How can musical gods make mistakes? Some of the biggest names in rock and roll tend to have a certain halo around them whenever they are at one with the muse, so surely it takes a massive amount of emotional strength to make masterpieces without breaking a sweat, right? But, yes, even the best of the rock pantheon have struggled from time to time, and even in their final hours, The Beatles had a hard time nailing down the harmony lines on their masterpiece, ‘Because’.
But, really, you can’t blame John Lennon for the complex harmony. If anything, blame Beethoven. When Lennon was first starting to put the tune together, his initial idea was based on listening to Yoko Ono play the chords to the classical composer’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ and then translating it over to a guitar and a harpsichord.
Before the biggest names in progressive music got to it first, this was a major example of how classical music and rock and roll could play nice together, but it wouldn’t be solidified until the harmonies were put on. Since Abbey Road was beginning to look like the end of the Fab Four, their harmonies are some of their most impressive ever put to tape, including nine voices stacked on top of each other on the final version of ‘Because’.
In that respect, hearing Lennon harmonise with Paul McCartney and George Harrison has almost a Gregorian chant-like quality. Since the entire track is based around the elemental parts of life and their importance to the nature of existence, hearing them sing feels like they’re using the voice more like an actual instrument rather than just putting any old vocal on vinyl.
It didn’t come without a fight, though. To get all nine voices singing clearly, Harrison remembered just how difficult it was trying to get every one of those tracks to blend, saying, “The lyrics are so simple. The harmony was pretty difficult to sing. We had to really learn it. But I think that’s one of the tunes that will impress most people. It’s really good.”
Despite The Beatles drifting further away from each other towards the end of their career, there are a lot of pieces to this tune that are reminiscent of where Harrison was with his songwriting sensibilities. He was becoming the sage-like guru of the group, so having Lennon take some cues from his playbook by talking about the spiritual side of music was just another instance of their synergy.
Then again, it wouldn’t be truly appreciated until years after the fact. When George Martin worked with his son Giles on the Love album, kicking things off with their isolated vocals from ‘Because’ is one of the best tone-setters for a record meant to celebrate what The Beatles stood for.
Because they weren’t just about writing the next love song or reminding everyone that love was all they needed, they were concerned with breaking new ground whenever they could, so when listening to ‘Because’, just remember that it’s not three singers in a room. It’s a celestial choir singing about the wonders of existence.
