“Come Together” is about nothing at all, but it sounds important. This applies to quite a few Beatles songs, actually. It could soundtrack a murder scene in a movie, I feel. The murderer would have to shoot Coca Cola, and I’ll leave you alone to draw your own conclusions as to how that would work. Maybe the way he/she kills people is to give them diabetes?

In addition to the mood “Come Together” sets lyrically, there’s also the un-Beatles like bluesy shuffle, anchored by Billy Preston’s electric organ. I would’ve loved for The Beatles to have recorded an entire album with Billy. Too bad they broke up before he could be fully assimilated into the band.

I discovered “Come Together” on the Rock & Roll Music compilation, which I’ve discussed in a previous entry. I didn’t own Abbey Road (my favorite Beatles album) until late in my teens, about a decade into my discovery of the Fabs. There are way too many Beatles covers to name, but one of my favorites is the version of “Come Together” by the post-Diana Supremes. I’m pretty sure it’s one of the trippiest songs recorded by a top-echelon Motown act. Diana then covered it solo (Michael Jackson has as well, and there are versions by Aerosmith as well as Ike and Tina). None of them are as good.