Carry That Weight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Carry That Weight" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Song by The Beatles | ||
| from the album Abbey Road | ||
| Released | September 26, 1969 | |
| Recorded | July 2-August 15, 1969 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 1:36 | |
| Label | Apple Records | |
| Writer(s) | Lennon-McCartney | |
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |
| Abbey Road track listing | ||
| "Golden Slumbers" (14) |
"Carry That Weight" (15) |
"The End" (16) |
"Carry That Weight" is a song by The Beatles. Released on Abbey Road and part of the long, climactic medley that closes the album, it features vocals from all four of The Beatles. It is preceded by "Golden Slumbers", and it segues into "The End".
The middle bridge, featuring brass instruments, electric guitar and vocals, reprises the beginning of "You Never Give Me Your Money", but with different lyrics. The ending also reprises the guitar motif from the end of that track, also featured prominently in the George Harrison written tracks "Here Comes The Sun" and "Badge" (co-written by Harrison and Eric Clapton).
This was also one of the few songs that The Beatles ever recorded that featured all four band members vocally harmonising. Other examples include "Yellow Submarine", "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)", "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", "Flying", and the last five minutes of "Hey Jude".
The title (and main lyric) is a reference to two people, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. In Paul's view, John, if he allowed the Beatles to break up, would be "carrying the weight" for that for the rest of his life. While the Beatles more came apart than were broken up by John, Paul is essentially blaming him (and Yoko Ono) for the decline in the band's relationship. The second reference, to Paul himself, is about "carrying the weight" of the band by acting as the manager after the death of Brian Epstein. Until he took on the job, Paul had never realized how much Brian did for them, nor how difficult it was to manage the financial side of the Beatles. Similar sentiments are echoed in another of Paul's Abbey Road songs, "You Never Give Me Your Money". [1]
[edit] Controversy
After the song's interlude, "Paul, you're going to carry that weight" can be heard in the chorus.
[edit] Trivia
- In 1976, The Bee Gees covered the song for the transitory musical documentary All This and World War II.
- The last line of the anime Cowboy Bebop is "You're gonna carry that weight", in homage to this song.
- In 2006 a video began circulating the internet featuring comedian Chris Bliss juggling to "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight", and "The End".
[edit] Notes
- ^ Norman, Philip (1997). Shout: The Beatles in Their Generation. MJF Books. ISBN 1-56731-087-7.
 |
This article about a song by one or more members of The Beatles is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
