Today we've reached the titular song of this blog, and even better--it's a triple song day! "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight", and "The End" technically count as three songs (they're listed separately on the album), but the first two were recorded as a single song and, much like Chris Farley and David Spade, are better together. Also, "Carry That Weight" segues so effortlessly into "The End", a couplet, that it would be a shame to leave it out.
Although Lennon was absent during the first recording session due to his car accident, he was present for subsequent sessions. This medley features all four Beatles' voices on the tracks--a true rarity at this point and achieved through overdubbing--as well as individual solos for each person and their instrument/voice. "Carry That Weight" reprises the riff from "You Never Give Me Your Money", but instead of talking about money, it talks about pillows and invitations.
The lyrics of "Carry That Weight" clearly refer to the Beatles themselves; Wikipedia gives us some slightly differing angles:
Music critic Ian MacDonald interpreted the lyric as an acknowledgment by the group that nothing they would do as individual artists would equal what they had achieved together, and they would always carry the weight of their Beatle past. McCartney said the song was about the Beatles' business difficulties and the atmosphere at Apple at the time. In the film Imagine: John Lennon, Lennon says that McCartney was "singing about all of us."
Personally, this might be my favorite Beatles song. The lyrics are astounding and Paul's voice is incredible, particularly in the beginning when he belts out "Golden slumbers fill your eyes / smiles awake you when you rise" (I still can't decide if it's "awake" or "await"). There's really nothing about this medley that I don't love--from the amazing crescendos that blow my mind every time, to the killer guitar solo near the end that precedes that thought-provoking couplet written by McCartney.
Although this medley was intended to close Abbey Road, "Her Majesty was tacked onto the end; McCartney enjoyed it there, so there it remained. We'll listen to that one tomorrow, and that'll be curtains for the album. See you then.
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Heard It Tally: 45 - 46 - 47
Songs Completed: 185 -186 - 187
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