Talk:Come Together

Anybody know what that strange song in the beginning of the song, and throughout the song?

according to yahho answers, it's either a vibraslap or more likely one of the members saying "shuk" into a microphone with some echo. Joeyramoney 22:27, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Added how marilyn manson covered the song..Don't believe me? Try Dling the song..type in "Come together, marilyn manson" ON limewire or something. Song information box now seems to be there. The list of cover versions is full of opinion and imprecise language, and needs tidying up. For example, the Williams/McFerrin version might be distinctive, or unusual: it is meaningless to describe it as unusual; who was inducted into the Hall of fame in 1989 and what relevance did this recording have to that act; and what on earth does "very grunge" mean? Kevin McE 12:20, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

other songs called "Come Together"

i know the Beatles are, well, the BEATLES, but....the MC5 have a song called "Come Together" released on their live (and fucking awesome) album Kick out the Jams. i think some sort of disambig link or foward at the beginning of the article should be placed. also keep in mind the MC5's version was recorded on Oct 30th, 1968, which i believe predates this album. JoeSmack ^Talk 17:17, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

You mean this MC5 - Come Together(live 1968)?
:-)68.179.108.25 (talk) 16:39, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Misheard line...Not!

"At the end of the second verse, the line "Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease," is apparently 'Hold you in his arms, yeah you can feel his disease,' and is quoted like the first nearly everywhere, including on 1967-1970 (the "Blue Album"), but the discussion remains unsettled as it can also perfectly heard like the first one. Lennon never did have a problem with making nosensical lyrics and it must also be noted that the Blue Album Compilation is an official Beatles-album."

The line is "Hold you in his armchair" not "Hold you in his arms yeah" as someone has wrongfully posted. I am absolutely positive that what everyone thinks the line is indeed what it is, because using high end computer speakers and the CD, Lennon sounds like he is saying, "hold you in his om-cheer". If anything, people may be mistaken about the first syllable, but anyone who hears an "s" sound and a "y" sound on that song needs their hearing checked. By the way this is between 1:45 and 1:50 on the song if anyone wants a quick reference to where the line is.

In regards to this I am deleting the above quoted paragraph.

Also, "Come Together" is one of the top 20 Beatles songs ever made.It is an awesome song. Maybe it is derivative of R&B, but it is R&B derived for gods.

-NF

I agree, it definitely sounds like "armchair"

-Plarter

Meaning

--I think this song is about each the beatles. Each stanza is about a different beatle. Think about it, maybe do a little research if you want. Just my two cents.

--After reading the lyrics I think you have a point, but which is which do you think. I think the first is Ringo, hence the joker part, then you have Paul with the 'He wear no shoeshine' maybe in reference to the fact that Paul was often seen without his shoes on, like on Abbey Road (the album this song comes from!) and in Magical Mystery Tour. John is next, the 'Ono sideboard' gives that away, then George who's 'so hard to see' maybe because he was the quieter one? Only guesses. I don't know but well spotted and worth debate.

--And then think about it, all of those verses (members) come together to make the Beatles. But something to ponder- if the first is Ringo, he was one of the ones without long hair. Also, the 3rd verse with the "walrus" reference-- i thought Paul was the Walrus? And then later in it, it references feet again. But then again the Ono thing is strongly for Lennon. Someone should find out if either of them had a disease, hence the armchair disease line.

Song Facts discussion --202.47.51.191 01:52, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Moved from article

The following seem to be unsourced speculations/rumours about the meaning of the song. (And, of course, ones that I personally don't find probable, although that's not the point). --194.145.161.227 14:17, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps the song refers to the late eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. Lines such as "hair down to his knees" and "shoot coca-cola" parallel the billionaire's behavior at the time this song was written. The line "Got to be good lookin cause he's so hard to see" could refer to the billionaire's reclusiveness. Another, possibly apocryphal story is that John Lennon grew frustrated at the tendency of music critics to read heavily into and interpret his lyrics, and wrote nonsensical lyrics simply to spite them. The same story is also said to be the origin of "I Am The Walrus."

---

I agree that the song Come Together is about each individual Beatle. Although Lennon stated in a 1980 interview that the lyrics were gobbledygook, I believe a close examination reveals the life cycle of the fab four from John's perspective. In my opinion, the first stanza speaks of George with the remaining three referring to Ringo, John and Paul respectively.

Lennon was introduced to Harrison when George was fifteen years old. He was tall and thin, quite lanky, with a flat top hairstyle (Here come ole flat top / he come groovin' up slowly). The line juju-eyeball may refer to George's lazy eye. Holy Roller is a reference to George as the spiritual Beatle. Moving towards the breakup, George had the longest hair of any of the Beatles. He was also regarded as the joker during early press conferences as well as the one who was the quiet/loner type (Got to be a joker / he just do what he please).

Ringo was infamous during Beatlemania for not joining the others in polishing his boots (He wear no shoe shine). As a youth, he was reportedly quite good at English football (soccer) until he sustained a foot injury (toe-jam football). Monkey finger may be a reference to the movie "Help!" in which he wears the ring of the monkey god. Shooting Coca-Cola can be either a reference to later drug use or possibly refraining from alcohol during the early Hamburg days. As the Beatles pondered disbanding in '67-68, Ringo and Paul came to the conclusion that "you have to be free".

Paul was the roller coaster (up and down mood swings?) who gave early warning to the others that he was intending to quit the band. He was known to be influenced by Muddy Waters career early in his life. Mojo Filter refers to Paul as the center of the group's sex appeal. The Let It Be sessions were actually recorded before Abbey Road but the release was delayed due to disagreements within the band. It was at this time that Paul actually decided that the end had come (He said, "one and one and one is three" refers to the three remaining Beatles). The good looking Beatle was now nowhere to be found (so hard to see).

Finally, John recognized himself as the groups founder (He backed production). Walrus gumboot refers to the Magical Mystery Tour era as they each started to become disgruntled with the others. Ono sideboard refers to Yoko's presence towards the end leading to what John refers to as the spinal cracker (the straw that broke the camel's back). Feet down below his knee could possibly be a reference to the Amsterdam bed-in (see The Ballad of John & Yoko / clarification needed). At the time of Abbey Road, John was in his "white period" (white clothing/furnishings/etc.). All the pressures from the proceeding years may have been catching up to him (his divorce from Cynthia, "The Beatles are bigger than Jesus" quote, the super stardom in general must have been overwhelming). Is it possible that some sort of depression was setting in and he felt somewhat diseased? Could the repetition of the phrase "shoot me" throughout the song have been a pre-occupation with death (see Julia/ White Album / as he deals with his mother's early demise) or even a premonition of the end of his own life?

In closing, is Come Together indeed a gobbledygook of lyrics with no apparent meaning, or is it a detailed history of the rise and fall of the greatest rock and roll band of all time from the founders perspective? I'll let you decide. Hope that I've provided you with some food for thought.

Beatlefanatic (talk) 13:24, 17 October 2009 (UTC)Bruce (e-mail your thoughts to dadeo460@aol.com)

Digs at McCartney & Harrison?

This isn't citated did Lennon actually say this or is it POV? Apepper 21:24, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Aerosmith's cover information?

Is it really necessary to merge information of Aerosmith's cover of this song with information about the original single? Laurent 19:35, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately the current procedures dictate that yes it is. I'd prefer articles to cover singles but currently they cover songs. However, I'm sure we can't have infoboxes for every band at the foot of these articles (imagine the mess that could result given how frequently The Beatles get covered). I've removed the Aerosmith footer box twice but keep getting reverted... --kingboyk 15:25, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Since Aerosmith is the only band whose cover of "Come Together" was a Top 40 single, I think it is appropriate to keep them. "Come Together" was a big hit for both Aerosmith and The Beatles. Additionally, I have to put up with the Sugababes and Girls Aloud infoboxes at the end of the "Walk This Way" article...I think it is only fair. --Abog 18:26, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Just had a look at that page, and it seems to be using some div trickery to show/hide the boxes. Could/should we do that here? --kingboyk 18:58, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't be opposed to it. --Abog 19:25, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

I don't like the overabundance of Aerosmith information either, because it demands that for some reason their cover is more important than all the other covers. Tina Turner's was on the charts, so was Diana Ross' and The Supremes released a separate version without Ross, which also entered the charts. There's also been covers that were more successful in Europe than in The States, even breaking the top 5. The Across The Universe soundtrack, which features a version by Joe Cocker was a huge seller, and the song has recently been covered on American Idol, becoming a top download on iTunes.

Just look at the article. There is almost more information about the Aerosmith cover than there is about the original version. I love Aerosmith as much as the next guy, but there is simply no reason for all that. BubbaStrangelove (talk) 06:47, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I agree with BubbaStrangelove that the amount of information on the Aerosmith cover is disproportionate. I didn't even know that they had covered this song whereas I am well aware of other covers by Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, the Smokin' Mojo Filters and others. I see no reason why the Aerosmith version should be singled out as an especially notable cover that deserves to be highlighted while relegating versions (some of which have had greater chart success) to the category of "Other Notable Covers." The emphasis on the Aerosmith version is not justified and looks more like a promotional puff for that band than an objective reference. Henry Clarson (talk) 03:51, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

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Mistake in the "Origin" section

Someone wrote in the "Origin" section: "In the end of the track the guitar from "Baby You're a Rich Man" can be heard clearly." This is not true. The guitar riff is from "Dear Prudence." 72.43.143.184 20:42, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Typo Guvernatorial?

according to the American Heritage dictionary, there's no word "guvernatorial." The word is gubernatorial. Here's a link, if you'd care to check it out: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=gubernatorial.

I'm sure it was a simple typo: v and b are very close together on the keyboard... --Slashme (talk) 06:17, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

Reload

As far as I know there is no cover of Come Together on Tom Jones's Reload. Perhaps there are different versions of the album? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.70.52.62 (talk) 13:43, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

The standard issue Reload album does not feature "Come Together." However, there is a Reload+2 release which contains two extra tracks including Jones's version of the song in a live performance with The Cardigans. Henry Clarson (talk) 04:12, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

All on Rock'n'Roll?

Regarding the sentence: "After settling out of court, Lennon promised to record other songs owned by Levy, all of which were released on Lennon's 1975 album Rock 'n' Roll."

This is sourced to Wenner, Jann S (2000). Lennon Remembers (Full interview from Lennon's 1970 interview in Rolling Stone magazine). London: Verso. p. 90. ISBN 1-85984-600-9. (a book I do not own), but my book, Turner, Steve (1999). "Abbey Road". In Nicola Hodge (ed.). A Hard Day's Write =: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song (9 ed.). HarperResource. p. 189. ISBN 0-06-273698-1., says "He fulfilled this promise when he recorded Berry's 'Sweet Little Sixteen' and 'You Can't Catch Me' for his Rock'n'Roll album and Lee Dorsey's 'Ya Ya' on Walls and Bridges.

Can somebody with access to the Jann Wenner book please check the statement, and evaluate which of the sources is most reliable? Thanks! Dendodge Talk^Contribs 12:12, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Here it is, from page 90 of Lennon Remembers:

The owner of the song's copyright, Big Seven Music Corporation, owned by the notorious Morris Levy, filed suit against Lennon for copyright infringement in 1969, claiming that he used a few of the 1956 Chuck Berry song's ["You Can't Catch Me"] lines in "Come Together". The suit finally settled in 1973 in the publisher's favor, and to compensate Levy, Lennon agreed to record three songs [it doesn't say which ones] owned by his publishing company (Lennon was recording Rock'n'Roll, a collection of his favorite songs of the Fifties and Sixties). Levy actually released a bootleg version of Rock'n'Roll prior to its official 1975 release; Lennon sued Levy this time and won.

This was a footnote to a two-page explanation by Lennon on how he had actually used words from the song "You Can't Catch Me" as filler lyrics (similar to Paul's "scrambled eggs") in what started out to be a traditional style rock & roll tune. This got merged with the 1970 gubernatorial campaign song he was supposed to be writing for Tim Leary. Typical creative process stuff. Lennon warns Wenner not to print that part because people will say "Oh, look, he admitted it."

My copy was put out by Warner in 1980 right after John died. And it's a straight-ahead reprint of the 1971 edition, not one of the expanded edition ones from later.

Levy really was apparently notorious for this kind of thing. Musicians always borrow from one another, the whole thing was absurd. It's like suing Springsteen for saying "mystery train" in "Radio Nowhere". --17:52, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Nortel

(From Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 August 1#Come Together...)

Who sung a version of "Come Together" in this commercial? It is something like African-American style though. JSH-alive ^{talk • cont • mail} 08:39, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

I don't recognize the singer. It may be a band/singer hired specifically for the commercial, and not anyone overly "famous". --Jayron32 13:57, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Could it be Joe Cocker? --NorwegianBlue ^talk 16:13, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

To me, it sounds like the main part of the commercial is John Lennon's solo version of Come Together slowed down a bit, giving it a bluesy feel. The very end is clearly the Beatles version. Because slowing a song down can change how it sounds a lot, it is possible that it is all the Beatles version until the very end when they play it at normal speed. -- kainaw™ 17:53, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

That is definitely not the original version, slowed down or otherwise. Slowing a song down does not change the singer's accent or intonation; that is clearly not John Lennon singing. The end segment is not the Beatles' version, either. Listen: [1] Malcolm XIV (talk) 19:02, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Definitely not Lennon. As the wikipedia article indicates, there are countless covers of this song. Joe Cocker is a good guess. But there's always the chance it was recorded specifically for these ads, by some unknown studio group. I'm not finding anything useful in Google so far. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 09:19, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Discussion continues here. -- JSH-alive ^{talk • cont • mail} 12:49, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

No way that is Joe Cocker or John Lennon. I think it's probably just a session singer that the ad agency paid. I think http://www.mccannsf.com/ has the Nortel account, so you might want to email them. --Rajah (talk) 16:22, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

different video, same song version, lyrics spoken by actors. Comments indicate John Roth era, but that wold be OR pending further 3rd party sourcing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdLgUPgq8-g User:VulpineLady (not logged in) 74.4.91.87 (talk) 05:01, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Random prank calls

Ever since I first heard the song as a wee lad, I always pictured the musical prelude to each segment as the sound of an old rotary telephone being dialed. I know it's not a real phone dialing, only that the music seems as though it's meant to resemble the sound of a dialing phone. From this, I got the impression of John calling people on the phone at random, and singing these lovely nonsense phrases to them. Even today, I can picture John Lennon doing something like that when he was in a playful mood.  :) --Modemac (talk) 15:44, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Covers

Didn't Kid Rock do a version of this song? Seems like every other cover on the planet is mentioned. Alex finds herself awake at night _{(Talk · What keeps her up)} 21:22, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Lawsuit re "You Can't Catch Me"

From the evidence I can source, which isn't much so far, the lawsuit against Lennon due to similarities to Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" was not just about the line "Here Come ol' flattop", it was also because the songs sounded very similar in tune. This is supported by Paul McCartney's account on p.553 of "Many Years From Now" who said that he and Lennon deliberately slowed down the track and made it "swampy" so that it would sound less like Berry's song. However they did not remove the line "Here come ol' flattop". The tune is still basically the same as Berry's. (This is my fav Beatles song though!)

Therefore I am removing "because one line in "Come Together" closely resembles a line of Berry's "You Can't Catch Me": (i.e., The Beatles' "Here come ol' flattop, he come groovin' up slowly" vs. Berry's "Here come up flattop, he was groovin' up with me")" and replacing with known evidence"

"Shoot Me" reference

This is incorrect just romantic wishful thinking from fans. Lennon is not syaing "Shoot Me" so I've removed it, in fact as you can clearly hear on the multitracks itself he's just making a shhhh noise, listen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEJkQtoyJCo —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.210.162.176 (talk) 09:27, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Listen to the Anthology 3 version and see if that changes your mind; "Shoot me" is pretty clear on that mix. In any case, Geoff Emerick was the engineer on the session and he says that Lennon said "Shoot me". The info has been restored and I've updated the citation by changing the citation from "The Beatles Bible" to Lewisohn (1988), p. 181. — John Cardinal (talk) 18:09, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

I've heard it and I hear no 'me'. Have another listen to the link I gave where you can hear the original stems in isolation. He says 'shhhhh' and occasionally what sounds like 'shoo' and 'shoot', but never 'me' except in the preceding sentence ('Come together right now over me'). Not to cast aspersions about Geoff Emerick but everyone's memory tends to play up a bit over time. Just read Recording the Beatles to see how many of these stories have conflicting accounts. I think this is a marvelous piece of romantic nonsense, it adds depth to an otherwise nonsensical but fun track and to the character of the Beatles, but it's a case of if enough people state it it becomes "truth" (and if Wikipedia says it then a lot of people say it) contrary to empirical study.98.210.162.176 (talk) 10:16, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Well, I disagree; I can clearly hear "me". Neither of our opinions matter, however, as we have to rely on reliable sources. The citation is from a reliable source (Lewisohn) and he is quoting a person (Emerick) who directly participated in the recording. While no one's memory is fail-safe, Lewisohn's book was published twenty years ago, with interviews conducted before that, and so Emerick was asked about it much closer to the original events than we are today. — John Cardinal (talk) 16:14, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

P.S. Go to 3:39 in the YouTube link above and tell me you don't hear "Shoot me"??? — John Cardinal (talk) 16:20, 27 November 2009 (UTC)