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8.14am
4 November 2010
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Although it only clocks in at 23 seconds (their shortest ever, I believe), Her Majesty was the final track on the final Beatles album (since technically Abbey Road was recorded after Let it Be). It was also the first hidden track (song not mentioned on track listing).
So, what do you think of the Beatles' parting words? Should the album have ended with 'The End'?
And who told everybody what the song was actually called??? The Beatles could have titled it The End of The End, and nobody would know since it wasn't listed…
1.24pm
13 November 2009
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On vinyl, I think it's a fun surprise. On cd, it is a bit of a let down. I usually have my zune set to random so it doesn't matter. 
4.28pm
12 March 2010
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CranberrySauce said:
Although it only clocks in at 23 seconds (their shortest ever, I believe), Her Majesty was the final track on the final Beatles album (since technically Abbey Road was recorded after Let it Be). It was also the first hidden track (song not mentioned on track listing).
So, what do you think of the Beatles' parting words? Should the album have ended with 'The End'?
And who told everybody what the song was actually called??? The Beatles could have titled it The End of The End, and nobody would know since it wasn't listed…
It's the PERFECT ending!
After that last song of all last songs, some stunned silence – and then another prove of The Beatles' humour (they never took themselves as serious as most others did) and prove how open-minded they were for funny mistakes and accidents in the studio.
And of course it was Macca who took this concept and put so many similar tracks on his solo albums.
Just some examples: "Cosmically conscious" (after C'mon people on "Off the ground"), hidden track on "Chaos and creation", "Nod your head" after "The end of the end" on "Memory almost full", "Rince the raindrops" on "Driving rain", "Ou est le soleil" after "Motor of love" on "Flowers in the dirt", "Mr. Morse Moose" on "London Town", "Great day" after "Beautiful night" on "Flaming pie" and others.
Always these "funny" last tracks, often after some really lush, dramatic or romantic songs.
I like this way of giving a "wink" to the listener.
4.44pm
19 September 2010
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I never thoughtof it that way
Thanks paulsbass
5.51pm
1 May 2010
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Mhh I always thought it was Macca's ego to say the final word… but yeah, it can also be the tongue in cheek Beatle humor.
I never thought of it that way either…
7.33pm
14 December 2009
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When Abbey Road was brand-new and being played for the first time, and especially since it wasn't listed on the back cover, "Her Majesty" would've been a fun little surprise - another false ending from a band that LOVED fake endings ("Strawberry Fields Forever", "Helter Skelter", "Sgt Pepper"'s locked-groove.) Also, conceptually, the extended silence after "The End"'s end makes for a clever mirror image to Side One, which ends before "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is entirely finished. And like everyone else who knows his Beatles lore, I love knowing about the happy accident that resulted in its inclusion on the album. But really, unfortunately, the surprise factor obviously only works the first time you play the album; and after that, the extended silence followed by "Her Majesty"'s unconnected-to-anything crash opening become mildly irritating, at least to me. Also, since the CD era begun, about 9000 other artists have done the hidden-track-after-a-long-silence thing, and it's no longer clever or surprising or amusing, just annoying as hell. (Just like all those horror movies where the supposedly-dead killer makes one last appearance near the end before he's REALLY killed) But my biggest problem is this: Since "Her Majesty" features Paul alone, its placement at the very end gives the uncomfortable impression of being the ultimate ego trip - an encore for Paul and Paul alone. It's like the band plays their last song ever, with triumphant guitar & drum soloing to remind everybody what a great band they were, then leaves the studio; and then Paul bides his time and sneaks back in to have the last word all to himself. ("Don't worry folks, I've still got lots of music left in me, with or without the others!") Certainly that wasn't Paul's intention at all, but the impression is unavoidable nonetheless.
So, no: I much prefer the album to end with, duh, "The End", and I think "Her Majesty" works so much better in its original placement, between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polytheme Pam". And that's the way I re-edited it as soon as I had the software to do so. (I also cross-faded the end of "…Bathroom Window" with the beginning of "Golden Slumbers", but that's another story.) The whole thing's now one long 16-minute track on my computer; and when I want to hear that big medley, that's what I play instead of the CD.
(Only one minor problem I have with the "Mustard/Majesty/Pam" sequence: John's "His sister Pam…" no longer immediately preceding "Polytheme Pam" eliminates a tiny bit of thematic continuity. But at least "Mustard" also has a reference to the Queen, so following that with a song about "Her Majesty" partially compensates for the "Pam" discontinuity.)
8.11pm
19 September 2010
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Von Bontee said:
When Abbey Road was brand-new and being played for the first time, and especially since it wasn't listed on the back cover, "Her Majesty" would've been a fun little surprise - another false ending from a band that LOVED fake endings ("Strawberry Fields Forever", "Helter Skelter", "Sgt Pepper"'s locked-groove.) Also, conceptually, the extended silence after "The End"'s end makes for a clever mirror image to Side One, which ends before "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is entirely finished. And like everyone else who knows his Beatles lore, I love knowing about the happy accident that resulted in its inclusion on the album. But really, unfortunately, the surprise factor obviously only works the first time you play the album; and after that, the extended silence followed by "Her Majesty"'s unconnected-to-anything crash opening become mildly irritating, at least to me. Also, since the CD era begun, about 9000 other artists have done the hidden-track-after-a-long-silence thing, and it's no longer clever or surprising or amusing, just annoying as hell. (Just like all those horror movies where the supposedly-dead killer makes one last appearance near the end before he's REALLY killed) But my biggest problem is this: Since "Her Majesty" features Paul alone, its placement at the very end gives the uncomfortable impression of being the ultimate ego trip - an encore for Paul and Paul alone. It's like the band plays their last song ever, with triumphant guitar & drum soloing to remind everybody what a great band they were, then leaves the studio; and then Paul bides his time and sneaks back in to have the last word all to himself. ("Don't worry folks, I've still got lots of music left in me, with or without the others!") Certainly that wasn't Paul's intention at all, but the impression is unavoidable nonetheless.
So, no: I much prefer the album to end with, duh, "The End", and I think "Her Majesty" works so much better in its original placement, between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polytheme Pam". And that's the way I re-edited it as soon as I had the software to do so. (I also cross-faded the end of "…Bathroom Window" with the beginning of "Golden Slumbers", but that's another story.) The whole thing's now one long 16-minute track on my computer; and when I want to hear that big medley, that's what I play instead of the CD.
(Only one minor problem I have with the "Mustard/Majesty/Pam" sequence: John's "His sister Pam…" no longer immediately preceding "Polytheme Pam" eliminates a tiny bit of thematic continuity. But at least "Mustard" also has a reference to the Queen, so following that with a song about "Her Majesty" partially compensates for the "Pam" discontinuity.)
another interesting theory
thanks
9.14pm
1 May 2010
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Von Bontee said:
When Abbey Road was brand-new and being played for the first time, and especially since it wasn't listed on the back cover, "Her Majesty" would've been a fun little surprise - another false ending from a band that LOVED fake endings ("Strawberry Fields Forever", "Helter Skelter", "Sgt Pepper"'s locked-groove.) Also, conceptually, the extended silence after "The End"'s end makes for a clever mirror image to Side One, which ends before "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is entirely finished. And like everyone else who knows his Beatles lore, I love knowing about the happy accident that resulted in its inclusion on the album. But really, unfortunately, the surprise factor obviously only works the first time you play the album; and after that, the extended silence followed by "Her Majesty"'s unconnected-to-anything crash opening become mildly irritating, at least to me. Also, since the CD era begun, about 9000 other artists have done the hidden-track-after-a-long-silence thing, and it's no longer clever or surprising or amusing, just annoying as hell. (Just like all those horror movies where the supposedly-dead killer makes one last appearance near the end before he's REALLY killed) But my biggest problem is this: Since "Her Majesty" features Paul alone, its placement at the very end gives the uncomfortable impression of being the ultimate ego trip - an encore for Paul and Paul alone. It's like the band plays their last song ever, with triumphant guitar & drum soloing to remind everybody what a great band they were, then leaves the studio; and then Paul bides his time and sneaks back in to have the last word all to himself. ("Don't worry folks, I've still got lots of music left in me, with or without the others!") Certainly that wasn't Paul's intention at all, but the impression is unavoidable nonetheless.
So, no: I much prefer the album to end with, duh, "The End", and I think "Her Majesty" works so much better in its original placement, between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polytheme Pam". And that's the way I re-edited it as soon as I had the software to do so. (I also cross-faded the end of "…Bathroom Window" with the beginning of "Golden Slumbers", but that's another story.) The whole thing's now one long 16-minute track on my computer; and when I want to hear that big medley, that's what I play instead of the CD.
(Only one minor problem I have with the "Mustard/Majesty/Pam" sequence: John's "His sister Pam…" no longer immediately preceding "Polytheme Pam" eliminates a tiny bit of thematic continuity. But at least "Mustard" also has a reference to the Queen, so following that with a song about "Her Majesty" partially compensates for the "Pam" discontinuity.)
Nice rant, I agree with that statement. Abbey Road was mostly Paul's baby, or, as John put it, his attempt to keep the "myth" alive. I must admit that my liking for the medley and Abbey Road in general has gone down quite consiberably since I first heard it. There are still some spectacular tracks on the album and I still really like each individual song in the medley, but I don't know, when I compare it to Revolver and Rubber Soul it just feels different, like it's sort of fabricated. Her Majesty is okay, but I don't really wait for it anymore.
10.01pm
4 November 2010
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Von Bontee said:
When Abbey Road was brand-new and being played for the first time, and especially since it wasn't listed on the back cover, "Her Majesty" would've been a fun little surprise - another false ending from a band that LOVED fake endings ("Strawberry Fields Forever", "Helter Skelter", "Sgt Pepper"'s locked-groove.) Also, conceptually, the extended silence after "The End"'s end makes for a clever mirror image to Side One, which ends before "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is entirely finished. And like everyone else who knows his Beatles lore, I love knowing about the happy accident that resulted in its inclusion on the album. But really, unfortunately, the surprise factor obviously only works the first time you play the album; and after that, the extended silence followed by "Her Majesty"'s unconnected-to-anything crash opening become mildly irritating, at least to me. Also, since the CD era begun, about 9000 other artists have done the hidden-track-after-a-long-silence thing, and it's no longer clever or surprising or amusing, just annoying as hell. (Just like all those horror movies where the supposedly-dead killer makes one last appearance near the end before he's REALLY killed) But my biggest problem is this: Since "Her Majesty" features Paul alone, its placement at the very end gives the uncomfortable impression of being the ultimate ego trip - an encore for Paul and Paul alone. It's like the band plays their last song ever, with triumphant guitar & drum soloing to remind everybody what a great band they were, then leaves the studio; and then Paul bides his time and sneaks back in to have the last word all to himself. ("Don't worry folks, I've still got lots of music left in me, with or without the others!") Certainly that wasn't Paul's intention at all, but the impression is unavoidable nonetheless.
So, no: I much prefer the album to end with, duh, "The End", and I think "Her Majesty" works so much better in its original placement, between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polytheme Pam". And that's the way I re-edited it as soon as I had the software to do so. (I also cross-faded the end of "…Bathroom Window" with the beginning of "Golden Slumbers", but that's another story.) The whole thing's now one long 16-minute track on my computer; and when I want to hear that big medley, that's what I play instead of the CD.
(Only one minor problem I have with the "Mustard/Majesty/Pam" sequence: John's "His sister Pam…" no longer immediately preceding "Polytheme Pam" eliminates a tiny bit of thematic continuity. But at least "Mustard" also has a reference to the Queen, so following that with a song about "Her Majesty" partially compensates for the "Pam" discontinuity.)
Oh, I've never heard the story about the original placement of Her Majesty before, that's neat. Having the album on CD ruins everything, since you can see it coming and everything.
It does seem that "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make" would have been a much more powerful ending, and even a bit ironic considering their animosity towards each other in the later years. Her Majesty can sometimes feel very anti-climatic.
10.10pm
1 December 2009
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CranberrySauce said:
Oh, I've never heard the story about the original placement of Her Majesty before, that's neat.
Yeah, it's interesting! Joe's writeup goes into more detail, of course: /songs/her-majesty/
3.18am
9 June 2010
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All I can really say is it made me jump!
But I do laugh when I listen to Abbey Road and it comes up.
mr. Sun king coming together said And yes, YouTube comments are stupid. But hilariously so.
3.08pm
7 November 2010
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Von Bontee said:
When Abbey Road was brand-new and being played for the first time, and especially since it wasn't listed on the back cover, "Her Majesty" would've been a fun little surprise - another false ending from a band that LOVED fake endings ("Strawberry Fields Forever", "Helter Skelter", "Sgt Pepper"'s locked-groove.) Also, conceptually, the extended silence after "The End"'s end makes for a clever mirror image to Side One, which ends before "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is entirely finished. And like everyone else who knows his Beatles lore, I love knowing about the happy accident that resulted in its inclusion on the album. But really, unfortunately, the surprise factor obviously only works the first time you play the album; and after that, the extended silence followed by "Her Majesty"'s unconnected-to-anything crash opening become mildly irritating, at least to me. Also, since the CD era begun, about 9000 other artists have done the hidden-track-after-a-long-silence thing, and it's no longer clever or surprising or amusing, just annoying as hell. (Just like all those horror movies where the supposedly-dead killer makes one last appearance near the end before he's REALLY killed) But my biggest problem is this: Since "Her Majesty" features Paul alone, its placement at the very end gives the uncomfortable impression of being the ultimate ego trip - an encore for Paul and Paul alone. It's like the band plays their last song ever, with triumphant guitar & drum soloing to remind everybody what a great band they were, then leaves the studio; and then Paul bides his time and sneaks back in to have the last word all to himself. ("Don't worry folks, I've still got lots of music left in me, with or without the others!") Certainly that wasn't Paul's intention at all, but the impression is unavoidable nonetheless.
That's such an interesting way to look at it! I've never thought about it like that, and it does really give the impression that at the end of the day, Paul will always have the last word.
At the time it was released, when people didn't know that Abbey Road would be the last Beatles album recorded, I'm sure audiences saw Her Majesty in the same way they saw the end of Sgt Peppers; The Beatles were surprising the listener, and adding a bit of their charm and humour in the process.
I think it's only 40 years on that we can look back and and get frustrated at how much potential The End had at being the final send off of The Beatles! "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." I don't think anything could have been more fitting.
"When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind."
4.37pm
18 April 2010
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If it's that big a deal to you that Her Majesty is right there, don't listen to it.
4.37pm
12 March 2010
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Von Bontee said:
I love knowing about the happy accident that resulted in its inclusion on the album.
But really, unfortunately, the surprise factor obviously only works the first time you play the album; and after that, the extended silence followed by "Her Majesty"'s unconnected-to-anything crash opening become mildly irritating, at least to me. Also, since the CD era begun, about 9000 other artists have done the hidden-track-after-a-long-silence thing, and it's no longer clever or surprising or amusing, just annoying as hell. (Just like all those horror movies where the supposedly-dead killer makes one last appearance near the end before he's REALLY killed) But my biggest problem is this: Since "Her Majesty" features Paul alone, its placement at the very end gives the uncomfortable impression of being the ultimate ego trip - an encore for Paul and Paul alone. It's like the band plays their last song ever, with triumphant guitar & drum soloing to remind everybody what a great band they were, then leaves the studio; and then Paul bides his time and sneaks back in to have the last word all to himself. ("Don't worry folks, I've still got lots of music left in me, with or without the others!") Certainly that wasn't Paul's intention at all, but the impression is unavoidable nonetheless.
If you know about it being an accident, why your theory about it being Paul's egotrip??? Since I didn't have that impression nor would I ever come up with something like that it looks as if you're wrong about calling it "unavoidable".
How
is it The Beatles' mistake that so many other artists copied this
accident?? They didn't try to be clever, they just liked it!
So I couldn't disagree more with your "rant".
And btw, Abbey Road was far less Paul's project than Peppers. They ALL wanted to end it well and put all their effort in it and cooperated and re-recruted George Martin to do one more great album like in the old days.
It has George's best songs and Ringo's best song and my favourite John song (I want you) and, indeed, many great Paul songs. So it's EVERYONE at their peak.
Don't try to put down Macca all the time, if you please.
4.42pm
9 June 2010
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paulsbass said:
It has George's best songs and Ringo's best song and my favourite John song (I want you) and, indeed, many great Paul songs. So it's EVERYONE at their peak.
Really? Your favorite John song is "IWY(SSH)?"
*eyebrows become stuck on top of face*
mr. Sun king coming together said And yes, YouTube comments are stupid. But hilariously so.
4.46pm
12 March 2010
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kelicopter said:
I think it's only 40 years on that we can look back and and get frustrated at how much potential The End had at being the final send off of The Beatles! "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." I don't think anything could have been more fitting.
Can't agree more:
If it frustrates you, don't listen to it. I think it's great that the biggest band ever didn't end with the biggest and most pretentious song ever – but with a charming and quiet piece of acoustic guitar and solo vocals – which wasn't even planned but happened by accident.
And for all the haters:
Since it was Paul's line in "The end", he would have had the last word anyway – and a GREAT last word.
So I can't see the point in trying to make him look like that guy with the huge ego again. Lennon's ego was at least as big as his!
I think the truth is: They were both intimidated by each other, especially John, so he always had to make these big speeches. And Paul always had to "fight" against a legend, especially after John was dead. So he felt the urge to get some more respect for his work.
But please don't put evil meanings into innocent and funny accidents.
4.50pm
12 March 2010
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MeanMrs.Mustard said:
paulsbass said:
It has George's best songs and Ringo's best song and my favourite John song (I want you) and, indeed, many great Paul songs. So it's EVERYONE at their peak.
Really? Your favorite John song is "IWY(SSH)?"
*eyebrows become stuck on top of face*
Oh, I forgot about "Tomorrow never knows", which is in it's own league…
But IWY is definitely up there. I will NEVER, EVER get how people dislike it for the lyrics. Yes, they are simple and repetitive – but that's GREAT here, since there is nothing else to say!
It's the coolest, most laid-back Beatles track ever, with all those fantastic guitar parts and Paul's insane bass and Ringo doing "Black magic woman".
So, yeah, definitely A, maybe THE favourite.
4.50pm
19 September 2010
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paulsbass while it was an accident Paul approved the medley and HE was the one who approved the idea of him and him alone having the final word
Check your facts next time to save some time
Btw congrats on hitting the roof
5.01pm
12 March 2010
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mr. Sun king coming together said:
paulsbass while it was an accident Paul approved the medley and HE was the one who approved the idea of him and him alone having the final word
Check your facts next time to save some time
Btw congrats on hitting the roof
So, who sang "And in the end…"?
Ups, Paul again. So, who had the last word ANYWAY?
Check your own facts.
5.08pm
7 November 2010
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paulsbass said:
kelicopter said:
I think it's only 40 years on that we can look back and and get frustrated at how much potential The End had at being the final send off of The Beatles! "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." I don't think anything could have been more fitting.
Can't agree more:
If it frustrates you, don't listen to it. I think it's great that the biggest band ever didn't end with the biggest and most pretentious song ever – but with a charming and quiet piece of acoustic guitar and solo vocals – which wasn't even planned but happened by accident.
And for all the haters:
Since it was Paul's line in "The end", he would have had the last word anyway – and a GREAT last word.
So I can't see the point in trying to make him look like that guy with the huge ego again. Lennon's ego was at least as big as his!
I think the truth is: They were both intimidated by each other, especially John, so he always had to make these big speeches. And Paul always had to "fight" against a legend, especially after John was dead. So he felt the urge to get some more respect for his work.
But please don't put evil meanings into innocent and funny accidents.
Don't get me wrong, I do quite like Her Majesty, it is a really nice piece of music. It's just that in my opinion, it would have fitted better somewhere mid album.
I mean, none of us will ever know the exact reasons as to why they decided to keep Her Majesty at the end. These are all just theories, we're all just having our opinion. Even if the "evil meaning" wasn't intentional on Paul's behalf, that is just how some people perceive the song. And they're entitled to think that.
"When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind."
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