Editing Revolver (Beatles album) (section)

== Songs ==
=== Overview ===
Author [[Steve Turner (writer)|Steve Turner]] writes that ''Revolver'' encapsulates not only "the spirit of the times" but the network of progressive social and cultural thinkers in which the Beatles had recently become immersed in London.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=415}} According to Reising and LeBlanc, along with "Rain", it marks the start of the band's body of work embracing [[Psychedelic music|psychedelia]], which continued through ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'', ''[[Magical Mystery Tour]]'' and the new songs recorded in 1967 for the animated film ''[[Yellow Submarine (film)|Yellow Submarine]]'', together with their singles over those two years.{{sfn|Reising|LeBlanc|2009|pp=94–95, 99, 105}} The authors view Lennon and Harrison's compositions as the most overtly psychedelic and find the genre's traits evident in the album's instrumentation and soundscapes, and in its lyrical imagery.{{sfn|Reising|LeBlanc|2009|pp=94–95, 98–100}}{{refn|group=nb|Reising and LeBlanc find little psychedelic content in McCartney's "Eleanor Rigby" and "[[Here, There and Everywhere]]", but comment that the latter adds to the LP's "atmospheric diversity", which was a key characteristic of psychedelic albums.{{sfn|Reising|LeBlanc|2009|pp=95–96}}}} Music critic [[Jim DeRogatis]] views the LP as an early work in the [[psychedelic rock]] genre, which accompanied the emergence of counterculture ideology in the 1960s.{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|pp=xi, 8–10}}

Through its individual tracks, ''Revolver'' covers a wide range of styles, including [[acid rock]], [[chamber music]], [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]],{{sfn|Brackett|Hoard|2004|p=53}} [[raga rock]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Unterberger|first=Richie |url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/i-want-to-tell-you-mt0010100252 |title=The Beatles 'I Want to Tell You' |publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref> musique concrète,{{sfn|Everett|2009|p=80}} as well as standard contemporary rock and pop.{{sfn|Perone|2012|p=83}} In Rodriguez's view, the influence of Indian music permeates the album.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=115}} Aside from the sounds and vocal styling used on much of the recording,{{sfn|Prendergast|2003|p=206}} this influence is evident in the limited chord changes in some of the songs, suggesting an Indian-style [[drone (music)|drone]].{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|pp=194fn, 198}} According to cultural historian Simon Philo, ''Revolver'' contained "[the] most sustained deployment of Indian instruments, musical form and even religious philosophy" heard in popular music up to that time.{{sfn|Philo|2015|p=111}} Writing for ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'', Jack Hamilton calls the album's music "avante-garde R&B", showcasing the musicians' debt to [[African-American music]].<ref name="avrb">{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/culture/2022/10/beatles-revolver-2022-super-deluxe-reissue-stax-motown.html |title=The Beatles' ''Revolver'' Was Their Avant-Garde R&B Album|last=Hamilton|first=Jack|date=28 October 2022|accessdate=28 October 2022|language=en-US|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref>

In its lyrical themes, the album marks a radical departure from the Beatles' past work, as a large majority of the songs avoid the subject of love.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=406}} According to Reising and LeBlanc, the lyrics on this and the band's later psychedelic records capture the psychedelic culture's belief in the truth-revealing qualities of LSD over the illusions of bourgeois thinking; reject materialism in favour of Asian-inspired spirituality; and explore the overlap in meaning between a "trip" and travelling, resulting in narratives in which time and space become blurred.{{sfn|Reising|LeBlanc|2009|pp=99–105}} Where the songs do present as [[love song]]s, the authors continue, love is often conveyed as a unifying force among many, rather than between two individuals, or as a "way of life".{{sfn|Reising|LeBlanc|2009|pp=107–08}}

Author and critic [[Kenneth Womack]] writes of the Beatles exploring "phenomenologies of consciousness" on ''Revolver'', and he cites as examples "I'm Only Sleeping"{{'s}} preoccupation with dreams and the references to death in the lyrics to "Tomorrow Never Knows". In Womack's estimation, the songs represent two important elements of the human life cycle that are "philosophical opposites".{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=139}} Echoing this point, music critic [[Tim Riley (music critic)|Tim Riley]] writes that, just as "embracing life means accepting death", the fourteen tracks "link a disillusioned view of the modern world{{nbsp}}... with a belief in metaphysical transcendence".{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=181}} Philo finds the Beatles' "countercultural engagement" evident on even the songs that present as standard pop.{{sfn|Philo|2015|pp=110–11}} In Reising's view, all the songs on ''Revolver'' are linked, in that each line in "Tomorrow Never Knows", the closing track, is alluded to or explored in the lyrics to one or more of the tracks that precede it.{{sfn|Reising|2006|pp=113–14}}

=== Side one ===
==== "Taxman" ====
{{listen|pos=left|filename= The guitar solo from "Taxman" by the Beatles, April 1966.ogg|title=The guitar solo from "Taxman"|description= Womack characterises the solo as "like nothing else in the Beatles' corpus to date; for that matter, it hardly bears any resemblance to anything in the history of recorded music." He credits the track with "announc[ing] a sweeping shift in the essential nature" of the Beatles' sound.{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=136}}}}

Harrison wrote "[[Taxman]]" as a protest against the high marginal [[tax rate]]s paid by top earners like the Beatles, which, under [[Harold Wilson]]'s [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government,{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|pp=14, 200}} amounted to 95 per cent of [[unearned income]] (i.e. interest on savings and investments) above the top threshold.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=48}}{{refn|group=nb|According to MacDonald, this was the "price" the Beatles paid alongside their being appointed [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]]s in September 1965.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|pp=200, 426}} Aside from the financial imposition, Harrison was alarmed that the money was being used to fund the manufacture of military weapons.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=131}}}} The song's spoken count-in is out of tempo with the performance that follows,{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=135}} a device that Riley credits with establishing the "new studio aesthetic of ''Revolver''".{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=182}} Harrison's vocals on the track were treated with heavy compression and ADT.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=48}} In addition to playing a [[Glissando|glissandi]]-inflected bass part reminiscent of Motown{{'s}} [[James Jamerson]], McCartney performed the song's guitar solo.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=49}} The latter section was also edited onto the end of the original recording, ensuring that the track closed with the solo reprised over a fadeout.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=48}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=76}} Rodriguez recognises "Taxman" as the first Beatles song written about "topical concerns"; he also cites its "abrasive sneer" as a precursor to the 1970s [[punk rock]] movement.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=xiii, 17}} Completed with input from Lennon,{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=200}} the lyrics refer by name to Wilson, who had just been re-elected as prime minister in the [[1966 United Kingdom general election|1966 general election]], and [[Edward Heath]], the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]].{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=183}}

==== "Eleanor Rigby" ====
Womack describes McCartney's "[[Eleanor Rigby]]" as a "narrative about the perils of loneliness".{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=138}} The story involves the title character, who is an ageing spinster, and a lonely priest named Father McKenzie who writes "sermon[s] that no one will hear".{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=138}} He presides over Rigby's funeral and acknowledges that despite his efforts, "no one was saved".{{sfn|Womack|2007|pp=137–39}} The first McCartney composition to depart from the themes of a standard love song,{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=63}} its lyrics were the product of a group effort, with Harrison, Starr, Lennon and the latter's friend [[Pete Shotton]] all contributing.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=51}}{{refn|group=nb|Lennon later said he wrote 70 per cent of the lyrics,{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=204}} which McCartney refuted, saying that Lennon contributed "about half a line".{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=51}}}} While Lennon and Harrison supplied harmonies beside McCartney's lead vocal, no Beatle played on the recording;{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|p=182}} instead, Martin arranged the track for a [[string octet]],{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=203}} drawing inspiration from [[Bernard Herrmann]]'s 1960 film score for [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho]]''.{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=137}} In Riley's opinion, "the corruption of 'Taxman' and the utter finality of Eleanor's fate makes the world of ''Revolver'' more ominous than any other pair of opening songs could."{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=185}}

==== "I'm Only Sleeping" ====
{{listen|pos=right|filename= The backwards guitar solo from "I'm Only Sleeping" by the Beatles 1966.ogg|title= The backwards guitar solo from "I'm Only Sleeping" |description="I'm Only Sleeping" features a [[Backmasking|backwards]], Indian-style guitar solo that Harrison played in reverse order during the recording. Martin then reversed the tape and [[Dubbing (music)|dubbed]] it into the track, achieving what MacDonald describes as "smeared crescendi" and "womblike sucking noises".{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=202}}}}

Author [[Peter Doggett]] describes "[[I'm Only Sleeping]]" as "Half acid dream, half latent Lennon laziness personified."{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=238}} As with "Rain", the basic track was recorded at a faster tempo before being subjected to varispeeding.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=130}}{{sfn|Reising|LeBlanc|2009|pp=95, 96}} The latter treatment, along with ADT, was also applied to Lennon's vocal as he sought to replicate, in MacDonald's description, a "papery old man's voice".{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=202}} For the guitar solo, Harrison recorded two separate lines: the first with a clean sound, while on the second, he played his Gibson SG through a [[Fuzzbox (device)|fuzzbox]].{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=131}} Beatles biographer Jonathan Gould views the solo as appearing to "suspend the laws of time and motion to simulate the half-coherence of the state between wakefulness and sleep".{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=353}} Musicologist [[Walter Everett (musicologist)|Walter Everett]] likens the song to a "particularly expressive text painting".{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=50–51}}

==== "Love You To" ====
"[[Love You To]]" marked Harrison's first foray into [[Hindustani classical music]] as a composer, following his introduction of the sitar on "[[Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)|Norwegian Wood]]" in 1965.{{sfn|Lavezzoli|2006|pp=171, 174–75}} He recorded the track with only minimal contributions from Starr and McCartney, and no input from Lennon; Indian musicians from the [[Asian Music Circle]] provided instrumentation such as tabla, tambura and sitar.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=40}} Author Peter Lavezzoli recognises the song as "the first conscious attempt in pop to emulate a non-Western form of music in structure and instrumentation".{{sfn|Lavezzoli|2006|p=175}} Aside from playing sitar on the track,{{sfn|Womack|2014|pp=583–84}} Harrison's contributions included [[fuzztone]]-effected electric guitar.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=40}} Everett identifies the song's change of [[Meter (music)|metre]] as unprecedented in the Beatles' work and a characteristic that would go on to feature prominently on ''Sgt. Pepper''.{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=40–41, 66}} Partly influenced by Harrison's use of LSD,{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=66}}{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|p=184}} the lyrics address the singer's desire for "immediate sexual gratification", according to Womack, and serve as a "rallying call to accept our inner hedonism and release our worldly inhibitions".{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=140}}

==== "Here, There and Everywhere" ====
"[[Here, There and Everywhere]]" is a ballad that McCartney wrote towards the end of the ''Revolver'' sessions.{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=59–60}} His inspiration for the song was the Beach Boys' ''Pet Sounds'' track "[[God Only Knows]]",{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=140}} which, in turn, [[Brian Wilson]] had been inspired to write after repeatedly listening to ''Rubber Soul''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/brian-wilson-holds-out-hope-for-new-beach-boys-music-20120919 |first=Steve|last=Baltin|title=Brian Wilson Holds Out Hope for New Beach Boys Music|publisher=[[Rolling Stone|rollingstone.com]]|date=9 September 2012|access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/2015/07/02/how-brian-wilson-heard-rubber-soul-got-baked-and-wrote-god-only-knows/ |author=Denver Post staff|title=How Brian Wilson heard 'Rubber Soul,' got baked and wrote 'God Only Knows'|newspaper=[[The Denver Post]]|date=2 July 2015|access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref> McCartney's double-tracked vocal{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=186}} was treated with varispeeding, resulting in a higher pitch at playback.{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=140}} The song's opening lines are sung in free time before its 4/4 [[time signature]] is established;{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=140}} according to Everett, "nowhere else does a Beatles introduction so well prepare a listener for the most striking and expressive tonal events that lie ahead."{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=60}} Womack characterises the song as a romantic ballad "about living in the here and now" and "fully experiencing the conscious moment".{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=140}} He notes that, with the preceding track, "Love You To", the album expresses "corresponding examinations of the human experience of physical and romantic love".{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=140}}{{refn|group=nb|In Riley's opinion, the track "domesticates" the "eroticisms" of "Love You To", drawing comparison with the concise writing of [[Rodgers and Hart]].{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=186}}}}

==== "Yellow Submarine" ====
{{quote box
| quote = The songs got more interesting, so with that the effects got more interesting. I think the drugs were kicking in a little more heavily on this album&nbsp;... [Al]though we {{em|did}} take certain substances, we never did it to a great extent at the session. We were really hard workers.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=212}}
| source = – [[Ringo Starr]], 2000
| width = 25%
| align = right
| style = padding:8px;
}}

McCartney and Lennon wrote "[[Yellow Submarine (song)|Yellow Submarine]]" as a children's song and for Starr's vocal spot on the album.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=22}}{{sfn|Womack|2007|pp=140–41}} The lyrics were written with assistance from Scottish singer [[Donovan]]{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=56}} and tell of life on a sea voyage accompanied by friends.{{sfn|Gould|2007|pp=355–56}} Gould considers the song's childlike qualities to be "deceptive" and that, once in the studio, it became "a sophisticated sonic pastiche".{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=355}}

On 1 June, the Beatles and some of their friends enhanced the festive nautical atmosphere by adding sounds such as chains, bells, whistles, tubs of water and [[clinking glasses]],{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=188}} all sourced from Studio 2's trap room.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=57}}{{refn|group=nb|Aside from the band, and Martin and Emerick, the participants included [[Brian Jones]] of [[the Rolling Stones]], [[Pattie Boyd]] (Harrison's wife), [[Marianne Faithfull]] and Beatles aides [[Mal Evans]] and [[Neil Aspinall]].{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=206}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=81}}}} To fill the portion after the lyrics refer to a [[brass band]] playing,{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=1027}} Martin and Emerick used a recording from EMI's library, splicing up the taped copy and rearranging the melody.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=142}} Lennon shouted part of the mid-song ship's orders in an [[echo chamber]].{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=140}} In the final verse, he repeats Starr's vocal lines in a manner that Gould likens to "an old vaudevillian with the crowd in the palm of his hand".{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=356}} Riley recognises the song as mixing the comedy of ''[[The Goon Show]]'' with the satire of [[Spike Jones]].{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=188}} Donovan later said that "Yellow Submarine" represented the Beatles' predicament as prisoners of their international fame, to which they reacted by singing an uplifting, communal song.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=295}}

==== "She Said She Said" ====
The light atmosphere of "Yellow Submarine" is broken by what Riley terms "the outwardly harnessed, but inwardly raging guitar" that introduces Lennon's "[[She Said She Said]]".{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=188}} The song marks the second time that a Beatles arrangement used a shifting metre, after "Love You To", as the foundation of 4/4 briefly switches to 3/4.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=66}} Harrison recalled that he helped Lennon finish the composition, which involved joining three separate fragments of song.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=97}} Having walked out of the session, McCartney may or may not have contributed bass guitar to the recording. In addition to lead guitar and harmony vocals, Harrison possibly performed the bass guitar part.<ref name="Howlett/Revolver">{{cite AV media notes|last=Howlett|first=Kevin|title=Revolver: Special Edition|title-link=Revolver: Special Edition|year=2022|others=[[The Beatles]]|type=book|publisher=Apple Records}}</ref>{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|pp=211–12}}{{refn|group=nb|Like Rodriguez,{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=149}} music journalist [[Mikal Gilmore]] contends that the argument that preceded McCartney's exit from the studio was LSD-related, since his lack of experience with the drug led Lennon to dismiss his suggestions for the song's arrangement.<ref name="GilmoreAcidTest" />}} The lyric was inspired in part by a conversation that Lennon and Harrison had with actor [[Peter Fonda]] in Los Angeles in August 1965,{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=91, 92}} while all three, along with Starr and members of [[the Byrds]], were under the influence of LSD.{{sfn|Tillery|2011|p=52}} During the conversation, Fonda commented, "I know what it's like to be dead", because as a child he had [[Clinical death|technically died]] during an operation.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=62}}

=== Side two ===
==== "Good Day Sunshine" ====
"[[Good Day Sunshine]]" was written by McCartney, whose piano playing dominates the recording.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=143}} The track was one of several contemporary songs that evoked the unusually hot and sunny English summer of 1966.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=209}} Music critic [[Richie Unterberger]] describes it as a song that conveys "one of the first fine days of spring, just after you've fallen in love or started a vacation".<ref name="Unterberger/AM" /> The verses reflect aspects of [[vaudeville]], while McCartney also acknowledged the influence of the Lovin' Spoonful on the composition.<ref name="Unterberger/AM">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/good-day-sunshine-mt0011915583|title=The Beatles 'Good Day Sunshine'|last=Unterberger|first=Richie|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref> Overdubbed by Martin,{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=144}} the piano solo on the track recalls the [[ragtime]] style of [[Scott Joplin]].{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=191}} The song ends with group harmonies repeating the title phrase,{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=58–59}} creating an effect that Riley likens to a "cascade" of voices "enter[ing] from different directions, like sun peeping through the trees".{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=191}}

==== "And Your Bird Can Sing" ====
"[[And Your Bird Can Sing]]" was written primarily by Lennon, with McCartney saying he helped on the lyric and estimating the song as "80–20" to Lennon.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=199}} Harrison and McCartney played dual lead-guitar parts on the recording,{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=46}} including an ascending [[riff]] that Riley terms "magnetic&nbsp;... everything sticks to it".{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=192}}{{refn|group=nb|As heard on ''Anthology 2'', the Beatles first recorded the song in the style of the Byrds,{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=160}} with prominent harmony vocals and Harrison playing his [[Rickenbacker]] twelve-string guitar.{{sfn|Unterberger|2006|p=142}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=43, 123–24}}}} Riley describes the composition as a "shaded putdown" in the style of Dylan's "[[Positively 4th Street]]", whereby Lennon sings to someone who has seen "seven wonders" yet is unable to empathise with him and his feelings of isolation.{{sfn|Riley|2002|pp=192–93}} According to Gould, the song was directed at [[Frank Sinatra]] after Lennon had read a hagiographic article on the singer, in ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' magazine, in which Sinatra was lauded as "the fully emancipated male&nbsp;... the man who can have {{em|anything}} he wants".{{sfn|Gould|2007|pp=359–60}}

==== "For No One" ====
"[[For No One]]" was inspired by McCartney's relationship with English actress [[Jane Asher]].{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=79–80}}{{sfn|Sounes|2010|p=144}} Along with "Good Day Sunshine", which similarly dispensed with guitar parts for Harrison and Lennon, Rodriguez cites the track as an example of McCartney eschewing the group dynamic when recording his songs, a trend that would prove unpopular with his bandmates in later years.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=136, 143–44}} The recording features McCartney playing piano, bass and clavichord,{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=18}} accompanied by Starr on drums and percussion.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=205}} The [[French horn]] solo was added by [[Alan Civil]], the principal horn player for the [[Philharmonia Orchestra]],{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=79}} who recalled having to "busk" his part, with little guidance from McCartney or Martin at the overdubbing session.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=46}} While recognising McCartney's "customary logic" in the song's musical structure, MacDonald comments on the sense of detachment conveyed in the lyrics to this "curiously phlegmatic account of the end of an affair". MacDonald suggests that McCartney was attempting to employ the same "dry cinematic eye" that director [[John Schlesinger]] had adopted in his 1965 film ''[[Darling (1965 film)|Darling]]''.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=205}}

==== "Doctor Robert" ====
"[[Doctor Robert]]" was written by Lennon,{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=231}} although McCartney has since stated he co-authored it.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=290}} A guitar-based rock song in the style of "And Your Bird Can Sing",{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=121, 123}} its lyrics celebrate a New York physician known for dispensing [[amphetamine]] injections to his patients.{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=231}}{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=45}}{{refn|group=nb|Although once thought to be Dr Charles Roberts, whose celebrity clients included [[Edie Sedgwick]], the eponymous doctor was Robert Freymann, who was struck off the [[New York County Medical Society|New York Medical Society]]'s register in 1975.{{sfn|Womack|2014|pp=231, 232}}}} On the recording, the hard-driving performance is interrupted by two bridge sections where, over [[harmonium]] and chiming guitar chords,{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=45–46}} the group vocals suggest a choir praising the doctor for his services.{{sfn|Riley|2002|pp=195–96}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=122}}

==== "I Want to Tell You" ====
Harrison said he wrote "[[I Want to Tell You]]" about "the avalanche of thoughts" that he found hard to express in words.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=208}} Supporting the lyrics, his stammering guitar riff, combined with the [[Dissonance (music)|dissonance]] employed in the song's melody, conveys the difficulties of achieving meaningful communication.{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=57, 58}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=68}} The prominent backing vocals from Lennon and McCartney include Indian-style [[Gamaka (music)|gamak]] ornamentation in McCartney's high harmony,{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=57}} similar to the [[melisma]] effect used in "Love You To".{{sfn|Reck|2009|p=297}} Reising and LeBlanc cite the song as an early example of how from 1966 onwards the Beatles' lyrics "adopted an urgent tone, intent on channeling some essential knowledge, the psychological and/or philosophical epiphanies of LSD experience" to their increasingly aware audience.{{sfn|Reising|LeBlanc|2009|pp=99–100}} According to author and academic [[Nick Bromell]], "I Want to Tell You" and the next two tracks on ''Revolver'' are the first examples of pop music "giving voice to the complexities of the breakthrough experience" afforded by LSD and other psychedelic drugs.{{sfn|Bromell|2002|p=89}}{{refn|group=nb|Bromell qualifies the statement by saying, "If we don't count [[the Holy Modal Rounders]]' 1964 cover of [[Lead Belly|Leadbelly]]'s '[[Hesitation Blues]]{{'"}}, which included a newly written verse referring to "the psychedelic blues".{{sfn|Bromell|2002|p=89}}}}
{{Clear}}

==== "Got to Get You into My Life" ====
Described by Riley as the album's "most derivative cut",{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=107}} "[[Got to Get You into My Life]]" was influenced by the [[Motown#Motown sound|Motown Sound]]{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|p=45}}{{sfn|Babiuk|2002|p=182}} and written by McCartney after he had seen Stevie Wonder perform at the [[The Scotch of St. James|Scotch of St James]] nightclub in February.{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=97–98}} The horn players on the track included members of [[Georgie Fame]]'s group, [[Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames|the Blue Flames]].{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=72}}{{sfn|Babiuk|2002|p=182}} To capture the desired sound, microphones were placed in the bells of the [[brass instrument]]s, and the signals were heavily limited.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=72}} A month later, a tape copy of these horn parts was superimposed with a slight delay, thereby doubling the presence of the brass contributions.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=84}} Rodriguez terms the completed track "an R&B-styled shouter".{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=111}} Although cast in the form of a love song, McCartney described the lyric as "an ode to [[cannabis (drug)|pot]], like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret".{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=190}} The initial version of the song, as issued on ''Anthology 2'', featured acoustic backing and organ, and a harmonised refrain of "I need your love",{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=72}} which was replaced by Harrison's guitar break on the more uptempo remake.{{sfn|Winn|2009|pp=8, 26}}

==== "Tomorrow Never Knows" ====
{{quote box|quote= This is easily the most amazing new thing we've ever come up with. Some people might say it sounds like a terrible mess of a sound{{nbsp}}... But the song ought to be looked on as interesting – {{em|if}} people listen to it with open ears. It's like the Indian stuff. You mustn't listen to Eastern music with a Western ear.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=146}}|source= – George Harrison, October 1966|width=25%|align=left|style=padding:8px;}}
Rodriguez describes Lennon's "[[Tomorrow Never Knows]]" as "the greatest leap into the future" of the Beatles' recording career up to this point.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=7}} The recording includes reverse guitar, processed vocals, and looped tape effects, accompanying a strongly [[syncopated]], repetitive drum-beat. Lennon adapted the lyrics from [[Timothy Leary]]'s book [[The Psychedelic Experience|''The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead'']], which equates the realisations brought about through LSD with the spiritually enlightened state achieved through [[meditation]].{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=34–35}} Originally known as "Mark I", and then briefly "The Void",<ref name="Irvin/Tomorrow" />{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=135}} the eventual title came via one of Starr's [[malapropism]]s.{{sfn|Harry|2004|p=3}}{{sfn|Miles|2006|p=76}}{{refn|group=nb|Lennon later said "The Void" would have been a more suitable title, but he was concerned about its obvious drug connotations.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=188fn}}}}

{{listen|pos=right|filename=Tomorrow Never Knows (Beatles song - sample).ogg|title=Sample from "Tomorrow Never Knows"|description=According to author [[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]], Lennon's drug-inspired song "has been described as the most effective evocation of a LSD experience ever recorded".{{sfn|Larkin|2006|p=487}}}}
Lennon intended the track as an evocation of a [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] ceremony.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=142}} The song's harmonic structure is derived from [[Music of India|Indian music]] and is based on a high-volume [[C (musical note)|C]] drone played by Harrison on a tambura.{{sfn|Lavezzoli|2006|p=175}}{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|pp=188–89}} Over the foundation of tambura, bass and drums, the five tape loops comprise various manipulated sounds:{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=8}} two separate sitar passages, played backwards and sped up; an orchestra sounding a B{{music|flat}} chord; McCartney's laughter, sped up to resemble a seagull's cry; and a [[Mellotron]] played on either its flute, string or brass setting.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=108}}{{refn|group=nb|According to Rodriguez, this list seems the most likely combination of sounds fed into the track, although commentators have long disagreed on the precise content of the five loops.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=108–09}} In place of the Mellotron sample, Ryan and Kehew list a [[mandolin]] or acoustic guitar, treated with [[tape echo]].{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=146}}}} The Leslie speaker treatment applied to Lennon's vocal originated from his request that Martin make him sound like he was the [[Dalai Lama]] singing from the top of a high mountain.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=191}}{{sfn|Millard|2012|p=181}} Reising describes "Tomorrow Never Knows" as the inspiration for an album that "illuminates a path dedicated to personal freedom and mind expansion".{{sfn|Reising|2006|pp=111–12, 113–14}} He views the song's message as a precursor to the more explicitly political statements the Beatles would make over the next two years, in "[[All You Need Is Love]]" and "[[Revolution (Beatles song)|Revolution]]".{{sfn|Reising|2006|pp=111, 119}}

===North American format===
"I'm Only Sleeping", "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "Doctor Robert" were the tracks omitted from Capitol's version of ''Revolver''.{{sfn|Turner|1999|p=99}} In the case of "I'm Only Sleeping", the version issued on ''Yesterday and Today'' was a different mix from that included on EMI's ''Revolver''.{{sfn|Savage|2015|p=318}} Due to the exclusion of the three Lennon tracks, there were only two songs on the Capitol release for which he was the principal writer, compared with three by Harrison and six by McCartney.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=6}} In Riley's opinion, aside from underplaying Lennon's contribution, his voice is thereby confined to a "sudden swing to the surreal" at the end of each LP side, which distorts the intended mood across the album.{{sfn|Riley|2002|p=182}}

The eleven-song North American LP was the band's tenth album on Capitol Records and twelfth US album in total.{{sfn|Womack|2014|pp=769–70}} The release of ''Revolver'' marked the last time that Capitol issued an altered UK Beatles album for the North American market. When the Beatles re-signed with EMI in January 1967, their contract stipulated that Capitol could no longer alter the track listings of their albums.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=6}}