About This Track
“Sun King” is a song by The Beatles that appeared on the Abbey Road album. It is the second song of the B-side’s climactic medley.
In an interview in 1987, Harrison said that the recording was inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross”. “At the time, ‘Albatross’ (by Fleetwood Mac) was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing Albatross, just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac… but that was the point of origin.”
The working title was “Here Comes the Sun King”, but was shortened to “Sun King” to avoid confusion with the song “Here Comes the Sun”. The lyrics to start the song are the same as the title and lyrics of “Here Comes the Sun”, but with the word “King” inserted afterwards, although George Harrison wrote the former and “Sun King” is written by John Lennon. Later, the song, in minor key with an organ in the background, breaks into a faux Romance language mixing English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The song is in three-part harmony, sung by Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Harrison. At the end of the song, the music stops abruptly and a Ringo Starr drum fill leads into the next track, “Mean Mr. Mustard”.
The faux mixing of Romance languages occurs in the last three lines of the song. In 1969, Lennon was interviewed about these lyrics and said, “We just started joking, you know, singing ‘quando para mucho.’ So we just made up… Paul knew a few Spanish words from school, you know. So we just strung any Spanish words that sounded vaguely like something.
In an interview in 1987, Harrison said that the recording was inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross”. “At the time, ‘Albatross’ (by Fleetwood Mac) was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing Albatross, just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac… but that was the point of origin.”
The working title was “Here Comes the Sun King”, but was shortened to “Sun King” to avoid confusion with the song “Here Comes the Sun”. The lyrics to start the song are the same as the title and lyrics of “Here Comes the Sun”, but with the word “King” inserted afterwards, although George Harrison wrote the former and “Sun King” is written by John Lennon. Later, the song, in minor key with an organ in the background, breaks into a faux Romance language mixing English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The song is in three-part harmony, sung by Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Harrison. At the end of the song, the music stops abruptly and a Ringo Starr drum fill leads into the next track, “Mean Mr. Mustard”.
The faux mixing of Romance languages occurs in the last three lines of the song. In 1969, Lennon was interviewed about these lyrics and said, “We just started joking, you know, singing ‘quando para mucho.’ So we just made up… Paul knew a few Spanish words from school, you know. So we just strung any Spanish words that sounded vaguely like something.
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Albums featuring this track
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Abbey Road
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English Summer
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Shouts
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pogopatterson wrote:
Beatle perfection. No other group would have a tune like this simply sitting on an album, it would be their signature tune.
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irfanh23 wrote:
die lyrics sont ridocolmentes et imaginativos [2]
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APRILELIZ wrote:
love
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Mastah_Ev wrote:
Abbey Road Medley
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barryvs wrote:
Christ, there aren't a lot of Beatles songs I haven't added to my loved tracks. Made me think of Albatross too, just for a few seconds though. Also thought of Don't Let Me Down for a bit,
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digitaldisc0 wrote:
Love the effects on the guitar. Very chilled out song.
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Fishmonk wrote:
This is the best Beatles song, no question
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Nakkinak wrote:
die lyrics sont ridocolmentes et imaginativos
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yagi_chiefette wrote:
*-* GREAT!!!! I adore it
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MilesAboveYou wrote:
Still prefer Albatross.
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Valchiria83 wrote:
E' un incanto, un incanto.
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alemii wrote:
reminds me of summer...
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Sheik777 wrote:
chika ferdi
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mr_newsman wrote:
I love the mixing of romance languages♥
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arenamaster wrote:
And how is this Albatross? it's inspired, yeah, but that's where it ends. they both use reeverb guitar, who gives a shit?
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arenamaster wrote:
I used to not like this song, but now I love it
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Big_Dip wrote:
The foreign part of the song is a garbled mixture of Spanish and Italian, which roughly translates to: "When for much my love of happy heart, world paparazzi my love green for warm sun, hill as much much that small carousel."
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jodyisanidiot wrote:
♥ love ♥
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lesliedahlink wrote:
I love the drums in this. Groovy.
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TheVaLe wrote:
Chill adventure
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