Tomorrow Never Knows
Encyclopedia
"Tomorrow Never Knows" is the final track of The Beatles
' 1966 studio album Revolver
but the first to be recorded. Credited as a Lennon–McCartney song, it was written primarily by John Lennon
. Music critic Richie Unterberger
of Allmusic said it was "the most experimental and psychedelic track on Revolver, in both its structure and production."
The song has a vocal put through a Leslie speaker
cabinet (which was normally used as a loudspeaker for a Hammond organ
) and uses automatic double tracking
(ADT) to double the vocal image. Tape loops prepared by the Beatles were mixed in and out of the Indian-inspired modal backing underpinned by Ringo Starr
's constant but non-standard drum pattern. The song is also one of the first uses of a flanger effect on any instrument.
Pitchfork Media
placed it at number 19 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".
by Timothy Leary
, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner
, which in turn was adapted from the Tibetan Book of the Dead
. Although Peter Brown
believed that Lennon's source for the lyric was the Tibetan Book of the Dead itself, which, he said, Lennon read whilst consuming LSD, George Harrison
later stated that the idea for the lyrics came from Leary's, Alpert's and Metzner's book and Paul McCartney
confirmed this, stating that he and Lennon had visited the newly opened Indica
bookshop — Lennon was looking for a copy of The Portable Nietzsche
— and Lennon had found a copy of The Psychedelic Experience that contained the lines: "When in doubt, relax, turn off your mind, float downstream".
Lennon bought the book, went home, took LSD, and followed the instructions exactly as stated in the book. The book held that the "ego death
" experienced under the influence of LSD and other psychedelic
drugs is essentially similar to the dying process and requires similar guidance.
", it was taken from one of Ringo Starr
's malapropism
s. The piece was originally titled "Mark I". "The Void" is cited as another working title but according to Mark Lewisohn
(and Bob Spitz) this is untrue, although the books, The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of The Beatles and The Beatles A to Z both cite "The Void" as the original title.
When The Beatles returned to London after their first visit to America in early 1964 they were interviewed by David Coleman
of BBC Television
. The interview included the following:
(John laughs)
Lennon first played the song to Brian Epstein
, George Martin
and the other Beatles at Epstein's house at 24 Chapel Street, Belgravia. McCartney remembered that, even though the song's harmony was mainly restricted to the chord of C, Martin accepted it as it was and said it was "rather interesting". The song's harmonic structure is derived from India
n music and is based upon a C drone
. The "chord" over the drone is generally C major, with some changes to B flat major.
The 19-year-old Geoff Emerick
was promoted to replace Norman Smith as engineer on the first session for the Revolver album. This started at 8 pm on 6 April 1966, in Studio Three at Abbey Road
. Lennon told producer Martin that he wanted to sound like a hundred chanting Tibetan monks, which left Martin the difficult task of trying to find the effect by using the basic equipment they had. Lennon's suggestion was that he be suspended from a rope and—after being given a good push—he would sing as he spun around the microphone. This idea was rejected by Martin, but when asked by Lennon about it, he would only reply with, "We're looking into it." Emerick finally came up with the idea of wiring Lennon's vocal through a Leslie rotating speaker, thus obtaining the desired effect without the need of a rope. Emerick made a connector to break into the electronic circuitry of the cabinet and then re-recorded the vocal as it came out of the revolving speaker.
As Lennon hated doing a second take to double his vocals, Ken Townsend, the studio technical manager, developed an early form of double-tracking called Automatic double tracking
(ADT) system, taking the signal from the playback and recording heads of one tape machine and delaying it slightly through a second tape machine. The two tape machines used were not driven by mains electricity, but from a separate generator which put out a particular frequency, the same for both, thereby keeping them locked together. By altering the speed and frequencies, he could create various effects, which The Beatles used throughout the recording of Revolver. Lennon's vocal is double-tracked on the first three verses of the song: the effect of the Leslie cabinet can be heard after the (backwards) guitar solo.
The track included the highly compressed drums that The Beatles currently favoured, with reverse cymbals, reverse guitar, processed vocals, looped tape
effects, a sitar
and a tambura
drone. McCartney supplied a bag of ¼-inch audio tape loops he had made at home after listening to Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglinge
. By disabling the erase head
of a tape recorder and then spooling a continuous loop of tape through the machine while recording, the tape would constantly overdub itself, creating a saturation effect, a technique also used in musique concrète
. The tape could also be induced to go faster and slower. McCartney encouraged the other Beatles to use the same effects and create their own loops. After experimentation on their own, the various Beatles supplied a total of "30 or so" tape loops to Martin, who selected 16 for use on the song. Each loop was about six seconds long.
The tape loops were played on BTR3 tape machines located in various studios of the Abbey Road building and controlled by EMI
technicians in studio two at Abbey Road on 7 April. Each machine was monitored by one technician, who had to keep a pencil within each loop to maintain tension. The four Beatles controlled the faders of the mixing console while Martin varied the stereo panning and Emerick watched the meters. Eight of the tapes were used at one time, changed halfway through the song. The tapes were made (like most of the other loops) by superimposition and acceleration (0:07). According to Martin, the finished mix of the tape loops cannot be repeated because of the complex and random way in which they were laid over the music.
The tape loops contained:
The Beatles further experimented with tape loops in "Carnival of Light
", an as-yet-unreleased piece recorded during the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
sessions, and in "Revolution 9
", released on The Beatles
.
The opening chord fades in gradually on the stereo version while the mono version features a more sudden fade-in. The mono and stereo versions also have the tape-loop track faded in at slightly different times and different volumes (in general, the loops are louder on the mono mix). On the stereo version a little feedback comes in after the guitar solo, exactly halfway through the song, but is edited out of the mono mix.
Lennon was later quoted as saying that "I should have tried to get my original idea, the monks singing. I realise now that's what I wanted." Take one of the recording was released on the Anthology 2
album.
, remixed 80 minutes of Beatles music for the Las Vegas stage performance Love
, a joint venture between Cirque du Soleil
and The Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd
. On the Love
album, the rhythm to "Tomorrow Never Knows" was mixed with the vocals and melody from "Within You Without You
", creating a different version of the two songs. The soundtrack album from the show
was released in 2006. The Love remix is one of the main songs in The Beatles: Rock Band
music video game
.
The Pink Fairies
played extended versions of the song at many 1970s pop festivals. On 3 September 1976 a live, full-scale rearrangement was recorded by the band 801
, with personnel including Phil Manzanera
, Brian Eno
and Andy McKay. Phil Collins
did a cover version of the song on his 1981 album Face Value. Jimi Hendrix
covered the song on the bootleg Woke Up This Morning and Found Myself Dead
. Listed in setlists as TNK, The Grateful Dead performed the song 12 times, always seguing out of Baba O'Riley
. Subsequently, former Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh
, Bob Weir
, and Vince Welnick
have played the song in their post-Dead projects. Portland band, Helio Sequence, covered the song on their album Com Plex
. Jad Fair
and Daniel Johnston
covered the song on their 1989 album It's Spooky
, adding a twist to the lyrics after the final verse when Johnston enters shouting, "No! No! Ladies and gentlemen, do not surrender to the void! The darkness surrounds you—don't relax! You'll never get out of that pit! No! No! It isn't love—the demons will enter! No! No! No!" Chameleons UK also recorded a version, included as a bonus track on their album Strange Times. David Lee Roth
covered the song on his 2003 "Diamond Dave
" album, although it's listed in the track list as "That Beatles Song."
The song is referenced in the lyrics to the Oasis
song Morning Glory; "Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon".
Reggae
group The Wailing Souls
included a version on their 1998 all-cover album Psychedelic Souls. Parody band Beatallica
recorded a mashup
between "Tomorrow Never Knows" and Metallica
's "The Day That Never Comes
" entitled "Tomorrow Never Comes", in their 2009 album Masterful Mystery Tour
.
Our Lady Peace
recorded a cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" for the 1996 film The Craft
, and a cover by Carla Azar
and Alison Mosshart
is featured in the 2011 motion picture Sucker Punch
.
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' 1966 studio album Revolver
Revolver (album)
Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
but the first to be recorded. Credited as a Lennon–McCartney song, it was written primarily by John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
. Music critic Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...
of Allmusic said it was "the most experimental and psychedelic track on Revolver, in both its structure and production."
The song has a vocal put through a Leslie speaker
Leslie speaker
The Leslie speaker is a specially constructed amplifier/loudspeaker used to create special audio effects using the Doppler effect. Named after its inventor, Donald Leslie, it is particularly associated with the Hammond organ but is used with a variety of instruments as well as vocals. The...
cabinet (which was normally used as a loudspeaker for a Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
) and uses automatic double tracking
Automatic double tracking
Automatic double-tracking or artificial double-tracking was an analogue recording technique designed to enhance the sound of voices or instruments during the recording process. It used tape delay to create a delayed copy of an audio signal which was then combined with the original...
(ADT) to double the vocal image. Tape loops prepared by the Beatles were mixed in and out of the Indian-inspired modal backing underpinned by Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
's constant but non-standard drum pattern. The song is also one of the first uses of a flanger effect on any instrument.
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
placed it at number 19 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".
Composition
John Lennon wrote the song in January 1966, with lyrics adapted from the book The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the DeadThe Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead is an instruction manual intended for use during sessions involving psychedelic drugs. Started as early as 1962 in Zihuatanejo, the book was finally published in August 1964...
by Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner
Ralph Metzner
Ralph Metzner Ph.D. , is an American psychologist, writer and researcher, who participated in psychedelic research at Harvard University in the early 1960s with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert . Dr...
, which in turn was adapted from the Tibetan Book of the Dead
Bardo Thodol
The Liberation Through Hearing During The Intermediate State , sometimes translated as Liberation Through Hearing or Bardo Thodol is a funerary text...
. Although Peter Brown
Peter Brown (music industry)
Peter Brown is an American-based English businessman. He currently resides in New York City.-The Beatles:Brown was a personal assistant to Brian Epstein and The Beatles during the 1960s. He was a confidant to the Epstein family, and bore some resemblance to Brian in his looks and manner...
believed that Lennon's source for the lyric was the Tibetan Book of the Dead itself, which, he said, Lennon read whilst consuming LSD, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
later stated that the idea for the lyrics came from Leary's, Alpert's and Metzner's book and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
confirmed this, stating that he and Lennon had visited the newly opened Indica
Indica Gallery
Indica Gallery was a counterculture art gallery in Mason's Yard , St. James's, London, England during the late 1960s, in the basement of the Indica Bookshop co-owned by John Dunbar, Peter Asher and Barry Miles...
bookshop — Lennon was looking for a copy of The Portable Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
— and Lennon had found a copy of The Psychedelic Experience that contained the lines: "When in doubt, relax, turn off your mind, float downstream".
Lennon bought the book, went home, took LSD, and followed the instructions exactly as stated in the book. The book held that the "ego death
Ego Death
Ego death is an experience that reveals the illusory aspect of the ego, sometimes undergone by mystics, shamans, monks, psychologists, and others interested in exploring the depths of the mind....
" experienced under the influence of LSD and other psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
drugs is essentially similar to the dying process and requires similar guidance.
Title
The title never actually appears in the song's lyrics. In an interview McCartney revealed that, like "A Hard Day's NightA Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
", it was taken from one of Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
's malapropism
Malapropism
A malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...
s. The piece was originally titled "Mark I". "The Void" is cited as another working title but according to Mark Lewisohn
Mark Lewisohn
Mark Lewisohn is an English author and historian, regarded as the world's leading authority on the English rock band The Beatles.-The Beatles and related subjects:...
(and Bob Spitz) this is untrue, although the books, The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of The Beatles and The Beatles A to Z both cite "The Void" as the original title.
When The Beatles returned to London after their first visit to America in early 1964 they were interviewed by David Coleman
David Coleman
David Coleman, OBE is an English former sports commentator and TV presenter who worked for the BBC for almost fifty years. In 2000, he was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest honour of the Olympic movement....
of BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
. The interview included the following:
- Interviewer: "Now, Ringo, I hear you were manhandled at the Embassy Ball. Is this right?"
- Ringo: "Not really. Someone just cut a bit of my hair, you see."
- Interviewer: "Let's have a look. You seem to have got plenty left."
- Ringo: (turns head) "Can you see the difference? It's longer, this side."
- Interviewer: "What happened exactly?"
- Ringo: "I don't know. I was just talking, having an interview (exaggerated voice). Just like I am NOW!"
- (John and Paul begin lifting locks of his hair, pretending to cut it)
- Ringo: "I was talking away and I looked 'round, and there was about 400 people just smiling. So, you know — what can you say?"
- John: "What can you say?"
- Ringo: "Tomorrow never knows."
(John laughs)
Recording
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...
, George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
and the other Beatles at Epstein's house at 24 Chapel Street, Belgravia. McCartney remembered that, even though the song's harmony was mainly restricted to the chord of C, Martin accepted it as it was and said it was "rather interesting". The song's harmonic structure is derived from India
Music of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
n music and is based upon a C drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
. The "chord" over the drone is generally C major, with some changes to B flat major.
The 19-year-old Geoff Emerick
Geoff Emerick
Geoffrey Emerick is an English recording studio audio engineer, who is best known for his work with The Beatles' albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road...
was promoted to replace Norman Smith as engineer on the first session for the Revolver album. This started at 8 pm on 6 April 1966, in Studio Three at Abbey Road
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
. Lennon told producer Martin that he wanted to sound like a hundred chanting Tibetan monks, which left Martin the difficult task of trying to find the effect by using the basic equipment they had. Lennon's suggestion was that he be suspended from a rope and—after being given a good push—he would sing as he spun around the microphone. This idea was rejected by Martin, but when asked by Lennon about it, he would only reply with, "We're looking into it." Emerick finally came up with the idea of wiring Lennon's vocal through a Leslie rotating speaker, thus obtaining the desired effect without the need of a rope. Emerick made a connector to break into the electronic circuitry of the cabinet and then re-recorded the vocal as it came out of the revolving speaker.
Automatic double tracking
Automatic double-tracking or artificial double-tracking was an analogue recording technique designed to enhance the sound of voices or instruments during the recording process. It used tape delay to create a delayed copy of an audio signal which was then combined with the original...
(ADT) system, taking the signal from the playback and recording heads of one tape machine and delaying it slightly through a second tape machine. The two tape machines used were not driven by mains electricity, but from a separate generator which put out a particular frequency, the same for both, thereby keeping them locked together. By altering the speed and frequencies, he could create various effects, which The Beatles used throughout the recording of Revolver. Lennon's vocal is double-tracked on the first three verses of the song: the effect of the Leslie cabinet can be heard after the (backwards) guitar solo.
The track included the highly compressed drums that The Beatles currently favoured, with reverse cymbals, reverse guitar, processed vocals, looped tape
Tape loop
In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...
effects, a sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
and a tambura
Tambura
The tambura, tanpura, or tambora is a long-necked plucked lute . The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians...
drone. McCartney supplied a bag of ¼-inch audio tape loops he had made at home after listening to Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglinge
Gesang der Jünglinge
Gesang der Jünglinge is a noted electronic music work by Karlheinz Stockhausen. It was realized in 1955–56 at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk studio in Cologne and is Work Number 8 in the composer's catalog of works...
. By disabling the erase head
Tape head
A tape head is a type of transducer used in tape recorders to convert electrical signals to magnetic fluctuations and vice versa.-Principles of operation:...
of a tape recorder and then spooling a continuous loop of tape through the machine while recording, the tape would constantly overdub itself, creating a saturation effect, a technique also used in musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
. The tape could also be induced to go faster and slower. McCartney encouraged the other Beatles to use the same effects and create their own loops. After experimentation on their own, the various Beatles supplied a total of "30 or so" tape loops to Martin, who selected 16 for use on the song. Each loop was about six seconds long.
The tape loops were played on BTR3 tape machines located in various studios of the Abbey Road building and controlled by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
technicians in studio two at Abbey Road on 7 April. Each machine was monitored by one technician, who had to keep a pencil within each loop to maintain tension. The four Beatles controlled the faders of the mixing console while Martin varied the stereo panning and Emerick watched the meters. Eight of the tapes were used at one time, changed halfway through the song. The tapes were made (like most of the other loops) by superimposition and acceleration (0:07). According to Martin, the finished mix of the tape loops cannot be repeated because of the complex and random way in which they were laid over the music.
The tape loops contained:
- A "seagull" or "American Indian" whooping effect (which was the sound of Harrison's guitar sped up).
- An orchestral chord of B flat major (from a Sibelius symphony) (0:19)
- A Mellotron Mk.IIMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, played with the "brassBrassBrass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
" tape set (0:22) - Another Mellotron played in 6/8 from B flat to C, using the "3 violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s" tape set (0:38) - A sitarSitarThe 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
-like ascending scalar phrase (actually played on an electric guitar, reversed and severely sped up), recorded with heavy saturation and acceleration (0:56)
The Beatles further experimented with tape loops in "Carnival of Light
Carnival of Light
"Carnival of Light" is an unreleased experimental piece by The Beatles. It was recorded on 5 January 1967, after the vocal overdubbing sessions for the song "Penny Lane"...
", an as-yet-unreleased piece recorded during the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
sessions, and in "Revolution 9
Revolution 9
"Revolution 9" is a recorded composition that appeared on The Beatles' 1968 self-titled LP release . The sound collage, credited to Lennon–McCartney, was created primarily by John Lennon with assistance from George Harrison and Yoko Ono. Lennon said he was trying to paint a picture of a revolution...
", released on The Beatles
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
.
The opening chord fades in gradually on the stereo version while the mono version features a more sudden fade-in. The mono and stereo versions also have the tape-loop track faded in at slightly different times and different volumes (in general, the loops are louder on the mono mix). On the stereo version a little feedback comes in after the guitar solo, exactly halfway through the song, but is edited out of the mono mix.
Lennon was later quoted as saying that "I should have tried to get my original idea, the monks singing. I realise now that's what I wanted." Take one of the recording was released on the Anthology 2
Anthology 2
Anthology 2 is a compilation album by The Beatles, released by Apple Records in March 1996. It is the second of the three-volume Anthology collection, all of which tie-in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. The opening track is "Real Love", the second of the two recordings that...
album.
Personnel
- John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
– double-tracked lead vocal, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
and tape loops - Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backwards guitar soloGuitar soloIn popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
and tape loops - George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
– sitarSitarThe 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
, tamburaTamburaThe tambura, tanpura, or tambora is a long-necked plucked lute . The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians...
, and tape loops - Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
and tape loops - George MartinGeorge MartinSir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Geoff EmerickGeoff EmerickGeoffrey Emerick is an English recording studio audio engineer, who is best known for his work with The Beatles' albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road...
– engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Personnel per Ian MacDonaldIan MacDonaldIan MacCormick was a British music critic and author, best known for Revolution in the Head, his forensic history of The Beatles which borrowed techniques from art historians, and The New Shostakovich, a controversial study of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich...
The Love album remix
In 2006, Martin and his son, Giles MartinGiles Martin
Giles Martin is an English record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of Sir George Martin, famed producer of almost all of The Beatles' records.- Biography :...
, remixed 80 minutes of Beatles music for the Las Vegas stage performance Love
LOVE (Cirque du Soleil)
Love is a 2006 theatrical production by Cirque du Soleil which combines the re-produced and re-imagined music of The Beatles with an interpretive, circus-based artistic and athletic stage performance. The show plays at a specially built theatre at The Mirage in Las Vegas.A joint venture between...
, a joint venture between Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
and The Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd
Apple Corps
Apple Corps Ltd. is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in January 1968 by the members of The Beatles to replace their earlier company and to form a conglomerate. Its name is a pun. Its chief division is Apple Records, which was launched in the same year...
. On the Love
Love (The Beatles album)
Love is a Grammy Award-winning soundtrack remix album of music recorded by The Beatles, released in November 2006. It features music compiled and remixed as a mashup for the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name...
album, the rhythm to "Tomorrow Never Knows" was mixed with the vocals and melody from "Within You Without You
Within You Without You
"Within You Without You" is a song written by George Harrison, released on The Beatles' 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.-Composition:...
", creating a different version of the two songs. The soundtrack album from the show
Love (The Beatles album)
Love is a Grammy Award-winning soundtrack remix album of music recorded by The Beatles, released in November 2006. It features music compiled and remixed as a mashup for the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name...
was released in 2006. The Love remix is one of the main songs in The Beatles: Rock Band
The Beatles: Rock Band
The Beatles: Rock Band is a 2009 music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the third major console release in the Rock Band music video game series, in which players can simulate the playing of rock music by using...
music video game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
.
Extracts and references in other musical works
Pink Fairies
Pink Fairies were an English rock band active in the London underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s. They promoted free music, drug taking and anarchy and often performed impromptu gigs and other agitprop stunts, such as playing for free outside the gates at the Bath and Isle of Wight...
played extended versions of the song at many 1970s pop festivals. On 3 September 1976 a live, full-scale rearrangement was recorded by the band 801
801 (band)
801 were an English experimental rock band that were originally formed in 1976 for three live concerts by*Phil Manzanera *Brian Eno...
, with personnel including Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera is a musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On An Island and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America...
, Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and Andy McKay. Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
did a cover version of the song on his 1981 album Face Value. Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
covered the song on the bootleg Woke Up This Morning and Found Myself Dead
Woke Up This Morning and Found Myself Dead
Woke Up This Morning and Found Myself Dead is a posthumous live album by Jimi Hendrix released in Canada 1980 by Stony Plain Recording Co. and in the USA by Red Lightnin' Records...
. Listed in setlists as TNK, The Grateful Dead performed the song 12 times, always seguing out of Baba O'Riley
Baba O'Riley
"Baba O'Riley" is a song written by Pete Townshend for the English rock band The Who. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/don't raise your eye/it's only teenaged wasteland"...
. Subsequently, former Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
, Bob Weir
Bob Weir
Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
, and Vince Welnick
Vince Welnick
Vince Welnick was an American keyboardist, best known for playing with the band The Tubes during the 1970s and 1980s and with the Grateful Dead in the 1990s.-Music career:...
have played the song in their post-Dead projects. Portland band, Helio Sequence, covered the song on their album Com Plex
Com Plex
Com Plex is the first full length album by indie rock band The Helio Sequence. It was released September 5, 2000 on Cavity Search Records...
. Jad Fair
Jad Fair
Jad Fair is an American singer, guitarist and graphic artist, most famous for being a founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese.-Biography:In 1974, with his brother David, Jad Fair founded the lo-fi group Half Japanese...
and Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
covered the song on their 1989 album It's Spooky
It's Spooky
It's Spooky is a collaboration album by musicians Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair, of the band Half Japanese. It was first released in 1989 on 50 Skidillion Watts Records, under the title Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston. It was re-issued on CD in 1993 on Paperhouse...
, adding a twist to the lyrics after the final verse when Johnston enters shouting, "No! No! Ladies and gentlemen, do not surrender to the void! The darkness surrounds you—don't relax! You'll never get out of that pit! No! No! It isn't love—the demons will enter! No! No! No!" Chameleons UK also recorded a version, included as a bonus track on their album Strange Times. David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth was ranked nineteenth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time....
covered the song on his 2003 "Diamond Dave
Diamond Dave (album)
Diamond Dave is the sixth full-length studio album by David Lee Roth, vocalist of Van Halen. It was recorded at Henson Studios in Hollywood, California and released in 2003. It consists mostly of covers of classic rock and blues songs and has an overall laid back bluesy sound...
" album, although it's listed in the track list as "That Beatles Song."
The song is referenced in the lyrics to the Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
song Morning Glory; "Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon".
Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
group The Wailing Souls
The Wailing Souls
The Wailing Souls are a Jamaican reggae vocal group still recording and performing live, whose origins date back to the 1960s.-Career:They have recorded with many top Jamaican record producers including Coxsone Dodd of Studio One, Lloyd "King Jammy" James, Henry "Junjo" Lawes, Delroy Wilson and...
included a version on their 1998 all-cover album Psychedelic Souls. Parody band Beatallica
Beatallica
Beatallica is a mash-up band that plays music made from combinations of songs of The Beatles and Metallica. A Beatallica song is typically a blend of a Beatles song and a Metallica song with a related title Beatallica is a mash-up band that plays music made from combinations of songs of The Beatles...
recorded a mashup
Mashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
between "Tomorrow Never Knows" and Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
's "The Day That Never Comes
The Day That Never Comes
"The Day That Never Comes" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica and the lead single from their ninth studio album, Death Magnetic...
" entitled "Tomorrow Never Comes", in their 2009 album Masterful Mystery Tour
Masterful Mystery Tour
Masterful Mystery Tour is the second album from Beatallica. It contains 12 tracks, which are mashups of songs by The Beatles and Metallica...
.
Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Headed by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band additionally consists of Jeremy Taggart on percussion, Duncan Coutts on bass, and Steve Mazur as lead guitarist...
recorded a cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" for the 1996 film The Craft
The Craft (film)
The Craft is a 1996 American supernatural teen horror film directed by Andrew Fleming and starring Robin Tunney, Rachel True, Fairuza Balk and Neve Campbell. The film's plot centers on a group of four teenage girls who pursue witchcraft and use it for their own gain...
, and a cover by Carla Azar
Carla Azar
Carla Azar is a musician and a member of the band Autolux. Azar is a multi-instrumentalist but is known primarily for playing the drums. She also plays glockenspiel, xylophone, mellotron, piano, and bass guitar.-Career:...
and Alison Mosshart
Alison Mosshart
Alison Nicole Mosshart is an American singer, songwriter and occasional model best known as the lead vocalist for the indie rock band The Kills and blues rock band The Dead Weather. She started her musical career in 1995 with the Florida punk rock band Discount which disbanded in 2000...
is featured in the 2011 motion picture Sucker Punch
Sucker Punch (film)
Sucker Punch is a 2011 action-fantasy thriller film, directed by Zack Snyder and co-written by him and Steve Shibuya. It is Snyder's first film based on an original script. The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Oscar Isaac...
.