Dear Prudence

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Dear Prudence is the second song on disc 1 of The Beatles' 1968 self-titled album. It was written by John Lennon, but credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Contents

Writing

The song was written in India by John Lennon about Mia Farrow's younger sister, Prudence. She would not leave her chalet at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's meditation retreat. Instead of being around the others at the camp, she would meditate alone for long periods of time. She never attended the Maharishi's lectures, and only ate if food was placed on a plate outside her door. Maharishi himself had warned to just easily meditate and not try too hard, but instead, she took it way too seriously. As John said, "All the people around her were very worried because she was going insane, So we sang to her. They selected me and George to try and bring her out because she would trust us. She went completely mental. If she'd been in the West they would have put her away. We got her out of the house. She'd been locked in for three weeks and wouldn't come out, trying to reach God quicker than anybody else. That was the competition in Maharishi's camp: who was going to get cosmic first." The Beatles tried to coax her out by playing Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, but it did not work. Prudence has admitted she was more avid in the Maharishi's teachings than the others. "Being on that course was more important to me than anything in the world. I was very focused on getting in as much meditation as possible , so that I could gain enough experience to teach it myself. I knew that i must have stuck out because I would always rush straight back to my room after lectures and meals so that I could meditate. John, George and Paul would all want to sit around jamming and having a good time and I'd be flying into my room. They were all serious about what they were doing but they just weren't as fanatical as me... At the end of the course, just as they were leaving, George mentioned that they had written a song about me but I didn't hear it until it came out on the album. I was flattered. It was a beautiful thing to have done." The song features a fingerpicked guitar, a trick that Donovan taught John while they were at the meditation camp. Many songs from this period, written by both John and Paul utilize this fingerpicking style, such as Julia, Blackbird, Look At Me, Mother Nature's Son and Happiness Is A Warm Gun.

Recording

The song is one of the two (Along with Back In The U.S.S.R.) that were recorded when Ringo left, meaning that he was not on the recording. The song was recorded over three days in Trident Studios, which was used because it had eight-track facilities (Unlike Abbey Road). Studio records list the song as being recorded in one take. Although this is true, the song was pieced together through several overdubs. On August 28, between 5 PM and 7 AM, the basic track was recorded, featuring Lead and Rhythm Guitars, as well as drums. The next day, bass, double tracked vocals, backing vocals, handclaps and tambourine were recorded. Assisting with the Backing Vocals and Handclaps were Mal Evans (Beatles Roadie), Jackie Lomax (Apple Artist), and John McCartney (Paul's cousin). In the Complete Beatles Recording Chronicle, Mark Lewissohn notes that in an early mix of the song includes those doing the backing vocals and handclaps applauding at the end, but this was left off the final mix. Recording finished on August 30, when McCartney added a piano track and a brief flugelhorn section, both played by him.

Recording Sessions


LOVE Mix

In the 2006 album The Beatles LOVE, part of the outtro of Dear Prudence is combined onto the outtro of Come Together.

Personnel

The Beatles

Guest Musicians

Production

Available Versions

Cover Versions

  • T.V. Carpio (Across The Universe Soundtrack, 2007)
  • Dana Fuchs
  • Jerry Garcia Band
  • Sean Lennon
  • Alanis Morissette
  • Our Lady Peace
  • Doug Pakinson
  • Phish
  • Souixsie and The Banshees
  • Jim Sturgess
  • U2

Source

Retrieved from "http://www.beatleswiki.org/wiki/Dear_Prudence"
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