Carry That Weight

Carry That Weight
The Beatles
publication	26th September 1969
length	1 min 36 s
Genre (s)	Symphonic rock , classic rock
Author (s)	Lennon / McCartney
album	Abbey Road

Carry That Weight ( english carrying this burden ) is a song by British rock band The Beatles , which on the album Abbey Road was released. It ends the piece Golden Slumbers and ends in The End . It is part of the eight- piece medley that concludes the album. A rare specialty is that all four Beatles sing in this song. The song was composed by Paul McCartney .

In the middle part of the piece, the melody of You Never Give Me Your Money is taken up, but a different text is sung.

interpretation

Music critic Ian MacDonald interpreted the lyrics as the group's realization that working as a solo artist would never be the same as the Beatles 'success and that they would always have to bear the burden of the Beatles' past. Paul McCartney himself once said that the song was about the difficulties in the music business and the atmosphere at Apple at the time .

production

The Beatles began recording the pieces Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight on July 2, 1969 . Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr recorded 15 takes of the two songs. John Lennon was initially not involved in the recordings as he was hospitalized in a car accident in Scotland .

On the rhythm tracks , McCartney played the piano , Harrison the bass guitar, and Starr the drums . On July 3rd, takes 13 and 15 were mixed together and the Beatles sang the chorus that day and the next. Harrison also added the lead guitar and McCartney made an overdub recording of his lead voice and rhythm guitar.

On July 30th and 31st, the rest of the singing - including the voice of Lennon, who has since returned - was recorded. In addition, overdubs were created for the timpani and drums.

occupation

• Paul McCartney - vocals, piano, rhythm guitar
• John Lennon - vocals
• George Harrison - vocals, lead and bass guitar
• Ringo Starr - vocals, drums
• George Martin - production and arrangement
• In addition, twelve violins , four violas , four cellos , four horns , a double bass , three trumpets , a trombone and a bass trombone were played.

Cover versions

• 1969 coverte the pop band Orange Bicycle the song as an A-side of a single
• In 1976 the Bee Gees covered the song for their documentary All This and World War II . In 1978 they used the song again for the film version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band .
• Les Fradkin released an instrumental version on his album While My Guitar Only Plays in 2005 .
• In 2009 the album Sgt. Pepper Live by the group Cheap Trick was released , which also contains this piece.
• In 2016, the song was used as an instrumental for the computer animation film Sing and as a medley with Golden Slumbers by Jennifer Hudson .

Individual evidence

1. ^ MacDonald, Ian (2005): Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.) . London. P. 356.
2. ^ Miles, Barry (1997): Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York, pp. 557-558.
3. ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988): The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York, p. 177.