“Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey”
It’s not only one of the longest titles for a Beatles song, but it is also one of their most neglected classics!
What a terrific, crunchy rocker from John Lennon! Although the song is credited “Lennon – McCartney”, this was a pure John song – and it is one of his best!
Here is a clip I found on youtube, and it references this as “take 12″…
The released version of the song was originally recorded at Abbey Road Studios on June 27 1968. It was, of course, included on the brilliant “White Album”, along with other classic Lennon songs like “Dear Prudence”, “Revolution”, and the gorgeous ode to his mother, “Julia.”
Here are some of the lyrics:
The deeper you go the higher you fly
The higher you fly the deeper you go
So come on come on
Come on is such a joy
Come on is such a joy
Come on make it easy
Come on make it easy.
Take it easy take it easy
Everybody’s got something to hide except for me and my monkey.
Your inside is out and your outside is in
Your outside is in and your inside is out
So come on come on
Come on is such a joy
Come on is such a joy
Come on make it easy
Come on make it easy
Make it easy make it easy
Everybody’s got something to hide except for me and my monkey.
In 1980, Lennon said: “That was just a sort of nice line that I made into a song. It was about me and Yoko. Everybody seemed to be paranoid except for us two, who were in the glow of love. Everything is clear and open when you’re in love. Everybody was sort of tense around us: You know, ‘What is she doing here at the session? Why is she with him?’ All this sort of madness is going on around us because we just happened to want to be together all the time.”
While John was writing songs about his relationship with Yoko, Paul was also hard at work on some classic music!
“I’ve Got A Feeling”
This classic McCartney song is from the “Let It Be” album – which is full of Macca classics such as the title track and “The Long And Winding Road”, but this crunchy rocker includes a fantastic, primal scream from the Beatle in the middle of the song…
Here is McCartney performing the song in 2009 – it is timeless:
According to BeatlesBible.com, “‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ was made up of two half-finished songs joined together. McCartney wrote the section that gave the song its title; Lennon’s contribution was originally called ‘Everybody Had A Hard Year’, and had previously been demoed during the White Album sessions.
BeatlesBible goes on to point out: “As such, it was the pair’s first full and equal collaboration since 1967’s Baby You’re A Rich Man. Lennon and McCartney worked on the song together at the latter’s house in Cavendish Avenue, London. Each part of the song shows the differences in the two men’s lives at that point. McCartney’s was a love song written about his future wife Linda Eastman, whom he married in March 1969.”
Lennon, conversely, had recently divorced his first wife Cynthia and was estranged from their son Julian. Additionally, he was addicted to heroin, his then-girlfriend Yoko Ono had recently suffered a miscarriage, the pair had been arrested for cannabis possession, and his enthusiasm for being a Beatle was at an all-time low.”
Here are some of the lyrics for “I’ve Got A Feeling”:
I’ve got a feeling, a feeling deep inside
Oh yeah, oh yeah, that’s right
I’ve got a feeling, a feeling I can’t hide
No no no, oh no, oh no
Yeah yeah I’ve got a feeling yeah
Oh please believe me, I’d hate to miss the train
Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah
And if you leave me I won’t be late again
Oh no, oh no, oh no
Yeah yeah I’ve got a feeling yeah
I’ve got a feeling
All these years I’ve been wandering around
Wondering how come nobody told me
All that I was looking for was somebody
Who looked like you
I’ve got a feeling, that keeps me on my toes
Oh yeah, oh yeah
I’ve got a feeling, I think that everybody knows
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
Yeah yeah I’ve got a feeling yeah
Yeah
Everybody had a hard year
Everybody had a good time
Everybody had a wet dream
Everybody saw the sunshine
Oh yeah, (oh yeah) oh yeah, oh yeah
Everybody had a good year
Everybody let their hair down
Everybody pulled their socks up
Everybody put their foot down
Oh yeah
Yeah I’ve got a feeling
A feeling deep inside
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
The band would perform the song live on a London rooftop – the legendary “Let It Be” concert. I have a copy of it on VHS, but can’t wait for the day when this legendary concert documentary is released again…
There has been, of course, countless books about the relationship between The Beatles, the role that Yoko Ono had on John’s life, and the amazing love affair between Paul and Linda…it is the amazing music, however, that keeps their spirits alive, and “Monkey” and “Feeling” are just two more examples of their brilliant songwriting abilities…
Paul and Linda McCartney would soon head off to a very successful solo career, and a nasty feud with Lennon…you can read all about that by clicking on my story here:
Of course, the height of the feud was when Paul criticized John and Yoko in the song “Too Many People”, and John responded with this mean-spirited jab at Macca’s “Ram”…
Beatles Bible!
Some of the facts here were found on a fantastic Beatles website. Every Beatles fan must go to the “Beatles Bible” website – it meticulously discusses all aspects of the Fab Four and their music. As for “Monkey”, here is an interesting point:
“Although Lennon denied it, the monkey of the title was widely taken to be a reference to heroin, as were the words “The deeper you go the higher you fly”. ‘A monkey on the back’ was a jazz term for heroin addiction thought to have originated in the 1940s.”
The website also notes the original recording date as well as overdubs…again, a terrific site – full of amazing information, photos, trivia and all things Fab! I highly recommend you support it!
http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/everybodys-got-something-to-hide-except-me-and-my-monkey/
And it’s always the right time to discover great Beatles music…
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