The Beatles - Julia
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Uploaded on Sep 18, 2008
"Julia" is a song by The Beatles. It is the final song on side two (and disc one, in the CD era) of the band's 1968 album, The Beatles (often called The White Album).
"Julia" was written by John Lennon, and features Lennon on vocals and acoustic guitar. It was written during the Beatles' 1968 visit to India, where they were studying under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was here Lennon learned the song's finger-picking guitar style (known as 'Travis-picking') from the Scottish musician Donovan. No other Beatle sings or plays on the recording. While Paul McCartney made several "solo" compositions attributed to the group, dating back to his famous song "Yesterday", this is the only time that Lennon played and sang unaccompanied on a Beatles track.
"Julia" was written for John's mother Julia Lennon (1914-1958), who was knocked down and killed by a car driven by an off-duty police officer when John was still only 17 years old. It was also written for his future wife Yoko Ono, whose first name, which literally means "child of the sea" in Japanese, is echoed in lyrics such as "Oceanchild, calls me." An alternative theory suggests that the song was written for Julian Lennon, John's son.
The first two lines of the song "Half of what I say is meaningless/ But I say it just to reach you, Julia" were adapted from the poem "Sand and Foam," by the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran. The original line is: "Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you." The line, "When I cannot sing my heart/I can only speak my mind" is taken from the line, "When life does not find a singer to sing her heart she produces a philosopher to speak her mind," from the same work.
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Top Comments
GrimmCh 9 months ago
I've never loved my name, till I found out this song.
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had2reload 1 year ago
It was written by John Lennon for his late mother Julia.
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Video Responses
All Comments (242)
SteezyArtzz 1 day ago
What's your name?
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Tony Velaz 1 week ago
beautiful
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Moustaches Andsunglasses 1 month ago
I felt pretty lucky to have the same name as this song, until I found out it was about the mother of one of the guys in the band who died. didnt expect that :\
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smartman5150 2 months ago
I finally learned to play this song on guitar and couldn't help but feel sad. I can imagine this would have been a difficult song for John to compose. Julia, mother of a legendary musician. :)
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chihana618 2 months ago
Thank you for uploading this and for all the info in the description bar. I didn't know John played this completely alone.
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martin singhe 3 months ago
It's about John Lennon's mum, Julia Stanley Lennon.She died in an accident on 15th July 1958.
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Frat Butt 5 months ago
If you are a truth seeker like the Beatles were, go to truthcontest,com and click 'The Present.' Skip to pg. 59 for a revolutionary interpretation of the Beatles' music. It will astonish you.
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musicman64forever 5 months ago
lol
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MelanieH2 6 months ago
C'est bonne a notre!
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Socoklo 6 months ago
A nadie les interesa sus nombres, bitches.
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