Music Monday: Here, There, and Everywhere

Once again I’m featuring a Beatles song on Music Monday. This is one I’ve been meaning to talk about for a while, and since Paul McCartney celebrated his 80th birthday recently, I thought now would be a good time to discuss one of his most beloved songs.

Sometime in 1966, Paul visited John Lennon for one of their regular songwriting sessions, so the story or legend goes. He had his guitar, and while he was sitting beside John’s pool waiting for his friend to get up, he noodled out this little tune. It seems John liked it and encouraged Paul to continue working on it, which he did. Paul says he’s particularly proud of the lyric and the way the last word of a stanza is also the first word of the following stanza (“I want my love to be here, Here making each day…” “…something there, There running my hands…” etc.), and the way the words “here, there, and everywhere” frame each of the three verses.

I’ve said before that while I have a deep and abiding respect for Macca as a musician and composer, I’ve always thought his lyrical ability paled in comparison to John Lennon’s. Paul has a tendency toward using filler words and being less than creative in his word choices, going with whatever “feels right” in the moment. John, on the other hand, thought about word textures and enjoyed creative wordplay and general wordsmithery.

“Here, There, and Everywhere,” is an example of a song where Paul bucks the trend and comes up with a thoughtful lyric with some creative and evocative lines. For example, “Changing my life with a wave of her hand” conveys that feeling of being so in love with someone, even their most mundane actions, such as a wave, carry outsized significance. Consider also the story behind the line, “Someone is speaking but she doesn’t know he’s there.” In that one sentence, Paul suggests a potential competitor to the narrator’s affections who is trying to woo her away. But she’s so enraptured by the guy running his hands through her hair that she doesn’t even know the other guy exists.

However, when you talk about any Paul McCartney song, the real genius is in the music, and this song is an excellent showcase of the man’s natural gift for melody and harmony. The vocal leap in the first line, followed by a gentle ascent in the second is simply beautiful. He then follows this with a subtle key change (one he used in “Yesterday” between the first word and the rest of the first line) which creates a lift and some tension that he exquisitely resolves in the last line.

The middle section changes key quite unsubtly, but it gives the song an interesting and unexpected twist. I have no doubt that the chromatic guitar run in this section was created by George Harrison who had a knack for coming up with great complimentary touches to songs (e.g., the introduction to “And I Love Her”).

The original Beatles recording of the song on their 1966 “Revolver” album is gentle, with (intentionally) Beach Boys-esque harmonies, and guitar and drums providing simple accompaniment to the double-tracked lead vocal. Its positioning on the album between George’s Indian-fused “Love You Too” and the rousing singalong “Yellow Submarine” suggests the band considered it just another album track with no thought of its commercial potential. It was never released as a single or even as the lead track on an EP in the UK (the cover pictured above is Spanish). Even contemporary reviews of the “Revolver” album appear to pass over the track without much comment. Yet taken on its own, it is certainly one of McCartney’s most outstanding compositions. Even Macca himself rates the song as one of his favorites–if pushed, perhaps, even his favorite. Maybe placing it on the same album as “She Said She Said,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Got To Get You Into My Life,” and “Tomorrow Never Knows” meant that the song would have to fight to be heard. But it also says something about the quality of the band’s output that this song is on the same album as such classic tracks as “Taxman,” “For No One,” and “Eleanor Rigby.”

Over the years “Here, There, and Everywhere” has received its due with both critical acclaim and numerous cover versions. You can fact-check me on this, but I think even the phrase “here, there, and everywhere” owes its origin to this song.

Speaking of cover versions, I have to say, the original Beatles’ version is not my favorite. Paul’s performance of “Here, There, and Everywhere” has, I think, matured and improved over the years. His performances of it in “Give My Regards to Broad Street” (1984) and during his “Off the Ground” tour (1993), as seen and heard on the “Paul Is Live” CD/DVD, are far superior.

Now to the freebie part of Music Monday! Here’s a lead sheet for “Here, There, and Everywhere” so you can grab your guitar and play along. I also made my own piano arrangement of the song using MuseScore. Here’s a video of that:

If you’d like a copy of the sheet music for this arrangement, check out the “extras” on my Buy Me a Coffee site. The pdf is free, but feel free to throw some $$$ in the coffee jar if you want to say “thanks.”

Finally, some YouTube links. First, we have the original Beatles song:

Next, here’s Paul’s “Give My Regards to Broad Street” version, presented as part of a medley:

This is from his 1993 “Off the Ground” tour:

For something different, here’s Celine Dion’s rendition:

And lastly, here are the renditions that Sean Lennon and Elvis Costello presented to celebrate Paul’s 80th birthday:

Do you have any thoughts to share about this song? Are there songs you would like me to consider for future Music Mondays? Drop a comment below and let me know!