Her Majesty (song)
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| “Her Majesty” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles | ||
| Album | Abbey Road | |
| Released | 26 September 1969 | |
| Recorded | 2 July 1969 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 0:23 | |
| Label | Apple Records | |
| Writer | Lennon/McCartney | |
| Producer | George Martin | |
| Abbey Road track listing | ||
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"Her Majesty" is the name of a song written by Paul McCartney (although credited to Lennon/McCartney) that appears on The Beatles' album Abbey Road. "Her Majesty" appears as the final track. It was originally placed between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam". Paul decided this sequence did not work and the song was edited out of the medley by Abbey Road Studios tape operator John Kurlander. He was instructed by McCartney to destroy the tape, but EMI policy stated that no Beatles recording was ever to be deleted.
The fourteen seconds of silence between "The End" and "Her Majesty" are the result of Kurlander’s lead out tape added to separate the song from the rest of the recording. The loud orchestral blast that occurs at the beginning of the song is the last chord of "Mean Mr. Mustard". "Her Majesty" ends abruptly because its own final note was left at the beginning of "Polythene Pam". Paul applauded Kurlander's "surprise effect" and the track became an immortal closer to the LP. The clumsily-edited beginning and end of Her Majesty shows that it was not meant to be included in the final mix of the album; however, as McCartney says in Anthology, "Typical Beatles - an accident." Consequently, both of the original sides of vinyl closed with a song that ended very abruptly (the other being I Want You (She's So Heavy)).
At 23 seconds long, "Her Majesty" is the shortest song in the Beatles repertoire. ("Revolution 9" is the longest of their official releases.) The song was not listed on the original vinyl record's sleeve as the sleeves had already been printed; subsequent pressings and the CD edition correct this. The song starts panned hard right and slowly pans to hard left.
[edit] Covers
The song has been covered by:
- Chumbawamba (with a length of 1:48)
- Eric Roza (with a length of 2:15)
- Peter Combe (with a length of 2:19)
- Tok Tok Tok (with a length of 0:22)
- Dave Matthews (with a length of 0:29 including the recital of several lines from Come Together)
- Scenario (with a length of 4:02)
- Eddie Vedder performed the song live on April 10, 2008 at Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara, CA, and on April 16, 2008 at Spreckels Theater in San Diego, California.
- Paul McCartney performed the song live from Buckingham Palace Gardens in 2002, as part of the celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
[edit] References
- Turner, Steve. A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles' Song, Harper, New York: 1994, ISBN 0-06-095065-X
