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Read the original blog post4.14pm
3 August 2014
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A lovely song. I think this is John really working right at his limit picking-wise on the acoustic guitar. I really like the chords too. He is using the ‘Travis Picking’ technique that Donavan taught him in India. You can tell from the Anthology version that it is stretching him. No wonder!
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15 February 2015
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I love Julia , there’s nothing like it on repeat when you can’t sleep– because after that, you can. Works wonders. The stereo mix is a little annoying though, it starts with all the guitar in the right ear and then evens out at the end of the first ‘Juuuulia’. I just tell myself it’s like you’re falling slowly into the song, like slipping underwater, but ’tis still annoying.
Here is a lovely little song which I love with acoustic guitar parts that sound very like Julia :
On a side note, I bet Paul would like ‘A Pillow Of Winds’, as it seems to be entirely concerned with that nice little state between sleeping and I which he finds so comfortable. 
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7.23am
1 November 2013
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14 February 2016
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Reviewers
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1 May 2011
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Have never cared for it. My father on the other hand loved it, thinking it was one of the best tracks they recorded and would always say it should have been on ‘Love Songs‘.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
7.04am
24 March 2014
Offline The fingerpicking and chords progression are very nice, if you can play guitar then this song is a must.
also the lyrics are beautiful.
Everything on it is so soft and gentle, like a windy smile, like a floating sky… 
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3.44pm
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15 February 2015
Offline Shamrock Womlbs orated
The fingerpicking and chords progression are very nice, if you can play guitar then this song is a must.
It’s on my to-do list…
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6.54am
26 January 2017
Offline What an amazing song. The way the chords slowly shift sounds so hypnotic and mysterious, as does John’s vocal performance. This is classic White Album – not nearly as immediate as some of their other songs, but its beauty slowly grows on you until you find it hard to believe you didn’t use to care for it.
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Zig, Beatlebug, WeepingAtlasCedarsI've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound.
8.10am
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline That first line grabs me every time. The rest of the song holds me there.
I love how John weaves Julia and Yoko together throughout. Most young men go through a period in their life when the love for his mother is equaled and eventually surpassed by the love for his soulmate. While John & Cyn did love each other at one time and to varying degrees, it is my humble opinion that Yoko is the one John had been waiting for all his life. That can be debated elsewhere. My point is, while John did not experience the transfer of love while Julia was alive, he managed to capture the experience in song. It’s as if he is introducing Yoko to his mom, hoping for Julia ‘s approval.
In typical John fashion, he lifted and altered lines from another source – in this case from a contemporary poet. From Joe’s article on the song:
Sections of the song were adapted from lines from the poem Sand And Foam by the then-fashionable Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran. The opening words of Julia were taken from Gibran’s lines, “Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you.”
Lennon also adapted the lines “When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind” from Gibran’s “When life does not find a singer to sing her heart she produces a philosopher to speak her mind”. Other imagery, including ‘seashell eyes’, was also taken from Gibran.
But you have to admit, they fit this song incredibly well. I’ll give him a pass, especially when I consider this. When I listen to a Beatles song, it evokes feelings, memories, etc… In this case, John read a poem, had feelings of his own evoked, and shared those feelings with the world.
One last little nugget that I did not realize until I read Joe’s article years ago:
It is the only solo Lennon recording in The Beatles’ canon.
For just about every Beatles song, there is more going on than meets the ear. Looking for it and finding it is truly rewarding for this Beatles fan.
Happy hunting…
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2.50pm
26 January 2017
Offline Hmmm. I’m a little disapointed Lennon didn’t come up with the first line himself, its one of my favorite Beatles lyrics. Still, this song is amazing. I mean, this melody is just fantastic.
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5.45pm
15 May 2015
Offline sir walter raleigh said
Hmmm. I’m a little disapointed Lennon didn’t come up with the first line himself, its one of my favorite Beatles lyrics. Still, this song is amazing. I mean, this melody is just fantastic.
The examples Joe gives vary enough to still give credit to Lennon; and for my money, Lennon definitely improved on Kahlil Gibran. Most art, I’d say, is an inspired rearranging, reworking of stuff Across The Universe .
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5.29am
14 June 2016
Offline It’s one of my favourite Lennon songs. He’s pouring out his soul with a poignant melody and a voice of reflection and longing. It’s both beautiful and haunting.
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5.38am
26 January 2017
Offline Timothy said
It’s one of my favourite Lennon songs. He’s pouring out his soul with a poignant melody and a voice of reflection and longing. It’s both beautiful and haunting.
Well said. It shows a lot that this song can be so dearly loved by all of ourselves and many others yet probably not be in most of our top 20 Beatles songs.
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TimothyI've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound.
7.12am
14 June 2016
Offline Julia really would be one of my top five John Beatles songs. I never tire of it, and I love the outtakes we have. The two rehearsals from the Super Deluxe especially. It’s a song that puts me at peace and makes me think.
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6.46pm
28 March 2014
Offline Great song, on a great LP 
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11.55am
14 June 2016
Offline The word use is simply beautiful and evocative.
Ocean child
Sleeping sand
Silent cloud
Floating sky
Morning moon
When I go for a walk I often think of the song, particularly late afternoon with the glimmering in the sun lyric.
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11.44am
30 August 2021
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5.07am
14 June 2016
Offline Being the only Beatles song John worked on alone makes it even more special.
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3.15pm
17 June 2021
Online Everything about this song is wonderful from the lyrics to John’s exquisite guitar playing.
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