★ Marquee entry — extended editorial essay
Background
Lennon adapted the lyric from Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience, itself a Westernised reading of the Bardo Thödol (the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead'). The title — 'tomorrow never knows' — was taken from a Ringo malapropism, a phrase the drummer had used in passing.
What's distinctive
One of 101 songs led primarily by John. Recorded approximately 1 of 16 into the Revolver / Studio Awakening (1966) sessions. Carries the unique tag 'tape-loops' — no other song shares it. Take count: 15 (highest take number documented in Lewisohn (1988)).Opening line — "Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream…" (brief identification excerpt; full lyrics © Sony Music Publishing — see Genius link in References.)
Recording
Cut in a single afternoon on 6 April 1966 — the very first session of the Revolver project. The track is built on a single chord (C), Ringo playing a heavily-compressed loop-feel pattern, McCartney's bass providing the harmonic motion. Lennon's vocal was fed through a rotating Leslie speaker (taken from an organ cabinet) for the second half of the track — a Geoff Emerick experiment that violated EMI engineering protocols. Five tape loops, prepared on home Brennell machines, were fed in live to the mix from five different studios on EMI's three floors, each operated by a separate engineer with a finger on the spool to maintain pitch.
| Studio | EMI Studios, Abbey Road — Studio Three (largely) |
|---|---|
| Tape machine | Studer J37 four-track (with vari-speed, ADT) |
| Console | REDD.51 |
| Microphones | Neumann U47/U48, AKG C12, STC 4038, close-miking pioneered (Emerick) on Ringo's bass drum |
| Outboard / effects | EMI RS124, EMT 140 plate, Fairchild 660 limiter, EMI Artificial Double Tracking (ADT), Leslie cabinet (vocals) |
| Guitars | Epiphone Casino, Gibson SG (Harrison), Rickenbacker 4001S bass (McCartney introduced) |
| Amplifiers | Vox AC100, Vox 7120, Fender Showman, Fender Bassman |
| Producer | George Martin |
| Engineer / 2nd | Geoff Emerick • Phil McDonald (2nd) |
| Estimated takes | 15 (highest take number documented in Lewisohn (1988)) |
Pattern analysis
Legacy & release history
Inspired Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds production approach, the entire psychedelic genre, and (almost direct) Steve Jobs' 1984 Macintosh launch quote. Sampled by Chemical Brothers (Setting Sun) and others; commonly cited as the first track to bring musique concrète into mainstream pop.
Mono & stereo
- Mixed primarily in MONO at Abbey Road; the Beatles attended only the mono mixes through Sgt Pepper.
- Stereo mixes from this period were prepared (often without the band present) and are now considered secondary by purists.
Documented alternate versions
- Anthology 2 (1996) — alternate take or mix
- 2009 Stereo Remasters — Allan Rouse / Guy Massey remaster
Released on
- Revolver — LP, 5 August 1966
Cross-references
Other songs sharing themes (tape-loops, leslie, one-chord, tibetan-book, studio-revolution)
Other songs led by the same vocalist
Other songs from this era
tape-loopsleslieone-chordtibetan-bookstudio-revolution