Because

Because is a ballad written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and performed by The Beatles. It features a 3-part harmony vocal performance between Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison, overdubbed three times to make nine voices in all. The results of this have been compared in sound to The Beach Boys. It appeared on the 1969 album Abbey Road, and is the song that precedes the extended medley that formed side two of the original LP record.

The story has been told that this song is actually "Moonlight Sonata" by Ludwig van Beethoven played backwards. While this is not precisely true, "Moonlight Sonata" certainly served as an inspiration for the song. "Yoko was playing Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' on the piano ... I said, 'Can you play those chords backwards?', and wrote 'Because' around them. The lyrics speak for themselves ... No imagery, no obscure references." Lennon explain.

The song begins with electric harpsichord played by George Martin and then joined by Lennon's guitar doubling the harpsichord and played through a Leslie speaker. Vocals and bass guitar enter in what Alan Pollack calls the "mini-bridge".

The song was one of the few Beatles songs to include an analog synthesizer arrangement (although analog keyboards such as the Mellotron had been used often by The Beatles, few songs featured the use of a traditional analog synthesizer with voltage-controlled oscillators). The Beatles at the time of Abbey Road were among the first contemporary rock bands to experiment with the Moog synthesizer.

The main recording session for "Because" was on 1 August 1969, with vocal overdubs on 4 August, and a Moog synthesizer overdub by George Harrison on 5 August. As a result, this was the last song on the album to be committed to tape, although there were still overdubs for other incomplete songs.

A vocals-only version of the song can be found on Anthology 3 and Love is an example of three part harmony from Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison, although the latter is slowed down, includes quiet nature sound effects and includes the 'Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh' at the beginning while the former starts just with 'Because' and includes the instrumentation in the background.

Cover Versions
The song as covered by Elliot Smith plays over the end credits in American Beauty.

Recording and Release Dates
It was recorded on 1-5 August, 1969 in EMI Studios. and released on 26 September, 1969.

Credits

 * John Lennon – triple-tracked lead harmony vocals (middle register), lead and rhythm guitars
 * Paul McCartney – triple-tracked second harmony vocals (high register), bass
 * George Harrison – triple-tracked third harmony vocals (low register), double-tracked Moog synthesiser
 * George Martin – electric spinet Baldwin harpsichord

Personnel per Ian MacDonald.