Here, There and Everywhere

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"Here, There and Everywhere"
Song

"Here, There and Everywhere" is a song written by Paul McCartney[3][4] (credited to Lennon–McCartney), released on the Beatles' 1966 album Revolver. McCartney includes it among his personal favourites of all the songs he has written. The composition has received similar praise from the Beatles' producer, George Martin, and McCartney's former bandmate John Lennon. In 2000, Mojo ranked it 4th in the magazine's list of the greatest songs of all time.[5]

The Beatles recorded "Here, There and Everywhere" in June 1966, towards the end of the sessions for Revolver. Having recently attended a listening party for the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, McCartney was particularly inspired by Brian Wilson's song "God Only Knows".

Background and inspiration

When discussing his song "Here, There and Everywhere", Paul McCartney has frequently cited Brian Wilson's "God Only Knows" as his main source of inspiration.[6] The latter track appeared on the Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds, which in turn had been influenced by the Beatles' Rubber Soul, issued in December 1965.[7][8] On 17 May 1966, the day after the new Beach Boys album had been released in America, McCartney and John Lennon attended a private listening party for Pet Sounds held at London's Waldorf Hotel.[9]

Deeply impressed by Wilson's songs,[10] McCartney wrote "Here, There and Everywhere" two weeks later at Lennon's house in Weybridge, while waiting for Lennon to wake up. McCartney recalled: "I sat out by the pool on one of the sun chairs with my guitar and started strumming in E. And soon [I] had a few chords, and I think by the time he'd woken up, I had pretty much written the song, so we took it indoors and finished it up."[11]

Musical structure

Author Kenneth Womack describes "Here, There and Everywhere" as a romantic ballad "about living in the here and now" and "fully experiencing the conscious moment".[12] The verse is based on an ascending major chord sequence, while the middle eight, which modulates to the tonic minor, creates a telling contrast. The introduction beginning "To lead a better life" opens in the key of G and involves a I-iii-♭III-ii-V7 chord progression. The ♭III (B♭ chord) on "I need my love to be here" (arpeggiated in the melody line) is a dissonant substitute for the more predictable VI (E7) that would normally lead to the ii (Am) chord.[13] Music critic Richie Unterberger considers that this "dramatic opening [lyric]" contains "an almost philosophical undertone of humility, acknowledging that the singer needs his woman not just to be happy, but also to be a better person".[14]

The verse opens strongly anchored on "Here" in the key of G (with simultaneous I (G chord) and melody G note) and moves equally predictably to a I-ii-iii-IV chord shift (G-Am-Bm-C) through "making each day of the year".[15] This repeats on "Changing my life with a wave"; but immediately after (in bar 5) the song indeed changes on "of her hand". It goes down six semitones from the IV (C chord) to a ii (F#m) [adding a non-G scale C#] then a V7 (B7) chord [adding a non-G scale D#] which briefly modulates towards a new tonic Em. McCartney mostly sings a B note ("of her hand") over both F#m, where it is the eleventh, and the B7, where it is the tonic. When the sequence is repeated ("nobody can"), McCartney sings both B and C natural over the F#m, the C natural producing a tritone. [16]

The harmonic fascination with the bridge segment beginning "I want her everywhere" is that at that point the key centre does go "everywhere". It shifts via an F7 chord (a ♭VII in the old G key and a V7 in the new B♭ key) to a I-vi-ii (B♭-Gm-Cm) chord progression in B♭ key. It then shifts again via a D7 chord (a III7 in the old B♭ key and a V7 in the new Gm key) to Gm key where we go through a i-iv (Gm-Cm chord) progression. Finally the pivot of D7 takes us back to the G major tonic and reinforcing G melody note of "Everywhere."[17]

Rolling Stone has noted: "The tune's chord sequence bears Brian Wilson's influence, ambling through three related keys without ever fully settling into one, and the modulations – particularly the one on the line 'changing my life with a wave of her hand' – deftly underscore the lyrics, inspired by McCartney's girlfriend, actress Jane Asher."[11]

Recording

The Beatles recorded "Here, There and Everywhere" towards the end of the sessions for their 1966 album Revolver.[18] The band worked on the song at Abbey Road Studios over three session dates – on 14, 16 and 17 June.[19] Before carrying out overdubs, they taped 13 takes before achieving a satisfactory basic track.[20]

The recording is noted for its layered backing vocals,[1] which McCartney, Lennon and George Harrison spent much of the three days attempting to perfect. McCartney mentioned in the 1989 radio series McCartney on McCartney that the vocals were meant to have a Beach Boys sound; he has also said that he was trying to sing it in the style of Marianne Faithfull.[21] McCartney's lead vocal on the recording is multi-tracked.[22] In his book Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald also comments on Harrison's lead guitar part being given a mandolin-like tone via a Leslie speaker effect, before it adopts a "horn-like timbre" for the song's ending.[19]

Release and reception

"Here, There and Everywhere" was released in August 1966 as the fifth track on Revolver, sequenced between Harrison's Indian-styled "Love You To", and the children's song "Yellow Submarine".[23] Writing of its positioning in the running order, music critic Tim Riley says that "Here, There and Everywhere" "domesticates" the "eroticisms" of "Love You To", and he praises the composition as "the most perfect song" that McCartney had ever written.[24] In his review for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger describes "Here, There and Everywhere" as one of its author's "outstanding contribution[s]" to the genre of "love ballads", and a song with "the sound of an instant standard". Unterberger comments on the recording: "The delicacy of the execution is exquisite, the sensual imagery more explicit, the sense of desire and fulfillment tangible."[14] Less impressed, Ian MacDonald admired the "ingenuity of the music" but concluded that "for all its soft-focus charm the song's overall effect is chintzy and rather cloying."[19]

In his authorised biography, Many Years From Now, McCartney names "Here, There and Everywhere" as one of his personal favourites.[3] Beatles producer George Martin has also highlighted it among his favourite McCartney songs. Lennon reportedly told McCartney that "Here, There and Everywhere" was "the best tune" on Revolver. In a 1980 interview for Playboy magazine, Lennon described it as "one of my favourite songs of the Beatles".[4]

In 2000, Mojo placed "Here, There and Everywhere" at number 4 on its list of the greatest songs of all time.[5] In April 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it 25th out of the "100 Greatest Beatles Songs".[11]

Cover versions

Unterberger highlights Emmylou Harris among the notable artists who have recorded "Here, There and Everywhere".[14] Other noted performers of the song include Beegie Adair,[25] Clay Aiken, David Benoit, George Benson,[25] Peter Breinholt, Petula Clark, Perry Como, Count Basie Orchestra,[25] Darren Day, John Denver, Céline Dion (for a George Martin/Beatles tribute album),[25] Arik Einstein, Episode Six, Jose Feliciano (instrumental),[25] The Fourmost, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders (instrumental),[26] Bobbie Gentry, Stéphane Grappelli,[25] Ofra Harnoy,[25] The Flying Pickets, Jay and the Americans, The Lettermen, Locksley, Kenny Loggins (on Kenny Loggins Alive),[25] Claudine Longet, John McDermott, Carmen McRae,[25] Olivia Ong, Maaya Sakamoto, George Shearing,[25] The Singers Unlimited, Sissel, Göran Söllscher,[25] Marina Verenikina, Jose Mari Chan, Camilo Sesto, John Williams (instrumental),[27] Andy Williams, and David Gilmour.

Bruce Welch of The Shadows claimed in his autobiography that McCartney offered the tune to Shadows lead guitarist Hank Marvin prior to the Beatles' recording.[28] Marvin eventually released an instrumental version of the song on his 2007 album Guitar Man. Gary Sparrow sings this song on the piano in an episode of Goodnight Sweetheart.

Cultural references

In the TV series Friends, this song is played on steel drums when Phoebe Buffay walks down the aisle during her wedding. It was the second time a song written by McCartney was used in a wedding sequence in the series; the first being "My Love" when Chandler and Monica married.

Geoff Emerick, who engineered many of the Beatles' recordings, used the title of the song for that of his 2006 memoir, Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles.

Art Garfunkel named "Here, There and Everywhere" as his "all-time favorite pop song."[29]

Personnel

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[22]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pollack 1994.
  2. ↑ Moorefield 2005.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Miles 1997, pp. 285–86.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sheff 2000, p. 179.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Rodriguez 2012, p. 78.
  7. ↑ MacDonald 1998, pp. 186, 380.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Rodriguez 2012, pp. 77–78.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Womack 2007, p. 140.
  13. ↑ Pedler 2003, pp. 449-450.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Pedler 2003, pp. 80-81.
  16. ↑ Pedler 2003, pp. 81-82.
  17. ↑ Pedler 2003, p. 356.
  18. ↑ Everett 1999, pp. 59–60.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 MacDonald 1998, p. 186.
  20. ↑ Rodriguez 2012, p. 145.
  21. ↑ Miles 1997, pp. 285-286.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 MacDonald 2005, p. 210.
  23. ↑ Miles 2001, pp. 237–38.
  24. ↑ Riley 1988, p. 187.
  25. ↑ 25.00 25.01 25.02 25.03 25.04 25.05 25.06 25.07 25.08 25.09 25.10 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Classic Guitar Greatest Hits CD
  28. ↑ Welch 1989.
  29. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0307316/bio

Sources

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External links

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