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| "Only A Northern Song" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles | ||
| From the album Yellow Submarine | ||
| Album released | January 13 1969 (US) January 17 1969 (UK) | |
| Recorded | February 13, 14 and April 20, 1967 | |
| Genre | Psychedelic | |
| Song Length | 3 min 23 sec | |
| Record label | Apple Records | |
| Producer | George Martin | |
| Yellow Submarine Album Listing | ||
| Yellow Submarine (Track 1) | Only a Northern Song (Track 2) | All Together Now (Track 3) |
"Only A Northern Song" is a song by British rock band The Beatles, written by George Harrison. It was first featured in The Beatles' 1968 animated movie, Yellow Submarine, and subsequently appeared in that movie's soundtrack early the next year.
The song's basic track was recorded on February 13, 1967, with overdubs added on February 14 and April 20. Harrison wrote the song in one hour. The song was originally to appear on The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, but was left off at the last minute. The offical cause is not known, but it was probably omitted in order to fit more of Lennon/McCartneys' songs on the album, or possibly because Within You Without You (another Harrison contribution) was thought to be superior. Featuring a self-referential lyric, unconventional musical form, and unusual instrumentation, including distorted trumpets, a reverbed organ, chimes, and a glockenspiel, it is one of the most psychedelic songs The Beatles ever recorded.
Throughout the song McCartney plays trumpet as the other members play percussion instruments such as a glockenspiel, orchestral chimes, timpani and piano. A mellotron can be heard during parts of the song as well. An edited and slightly sped-up version of the song's basic track without the overdubs added April 20 (organ, bass, drums and vocal only) was released on the Beatles Anthology set in 1996, with a different vocal take containing some lyrical variations. Since the song was made from two separate takes playing in synchronization, the original mix of the song was available in mono only until 1999, when a remixed version of the track was released on the Yellow Submarine Songtrack.
The lyrics feature Harrison's disparagement of the song itself, concluding each verse with the title phrase "It's only a Northern song", which Harrison has explained as referring both to the band's often-disrespected hometown of Liverpool (northwest of London), and to the Northern Songs publishing company. (Harrison had not yet formed his own publishing company; Northern Songs was Lennon/McCartney's publishing company, for whom Harrison was, at the time, essentially a writer-for-hire). The song is sometimes interpreted as a sarcastic jibe at Lennon/McCartney, mocking the overtly psychedelic lyrics and musical style they employed in many songs during this time, and as a reaction to the often-dismissive attitude bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney held of Harrison's songwriting contributions, with Harrison listlessly singing "It doesn't really matter what chords I play / What words I say or time of day it is / As it's only a Northern song".
Personnel
George Harrison: doubletracked lead vocal, organ, sound effects, noises
John Lennon: piano, glockenspiel, mellotron, sound effects, noises
Paul McCartney: bass, trumpet, sound effects, noises
Ringo Starr: drums, sound effects, noises
"Only A Northern Song"