Here, There and Everywhere

When discussing his song "Here, There and Everywhere", Paul McCartney has often cited Brian Wilson's "God Only Knows" as his main source of inspiration.[6] The latter track appeared on the Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds[7][8] and was itself inspired by Wilson repeatedly listening to the Beatles' Rubber Soul album.[9] On 17 May 1966, the day after the new Beach Boys album had been released in America, McCartney and John Lennon attended a private listening party for Pet Sounds held at London's Waldorf Hotel.[10]

In 1990, McCartney told Beach Boys biographer David Leaf that it was "just the introduction that's influenced [by the Beach Boys]", referring to the harmonies he and Lennon devised for the opening lines of "Here, There and Everywhere". McCartney added that, with this style of introduction, they wanted to capture the "old-fashioned" idea of a preamble to the song.[11]

McCartney began writing "Here, There and Everywhere" at Lennon's house in Weybridge, in early June,[11] while waiting for Lennon to wake up. McCartney recalled: "I sat out by the pool on one of the sun chairs with my guitar and started strumming in E. And soon [I] had a few chords, and I think by the time he'd woken up, I had pretty much written the song, so we took it indoors and finished it up."[12]

Author Kenneth Womack describes "Here, There and Everywhere" as a romantic ballad "about living in the here and now" and "fully experiencing the conscious moment".[13] The verse is based on an ascending major chord sequence, while the middle eight (being 4 bars in fact), which modulates to the relative major of the tonic – if it had been minor, creates a telling contrast. The introduction beginning "To lead a better life" opens in the key of G and involves a I–iii–♭III–ii–V⁷ chord progression. The ♭III (B♭ chord) on "I need my love to be here" (arpeggiated in the melody line) is a dissonant substitute for the more predictable VI (E⁷) that would normally lead to the ii (Am) chord.[14] Music critic Richie Unterberger considers that this "dramatic opening [lyric]" contains "an almost philosophical undertone of humility, acknowledging that the singer needs his woman not just to be happy, but also to be a better person".[15]

The verse opens strongly anchored on "Here" in the key of G (with simultaneous I (G chord) and melody G note) and moves equally predictably to a I–ii–iii–IV chord shift (G–Am–Bm–C) through "making each day of the year".[16] This repeats on "Changing my life with a wave"; but immediately after (in bar 5) the song indeed changes on "of her hand". It goes down six semitones from the IV (C chord) to a vii (F♯m) [adding a non-G scale C#] then a V-of-vi (B⁷) chord [adding a non-G scale D♯] which briefly modulates towards a new tonic E minor. McCartney mostly sings a B note ("of her hand") over both F♯m, where it is the eleventh, and the B⁷, where it is the tonic. When the sequence is repeated ("nobody can"), McCartney sings both B and C♮ over the F♯m, the C natural producing a tritone.[17]

The harmonic fascination with the bridge segment beginning "I want her everywhere" is that at that point the key centre does go "everywhere". It shifts via an F⁷ chord (a ♭VII in the old G key and a V⁷ in the new B♭ key) to a I–vi–ii (B♭–Gm–Cm) chord progression in B♭ major. It then shifts again via a D⁷ chord (a III⁷ in the old B♭ key and a V⁷ in the new Gm key) to G minor where we go through a i–iv (Gm–Cm chord) progression. Finally the pivot of D⁷ takes us back to the G major tonic and reinforcing G melody note of "Everywhere".[18]

Rolling Stone has noted: "The tune's chord sequence bears Brian Wilson's influence, ambling through three related keys without ever fully settling into one, and the modulations – particularly the one on the line 'changing my life with a wave of her hand' – deftly underscore the lyrics, inspired by McCartney's girlfriend, actress Jane Asher."[12]

The Beatles recorded "Here, There and Everywhere" towards the end of the sessions for their 1966 album Revolver.[19] The band worked on the song at Abbey Road Studios over three session dates – on 14, 16 and 17 June.[20] Before carrying out overdubs, they taped 13 takes before achieving a satisfactory basic track.[21]

The recording is noted for its layered backing vocals,[1] which McCartney, Lennon and George Harrison spent much of the three days attempting to perfect. McCartney mentioned in the 1989 radio series McCartney on McCartney that the vocals were meant to have a Beach Boys sound; he has also said that he was trying to sing it in the style of Marianne Faithfull.[22] McCartney's lead vocal on the recording is multi-tracked.[23] In his book Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald also comments on Harrison's lead guitar part being given a mandolin-like tone via a Leslie speaker effect, before it adopts a "horn-like timbre" for the song's ending.[20]

"Here, There and Everywhere" was released in August 1966 as the fifth track on Revolver, sequenced between Harrison's Indian-styled "Love You To", and the children's song "Yellow Submarine".[24] Writing of its positioning in the running order, music critic Tim Riley says that "Here, There and Everywhere" "domesticates" the "eroticisms" of "Love You To", and he praises the composition as "the most perfect song" that McCartney had ever written.[25] In his review for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger describes "Here, There and Everywhere" as one of its author's "outstanding contribution[s]" to the genre of "love ballads", and a song with "the sound of an instant standard". Unterberger comments on the recording: "The delicacy of the execution is exquisite, the sensual imagery more explicit, the sense of desire and fulfillment tangible."[15]

Less impressed, Ian MacDonald admired the "ingenuity of the music", but concluded that "for all its soft-focus charm, the song's overall effect is chintzy and rather cloying."[20] In his chapter on Revolver in the book The Album, James Perone describes "Here, There and Everywhere" as a "mid 1960s love ballad that could find its way into the set list for bands at a senior prom" and a track that to some listeners appears "syrupy and mushy".[26] Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound pairs it with "Got to Get You into My Life" as songs that are "seemingly out of place" on Revolver amid the overtly psychedelic and experimental music that typifies the album.[27]

In his authorised biography, Many Years from Now, McCartney names "Here, There and Everywhere" as one of his personal favourites.[3] Beatles producer George Martin also highlighted it among his favourite McCartney songs. Lennon reportedly told McCartney that "Here, There and Everywhere" was "the best tune" on Revolver. In a 1980 interview for Playboy magazine, Lennon described it as "one of my favourite songs of the Beatles".[4]

In 2000, Mojo placed "Here, There and Everywhere" at number 4 on its list of the greatest songs of all time.[5] In April 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it 25th out of the "100 Greatest Beatles Songs".[12] Art Garfunkel has cited this as his all-time favourite pop song.

McCartney re-recorded the song for his 1984 soundtrack album Give My Regards to Broad Street and also performed it for MTV in 1991, released on Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).

Unterberger highlights Emmylou Harris among the notable artists who have recorded "Here, There and Everywhere". Harris' version became a minor hit in 1976, reaching number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States.[15] Other noted performers of the song include Beegie Adair,[28] Clay Aiken, David Benoit, George Benson,[28] Gina Jeffreys on Old Paint, Peter Breinholt, Petula Clark, Perry Como, Count Basie Orchestra,[28] Darren Day, John Denver, Romina Power, Céline Dion (for a George Martin/Beatles tribute album),[28] Arik Einstein, Episode Six, Matt Monro, Jose Feliciano (instrumental),[28] The Fourmost, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders (instrumental),[29] Bobbie Gentry, Stéphane Grappelli,[28] Ofra Harnoy,[28] The Flying Pickets, Jay and the Americans, The Lettermen, Locksley, Kenny Loggins (on Kenny Loggins Alive),[28] Claudine Longet, John McDermott, Carmen McRae,[28] Olivia Ong, Maaya Sakamoto, George Shearing,[28] The Singers Unlimited, Sissel, Göran Söllscher,[28] Marina Verenikina, Jose Mari Chan, Camilo Sesto, John Williams (instrumental),[30] Andy Williams, David Gilmour, Umberto Tozzi and Boulou Ferré (on Pour Django, instrumental).

Bruce Welch of The Shadows claimed in his autobiography that McCartney offered the tune to Shadows lead guitarist Hank Marvin before the Beatles' recording.[31] Marvin eventually released an instrumental version of the song on his 2007 album Guitar Man.

Frank Ocean references the line "Spending each day of the year" on White Ferrari, even giving Lennon-McCartney songwriter's credit.

In the TV series Friends, this song is played on steel drums when Phoebe Buffay walks down the aisle during her wedding. It was the second time a song written by McCartney was used in a wedding sequence in the series, the first being "My Love" when Chandler and Monica married.

Gary Sparrow sings the song at the piano in an episode of Goodnight Sweetheart.

Geoff Emerick, who engineered many of the Beatles' recordings, used the title of the song for his 2006 memoir Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles.

According to Ian MacDonald:[23]

• Paul McCartney – double-tracked lead vocals, rhythm guitar,[21][32] bass, finger-snaps
• John Lennon – backing vocals, finger-snaps
• George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals, finger-snaps
• Ringo Starr – drums, finger-snaps

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Revolver (Beatles album)

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
• Handwritten lyrics of Here, There and Everywhere by Paul McCartney at the British Library
• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Here There and Everywhere"
• Sissel's cover of "Here, There And Everywhere"
• The Beatles - Here, There and Everywhere on YouTube