The Beatles' 'Come Together:' Song Meaning, Lyrics, And History

By | April 14, 2020

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The Beatles. Source: Wikimedia Commons

"Here come old flat-top" it begins, then describes a man with "ju-ju eyeball," "toe-jam football" and "monkey finger" -- "Come Together" contains lyrics that are bizarre even by Beatles standards. We'll probably never know the meaning of every single line, but the history of the song gives us some insight into John Lennon's state of mind.

When it comes to singles The Beatles are a band unmatched in quality. Year after year, album after album John, Paul, George, and Ringo put out non-stop bangers and “Come Together” is easily one of their most groovy tracks. Paul’s bass line doesn’t sound like anything else from their catalog, and the sludgy, funky chorus informed rock n roll throughout the 1970s.

This killer track from Abbey Road got its start as a quickie acoustic song written for Timothy Leary, but once Lennon brought it to the group “Come Together” took on an entirely new life. In spite of the lawsuits and covers that have stemmed from the track it’s still one of the all-time great Beatles tracks that sounds as fresh today as it did in 1969.

John Lennon Wrote The Song For Timothy Leary

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source: IMDB

While hosting one of their bed-ins in Montreal, Canada on June 1, 1969, Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono were joined by Timothy Leary, a psychologist and author who advocated for the use of psychedelic drugs in order to open consciousness and better understand your fellow man. Leary and his wife ended up singing on “Give Peace a Chance,” the first single by the Plastic Ono Band and thanks to that Lennon and Leary struck up a friendship.

The next day Lennon asked Leary if there was anything he could do for the author’s political campaign. At the time he was running for governor in California against Ronald Reagan and the author could use all the help he could get. The campaign’s slogan was “Come Together,” a reference to the I Ching as well as an invitation to join Leary’s political party and Lennon thought that was a pretty good place to start.