For those of you thinking I skipped the second chord Bm I did! It’s not on the lead sheet that I was relying on for the lyrics. Sorry! The Bm is the vi chord and Lennon sings the C# (9th) against it. So beautiful 🙏🏻

I know it’s difficult but please more Beatles, Rick! I want you to interview Paul and Ringo so bad

“Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns. It calls me on and on Across the Universe”❤ some of the most beautiful Lyrics ever written

50 or even 100 years from now the music of the Beatles will still be listened to, analyzed and performed!

I miss your "What makes this song great" series. Glad to hear you're bringing it back! Reviews are entertaining, but noone can break down a song like you do. Love this. 🙏

The interview with George Benson was brilliant.

I just noticed Rick hit 4 million subscribers. Sweet! Congrats!!

Across The Universe is the first Lennon tune I fell in love with as I was starting to learn guitar at age 13. Now I'm 44 and loves it still.

Re the simplicity of She Loves You, Please, Please Me, From Me to You etc, they were still absolutely ground breaking pop songs at the time. No one before The Beatles sounded like The Beatles.

And that's the most wonderful thing with songs written by authentic writers using little influence from other songwriters. You get all of their life experience built in to the crafting of the song. With Lennon, all that Beatles experience, the India experience, the loss the romance, the love etc etc etc, is all in the songs. You are not just listening to tunes. You are listening to his soul played out through a song using musical instruments and vocals.

Lennon´s chord progressions, melodies and rythm fascinate me. Lately I´ve been listening to 'Just Like Starting Over', and I´m obsessed with his modulation from the verse (A Major) to the bridge (G Major). He´s ending the verse with a G, which creates tension since it´s not in A major, and it hints to a modulation to C major. BUT instead he goes to the 2-5-1 of the G Major instead. The 2 of G major being the tonic of the parallell minor (A minor) of the key of the verse. I just love that feint and the release it creates. Lennon had one of the most interesting minds in music history. I think he could´ve been an artist in any field, it just happened to be music. I think his thinking was groundbreaking in nature, he was very creative and had a gift for creating beauty. Like a modern day Leonardo Da Vinci.

Hey Rick! I just realized that I haven’t thanked you for all that you do! AND! I just realized ALL that you do, and do it so we can have all of it for free on here! So THANK YOU!!! Very much! For all that you do, doing and will continue to do for a VERY long time! I agree, it would’ve been AWESOME to have YT and a channel like yours back in the ‘90’s and early aughts when I was learning guitar! So on behalf of all the musical community, Thank You, again! You’re a National Treasure, and should be treated as such, because you’re also a bit of a historian. With every interview that you do, you preserve musical history. How great it would’ve been to have interviews from the likes of Hendrix, Freddie Mercury,Duane Allman, Janis Joplin, among many others, I could be here all day listing names!lol God Bless, Rick!!!

I like the focus on the music not so much the "music business". you have done a wonderful job on that already. Regardless Thank You for all of it. One of a kind. Excellent Excellent channel for those who are interested.

Lennon was an amazing and naturally gifted musician and for him to hook up with someone as equally talented as Paul Mc was just simply meant to be. I don't read music, but I have followed their progression through their first collaborations right up to their final works, analysing and picking all their stuff up by ear. Now I find myself listening to you filling in some vital parts of my lazy listening through what you tell me on your fantastic song analysees...you do have gifted ears and for you to feel you need to pass on what you have deduced over decades of listening and in depth analysis is just brilliant. I don't have your Beato Book or ear training course, mainly because I probably don't need them but for you to take the time to put this stuff together for those who may benefit from them is simply amazing. You are amazing - please keep up the good work and look out for my ear training course purchase, soley because this is a brilliant idea and is well worth supporting. Come on you guys out there - let's keep this utterly brillian individual going - pitch up! Rick, you Rock!

I'm always stunned by the raw acoustic beauty of the Beatles' songs. Although the studio productions are so layered and brilliant in their own right, hearing Rick just play the chords always surprises me with how literally beautiful the chord transitions are. Man. I just don’t think there will ever be anyone like John, Paul, George and Ringo again.

I still miss John. Of all artists, I think John cast the longest shadow on me. I can't even imagine how I would perceive art and music without him. Thankfully, I was literally raised with the Beatles playing often and loudly. I was no more than a few days old the first time I heard them. I've never known a reality without John Lennon in it And I wouldn't want to experience that reality either.

When Rick says ‘who comes up with these melodies?’. Well John Lennon, he was a musical genius and his style set him apart from everyone else. It’s sad to think the world has missed out on over 40 years of him and his music because of a stupid man.

It's really helpful to learn how to listen to the chords.+ before listening to this I had this melody line in my head "nothings going to change my world..." - it's so epic

I love the way you love the Beatles music. Pure passion… thank you for all your knowledge to us.

The melody, chord substitutions, and arrangement are what makes these songs memorable and unique. Thank you Rick. Very enlightening. Love these song breakdowns and melody explanations.

Rick gets so excited. It is infectious.

I bet Rick could score a Paul McCartney interview

I was watching NCCA basketball but this is worlds better....🎸

I'm contemplating this track, and what occurred to me is that Lennon - as opposed to McCartney - is never sentimental. He had a great sense for lyrical absurdity, and there's something lyrically absurd in how he turns ritualistic chanting into a poetic verse. Yes, it's somewhat Bach-like in that he points one hand to the sky and the other to the ground - and yet his vest is unbuttoned. :) Great channel, great stuff!

To the question from the neurologist, asking how can you enjoy it when you understand it so well. I know a guy who is one of the best windsurfing instructors in the world. He can see someone doing the most amazing trick. He can watch, understand it completely, and teach it back, step by step. If you ask the guy who did the trick, he’s like “I don’t know, I just do it.” He, like you Rick, have the teachers gift. Amazing!

Glad to return to What makes es this song great!!

Beatles are still top shelf regarding writing. Hell even Ringo wrote a few damn good tunes.

One of my all time favorite songs. Great analysis, Mr Beato!

His musical abilities were beyond this world, as if he had a divine force helping him. Incredible talent,and just think he had 3 more people with out of this world incredible talent with him. What are the chances of this ever happening.

This has always been my favorite Beatles song. Can’t wait to listen to this one!

My dad was always playing The Beatles when i was a kid.. as a result, I'm a beatles fanatic myself!! I distinctly remember hearing this song for the first time on a car drive with my dad, i was sitting in the front seat, and he was going to the hardware store or something.. i thought i had heard every beatles song up until that point.. he had a beatles cd playing (which was and still is a thing my dad does on car rides lol) Accross the universe came on, and it blew my mind, the melody, the lyrics, the emotions it gave me all in one! Even at the young age of maybe 9 or 10, i still remember feeling overwhelmed by this song.. It remains a favourite of mine to this day! Accross the Universe is a true masterpiece

I always played that song with a Bm after the root D

Geddy Lee or Alex interview?

Number 9 Dream would be interesting

Simply you’re the best. Your videos are addictive I feel like I never get tired of watching them!!

You know what Rick, I can't tell you enough just how much joy I experience by what you bring to us constantly through both of your KZfaq channels. I never know what GOLD is going to come through in any interview (Christopher Cross, Billy Corgan, Michael Macdonald etc.). What you do, brother, enriches my life and I can't thank you enough! Shalom man!

Congrats Rick on 4 million. Keep up the various things you do, all of them. Many of us out here enjoy everything you do, even if some of it goes over our heads, it's all very interesting. Thank you

The best & my favorite Beatle , Lennon a complex & multi talented individual. I love this informative piece you put together here, as well a fan of your channels ☮️ ❤ MPH

hey, Rick.... just wanna say THANK YOU again for that Benson interview. he's been one of my personal jazz heroes since the early 80s...along with the late great Al Jarreau.

Looking at the thumbnail there was a millisecond where I thought: The John Lennon Interview with Rick Beato. Imagine!

The "they slither while they pass" line, which Rick stumbled over, is visible on the printed sheet music in the video, and was recently noted in this channel's comments section. That's actually not what John Lennon sang, but it's what ended up on the Blue Album's lyrics notes, and has been perpetuated by countless people since then, including Fiona Apple, and the folks at AZ Lyrics, and alas including me, on a new cover version of ATU that I've set up to be released on Spotify this coming Thursday. I feel like a chump now after recognizing that it should have been "slither wildly as they slip away". I loved observing the places in the song where it's 5/4, to help the song breathe and make the singing easier. Also, like others here, I notice that the sheet music is missing the second chord (Bm) in the verse sequence. On my cover, I actually played and sang this in B (G with capo 4 on the guitar, C transposed -1 on the keyboard).

Yes!!! What makes this song great is what brought me to Rick. Want more of that

Rick, I could listen to you for literally hours... like no joke. You're so talented I've learned so much from your song breakdowns to your interviews. Just wanted to say thank you for doing so much for sharing..

Rick!!! Thank you for everything. Your joy sharing your knowledge in wonderful music and great interviews 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

What a beautiful song. One of my favorites. Nice breakdown. Thank you.

Thank you. I've been a fan for a while. My 15 year old stepdaughter is, as well. I am in Nova Scotia. I have been a musician for all my life, until I got sick and had to sell my PRS and Ibenez Artist. Miss them. My stepdaughter plays guitar, an incredible visual artist, and (!) writing a novel that, so far, is incredible. Her favourite band is Rush. Teaching Alex Lifeson parts to her is a joy. She's 15 now, and now likes Yes, King Crimson, even Spirit of Christmas (Canadian prog band before Rush). Again, she loves your channel. As a descendant of Schubert's brother, all the best to you, Rick. You deserve the accolades.

At the start is there not a B minor after the opening d??

I might be wrong but this sounds like changing the tonal center within a song (secondary Dominant) and then jumping back to the original Tonic. Brian Wilson, btw, is a master at it.

Whenever I think of “Across the Universe” it always reminds me of when NASA sent the song “Across the Universe” literally “Across the Universe”😂 if there is life out there .. if they receive that signal.. John Lennon will be the first voice they will hear❤

we love hearing you sing and explain and enjoy music, rick. don't listen to the comments about your voice. every time a new video is up, i stop everything i do and watch it right away and it makes my day. 🙂

I don’t play any instruments but love music. I cannot believe how informative your interviews, your lessons, your analysis and love to learn the complexity and simplicity of music. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and it’s inspiring to know there are so many talented people like yourself out there, thank you for what you do ❤✨❤️

I've watched ALL of the interviews. They are fascinating and filled with useful information!

Hey Rick you can also include In My Life, Strawberry Fields Forever and A Day In The Life with some of John's greatest melodies.

Couldn’t agree w you more Rick!!! We love it all. The breakdowns, what makes this song great, interviews !!!

What a GREAT song to choose! Great, also, how you describe the melody line, above this progression! So much in there! Awesome! Thank you!

Great to have you back, Rick! More Beatles, more Beach Boys, more “What Makes This Song Great”!! Please analyze a Talk Talk song!!

We are learning because of you Rick and we keep coming back for more because it's important TO US ! Huge Thank you .

Best video for an education in songwriting. Very natural manner of speaking and teaching, singing along was a big help even though we know it wasn’t a vocal lesson. As far as She Loves You, from the opening notes and Ringo playing the floor tom under the chorus which jump starts the song it just gets your heart beating in excitement. The lyrics were somewhat simple but appropriate to the story which we all could relate to. Again- great guitar playing on a fabulous video!👍

I'm glad you're getting back to this kind of video. The music industry stuff is fascinating is documentary material, but this is more relatable and educational.

It’s the creative imagination and influence from past experiences from these amazing guys when writing tunes when they don’t know much or any theory to be able to come up with this stuff or as some would say its channeled into them from and unknown cosmic source possibly both

Talking about lyrics, song structure, chord progression, etc. would be interested in hearing your thoughts about Syd Barrett✨ Piper and solo albums

I love your channel, i am reconnecting with the songs of my youth (60s, 70s and 80s). Oh man, I wish you were around when I was playing guitar it would have been so much easier. Great listening and congrats on hitting 4M subscribers. 🎉

I usually prefer McCartney’s Melodies, but you can hear in this Lennon stuff, the sound that attracted the counter cultural fans, pulling in these more exploratory, more challenging sounds. The ears of all 4, pulling in EVERYTHING they heard at the time, were second to none.

Rick, your ear is SO much better than mine and your musical knowledge far outstrips what I know ... so I'm surprised you missed that the second chord of the verse is the relative minor of the first. Or maybe you fixed this later in the video (I only watched the beginning of your analysis). Otherwise, I really enjoy your vids and have learned so much since coming across your channel a year or so ago. Keep up the (almost entirely) good work!

I also wish there was KZfaq when I was a kid and I am a lot older than you Rick. It always frustrated me that the information that was available on say Rolling Stone or Creem Magazine were apparently written by people that never played an instrument. They never asked anything that could help those of us who did. Thank you for your interviews that actually ask the question musicians want to know. 'Across the Universe' is an absolutely amazing song by my favorite Beatle. He was flawed as hell but there was never ever anyone cooler in the room.

The skipping of the bm is driving me crazy!!

I really can’t express how happy it makes me when I see rick really enjoying and appreciating a well crafted piece of music him enjoying Lennon really makes it all worth it. We really might have lived through a period of peak, pop, song writing in our lifetime.

Rick's singing is the only hint I get that he might be a regular human being)

Hey, Rick! Good to see you! I enjoy your videos about "inside the music business," and I'm always fascinated, but they can get a little saturating. So I'm glad to hear you're planning to play more music and break down more songs. I'm just glad to see & hear your talent! You're an awesome dude, i wish we were connected, and that i still lived in Atlanta (so we could hang out once in a while). Carry on...! 👌 👍

We love the song breakdowns!! Thank you very much for these!

More playing and song breakdown- great. Always nice to hear your insights into music as well as your beautiful playing. Muchas gracious 🎉 "Across the Universe" masterpiece ✨️ John and Paul love to utilize half steps in different ways. Sometimes half steps four in a row. It is always beautiful just hearing the notes next to each other, simple. Maybe John in particular, the beauty of his melodies. Bach, yes. Interval jumps- that's great. It's his ear, and his feeling- natural to him. Movement is interesting!

I couldn't resist. I had to break down and purchase that entire course. I don't know anything about music, I'm self-teaching bass guitar on my days off and look forward to the ear training course. I'm 63 years old. So ... here we go!😂

It's important to know how these people came up all these wonderful stories ❤️ Thank you Rick

Rick, also include how John changed his time signatures more than any other Beatle to fit the song - particularly the lyric. Keep on doing these things. You are fabulous to listen to. That Andy Summers interview was incredible as well.

Rick your KZfaq channel is the best and most contributing to the world of all kind of music by far. There is not anything comparable in any official TV show which covers this deep knowledge and passion fo r music. And in every interview we can see and feel that the people you interview are happy and thankfull that they can answere important questions they nobody asked them before. Wish u all the best and further success for ur channels! A great interview would be if u bring Paul MCartney and invite Nuno or his brother at the same time...🙂

so well explained. have been hearing these things without really knowing the whole theory. Since college days I had a basic grasp of theory, but not a full understanding.

This just thrills me and fills me with joy. Thank you Rick.

Rick's interviews and musical analysis are priceless. Thank you. He's all about the music, like all of us. Plus, he could care less about his less than stellare voice, like we could care less. Ride on, Rick!

One of John Lennon's exposure to music, growing up was when they met in large groups, in theaters etc , singing "classics" , popular folksongs. Very popular at the time. Some of his style in writing songs is influenced by these folk songs. I learned from my professor. Not taking anything away from Lennon's genius.🙂

yess knowing it intuitively is just as important as knowing it technically! i’ve found as i’ve grown along my guitar playing journey, i find that more n more everyday i combine the technical ideas n understanding in harmony with my intuition. it produces the most beautiful result. stank u smelly much as always Rick. 🛸

Love it - Rick just brilliantly oozing Beatles genius (and flogging his course...absolutely - it doesn't cost nothing). Rick, love your channel mate. 👍

That's the way Rick... Back to playing music and helping us all to improve our own playing... Your song breakdowns are the bomb!!!

First one I have seen of these! Loved it! Well done Rick!! 🇨🇦👍🏻 John is a legend! Great choice! 😎

Nice breakdown Rick. My three favorite Lennon's are Help, Hide Your Love Away, and Nowhere Man. 2 Prophetic songs and one is just beautiful. I really enjoy playing Hide Your Love on my acoustic, but after the whole song I need to give my fingers a rest......

I am totally down for more song breakdowns, looking forward to em Rick!!

Rick You are CRUCIAL. You make my life better! Thank you...

Missing a B-minor in there, Mr. Beato.

I'm a huge John Lennon fan but I wonder if John understood all this theory like Rick does. I'm also a huge Jimi Hendrix fan but I was really shocked when I read Billy Cox saying that Jimi had zero knowledge of music theory. What I guess I'm saying here is that maybe part of what you get when you are a musical genius is a built in understanding of some very deep aspects of theory without really being able to explain them. They are so deeply immersed in their music that it just comes naturally to them. I wish Rick had talked a bit about what he thinks John actually knew of theory. I mean did John really know he was shifting to a parallel minor key?

Thank you for the video. Your channel is what makes you tube awesome!

Glad to hear there will be more focus on song breakdowns and ‘what makes this song great’ again.

Rick, you’ve made recent videos about Layla and Lennon. When there will be one about Dylan? 😁

Thank you so much for this. And for all your videos really. Invaluable.

RICK I can't say how much I appreciate all your doing, enjoy everything, keep it up🤘

So great to have this analysis Rick … thank you again !

Would love you to do some of his solo work - Oh My Love being my personal suggestion but I’m sure others will have plenty of good ones!🙏

I respect you greatly, with your mastery of the guitar and your great ear for music. I've been playing guitar for 50 years and writing original songs and singing them for 30 years. My comment on this analysis you've done is this: You should do a breakdown of the Beatle's song "Nowhere Man". I'm sure you know this was written as a criticism of some jerk of an academic in England praising the Beatles for their naive understanding of things like the mixolydian or dorian scales.

Isn’t there a chord missing after D? I play Bm and it sounds good to me but I’m not sure if it’s right

Hey Rick - great video. Across The Universe one of my fav Lennon / Beatles songs. Nice to see you break it down on the guitar like that - brilliant. Lennon was a genius, I think all the Beatles were - we'll never see the likes of them ever again, and I am so grateful for being around during their rise to fame from the mid 60's onwards. Sadly I cant read music and its probably to late for me. I can read tablature and I love playing my guitar, but hats off to you for developing your tutorial books. You're doing a wonderful job Rick - keep up the good work. Cheers Doug (from Down Under)

Love these song breakdowns!

CJ Vanston. Just recorded with Mc Donald and Luke. Doing Spinal tap 2. Behind the scene genious. Always with Skunk too. Perfect guest and so genuine and polite. Always treated me so nice. Treats everyone that way. Played for Dali Lama. Great story.