Today's excellent example of Beatles harmonizing, "Because", was written by Lennon. John, Paul and George harmonized and then their voices were triple-tracked, creating nine voices total. The song features an electric harpsichord played by George Martin, and a Moog synthesizer--The Beatles were one of the first groups (along with The Rolling Stones and The Doors, among others) to experiment with one.
John addressed the song's similarity to a certain classical masterpiece:
According to Lennon, the song's close musical resemblance to Ludwig van Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" was no coincidence: "Yoko was playing Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' on the piano ... I said, 'Can you play those chords backwards?', and wrote 'Because' around them. The lyrics speak for themselves ... No imagery, no obscure references."
As Lennon says, the lyrics are simple and straightforward. It sends a basic message--that love is everything. As controversial, argumentative, and downright belligerent as the Beatles were getting at this time, this song is a mark of their united creative genius. Obviously, Ringo is missing--but since "Because" lacks a beat of any kind, it's less surprising. If he'd contributed to the song it might have overloaded it with awesome, so it's probably better he didn't. ;)
That's all for tonight... See you tomorrow. :)
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Heard It Tally: 43
Songs Completed: 179
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