Tomorrow Never Knows: Introduction
“Tomorrow Never Knows” is a Beatles’ song that is also the final track on their 1966 album, “Revolver.” The song was revolutionary and was a taste of more diverse things to come from the Fab Four.
So, in just a couple of years, the Beatles made a giant leap from Beatlemania into the psychedelic era. Furthermore, they were creating songs that would be difficult to perform live on stage. Hence, the band was to concentrate on studio performances, and their gigging days were effectively over.
In Detail
- Publisher: Northern Songs
- Release Date: August 5, 1966 (UK), August 8, 1966 (US)
- Recorded: April 6, 7 & 22, 1966
- Studio: EMI Studios, London
- Genre: Psychedelic rock, electronic music, raga rock, hard rock, avant-pop
- Track Duration: 2:58
- Record Label: Parlophone
- Songwriter: Lennon-McCartney
- Producer: George Martin
- Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Performers And Instruments
- John Lennon: vocals, Hammond organ, Mellotron, and tape loops
- Paul McCartney: bass guitar, also tape loops
- George Harrison: sitar, tambura, lead guitar, also tape loops
- Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine, and tape loops
- George Martin: tack piano
Where To Find “Tomorrow Never Knows”
You can still buy this song because it is available on the following albums:
To get the full benefit of the original version of this song, purchase the Revolver album.
Tomorrow Never Knows: Background
In short, John Lennon’s influence on “Tomorrow Never Knows” came from his experience with the drug LSD. But there was a book that also proved influential at the time: The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner.
John Lennon wrote the song in January 1966, with the lyrics being an adaptation of the book.
“The final track on Revolver, Tomorrow Never Knows, was definitely John’s. Round about this time people were starting to experiment with drugs, including LSD. John had got hold of Timothy Leary’s adaptation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which is a pretty interesting book.
For the first time, we got the idea that, as with ancient Egyptian practice, when you die, you lie in state for a few days, and then some of your handmaidens come and prepare you for a huge voyage. Rather than the British version, in which you just pop your clogs. With LSD, this theme was all the more interesting.”
Paul McCartney
Anthology
The Portable Nietzsche
John Lennon was trying to find a copy of “The Portable Nietzschein” in the Indica bookshop. However, he soon found “The Psychedelic Experience.” This was basically a guidebook for those using psychedelic drugs, and its intention was to allow for greater spiritual enlightenment.
Within the book, he saw the lines: “Whenever in doubt, turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.” He liked what he saw and bought the book. Then he went home, took some LSD, and followed the instructional text within.
The book claims that while under certain drugs, such as LSD, users may experience “ego death.” In other words, being totally aware of the present moment or having a one-pointedness of mind. Obviously, the Beatles Fan Club does not recommend anyone mess with any drugs in any way!
“Tomorrow Never Knows, was definitely John’s. Round about this time people were starting to experiment with drugs, including LSD. John had got hold of Timothy Leary’s adaptation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which is a pretty interesting book.
For the first time, we got the idea that, as with ancient Egyptian practice, when you die, you lie in state for a few days, and then some of your handmaidens come and prepare you for a huge voyage. Rather than the British version, in which you just pop your clogs. With LSD, this theme was all the more interesting.”
Paul McCartney
Anthology
Another Ringoism
The words Tomorrow Never Knows, don’t actually appear in the song itself. However, we do know that John Lennon liked the phrase when Ringo Starr uttered it in an interview in Washington, DC, in 1964. So, Lennon used them as a title.
This wasn’t the first time that The Beatles used a Ringoism. For example, in 1964, Ringo coined the phrase “A Hard Day’s Night.” We have a list of Ringoisms here.
Recording Studio
The Beatles began recording the song in Studio 3 at the EMI Studios in London at 8 pm on April 6, 1966. The working title was “Mark I,” but it also has the title “The Void.” John Lennon preferred Ringo Starr’s title “to sort of take the edge off the heavy philosophical lyrics.”
There were three takes of the rhythm track, and take one appears on the Anthology 2 album. While they didn’t complete take two, the take three version is that which appears on the “Revolver” album. Finally, overdubbing of that version with vocals and other instruments occurred on April 22, 1966.
Breaking The Rules
Together with George Martin, The Beatles were to try numerous forms of recording “trickery,” like using a “revolving speaker.” They even used a backward guitar sound—the first time ever on a pop record. Using other techniques, such as loosening the drum skins and distorting other sounds, the result would be dramatic.
Recording engineer Geoff Emerick recalls that the band “encouraged us to break the rules.” He also says that the band insisted that each instrument “should sound unlike itself.”
Due to the complex structure of the song, the band could never replicate the sound of this song live. Indeed, they couldn’t even do it again in the recording studios!
“We did a live mix of all the loops. All over the studios, we had people spooling them onto machines with pencils while Geoff did the balancing. There were many other hands controlling the panning.
It is the one track of all the songs The Beatles did that could never be reproduced; it would be impossible to go back now and mix exactly the same thing: the “happening” of the tape loops, inserted as we all swung off the levers on the faders willy-nilly, was a random event.”
Beatles Producer, George Martin
This would effectively see The Beatles scrap touring to favour the recording studios. Beatlemania days were about to disappear but this was the beginning of a new chapter and The Beatles took full advantage of it. The psychedelic era would soon be the next biggest thing in music.
Take A Listen To “Tomorrow Never Knows.”
And now for something completely different, as they say. Listen to the song, then leave us your opinions below.
