| "Because" | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music cover | |
| Song bythe Beatles | |
| from the albumAbbey Road | |
| Released | 26 September 1969 (1969-09-26) |
| Recorded | 1–5 August 1969 |
| Studio | EMI, London |
| Genre | Psychedelia[1] |
| Length | 2:45 |
| Label | Apple |
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
| Audio sample | |
"Because" is a song written byJohn Lennon[2] (credited toLennon–McCartney) and recorded by the English rock bandthe Beatles. It was released on their 1969 albumAbbey Road, immediately preceding the extendedmedley on side two of the record. It features a prominent three-part vocal harmony by Lennon,Paul McCartney andGeorge Harrison, recorded three times to make nine voices in all.
The song begins with a distinctiveelectric harpsichord intro played by producerGeorge Martin. The harpsichord is joined by Lennon's guitar (mimicking the harpsichord line) played through aLeslie speaker. Then vocals and bass guitar enter.
"Because" was one of few Beatles recordings to feature aMoog synthesiser, played by George Harrison. It appears in whatAlan Pollack refers to as the "mini-bridge",[3] and then again at the end of the song.
Lennon said the song was inspired byLudwig van Beethoven'sMoonlight Sonata.
"I was lying on the sofa in our house, listening toYoko play Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' on the piano. Suddenly, I said, 'Can you play those chords backward?' She did, and I wrote 'Because' around them. The song sounds like 'Moonlight Sonata,' too. The lyrics are clear, no bullshit, no imagery, no obscure references."[2][4]
With regard to citing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", musicologistWalter Everett notes that "both arpeggiate triads and seventh chords inC♯ minor in thebaritone range of a keyboard instrument at a slow tempo, move through thesubmediant to♭II and approachviidim7/IV via a common tone."[5] But while acknowledging the unusual shared harmonies, Dominic Pedler notes that the relationship is not the result of reversing the order of the chords as Lennon suggested.[6]
"Because" concludes with a vocal fade-out on Ddim, which keeps listeners in suspense as they wait for the return to the home key of C♯ minor. Mellers states that: "causality is released and there is no before and no after:because that flat supertonic is a moment of revelation, it needs no resolution."[7] The Ddim chord (and its accompanying melodic F♮) lingers until they resolve into the opening Am7 chord of "You Never Give Me Your Money".
George Martin notes that on "Because":
Between us, we also created a backing track with John playing a riff on guitar, me duplicating every note on an electronic harpsichord, and Paul playing bass. Each note between the guitar and harpsichord had to be exactly together, and as I'm not the world's greatest player in terms of timing, I would make more mistakes than John did, so we had Ringo playing a regular beat on hi-hat to us through our headphones.[8]
The main recording session for "Because" was on 1 August 1969, with vocaloverdubs on 4 August, and a double-tracked Moog synthesiser overdub by Harrison on 5 August.[9] As a result, this was the last song on the album to be committed to tape, although there were still overdubs for other incomplete songs. This approach took extensive rehearsal, and more than five hours of extremely focused recording, to capture correctly. McCartney and Harrison both said it was their favourite track onAbbey Road. EngineerGeoff Emerick said, "They knew they were doing something special, and they were determined to get it right."[10]
A remixed version of the song, with the instrumentation removed so as to highlight the three-part harmony by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, was released on 1996'sAnthology 3 and as ana cappella on 2006'sLove. In 2016, theAnthology 3 mix became the first recording by the Beatles to appear in a film trailer when it was featured in the trailer forLuc Besson's filmValerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.[11] The three-part backing vocals were also used in the 2023 Beatles song "Now and Then".[12]
Personnel perIan MacDonald:[13]
