"Across The Universe" By Beatles Video Showcase

"Across the Universe" is a song by The Beatles that first appeared on a charity release in December 1969, and later, in modified form, on their final album, Let It Be.

The song features John Lennon singing lead, who was also the primary composer (though, as with all Beatles songs written by either composer, the song is credited to Lennon/McCartney).

One night in 1967, the phrase "words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup" came to Lennon after hearing his then-wife Cynthia, according to Lennon, "going on and on about something". Later, after "she'd gone to sleep -- and I kept hearing these words over and over, flowing like an endless stream", Lennon "went downstairs and it turned into sort of a cosmic song".

He began to write the rest of the lyrics and when he was done, he went to bed and forgot about them. In the morning, Lennon found the paper on which he had written the lyrics and brought them down to his piano, where he began to play chords, and find pitches to match the words.

The flavor of the song was heavily influenced by Lennon's and The Beatles' short-lived interest in Transcendental Meditation in late 1967-early 1968, when the song was composed. Based on this he added the mantra "Jai guru deva om" to the piece, which served as a link between the bridge and verse.

Read the Wikipedia article about Across the Universe...

Photo author: kimicon from flickr.com