- Album This song officially appears on the Abbey Road LP.
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
Get Back sessions - January 2, 1969 - Day 1
Jan 02, 1969
Get Back sessions - January 3, 1969 - Day 2
Jan 03, 1969
Get Back sessions - January 10, 1969 - Day 7
Jan 10, 1969
Mixing the "Abbey Road" medley
Aug 14, 1969
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Song facts
From Wikipedia:
“Sun King” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album Abbey Road. Written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it is the second song of the album’s climactic medley. Like other tracks on the album (notably “Because“) the song features lush multi-tracked vocal harmonies, provided by Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
Background
The working title was “Here Comes the Sun King”, but was shortened to “Sun King” to avoid confusion with Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun“. The song slowly fades in from the harbour sounds at the end of “You Never Give Me Your Money“. At the end of the song, the music stops abruptly and a drum fill by Ringo Starr leads into the next track, “Mean Mr. Mustard“.
A faux mixing of Romance languages occurs in the last three lines of the song. In 1969, Lennon was interviewed about these lyrics and said, “We just started joking, you know, singing ‘cuando para mucho.’ So we just made up… Paul knew a few Spanish words from school, you know. So we just strung any Spanish words that sounded vaguely like something. And of course we got ‘chicka ferdy’ in. That’s a Liverpool expression. Just like sort – it doesn’t mean anything to me but (childish taunting) ‘na-na, na-na-na!’“
In an interview in 1987, Harrison said that the recording was inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross”. “At the time, ‘Albatross’ (by Fleetwood Mac) was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing Albatross, just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac… but that was the point of origin.“
Musical structure
The song is in the key of C and the chorus (“Here comes the Sun King”) involves a I (C)–Imaj7 (Cmaj7 chord)–v7 (Gm7 chord)–VI7 (A7 chord) progression against a C–B–B♭–A vocal harmony. An interesting feature (according to Pedler) is the substitution of the Gm7 chord for the C7 dominant chord at the word “Sun”. This represents an example of the jazz rule that allows a dominant (V) seventh chord (here C7) to be replaced by a minor chord a fifth above (here Gm7). The synchronous B♭ vocal harmonises with the ♭3 (B♭ note) of the Gm7 chord. The coda beginning “Cuando para mucho”, which is an exact copy of the instrumental intro, is initially sung to a ii (F♯m7 chord), which moves to V–I (B6 to E6 chords) on “cora-zon”, then alternates back to ii (F♯m7) on “Mundo paparazzi” and “Cuesto obrigato” before again V–I (B6–E6) on “para-sol” and “carou-sel”.
The song is also notable for the vocally constructed ii-on-V ‘slash’ polychord (Dm7/G; also written G11) arising in the “Ahh” transition to verse (“Here comes …” and I (C) chord) while the bass makes the standard V (G note)–I (C note) move. The frequent use of added sixth chords in the song accentuate its dreamlike feel. The song also has an example of major 9th harmony in the Cmaj9 chord on “Here comes the Sun King”; here, above the tonic C major triad, both B (seventh) and D (ninth) combine in the vocals “to form a suitably lush fanfare for the monarch himself.”
“Gnik Nus”
A portion of the vocals was included as a reversed a cappella in the track titled “Gnik Nus” for the 2006 album Love. An instrumental section of “Sun King” was also used at the end of the track “Octopus’s Garden” on the compilation. […]
We just started joking, singing ‘Quando para mucho’. So, we just made it up. Paul knew a few Spanish words from school, you know, so, we just strung any Spanish words that sounded vaguely like something. And, of course, we got ‘Chicka ferdy’ in. That’s a Liverpool expression, just sort of, it doesn’t mean anything to me, but ‘Na, na, na, na, na.’ The one we missed, we should have had, was ‘Paranoia’. We forgot all about it. We used to call ourselves ‘Los Paranoias’. ‘Cake and eat it,’ is a nice line too. They have something similar in Spanish. ‘Sun King’ was just half a song I had that I never finished, and it was one way of getting rid of it. The medley went, and we wanted a change of atmosphere, so, ‘Here comes the Sun King,’ and ‘Here he comes,’ and ‘Everybody’s happy.’
John Lennon – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman
From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:
[a] stereo 14 Aug 1969. crossfaded 14,21 Aug 1969.
UK: Apple PCS 7088 Abbey Road 1969.
US: Apple SO-383 Abbey Road 1969.
CD: EMI CDP 7 46446 2 Abbey Road 1987.[Sun King / Mean Mr Mustard] were recorded straight through. The first crossfade joined this to the following item, Polythene Pam / She Came in through the Bathroom Window. The second joined that combined tape to You Never Give Me Your Money.
Last updated on January 1, 2022
Lyrics
Here comes the sun king
Here comes the sun king
Everybody's laughing
Everybody's happy
Here comes the sun king
Quando paramucho mi amore de felice carazón
Mundo paparazzi mi amore chica ferdi para sol
Questo obrigado tanto mucho que canite carousel
Officially appears on
LP • Released in 1969
2:26 • Studio version • A • Stereo
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Harmonium, Harmony vocals, Piano, Tape loops
- Ringo Starr :
- Bongos, Drums, Tambourine
- John Lennon :
- Guitar, Maracas, Vocals
- George Harrison :
- Harmony vocals, Lead guitar
- George Martin :
- Lowrey organ, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Recording engineer
- Phil McDonald :
- Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Jul 24, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
- Session Overdubs:
- Jul 25, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
- Session Overdubs:
- Jul 29, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road
- Session Mixing:
- Jul 30, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Official album • Released in 2003
0:17 • Studio version • From the "Fly On The Wall" bonus disc
Official album • Released in 2006
0:55 • Studio version • C • As suggested in its title, the track contains the vocal arrangement of "Sun King" played in reverse.
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Giles Martin :
- Producer
- Paul Hicks :
- Remix engineer
- Sam Okell :
- Remix engineer assistant
- Chris Bolster :
- Remix engineer assistant
- Mirek Stiles :
- Remix engineer assistant
- Session Mixing:
- Circa 2004-2006
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Abbey Road (Stereo - 2009 remaster)
Official album • Released in 2009
2:26 • Studio version • A2009 • Stereo • 2009 stereo remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Harmonium, Harmony vocals, Piano, Tape loops
- Ringo Starr :
- Bongos, Drums, Tambourine
- John Lennon :
- Guitar, Maracas, Vocals
- George Harrison :
- Harmony vocals, Lead guitar
- George Martin :
- Lowrey organ, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Recording engineer
- Phil McDonald :
- Recording engineer
- Guy Massey :
- Remastering
- Steve Rooke :
- Remastering
- Allan Rouse :
- Project co-ordinator
- Session Recording:
- Jul 24, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
- Session Overdubs:
- Jul 25, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
- Session Overdubs:
- Jul 29, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road
- Session Mixing:
- Jul 30, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)
Official album • Released in 2019
2:26 • Studio version • B • Stereo • 2019 Stereo Mix
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Harmonium, Harmony vocals, Piano, Tape loops
- Ringo Starr :
- Bongos, Drums, Tambourine
- John Lennon :
- Guitar, Maracas, Vocals
- George Harrison :
- Harmony vocals, Lead guitar
- George Martin :
- Lowrey organ, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Recording engineer
- Giles Martin :
- Producer
- Phil McDonald :
- Recording engineer
- Sam Okell :
- Mix engineer
- Session Recording:
- Jul 24, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
- Session Overdubs:
- Jul 25, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
- Session Overdubs:
- Jul 29, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road
- Session Mixing:
- Jul 30, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)
Official album • Released in 2019
3:14 • Alternate take • Take 20
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass
- Ringo Starr :
- Drums
- John Lennon :
- Rhythm guitar, Vocals
- George Harrison :
- Lead guitar
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Engineer
- Giles Martin :
- Producer
- Phil McDonald :
- Engineer
- Sam Okell :
- Mix engineer
- Session Recording:
- Jul 24, 1969
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)
Official album • Released in 2019
16:10 • Alternate take • From the original mix of "The Long One"
- Session Mixing:
- Jul 30, 1969
Bootlegs
A/B Road Complete Get Back Sessions - Jan 2nd, 1969
Unofficial album • Released in 2004
2:20 • Rehearsal • Jan.02 - D1-29 - Sun King 2.18 - No McCartney involvement as he arrived later during the day
- Performed by :
- John Lennon
- Session Recording:
- Jan 02, 1969
- Studio :
- Twickenham Film Studios, London, UK
A/B Road Complete Get Back Sessions - Jan 2nd, 1969
Unofficial album • Released in 2004
5:00 • Rehearsal • Medley with "Don't Let Me Down"
- Session Recording:
- Jan 02, 1969
- Studio :
- Twickenham Film Studios, London, UK
A/B Road Complete Get Back Sessions - Jan 2nd, 1969
Unofficial album • Released in 2004
0:29 • Rehearsal • Jan.02 - D1-35 - Sun King 2.24
- Session Recording:
- Jan 02, 1969
- Studio :
- Twickenham Film Studios, London, UK
Live performances
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
Going further
Solid State: The Story of "Abbey Road" and the End of the Beatles
Acclaimed Beatles historian Kenneth Womack offers the most definitive account yet of the writing, recording, mixing, and reception of Abbey Road. In February 1969, the Beatles began working on what became their final album together. Abbey Road introduced a number of new techniques and technologies to the Beatles' sound, and included "Come Together," "Something," and "Here Comes the Sun," which all emerged as classics.
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