The Beatles, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” from Abbey Road (1969): Deep Beatles
One of the earliest and last tracks recorded for Abbey Road. The Beatles’ second entry into hard rock. Their final journey into the avant garde. Indeed, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” embodies these qualities, but it also provides a snapshot into John Lennon’s all-consuming relationship with Yoko Ono. Seething with sexual tension and featuring some of the band’s heaviest sound to date, the track demonstrates how much the Beatles had progressed in such a short time, willing to take risks in sound, form, and subject. A close examination of “I Want You” lifts the curtain on the creation process, showcasing how a song can take many twists and turns before appearing in its final form.
Expressing his life-engulfing passion for Ono, Lennon penned a track featuring only the words “I want you, I want you so bad, babe / I want you, I want you so bad it’s driving me mad, it’s driving me mad.” During his infamous 1971 Rolling Stone interview, Lennon addressed critics who panned his seemingly simplistic lyrics: “in fact a reviewer wrote … ‘He seems to have lost his talent for lyrics, it’s so simple and boring.’ ‘She’s So Heavy’ was about Yoko,” he said. “When it gets down to it, like she said, when you’re drowning you don’t say ‘I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,’ you just scream. And in ‘She’s So Heavy,’ I just sang “I want you, I want you so bad, she’s so heavy, I want you,” like that.”
By: Kit O'Toole
Source: Something Else Reviews
