"Only A Northern Song"
Song by The Beatles
From the album Yellow Submarine
Album released	January 13, 1969 (US) January 17, 1969 (UK)
Recorded	February 13, 14 and April 20, 1967
Genre	Psychedelic
Song Length	3 min 23 sec
Record label	Apple Records
Producer	George Martin
Yellow Submarine Album Listing
Yellow Submarine (Track 1)	Only a Northern Song (Track 2)	All Together Now (Track 3)

"Only A Northern Song" is a song by British rock band The Beatles, written by George Harrison. It was first featured in The Beatles' 1968 animated movie, Yellow Submarine, and subsequently appeared in that movie's soundtrack early the next year. Cover of The Beatles album, Yellow Submarine. ... The Beatles were a pop and rock music group from Liverpool, England, who continue to be held in the very highest regard for their artistic achievements, their huge commercial success, and their ground-breaking role in the history of popular music. ... Yellow Submarine is the eleventh album released by The Beatles. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Motto: (1789 to 1956) (Latin for Out of many, one) In God We Trust (1956 to present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice... January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events First year of tianfeng era of the Chinese Xin Dynasty. ... April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). ... See also: 1966 in music, other events of 1967, 1968 in music, 1960s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 15 - The Rolling Stones appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. ... Musical genres are categories which contain music which share a certain style or which have certain elements in common. ... The word psychedelic is a neologism coined from the Greek words for mind, ψυχη (psyche), and manifest, δηλειν (delein). ... Minutes are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. ... Look up second in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Sir George Martin Sir George Martin CBE (born January 3, 1926) is sometimes referred to as the fifth Beatle, a title that he owes to his work as producer of almost all of the Beatles records. ... Yellow Submarine is the eleventh album released by The Beatles. ... Yellow Submarine is a 1966 song by The Beatles and a 1968 animated United Artists film based on the music of The Beatles. ... All Together Now is a song by The Beatles, originally released on the Yellow Submarine Soundtrack by Apple Records. ... The Beatles were a pop and rock music group from Liverpool, England, who continue to be held in the very highest regard for their artistic achievements, their huge commercial success, and their ground-breaking role in the history of popular music. ... George Harrison, MBE (February 24, 1943 – November 29, 2001) was a popular British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer, and film producer, best known as a member of The Beatles. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Yellow Submarine can refer to: Yellow Submarine (song), Original song by The Beatles, released in 1966. ...

The song's basic track was recorded on February 13, 1967, with vocal and bass overdubs added on February 14 and percussion/brass overdubs added April 20. Harrison wrote the song in one hour. The song was originally to appear on The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, but was left off in order to fit more of Lennon/McCartneys' songs on the record. It also may have been omitted because Within You Without You (another Harrison contrubution) was thought to be superior. Featuring a self-referential lyric, unconventional musical form, and unusual instrumentation, including distorted trumpets, a reverbed pipe organ, chimes, and a glockenspiel, it is one of the most psychedelic songs The Beatles ever recorded. Thirteen can also refer to the cardgame Events Last year (5th) of shijianguo era of the Chinese Xin Dynasty Abgarus of Edessa is reinstalled as king of Osroene Senate passed a senatus consultum restricting the reduced Vigintisexviri to the Ordo Equester Tiberius made his triumphant procession through Rome after siege... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Events First year of tianfeng era of the Chinese Xin Dynasty. ... Events Roman Empire Tiberias is built on the Sea of Galilee by Herod Antipas, in honour of Tiberius. ... Sgt. ... Within You Without You was a song written by George Harrison and recorded with a group of Indian musicians, without any input from his fellow Beatles. ... In everyday speech, to distort something is to force it out of its natural shape. ... Trumpets in the Bible According to Eastons Bible Dictionary, trumpets in the Bible were of a great variety of forms and were made of various materials. ... The organ of Bristol Cathedral, Bristol, England. ... Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. ... Most orchestral glockenspiels are mounted in a case. ... The word psychedelic is a neologism coined from the Greek words for mind, ψυχη (psyche), and manifest, δηλειν (delein). ...

Throughout the song McCartney plays trumpet as the other members play percussion instruments such as a glockenspiel, orchestral chimes, and piano. A keyboard-like instrument can be heard during parts of the song as well. Towards the end of the song, someone (presumably drummer Ringo Starr) can be heard banging a timpani as the other members yell out gibberish. An edited and slightly sped-up version of the song's basic track without overdubs (organ, bass, drums and vocal only) was released on the Beatles Anthology set in 1996, with a different vocal take containing some lyrical variations. Since the song was made from two separate takes playing in synchronization, the original mix of the song was available in mono only until 1999, when a remixed version of the track was released on the Yellow Submarine Songtrack. Starr in the early 1960s Richard Starkey, MBE (born July 7, 1940), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is a popular British actor, singer, and musician, best known as the drummer for The Beatles. ... A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... Gibberish is a generic term in English for talking that sounds like speech, but has no actual meaning (like the maves rint is slanphed up). This meaning has also been extended to meaningless text (such as hgtdkygfdkyfkk). // Gibberish language game Main article: Gibberish (language game) Gibberish is also used... The Beatles Anthology is the name of a documentary, a series of three albums, and a television miniseries which focus on the history of the popular rock band The Beatles. ... Look up mono, mono- in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

The lyrics feature Harrison's disparagement of the song itself, concluding each verse with the title phrase "It's only a Northern song", which Harrison has explained as referring both to the band's often-disrespected hometown of Liverpool (northwest of London), and to the Northern Songs publishing company. (Harrison had not yet formed his own publishing company; Northern Songs was Lennon/McCartney's publishing company, for whom Harrison was, at the time, essentially a writer-for-hire). The song is sometimes interpreted as a sarcastic jibe at Lennon/McCartney, mocking the overtly psychedelic lyrics and musical style they employed in many songs during this time, and as a reaction to the often-dismissive attitude bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney held of Harrison's songwriting contributions, with Harrison listlessly singing "It doesn't really matter what chords I play / What words I say or time of day it is / As it's only a Northern song". Liverpool waterfront by night, as seen from the Wirral. ... Northern Songs Ltd. ... The songwriting credit Lennon-McCartney appears on all Beatles songs that were written by John Lennon and/or Paul McCartney, thanks to a mutual agreement which they made in the bands early days. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (retd. ... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born June 18, 1942) is a British singer, musician and songwriter, who first came to prominence as a member of The Beatles. ...

Personnel

George Harrison: double-tracked lead vocal, organ, sound effects, noises

John Lennon: piano, glockenspiel, sound effects, noises Most orchestral glockenspiels are mounted in a case. ...

Paul McCartney: bass, trumpet, sound effects, noises

Ringo Starr: drums, timpani A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ...