Tomorrow Never Knows (Remastered 2009)

The final track of the classic album Revolver by The Beatles is sung by John Lennon and primarily written by him, although it’s credited as Lennon-McCartney, like all other songs written by Paul or John. The song is considered revolutionary with the use of reversed sounds, tape loops as well as the experimental instrumentation and recording. This is the first pop song which contains reversed sounds (even though “Rain” came out earlier, it was recorded after “Tomorrow Never Knows”). Typical for The Beatles, the drums are highly compressed. The Indian influence is apparent, as it contains modified sounds of Sitar and Tanpura. To create the rich vocal sound, instead of a second vocal take, Automatic Double Tracking was used. In one vocal take, a second tape is recorded with a delay. Furthermore, some of Lennon’s vocals were recorded while played by a Leslie speaker, which modifies the sound by rotating the loudspeakers. This effect can be heard after the reversed guitar solo in the middle of the song. The working title of this song was “The Void,” a title which Lennon ultimately rejected because he felt that it would sound too pretentious, especially since it was the album’s final track.

[Verse 1] Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream It is not dying, it is not dying [Verse 2] Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void It is shining, it is shining [Verse 3] That you may see the meaning of within It is being, it is being [Solo] [Verse 4] That love is all and love is everyone It is knowing, it is knowing [Verse 5] That ignorance and hate may mourn the dead It is believing, it is believing [Verse 6] But listen to the colour of your dreams It is not living, it is not living [Verse 7] Or play the game "Existence" to the end Of the beginning, of the beginning [Outro] Of the beginning, of the beginning Of the beginning, of the beginning Of the beginning