Across the Universe

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 turned it into a song. He began to write the rest of the lyrics and when he was done, he went to bed and forgot about them.

I was lying next to my first wife in bed, you know, and I was irritated, and I was thinking. She must have been going on and on about something and she'd gone to sleep and I kept hearing these words over and over, flowing like an endless stream. I went downstairs and it turned into a sort of cosmic song rather than an irritated song, rather than a "Why are you always mouthing off at me?"[2] [The words] were purely inspirational and were given to me as boom! I don't own it you know; it came through like that.[3]

The flavour of the song was heavily influenced by Lennon's and the Beatles' 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" (Sanskrit: जय गुरुदेव ॐ) to the piece, which became the link to the chorus. The Sanskrit phrase is a sentence fragment whose words could have many meanings. Literally it approximates as "glory to the shining remover of darkness"[4] and can be paraphrased as "Victory to God divine", "Hail to the divine guru", or the phrase commonly invoked by the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in referring to his spiritual teacher, "All glory to Guru Dev".[5]

The song's lyrical structure is straightforward: three repetitions of a unit consisting of a verse, the line "Jai guru deva om" and the line "Nothing's gonna change my world" sung four times. The lyrics are highly image-based, with abstract concepts reified with phrases like thoughts "meandering", words "slithering", and undying love "shining". The title phrase "across the universe" appears at intervals to finish lines, although it never cadences, always appearing as a rising figure, melodically unresolved. It finishes on the leading note; to the Western musical ear, the next musical note would be the tonic and would therefore sound complete.

In his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, Lennon referred to the song as perhaps the best, most poetic lyric he ever wrote: "It's one of the best lyrics I've written. In fact, it could be the best. It's good poetry, or whatever you call it, without chewin' it. See, the ones I like are the ones that stand as words, without melody. They don't have to have any melody, like a poem, you can read them."[6]

On a standard-tuned guitar (EADGBE) the song is played in the key of D; however, the recording was slowed electronically, resulting in a lower C# tuning to the ear. The verse beginning "Words are flowing out" (I (D) chord) is notable for a prolonged vi (Bm)–iii (F#m) to ii7 (Em7) minor drop to the dominant chord V7 (A7) on "across the universe" in the 4th bar.[7] On the repeat of this chord sequence a turn following the ii7 (Em7) through a iv minor (Gm) brings the verse to a close before moving on directly to the tonic on the "Jai Guru Deva Om" refrain. The vi–ii minor drop leading to V had been used earlier in "I Will" (on "how long I've loved you") and George Harrison utilised a shorter vi–iii minor alternation to delay getting back to the dominant (V) in "I Need You".[7] The verse beginning "Words are flowing out like endless rain ..." is also notable for the suitably breathless phrasing and almost constant 8th-note rhythm (initially four D melody notes, then C#, B, A, B).[8]

Music critic Richie Unterberger of AllMusic said the song was "one of the group's most delicate and cosmic ballads" and "one of the highlights of the Let It Be album".[19] Music critic Ian MacDonald was critical of the song, calling it a "plaintively babyish incantation" and saying "its vague pretensions and listless melody are rather too obviously the products of acid grandiosity rendered gentle by sheer exhaustion".[20]

Lennon himself was unhappy with the song as it was recorded. In his 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon says that the Beatles "didn't make a good record of it" and says of the Let It Be version that "the guitars are out of tune and I'm singing out of tune ... and nobody's supporting me or helping me with it and the song was never done properly".[21] He further accused McCartney of ruining the song:

Paul would … sort of subconsciously try and destroy a great song … usually we'd spend hours doing little detailed cleaning-ups of Paul's songs; when it came to mine … somehow this atmosphere of looseness and casualness and experimentation would creep in. Subconscious sabotage.[22]

On 4 February 2008, at 00:00 UTC, NASA transmitted the Interstellar Message "Across the Universe"[23] in the direction of the star Polaris, 431 light years from Earth.[24] The transmission was made using a 70m antenna in the Deep Space Network's Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex, located outside of Madrid, Spain. It was done with an "X band" transmitter, radiating into the antenna at 18 kW. This was done to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song's recording, the 45th anniversary of the Deep Space Network (DSN), and the 50th anniversary of NASA. The idea was hatched by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, who encouraged all Beatles fans to play the track as it was beamed to the distant star. The event marked the first time a song had ever been intentionally transmitted into deep space, and was approved by McCartney, Yoko Ono, and Apple Corps.[25]

No One's Gonna Change Our World / Past Masters version:

• John Lennon – lead vocal, acoustic guitar, electric Leslie-speaker guitar
• Paul McCartney – piano,[26] backing vocal
• George Harrison – tambura, backing vocal
• Ringo Starr – maracas, bass drum
• Lizzie Bravo – backing vocal
• Gayleen Pease – backing vocal

Let It Be version:

• John Lennon – lead vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Paul McCartney – piano
• George Harrison – tambura
• Ringo Starr – maracas, bass drum
• Phil Spector – strings and choir

Let It Be ... Naked version:

• John Lennon – lead vocal, acoustic guitar, electric Leslie-speaker guitar
• George Harrison – tambura
• Ringo Starr – bass drum

Anthology 2 version:

• John Lennon – lead vocal and acoustic guitar
• George Harrison – sitar and tambura
• Ringo Starr – tom tom drum and swarmandal

"White Album" Anniversary Edition version:

• John Lennon – lead vocal and acoustic guitar
• Ringo Starr – bass drum

Production

• George Martin – producer (original 1968 version)
• Phil Spector – producer (1970 version)
• Ken Scott, Martin Benge – engineers (original 1968 version)
• Jeff Jarratt – remix engineer (1969 No One's Gonna Change Our World version)
• Peter Bown, Mike Sheady – recording & remix engineers (1970 Let It Be version)

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[27]

Elements of the performance recorded on 8 February 1968 were replaced by an orchestra and choir recorded on 1 April 1970.[28]

• Lewisohn, Mark (1996). The Complete Beatles Chronicle. Chancellor Press. ISBN 0-7607-0327-2.
• Sulpy, Doug; Schweighhardt, Ray (2003). Get Back: The Beatles Let It Be Disaster. Helter Skelter Publishing. ISBN 1-900924-83-8.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Let It Be

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Across the Universe"
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics