The track changed the rules of pop in several ways. It uses just one chord and a single drum beat throughout. The recording features such heavy studio processing, experimentation, and random interference that it could not, at the time, be played live—and, according to George Martin, it could never be recorded in the same way again.
With its pounding rhythm, droning guitars, and lyrics of mental and physical surrender (cribbed from Buddhist death prayers via Timothy Leary), “Tomorrow Never Knows” laid the foundations for much of the psychedelic music that followed—and its pioneering use of audio manipulation was a key moment in the development of electronic and dance music. Though they continued to push songwriting (and recording) boundaries throughout their career, no step they took was as singularly radical as the final track of Revolver.""But Xmastime", you say in the voice of Craig “Ironhead” Heyward from those soap commercials (RIP), "this song sounds just like the intro to an amazing song by a certain snappy little pop combo!" Look, don't even START with that "Hayday is better than The Beatles!" shit. Is this for me to decide? No, it's for history to judge, leave me out of it. Too close to call, in my eyes, but whatever.
Hey look - my video streak continues!
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