Beatles: Come Together Meaning

Song Released: 1969

Covered By: Taylor John Williams (2014), Gary Clark Jr. (2017)

Come Together Lyrics

Lyrics removed by the request of NMPA

1. anonymous

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   Oct 22nd 2008 !⃝

   I feel like this song is about john's death, actually. There is still some speculation as to if John knew he was going to die. If you listen to the words, it's really creepy because it's describing Mark Chapman. The song is definitely about death, yes, no matter whose it is, but I always had this feeling that John Lennon knew something was going to happen to him. I've taken "come together, right now, over me" as people coming together, unifying over his grave. I could be, of course, wrong, but I've always had a gut feeling about it.
2. anonymous

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   Oct 22nd 2008 !⃝

   I have a feeling it is about the time they were in. The Beatles were amazing artist and the best poets. most likely they could entangle many things to bring up ideas on their lyrics. For instance at the hype of Paul is dead faze the no shoe shine and lots of other lyrics imply more of the great hoax. further more the theory that each verse is of a Beatles was a possibility in the minds of the fab four also. However many of the lyrics can also apply to most everyone around them. with long hair, shooting (coca cola) drug use and the hippy days. In all the Beatles enjoy toying with words and baffling many.
3. anonymous

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   Sep 26th 2008 !⃝

   Just a thought...but come together "over me" seems to be the exact opposite of "under God". My meaning is let your own freak flag fly and don't let anyones beliefs tell you how to live your life.
4. anonymous

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   Sep 23rd 2008 !⃝

   Listen to the lyrics properly, any one who knows anything about drug lingo will see that this song is about a drugs user's relationship with his addiction - come together is the coming together of the user and the drug.
   
   Monkey fingers= heroin addiction
   shoots coca-cola= cocaine
5. anonymous

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   Sep 10th 2008 !⃝

   I think this song is completely about the times of the 70s: drugs and death and rivalry against the police;
   
   Here come o'l flat top - a police car
   
   He shoot coca-cola - a brown soda and an obvious reference to shooing up heroine (also brown)
   
   Come together, right now, over me - everyone joining in unity over this song/album since the time of the 70s was not longer about peace and love but hatred and war.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
6. anonymous

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   Sep 9th 2008 !⃝

   COME ON GUYS, I believe that it is pretty obvious that John is speaking about war. we all know that johns middle name is peace. He wants the war to stop, and for all to come together as 1. Hence "COME TOGETHER! Right Now, over me." f.y.i. Beatles frikkin rule

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
7. anonymous

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   Sep 7th 2008 !⃝

   Not knowing the Beatles so well, and just by listening to the song with the lyrics in front of me, this is what I got..
   
   I think it's about mocking the media/people and how the media/people comes together and mocks people who stand out for whatever reasons..
   
   the verses sound like he's speaking about an outcast.. I would imagine a hobo or something.. just to exaggerate the idea of an outcast.
   
   The chorus sounds like John makes that outcast himself, by saying 'Over me'..
   
   But I don't know.. This is what I think..

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
8. anonymous

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   Sep 6th 2008 !⃝

   Of the interpretations I have read on this site, mine
   most closely resembles 2007-05-20 07:22:10
   
   The key figure is Jesus Christ. He is Old flattop.
   He is the Holy roller. He say one and one and one is three
   is a reference to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
   
   This song is hardly an aberration in this respect because
   many songs feature Jesus as the focal point. An example is
   "All you need is Love"...the line "There's no one you
   can save that can't be saved" only makes real sense when applied to Jesus, The Saviour.
   
   Back to Come Together, I can't say I could interpret
   every nuance of the song but I'd like to include some discussion about how the song shifts from a description
   of Jesus to Words that sound as if they are uttered by
   Jesus Himself..."Come together, right now
   over Me" This "duet" type of quality is featured by many
   artists even if they sing the entire song. One interesting duet is that of Baba O'Reilly by The Who.
   Roger Daltrey seems to channel the words of Christ
   while Pete Townsend seems to offer some description of Him.
   Again back to "Come Together"...The line "I know you,
   You know me, One thing I can tell you is you've got to be free." sounds like Jesus again speaking and referring to
   freedom from sin.
9. anonymous

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   Aug 27th 2008 !⃝

   Well first of all I really don't know what this all could mean but it may have something to do with the noise I think Paul makes, it is not a noise it is a word. listen very very closely.
10. anonymous

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    Aug 13th 2008 !⃝

    This song was written for an audience like us who want to interpret everything. Although, it was just complete catchy nonsense. John appreciated keeping his fans guessing. So there you have it. Continue to send in interpretations for Johns sake.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. Insight

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    Jul 13th 2008 !⃝

    It's really sad that anyone would think so little of John Lennon to suppose that this song is about nothing but drugs.
    We all know he used drugs and in many ways was a tormented soul, but at his core he wanted nothing more than to bring peace and love to the world. This song was one of many he wrote with that purpose in mind.
12. anonymous

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    Jul 8th 2008 !⃝

    "He got monkey finger he shoot coca-cola"
    
    monkey finger = marijuana rolled up into a cigar/ brown wrap
    
    shoot coca-cola = pretty obvious here guys, shoot some cocaine
    
    song clearly has meanings of drugs in it, what else is new
13. Insight

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    Jul 2nd 2008 !⃝

    You all underestimate the Beatles. They wanted to change the world. The 60's mantra was turn on, tune in and drop out. Drop out of the rat race and "Come together" to form a new society based on love. This song was no less than a call to create this new world, the world of "Imagine"
    The words that make no sense were thrown in to divert attention from the real message. The government feared rock groups like the Beatles who challenged the status quo and had a very real influence on the youth who were in rebellion and also wanted to change the world to stop war, hate and destruction. John Lennon was targeted for his peace
    initiatives. Little did they know what he wanted to start with songs like "Come Together". Nothing less than a complete upheaval of society.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
14. anonymous

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    Jul 2nd 2008 !⃝

    John Lennon was quite interested in James Joyce and very fond of the use of multivalent puns, ambiguous metaphors and arbitrary free-association in his books and lyrics. "Come Together" is a series of such allusions that vaguely refer to aspects a personality being characterized or parodied in each verse. He basically beats around the bush, making allusions to the sort of person he's lampooning or warning about. The verses are capricious and arbitrary, but not random, and they're ambiguous, but not meaningless. It's not unusual for The Beatles in general and Lennon in particular to sing a different word on the recording than is given in the printed lyrics in the liner
    notes. They tone of voice used in the recordings is required to interpret Beatles lyrics, as it contains substantial information about the attitude, emphasis and intended sentence structure of the lyrics.
    
    
    Here come old flattop he come grooving up slowly
    (this line occurs verbatim in an early R&B or rockabilly song, as well as in a Rolling Stones song.)
    He got joo-joo eyeball he one holy roller
    (Juju is a form of African magic. A JuJu Eyeball may a reference to "the evil eye", or the phrase may have metamorphosed from "goo-goo eyes" a sort of ogling expression, which would be a reference to the sexual frustration of orthodox religiousness. For better or worse, John Lennon occasionally slips the word (or cognates for the word) "jew" into songs. If that's the case Jew-Jew may be a reference to judeo-christian religious attitudes, or the stereotype of obedient orthodoxy, which would re-enforce the meaning of "holy roller". Holy roller is a multivalent pun for someone who compulsively rolls marijuana joints, and for someone who is a religious fanatic, or profoundly superstitious and zealous)
    He got hair down to his knee (a typical long-haired hippie. The song was written before reggae/bob marley happened, otherwise this would refer to dreadlocks and the way fanatical rastafarians smoke pot constantly) Oddly the Eyeball/Knee combination are both singular, which tends to establish that Lennon is using a sort of pidgin english in this song. The syntax and grammar in each verse are consistently peculiar. Sort of the way you'd expect "Tarzan the Ape Man" to talk in an old movie.
    
    Got to be a joker he just do what he please (this is a paraphrase of "Do your Own Thing" which was kind of a hippie motto of the 1960s. a joker is a wild card, doesn't take anything seriously, also a jester, a clown. These meanings of "joker" are mutually re-enforcing. Lennon's basically calling religious fanatics a
    bunch of clowns here.) (the use of "do" instead of the grammatically correct "does" reenforces the pidgin english style.)
    
    He wear no shoeshine he got toe-jam football (both of these allusions are to feet and footwear. Toe-Jam is a double meaning: it can refer to the gunk that builds up between the toes in people that seldom bathe, or to a foot injury from playing rugby or soccer. Football refers ambiguously to the sports soccer/rugby/football.)
    He got monkey finger he shoot coca-cola (monkey finger is a double entendre referring to "having a monkey" or "having a monkey on one's back" which is a euphemism for being a narcotics addict. "He shoot coca-cola" is a reference to cocaine. Note the singular form of the word referring to a normally plural body part. Monkey Finger may also be an oblique phallic reference. Drug addicts are often notoriously impotent or sexually frustrated.)
    He say "I know you, you know me" One thing I can tell you is you got to be free
    ('i know you, you know me' may be a reference to people casually calling each other 'brother' or bonding on the most superficial things they have in common. This phrase is mostly just a trivially friendly conundrum. It's also the kind of line used to hit ip a vague acquaintance for a
    favor - something that happened frequently to Lennon. This character's lip service to freedom is an ironic one, since drug addicts are usually perceived as enslaved by habit.)
    Come together right now over me
    
    He bag production he got walrus gumboot
    (bag production may be an allusion to "Bagism" an odd art concept invented by Yoko Ono. If the line is actually "He back production" the line is an allusion to a well-heeled, wealthy record producer.) (Walrus, is probably a recurrence of the "walrus" allusion in "I am the Walrus" and may be a way for Lennon to sign this verse as being
    cryptically autobiographical. Gumboot may be an allusion to "Gumshoe" a type of detective or investigator. It may also be a reference to a leg cast for a broken bone.)
    He got Ono sideboard he one spinal cracker
    (supposedly this is an allusion to Lennon relying on Yoko Ono for support while he was in the hospital. Spinal cracker may refer to back injuries or chiropractics. I always heard this line as "he want spinal cracker")
    
    He got feet down below his knee
    (A humorous tautology, and a recapitulation of the earlier "hair down to his knee" line. There's something banal, mundane or almost sarcastically trivial about this observation. May refer to/be based on this anecdote about Abraham Lincoln. Supposedly Lincoln was asked how long a man's legs should be and Lincoln replied "just long enough to reach the ground".)
    Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease
    (this is a linking together of two phrases, using what James Joyce called a "Portamanteu word" Such sentences seem to make sense but rely on fairly forced metaphors for meaning. The notion of "disease" recapitulates the medical connotations of 'spinal cracker') (This line also kind of sends chills down my spine. If this verse refers to an effete, controlling, wealthy chair-bound record executive, the image evoked is rather creepy.)
    Come together right now over me
    
    He roller-coaster he got early warning
    (here the word "roller" occurs again. Roller-coaster may be both a mode of locomotion, an attitude, or an ideology. Roller coasters are also a form of self-amusement, or a thrill ride. "early warning" is possibly a reference to mystical precognition, or a reference to the Cold War "Early Warning Systems" used to detect incoming nuclear missiles.)
    He got muddy water he one mojo filter
    ("Muddy Waters" is a famous blues singer. Mojo is a term used in the Southern United States to refer to magic, particularly New Orleans voodoo magic practiced by african-americans. "Filter" may actually be "Philter" which is a kind of magical charm or potion. This line may actually be "He want Mojo Philter" Mojo Filter can also be interpreted as an amusing brand-name for filter cigarettes.)
    He say "One and one and one is three"
    (this is a trivial tautology, again. But it's also a reference to "Third Times a Charm" and the superstitious aura around the number 3. Again the "say" is pidgin grammar.)
    Got to be good-looking 'cause he's so hard to see
    (this is just plain funny. It's about overcompensating for low self-esteem, or imagined/real low social standing by contriving things to attract attention to oneself.)
    Come together right now over me
    (oddly, this line coming after "early warning" evokes the image of the uranium slugs in a atomic bomb smashing together overhead. Global nuclear war may be a threat uniting all of humanity. There's a somewhat notorious and funny novelty song that was fairly well known in the 1960s by Tom Lehrer called "We'll all go together when we go" with that theme. It's unlikely this meaning was intended by Lennon, but somewhat fits the ominous feeling tone of the song.)
    
    -MolokoVelocet/MolokoBot
15. anonymous

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    Jun 18th 2008 !⃝

    Maybe its like one of Salvador Dali's paintings, with multiple meanings.
    
    It might just depend on what way you look at it. It might be about everything debated here, Timothy Leary, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the 4 different Beatles, etc.
    
    Personally, the four Beatles theory makes most sense to me, and it annoys me that some people take the easy way out by saying "meaningless drug-induced lyrics". back to Dali, everyone thought he was weird and that was the end of it, but the guy was a genius. crazy genius, true, totally mad, but genius, nonetheless.
    
    The meanings of some Beatles songs could be debated for all eternity, and they'd still be the only ones that knew what was going through their head at the time.

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