| "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles
from the album The Beatles |
||
| Released | 22 November 1968 | |
| Recorded | 27 June 1968 | |
| Genre | Rock and roll, hard rock | |
| Length | 2:24 | |
| Label | Apple Records | |
| Writer | Lennon/McCartney | |
| Producer | George Martin | |
| The Beatles track listing | ||
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"Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" is a song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and performed by The Beatles on their 1968 double-disc album The Beatles, also known as "The White Album".
Contents |
Origins
In 1980, Lennon said: "That was just a sort of nice line that I made into a song. It was about me and Yoko. Everybody seemed to be paranoid except for us two, who were in the glow of love. Everything is clear and open when you're in love. Everybody was sort of tense around us: You know, 'What is she doing here at the session? Why is she with him?' All this sort of madness is going on around us because we just happened to want to be together all the time."[1]
The song's title is the longest of any in the Beatles' catalogue, and it originates from a quote by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,[2] however, as for the "and My Monkey" part, George Harrison attested that he didn't "know where that came from" though McCartney believes it was a reference to Lennon's heroin habit.[3]
Recording
The released version of the song was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on 27 June 1968, and an overdub session on 1 July.[3]
Personnel
- John Lennon – vocal, guitar, percussion, handclaps
- Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass, bell,[4] percussion, handclaps
- George Harrison – backing vocal, lead guitar, percussion, handclaps
- Ringo Starr – drums, percussion, handclaps
- Personnel per Ian MacDonald[5] except as noted.
Cover versions
- Fats Domino covered the song in 1970, which reportedly pleased Lennon, a long-time fan of Domino's.[citation needed]
- The Latin music group Orchestra Harlow, led by pianist Larry Harlow, covered the song on his 1969 album Me and My Monkey (Mi Mono y Yo).
- Ramsey Lewis included an instrumental version of the song on his 1968 album Mother Nature's Son.
- The American rock group the Feelies also covered the song on their 1980 debut album, Crazy Rhythms.
- Soundgarden covered the song during a 1989 John Peel session during which they also covered a Sly and the Family Stone song.
- Phish covered the song when they played the entire album on Halloween 1994, which they released as Live Phish Volume 13.
- Beatallica covered the song as "Everybody's Got a Ticket to Ride Except for Me and My Lightning", which combines the titles of this song, "Ticket to Ride", and the Metallica song "Ride the Lightning".
- Kristin Hersh covered this song on her 1999 Echo EP, which was released in conjunction with her third solo album, Sky Motel.
- The Trews have covered this song during many of their live sets.
- 60ft Dolls put a live cover of the song on track two of their 'Happy Shopper' CD Single in 1996.
- Hoodoo Gurus covered the song for an Australian radio performance and released it on Bite the Bullet in 1998.
- Dr. Sin made a version for the song in the project "White Album 40 years", 2008.
- My Brightest Diamond covered the song for The White Album: Revisited, a CD of cover versions from The Beatles, given away free with Mojo magazine in the UK in late 2008.
Notes
- ^ Sheff 2000, pp. 190-191.
- ^ MacDonaldp 2005, p. 293.
- ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, p. 139.
- ^ Emerick & Massey 2006, p. 387.
- ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 293.
References
- Emerick, Geoff; Massey, Howard (2006). Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 1-592-40179-1.
- Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-844-13828-3.
- Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
External links
- Alan W. Pollack's analysis of the song
- The Beatles Bible: Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
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