Come Together

As the song of the month, it's Come Together. We all know the song and we've heard it been interpreted so many different ways. Here's the song someone made in flash animation. If you look closely, you can see their interpretation of the song:

OK, the meaning of the lyrics are actually quite clear and relevant if you know some history about the Beatles and are somewhat familiar with the idioms and slang of the era:
1st verse:

"HERE COME OL' FLAT-TOP,

HE COME GROOVIN' UP SLOWLY.

HE GOT HAIR DOWN TO HIS KNEE,

GOT TO BE A JOKER HE JUST DO WHAT HE PLEASE."
This verse references Ringo. "Flat-Top" makes reference to Ringo's bluesy musical roots and the disparaging stereotype that was often applied to those that played that style of music.

"Groovin' up slowly" refers to the fact that Ringo was the last to join the final and 'official' line-up of the band, yet his drumming ability was very limited and borderline acceptable at the beginning, especially compared to the abilities of the rest of the band. As he honed his skill, he slowly became better and better at holding down the beat of the music, or 'groove' as it was also loosely referred to. As the group continued to record and release music, his talent slowly came up to the standards of the other three.

"He got hair down to his knee" simply refers to the fact that Ringo had a longer, shaggy hairstyle when he joined the band, while the other three had the short, close-cropped style favored by the 'mods' of the day.

"Got to be a joker he just do what he please" is obvious: Ringo was the funny one, the 'cut-up' of the group and he often said and did bizarre and unexpected things in formal situations the group found themselves in during the early years. His enthusiastic, upbeat attitude was a major influence of the early writings of John and Paul.


Verse #2:

"HE WEAR NO SHOE-SHINE,

HE GOT TOE-JAM FOOTBALL.

HE GOT MONKEY-FINGER,

HE SHOOT COCA-COLA.

HE SAY I KNOW YOU, YOU KNOW ME.

ONE THING I CAN TELL YOU IS YOU GOT TO BE FREE.

The subject of this verse is George. "He wear no shoe-shine" is a reference to going to bare-foot, a quite-common state of dress that George adopted once he became so enamored of the Indian Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Bare feet and simple robes were the accepted dress of the followers of the Yogi, and George's influence quickly spread to the other three Beatles.

Toe-Jam football is just a reference to bare-foot 'soccer' style football playing, the common social outdoor activity practiced by many while worshipping at the yogi's temple.

"Monkey-Finger" refers to George's manual dexterity and amazing ability to master many, many different styles of stringed instruments, notably the 'sitar', an almost unknown instrument at the time that he was introduced to and quickly learned how to play while worshipping at the yogi's temple.

"He shoot coca-cola" is obvious: 'coca-cola' is street-slang for cocaine, a drug that George, as well as the others, would often 'shoot up' directly into their veins.

"I know you, you know me...we got to be free" is simply the basic premise of the entire teachings of the Yogi, that George was so whole-heatedly promoting to his fellow band mates.



"COME TOGETHER RIGHT NOW...OVER ME" refers to the message the Yogi delivered to the band as a group that would supposedly heal the growing rift and distention between the four members of the band and unite them as a single cohesive unit once again.



Verse #3:

"HE BAD (NOT 'BAG') PRODUCTION,

HE GOT WALRUS GUM-BOOT.

HE GOT ONO SIDEBOARD,

HE ONE SPINAL CRACKER,

HE GOT FEET DOWN BELOW HIS KNEE,

HOLD YOU IN HIS ARMCHAIR YOU CAN FEEL HIS DISEASE.

No questions about this one, it's about John all the way:

"Bad production" refers to John's increasing level of drug use and the negative effect it had on his ability to effectively create acceptable music with the rest of the band, and to function with the rest of the band.

John was the 'Walrus' referred to in the 'I am the Walrus; lyrics', clearly this refers to him.(notwithstanding the later lyric 'the walrus was Paul' from "Glass onion")

A 'sideboard' is the term used when attorneys would be called away from a trial during court for private discussion. "Ono sideboard" makes reference to the growing distraction that the rest of the band felt Yoko Ono was having on John.

John's increasing uncooperative attitude towards the professional and musical direction the rest of the band wanted to follow manifested itself in John constantly griping and complaining to the others, or in slang terms "breaking their backs", a term referenced with 'spinal cracker'.



"Feet down below his knee" also makes reference to his stubborn, uncompromising desire to do things his way only with little or no regard for the rest of the band's wishes. To give in was to be seen as being on 'your knees', but John had 'feet below his knees', so there was no way he was going to kneel(stand on his knees) and be subservient when he could 'stand on his feet' and be the decision-maker.

"Hold you in his armchair (possibly..."arms, yeah...) you can feel his disease" refers to the fact that John's tough exterior persona barely fooled anyone, as his self-loathing and self-doubt, fueled and magnified by increasingly excessive drug use began to consume him. To be close to , or to 'hold him in your arm...' was to know the real John, where one could 'feel his disease'.


Verse #4:

"HE ROLLER COASTER,

HE GOT EARLY WARNING.

HE GOT MUDDY WATER,

HE ONE MOJO

HE SAY ONE AND ONE AND ONE IS THREE

GOT TO BE GOOD LOOKING 'CAUSE HE'S SO HARD TO SEE"

Well, last of the four is Paul, and this is clearly all about Paul.

'Roller coaster' refers to Paul's aggravating habit to the rest of the band by constantly changing his stated desire to either break up and move on to a solo career or to remain as a band and continue on as the 'Beatles'.

'Early warning' makes reference to the fact that they all made it clear to Paul long before that his selfish, superior attitude was going to create a rift between them and in fact it finally did.

'Muddy water' describes the bad feelings and growing poor relationship between Paul and the rest of the band due to his constant lying and manipulation of them, and particularly about his attempts to convince the others to let his father-in-law manage the band as opposed to the choice the others made.

'Mojo filter' refers to Paul's habit of 'spin doctoring' information to the others and manipulating their perceptions so as to ultimately get his way.

'One and one and one is three' refers to Paul's attempts to try and convince the others that if he did indeed leave the band and start a solo career, they remaining three could carry on and continue to be 'the Beatles' without him, contrary to everyone's opinion.

'Got to be good looking...': a straightforward reference to the fact that he was typically considered the 'cute, good looking one' of the group.

'...so hard to see' describes the increasing time away from the rest of the band that Paul was spending on personal projects, to the detriment of any possible group projects.

So, there you have it!