Episode 1: Golden Slumbers

In our first chapter in this podcast series, we explore the creation story that surrounds the song Golden Slumbers, which is found on the second side of the Abbey Road album. In our discovery process, we find ourselves traveling back in time – of all things!

Indeed, we need to go back, some 400 – 650 years, to discover the genesis of the lyrics to this song on the Abbey Road album.

You might exclaim; 400 – 650 years!? Really?

Well, here’s a heck of a question for you. What is the connection of ALL of the following, to Paul McCartney’s song, Golden Slumbers?

1. A poem written by Thomas Dekker in the year 1599 AD
2. Canterbury Tales , finished by Chaucer in 1400 AD
3. The Decameron, written by Giovanni Boccaccio, who died in 1375 AD
4. the Black Death, in Tuscany, in the 1300’s
5. the Covid-19 crisis today (as of the publishing of this podcast episode)?

Find out by listening to Chapter 1 of this podcast series celebrating the life and music of Paul McCartney. The answer will surprise you. And what is more, in this discovery journey, we explore how it was that Paul knew how to construct the underlying chord progressions for this song and why they move us so. Believe it or not, the answer to this question can be found in the songs, Twist and Shout and She Came in Through the Bathroom Window.

To boot, we finish the first podcast in this series with an introduction to another creation story – this time for the song, Eleanor Rigby. In this exploration, we discover the connections of Eleanor Rigby to these songs: “Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey” (remember Gerry and the Pacemakers?), and “Mellow Yellow”, Donovan’s best-selling pop hit. Do you remember him? We do!

Songs

The End; Lennon and McCartney; performed by Stroll Down Penny Lane (Joe Anastasi, Mike Sugar, Winter, Mark Abbott, Matt Twain)

Golden Slumbers; Lennon and McCartney; performed by Stroll Down Penny Lane (Joe Anastasi, Mike Sugar, Winter, Mark Abbott, Matt Twain)

Ferry Cross the Mersey ; Gerry Marsden; performed by Joe Anastasi and Mike Sugar, of Stroll Down Penny Lane

Twist and Shout; Bert Russel & Phil Medley, performed by Joe Anastasi and Mike Sugar, ofStroll Down Penny Lane

She Came in through the Bathroom Window; Lennon and McCartney; performed by Stroll Down Penny Lane (Joe Anastasi, Mike Sugar, Winter, Mark Abbott, and Matt Twain)

Eleanor Rigby; Lennon and McCartney; performed by Stroll Down Penny Lane (Joe Anastasi, Mike Sugar, Winter, Mark Abbott, and Matt Twain)

Mellow Yellow; Donovan; performed by Joe Anastasi and Mike Sugar, of Stroll Down Penny Lane

A Hard Day’s Night; Lennon and McCartney, performed by Mike Sugar, of Stroll Down Penny Lane

Sources

The Cradle Song; Thomas Dekker; 1599

Patient Grissel; Thomas Dekker, with Henry Chettle and William Haughton; 1603

Canterbury Tales; Geoffrey Chaucer; 1400

The Decameron, The Human Comedy; Giovanni Boccaccio; 1348–53

St. Nicholas’s Songs, with illustrations; Waldo Seldon Pratt; The Century Co., New York; The Devinne Press; 

Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes; W. J. Henderson p, 177; 1885. 

McCartney , Christopher Sandford; Carroll and Graf Publishers; 2006

Paul McCartney, the Life, Philip Norman; Little Brown and Company; 2016

Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles, Dominic Pedler; Omnibus Press; 2003

This is Your Brain on Music, The Science of a Human Obsession; Daniel J. Levitin; Plume; 2007

The World Through a Lens, an Intimate Look at Italy’s Saffron Harvest; 

Susan Wright; The New York Times; May 12, 2020

A Hard Day’s Night, directed by Richard Lester; written by Alun Owen; 1964

Voice Actors

Joe Anastasi

Mike Sugar

This show is part of Pantheon Podcasts