Today we travel "Across the Universe" for Halloween. John Lennon, after Cynthia Lennon's incessant talking, was first inspired by a line that came to him through his irritation: "words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup". Wikipedia gives us some background on a particular line in the song:
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".
John was most proud of the lyrics in "Across the Universe", saying, "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."
Interestingly, "Across the Universe" is the first song to be purposefully beamed into space.
I'm a fan of the song, though I like various covers more than the original. In particular, I find Rufus Wainwright's version to be rather fantastic. :)
That's all for today... see you tomorrow.
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Heard It Tally: 48
Songs Completed: 191
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