“ Sun King ” ( Russian: The Sun King ) is a Beatles song written by John Lennon [1] (attributed to Lennon and McCartney ). The composition is part of a potpourri on the second side of the Abbey Road album.
| Sun king | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executor | The beatles | |||
| Album | Abbey road | |||
| Date of issue | September 26, 1969 | |||
| Date Recorded | July 24, 25 and 29, 1969 | |||
| Genre | psychedelic rock | |||
| Song language | ||||
| Duration | 2:26 | |||
| Label | Apple records | |||
| Author | Lennon - McCartney | |||
| Composer | ||||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| Abbey Road Album Track List | ||||
| ||||
Song Structure
The working title of the song was “Here Comes the Sun King” [2] , but in the end it was decided to shorten it to its current name in order to avoid confusion with Harrison’s song “ Here Comes the Sun ”. The name of the song, according to Ian MacDonald , was inspired by Lennon biography of Louis XIV (we are talking about a book by Nancy Mitford, which was released in 1966) [3] .
The song softly begins with the sounds of wildlife (birdsong, gurgling and chirping of insects), which ends the previous song " You Never Give Me Your Money ". At the end of the song, music breaks off sharply; the transition to the subsequent composition “ Mean Mr. Mustard ”is performed using the shock passage performed by Ringo Starr. Like many other songs from the Abbey Road album (especially “ Because ”), the song is characterized by rich harmonious vocals. The song is also characterized by unusual jazz harmonies [4] .
At the end of the song, there are several meaningless lines in a mixture of Romance (mainly Spanish) and English. In 1969, Lennon was asked a question about these lines, to which he replied: “We were just having fun, singing“ cuando para mucho “. Well, we just decided to develop this topic. Paul knew some Spanish words from school. So we just wove here some Spanish words that would sound like something meaningful. Naturally, just “chicka ferdy” came out. This is a Liverpool expression. Just for style - these words meant nothing more to me than just “na-na, na-na-na” ” [5] .
Another characteristic feature of the song is the use of cross-phasing (stereo panning): the sounds of the solo guitar slowly move from the right channel to the left and then back, which happens at the beginning and end of the song. In 1987, Harrison claimed that this recording method was inspired by Fleetwood Mac 's Albatross. According to him, “[Our composition] was not at all like the sound of Fleetwood Mac, but it was from them that we repelled” [5] .
Record Song
The first studio work on the recording of the song was carried out in January 1969 during sessions devoted to the working album “Get Back” [6] , but then the recorded doubles were not included in the final version.
Work on the final version of the song (along with its continuation of “ Mean Mr. Mustard ”) began on July 24, 1969 at Abby Road Studios, when 35 takes of the base rhythm track were recorded. The next day, additional vocal parts, piano and organ parts were recorded. On July 29, the last incremental parts were recorded [1] .
- In the recording participated: [3] [~ 1]
- John Lennon - repeatedly recorded and mixed main vocals, rhythm guitar, maracas
- Paul McCartney - Earpads, Bass, Harmonium, Piano, Band Loops
- George Harrison - Solo Guitar
- Ringo Starr - drums, bongo , tambourine
- George Martin - Lowrey organ
Other versions of the song
- In 1976, Bee Gees recorded a cover version of the song for the musical documentary "All This and World War II."
- Some of the vocal parts from the song “Sun King” in a reverse form were included in the album Love (2006) as a separate composition called “Gnik Nus”. The song “ Octopus's Garden ” on the same album uses the instrumental fragment of the song “Sun King” as the ending.
Note
- ↑ Since the compositions are “Sun King” and “ Mean Mr. Mustard ”were recorded as a whole, Ian MacDonald gives only a summary of who played what (in relation to both compositions at the same time). This description, therefore, does not apply specifically to the composition "Sun King", but to it together with "Mean Mr. Mustard "in general.
Sources
- ↑ 1 2 The Beatles Bible: “Sun King” . The Beatles Bible. Date of treatment September 23, 2012. Archived November 1, 2012.
- ↑ Lewisohn, 1988 , p. 182.
- ↑ 1 2 MacDonald, 2005 , p. 363.
- ↑ Pedler, Dominic. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles . - Omnibus, 2003.- P. 62, 198, 469, 470, 570.- 791 p. - ISBN 9780711981676 .
- ↑ 1 2 Abbey Road - Sun King . The Beatles Interview Database. Date of treatment September 23, 2012. Archived November 1, 2012.
- ↑ The Beatles Bible: Get Back / Let It Be sessions . The Beatles Bible. Date of treatment December 18, 2016. Archived on October 29, 2012.
Literature
- Lewisohn, Mark . The Beatles Recording Sessions . - 2nd ed. - New York: Harmony Books, 1988 .-- ISBN 0-517-57066-1 .
- MacDonald, Ian . Brain Flip: The Beatles and the Sixties = Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties. - 2nd ed. - London: Pimlico, 2005 .-- 554 p. - ISBN 1-844-13828-3 .
Links
- The Beatles Bible: “Sun King” . The Beatles Bible. Date of treatment September 23, 2012. Archived November 1, 2012.
- Lyrics for Sun King (link unavailable) . steve.hamel.name. Date of treatment July 9, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.
- Alan W. Pollack. Notes on the song “Sun King” . Date of treatment September 23, 2012. Archived November 1, 2012.
- Video with the sound of the studio version of the song “Sun King” (Retrieved September 23, 2012)
- Video with the sound of the song “Gnuk Nus” (Retrieved September 23, 2012)