Tomorrow Never Knows (2:57)
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“Tomorrow Never Knows” is the final track of The Beatles’ 1966 studio album Revolver. It is credited as a Lennon/McCartney song, but was written primarily by John Lennon. Although it was the first song that was recorded, it was the last track on the album.
The song is significant because it contains the first example of a vocal being put through a Leslie speaker cabinet to obtain a vibrato effect (which was normally used as a loudspeaker for a Hammond organ) and the use of an ADT system (Automatic double-tracking) to double the vocal image.
“Tomorrow Never Knows” ends the Revolver album in a more experimental fashion than earlier records, which contributed to Revolver’s reputation as one of the group’s most influential and expressive albums
John Lennon wrote the song in January 1966, closely adapted from the book The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner, which they based on, and quotes from, the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The understanding from the book was that the “ego death” experienced under the influence of LSD and other psychedelic drugs is essentially similar to the dying process and requires similar guidance.
Peter Brown claimed that Lennon’s only source of inspiration for the song came from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which he says Lennon read whilst consuming LSD. George Harrison later stated that the idea for the lyrics came from Leary, Alpert, and Metzner’s book.
The song is significant because it contains the first example of a vocal being put through a Leslie speaker cabinet to obtain a vibrato effect (which was normally used as a loudspeaker for a Hammond organ) and the use of an ADT system (Automatic double-tracking) to double the vocal image.
“Tomorrow Never Knows” ends the Revolver album in a more experimental fashion than earlier records, which contributed to Revolver’s reputation as one of the group’s most influential and expressive albums
John Lennon wrote the song in January 1966, closely adapted from the book The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner, which they based on, and quotes from, the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The understanding from the book was that the “ego death” experienced under the influence of LSD and other psychedelic drugs is essentially similar to the dying process and requires similar guidance.
Peter Brown claimed that Lennon’s only source of inspiration for the song came from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which he says Lennon read whilst consuming LSD. George Harrison later stated that the idea for the lyrics came from Leary, Alpert, and Metzner’s book.
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A very psychedelic music video for The Beatles song Tomorrow Never Knows.
Personally, my favorite Beatle song!
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Personally, my favorite Beatle song!
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Albums featuring this track
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Revolver
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Anthology 2 (disc 1)
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Revolver (MFCD Mono Remaster)
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Ultra Rare Trax, Volume 3
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Shouts
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Inga_mit wrote:
meaning within...
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DrowsyDragon wrote:
Shall we take a trip down memory lane lalala...
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sionborg wrote:
Great, Great ,Great need i say more !!!
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Yurko wrote:
43 years later and it still sounds like it's from the future. (3)
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Retro_Saiyan wrote:
Strange song, and I love it.
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nixus6 wrote:
This song saved a lot of people money that they would have spent on LSD, Kudos John! For keeping the Drug trade's profits lower than what they would have been.
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dbwn87 wrote:
43 years later and it still sounds like it's from the future. (2)
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c2j9h wrote:
I think that The Beatles are probably the best band, but these lyrics of this song are such bullshit and terrible.
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koolsamarkand wrote:
REALLY TRIPPY
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I2Fat2FlyI wrote:
The most important song ever.
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Ackibear wrote:
Holy shit, I love this song.
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javier0889 wrote:
Yeah you get that feeling of "oh fuck I've never heard something like this before" when you listen to this song, even today. Yes, I suggested kraut rock as a possible genre connection because of the heavy usage of electronic elements and the ambients that this song creates. And BTW, Kraftwerk are often mentioned as part of the Kraut Rock scene.
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Sydfloyd87 wrote:
"Tomorrow Never Knows" influenced music period. Members of Kraftwerk were influenced by this track. The big sounding bass & drums and playing around with loops sounds a lot like what is going on with modern music.
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cumgum wrote:
giving me motherfucking chills.❤
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Enkuturi wrote:
Incredible masterpiece.
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rinistiltskin wrote:
Funny that you should mention kraut rock, javier0889. I was slaughtered in this shoutbox for daring to suggest a connection between "Tomorrow Never Knows" and the origins of post-rock. Of course, there's probably a better argument one could make for "Tomorrow Never Knows" and post-punk, but I don't think my hypothesis was so far-fetched.
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MistaMajin wrote:
just incredible
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javier0889 wrote:
Or even kraut rock made in Britain
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javier0889 wrote:
Space rock
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Bastard1 wrote:
The remastered version kills people.
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