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Rating: "Abbey Road" is an overrated work. And as the years go by, historical perspective confirms this impression.
Year 1969. Albums like "In the Court of King Crimson", "Happy Sad", and "Ummagumma" were being released. Innovation, elliptical art, progression, a culturally defining or at least representative imprint of an era; with poetic and technical characteristics of undeniable relevance. In this sense, "Abbey Road" is just an album that represents its authors at the peak of a certainly dazzling career, capable of backing every gesture with a mystical aura that confuses ideas and sugarcoats any pill.
What is so brilliant and epochal about "Abbey Road"? An album more famous for its cover than for the songs it contains: indeed, try asking a hundred people to name a track from it, and only a small percentage will be able to name the most well-known titles (Here Comes the Sun, probably, and Come Together). Conversely, the crosswalks of the street with the same name are known even to mosquitos. Musically, a summary of the Beatles' ability to create a style, a trademark; a summary of the McCartney-style song form and the various modes of singing (and playing) that in the end had nothing exceptional, even setting aside King Crimson and Pink Floyd for a moment.
If we consider that "The Velvet Underground & Nico" and "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" came to light two years before... why is "Abbey Road" universally considered one of the most beautiful albums in rock history?
Of course, beauty or the intrinsic lyrical value of a work is not measured only by certain structural characteristics. But even within Lennon and company's discography, there have been more substantial and markedly new highlights. And if it weren't for that gem of "I Want You", the album in question would be a collection of ballads that rework, adjust, and definitively fix the group's global style (especially of the two main authors) to pass it on to posterity as a kind of testament. Inside, you'll find the palettes already used in "Sgt. Pepper" and "Revolver", well-hitched formulas that wink at various types of admirers, but first and foremost the cult iconography - both manifest and subliminal - of the Fab Four that cloaks everything in monumental and indestructible seductiveness.
Frankly, I find little appeal in fanciful ballads that involve the octopus's garden, or the stories of Mr. Mustard... both from a narrative and sound perspective. Today more than ever, especially considering the discotheque has since filled with masterpieces compared to which "Abbey Road" is a musical surrogate of pop-blues reminiscences and pseudo-psychedelic nursery rhymes.
I know well that I am dissonant compared to the average: have you prepared the rotten tomatoes to throw at me? Go ahead. I have only expressed my opinion. And if I have to listen to a Beatles album, I pull out "Pepper" or "Revolver".
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Come Together (04:21)
Here come old flat top
He come groovin' up slowly
He got ju-ju eyeball
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knees
Got to be a joker
He just do what he please
He wear no shoeshine
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
Come together, right now
Over me
He bag production
He got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard
He one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knees
Hold you in his arms yeah
You can feel his disease
Come together, right now
Over me
He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got muddy water
He one Mojo filter
He say one and one and one is three
Got to be good looking
'Cause he's so hard to see
Come together right now
Over me
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
02 Something (03:03)
Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don't need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
You stick around and it may show
I don't know, I don't know
Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her
Something in the things she shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
04 Oh! Darling (03:27)
Oh, darling
Please believe me
I'll never do you no harm
Believe me when I tell you
I'll never do you no harm
Oh, darling
If you leave me
I'll never make it alone
Believe me when I beg you
Don't ever leave me alone
When you told me
You didn't need me anymore
Well, you know, I nearly
Broke down and cried
When you told me
You didn't need me anymore
Well, you know, I nearly
Broke down and died
Oh, darling
If you leave me
I'll never make it alone
Believe me when I tell you
I'll never do you no harm
Believe me, darling
When you told me
You didn't need me anymore
Well, you know, I nearly
Broke down and cried
When you told me
You didn't need me anymore
Well, you know, I nearly
Broke down and died
Oh, darling
Please believe me
I'll never let you down
Oh, believe me, darling
Believe me when I tell you
I'll never do you no harm
06 I Want You (She's So Heavy) (07:47)
I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
She's so heavy
Heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy
I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
You know I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
Yeah, she's so heavy
Heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy
I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
I want you
You know I want you so bad, babe
I want you
You know I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
Yeah
She's so
12 Polythene Pam (01:13)
Well you should see Polythene Pam
She's so good looking but she looks like a man
Well you should see her in drag
Dressed in a polythene bag
Yes you should see Polythene Pam
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Get a dose of her in jackboots and kilt
She's killer-diller when she's dressed to the hilt
She's the kind of a girl
That makes the "News of the World"
Yes you could say she was attractively built
Yeah, yeah, yeah
14 Golden Slumbers (01:32)
Once there was a way, to get back homeward
Once there was a way, to get back home
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Golden Slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles awake you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Once there was a way, to get back homeward
Once there was a way, to get back home
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
15 Carry That Weight (01:37)
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
I never give you my pillow
I only send you my invitation
And in the middle of the celebrations, I break down
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you're gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
16 The End (02:20)
Oh yeah
Alright
Are you gonna be in my dreams
Tonight
Love you
Love you
Love you
Love you
And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to
The love you make
17 Her Majesty (00:23)
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl
But she doesn't have a lot to say
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl
But she changes from day to day
I wanna tell her that I love her a lot
But I gotta get a belly full of wine
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl
Someday I'm gonna make her mine
Oh yeah, someday I'm gonna make her mine
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Other reviews
By rob
Paul is the only one differing from the other FAB 4, walking barefoot with the right foot leading—clues to his alleged death.
Abbey Road is dominated by Paul’s particular state of grace, especially in the final majestic medley that builds a sober but flashy mosaic.
By pinkoSpallino
This album is mainly famous for its cover, which portrays the 4 boys from Liverpool as they were heading towards their futures.
In short, a great album that demonstrates how this group created unforgettable things.
By Jack Darko
"Abbey Road is the true masterpiece of rock music, it is certainly the album that has influenced rock music the most."
"The track 'The End' is of astonishing beauty because it mixes a sort of primitive punk, rock, and a beautiful slow bit at the end. Absolute masterpiece."
By Braindamaged
Abbey Road was released, the last (but not last) of the 12 albums published by the Beatles.
Come Together has become a generational anthem and is electrifyingly beautiful.
By enbar77
"Abbey Road, despite everything, is a work of overwhelming charm, rich with exceptional pieces of pure rock."
"In the end the love you take is equal to the love you make."
