5. Across The Universe

 This is the best poem that John ever wrote.  And then he turned it in to a song.  If I knew more about the poem language of metaphors, similes, whodingers, syncopation and such I could go into detail here.  I just know that it's a brilliant poem.  My favorite line is about a restless wind inside a letterbox.  That image is precious.  Let me name all the phrases in this song that floor me....  endless rain into a paper cup, slither while they slip away, pools of sorrow, waves of joy, drifting, possessing, caressing...just about the entire song is full of images that astound.  Dancing broken light, thoughts meandering (in a letterbox for god's sake)....across the universe.  The only thing that stops this from being at the top of my list is the chorus.  Can you imagine if John came up with something other than the mantra chant, Jai Guru De Va....  Something that could bring this song to the public.  The mantra chant forces this song to keep it's place in the very distant background of Beatles songs.  It couldn't become mainstream with the somewhat downbeat chorus of "nothings gonna change my world"....and then to top it off the somewhat controversial meditation angle.  It seemed a bit hippy like to introduce an Maharishi chant at the time and that's the only reason this in not as popular as John's later "Imagine".  I know that there are a few versions of this song...birds at the beginning and such, but none seem to really nail it.  I don't really like the wa-wa guitar or the angelic chorus, or the horrible bass line at the end ot the song.  I don't suspect that Paul had anything to do with this song and I thinks that's a shame.  The arrangement could have been worked on to make this even better and I think Paul could have helped.  I get the feeling that the two of them really had very little interaction during this period.  They wrote separately and it shows.  None-the-less, this is a brilliant song/poem that deserves more recognition.

Across The Universe....take two update (today's date 12-9-14).  (Check that anniversary date in JL history)  So now that I've learned the technique of Transcendental Meditation, I need to amend my original interpretation of this song.  The chorus...Jai Guru Dev...is a tribute to the founder of the TM movement.  It was the Guru Dev that taught Marish Maheshi sp? to learn and teach TM.  So it's not a mantra at all.  It's John's tribute to the founder of the TM school.  Not enough has been written about John and TM so I'm reticent to go so far as saying this is a tribute but it's clear to me that John is saying something about meditation.  My TM teacher pointed out (just tonight) that the phrase "Nothing's gonna change my world" could literally mean that "nothing", as the subject of the sentence, could mean that the nothing, or the "awareness", that sometimes comes (and goes) briefly during meditation could be praise by John that the somewhat fleeting magical moment has been a huge (positive) change to His world.  The rest of the song now seems to be full of meditation references..."thoughts meander", "limitless undying love" etc..  I'm somewhat blown away by the beauty of this song as a tribute to TM.  Now that I've learned to meditate, I am even more amazed at the ability of John's lyrics to describe some of his experiences during meditation.  So my original interpretation of this song as somewhat downbeat has been turned 180 degrees.  This song may go down as the best song ever written!  I may need to revisit this song again....