After several poor songs in a row, it's a real pleasure to blogging about Come Together. A fantastic song, brilliant lyrics and one of the best performance on Abbey Road from the whole band. Every Beatle shines and the result is electrifying. A song like this is too good to contain in one post!
Nonsense can be good
After rubbishing Bathroom Window I might seem like a slave to song logic but that's not the case. Nonsense is great as a genre if it's done right. In Come Together Lennon gives us a master class.
Though we may not understand every phrase what's important is that he is painting a very clear, almost hypnotic portrait of an individual. Someone who has a joojoo eyeball and a monkey finger, a diseased individual. He's good looking but somehow hard to see. He want's you to be comfortable even as he holds you prisoner. Would you let your daughter marry this guy? No way.
The picture isn't ambiguous after all.
He reminds me a little of Randall Flagg from Stephen King's The Stand. A dangerous joke, a charming and charismatic psychopath. The chorus becomes almost messianic, fuelled by the lift from the F# in the melody over the unexpected Bm chord
Come together. Right now. Over me.
The disconnect between chorus lyrics and the vibe of the verse is almost chilling. This is a rousing call for unity from a very dangerous man.
This is the point where I'm supposed to ask, “Who is this man? Who did Lennon have in mind? Is he Lennon himself?”
Who cares? We all know this man. We've seen him a hundred times before in a million different disguises. I'm more interested in the artistry of the words than playing Da Vinci Code: Beatles Edition.
More on the nuts and bolts next time. Meanwhile here's the lyrics in full. Enjoy.
(Shoot me)
Here come old flattop, he come grooving up slowly
He got joo-joo eyeball, he one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker he just do what he please
He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football
He got monkey finger, he shoot coca-cola
He say "I know you, you know me
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free.
Come together right now over me”
He bag production, he got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knee
Hold you in his armchair, you can feel his disease
Come together right now over me
He roller-coaster, he got early warning
He got muddy water, he one mojo filter
He say "One and one and one is three"
Got to be good-looking cause he's so hard to see
Come together right now over me
I'm not sure whether I read a charming psychopath described here--I think Lennon could be describing himself in silly, strangely grandiose terms. An ironic advertisement for himself.
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