Welcome back to the Golden Nuggets series, where I take a look at the top song on the Billboard charts from 50 years ago, share my opinion, and reflect on the listening take of the American public of generations gone by. As is becoming an unfortunate tradition, I'm a little behind on the schedule, but I'm trying to close the gap. This edition is dedicated to the one and only Beatles, with their song 'Come Together', which was the number one song during the end of November/beginning of December, 1969. If you've never heard the song (which, honestly, seems impossible), you can take a listen to the song here. With that out of the way, let's proceed.
To me, this has always been one of the more strange Beatles singles. Obviously, the lyrics are purposefully obtuse, a little comical in places (of course he has feet below his knee, unless they were amputated), and nonsensical, but I also find the sound of the song itself a little out there. The little chorus riff and the outro sound normal enough, but the sonic backdrop to the verses and that weird whooshing sound (is that a synth or just a vocal?) doesn't really sound like something that would be topping the charts. However, the Beatles make it work.
There have been countless covers of this song over the years, probably the most notable being Aerosmith's cover for the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie, the Joe Cocker cover in Across the Universe or the Gary Clark Jr. version for the terrible Justice League. I'd say either the Beatles version or the Joe Cocker version is my favorite; the former for being tightly arranged but stil sounding a little out there and appearing a little loose at first listen, and the latter for having such a soulful yet eccentric vocal delivery (plus the accompanying visuals of Cocker dancing/ doing air guitar is always extra points).
To be honest, I know a lot of the listening public in 1969 just drove this to the top because it was the Beatles. It seems pretty tame now, but after taking a look at a lot of music that topped the charts during this time, this was a lot more adventurous than the typical pop song of the day. I honestly don't have a lot more tosay about this song, since I feel like the amount that has been said about the Beatles could probably fill a library on its own, so I'll leave it here.
Stop back in soon for my next installment of the Golden Nuggets series,
'Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye' by Steam.
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