was originally going to be the B-side to "Lady Madonna," but "The Inner Light" was chosen instead. (thanks, Adrian - Wilmington, DE) |
| Fiona Apple covered this in 1999. |
| At the 2001 John Lennon tribute special at Madison Square Garden, Sean Lennon performed this with Moby and Rufus Wainwright. Moby wore one of John's shirts that Sean gave him. |
| This was a huge influence on Liam Gallagher from Oasis. It turned him on to The Beatles and inspired him to write songs. |
