‘Come Together’ is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on their 1969 album Abbey Road and was also released as a single coupled with ‘Something’. Apple Records released Abbey Road on 26 September 1969, Commercially, the single was a massive success, staying on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for 16 weeks, and reaching No. 1. It was released on 31 October 1969 in the UK and reached No. 4.
Timothy Leary was a psychologist who became famous for experimenting with LSD as a way to promote social interaction and raise consciousness. Leary did many experiments on volunteers and himself and felt the drug had many positive qualities if taken correctly. When the government cracked down on LSD, Leary's experiments were stopped and he was arrested on drug charges. In 1969, Leary decided to run for Governor of California, and asked John Lennon to write a song for him. "Come Together, Join The Party" was Leary's campaign slogan (a reference to the drug culture he supported) and was the original title of the song. Leary never had much of a campaign, but the slogan gave Lennon the idea for this song.
After Timothy Leary decided against using this song for his political campaign Lennon added some nonsense lyrics and brought it to the Abbey Road sessions. Paul McCartney recalled in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs: "I said, 'Let's slow it down with a swampy bass-and-drums vibe.' I came up with a bass line, and it all flowed from there." In a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, John Lennon said: "The thing was created in the studio. It's gobbledygook. 'Come Together' was an expression that Tim Leary had come up with for (perhaps for the governorship of California against Reagan), and he asked me to write a campaign song. I tried and I tried, but I couldn't come up with one. But I came up with this, 'Come Together,' which would've been no good to him - you couldn't have a campaign song like that, right?"
The Beatles recorded this on July 21, 1969 and it was the first session John Lennon actively participated in following his and Yoko's car accident 3 weeks earlier. John was so insistent on Yoko being in the studio with him that he had a hospital bed set up in the studio for her right after the accident, since she was more seriously injured than he was.
The song has been covered by several other artists, including Ike & Tina Turner, Aerosmith, Joe Cocker and Michael Jackson. Rolling Stone ranked ‘Come Together’ at No. 202 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, re-ranking it No. 205 in the 2010 revised list. In May 2021, Ringo Starr said it was his favorite Beatles song in an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Label – Apple
Songwriters – John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Producer – George Martin
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
[Verse 1]
Here come old flat-top, he come grooving up slowly
He got ju-ju eyeball, he one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker, he just do what he please
[Interlude]
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
[Verse 2]
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
[Chorus]
Come together, right now
Over me
[Interlude]
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
[Verse 3]
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
[Chorus]
Come together, right now
Over me
[Interlude]
Shoot me
Right
Come, come, come, come, come
[Verse 4]
He roller-coaster, he got early warnin'
He got muddy water, he one mojo filter
He say, "One and one and one is three"
Got to be good-lookin', 'cause he's so hard to see
[Chorus]
Come together, right now
Over me
[Interlude]
Shoot me
Shoot me
Shoot me
Oh
[Outro]
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Oh
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah