Golden Slumbers

From BeatlesWiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Golden Slumbers is a song off The Beatles' 1969 album, Abbey Road. It was written by Paul McCartney, though heavily based off an older poem.

Contents

[edit] Writing

The lyrics were based off a ballad written by Thomas Dekker, a poet who lived from 1570 to 1632. Paul McCartney saw sheet music to it at his father's Liverpool house. Paul recalls, "I was playing the piano in Liverpool in my dad's house, and my stepsister Ruth's piano book was up on the stand. I was flicking through it and I came to Golden Slumbers. I can't read music and I couldn't remember the old tune, so I just started playing my own tune to it. I liked the words so I kept them, and it fitted with another bit of song I had." Paul slightly changed the lyrics. When Dekker's original lyrics were published in 1600 in The Pleasant Comedy of Old Fortunatus, they went:

"Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,
Smiles awake you when you rise;
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby,
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

Care is heavy, therefore sleep you,
You are care, and care must keep you;
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby,
Rock them, rock them, lullaby."

[edit] Recording

The song was recorded together with Carry That Weight on July 2, 1969, in fifteen takes. Because of a recent car accident in Scotland, John Lennon was not at the session, and therefore does not appear on this song. George Harrison played bass, Ringo Starr played drums, and Paul McCartney played piano. Paul recalls, "I remember trying to get a very strong vocal on it, because it was such a gentle theme, so I worked on the strength of the vocal on it, and ended up quite pleased with it." The best takes of this day were decided to be Takes 13 and 15, which were edited together at the end of this session. On July 30 and July 31, Paul's lead vocals were overdubbed. On August 15, the orchestra was overdubbed. More overdubs were made, but Golden Slumbers was a fairly straightforward recording.

[edit] Recording Sessions


[edit] Personnel

[edit] The Beatles

[edit] Guest Musicians

  • Unknown musicians played 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, double bass, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, a trombone, and a bass trombone.

[edit] Production

[edit] Available Versions

[edit] The Beatles

[edit] Paul McCartney

[edit] Cover Versions

[edit] Source

Retrieved from "http://beatleswiki.org/wiki/Golden_Slumbers"
Personal tools