Here, There and Everywhere

• 1. Introduction

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  "Here, There and Everywhere" is a song Paul McCartney wrote before its subject even woke up. One morning in early June 1966, McCartney sat beside a pool at John Lennon's house in Weybridge, alone with his guitar, strumming in E. By the time Lennon came downstairs, the song was nearly finished. McCartney recalled: "I sat out by the sun chairs with my guitar and started strumming in E. And soon I had a few chords, and I think by the time he'd woken up, I had pretty much written the song, so we took it indoors and finished it up." That afternoon's effort, credited to Lennon-McCartney and released on the Beatles' 1966 album Revolver, would go on to be ranked the 4th greatest song of all time by Mojo magazine. What makes a ballad written poolside before breakfast lodge itself so deeply in the musical canon? The answer lies in a Beach Boys song, a mandolin-like guitar effect, and a chord sequence that never quite settles anywhere.

• 2. A Favourite Pop Song

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  McCartney has repeatedly named the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" as his favourite pop song of all time, and its shadow falls directly over "Here, There and Everywhere." In 1990, McCartney told Beach Boys biographer David Leaf that it was "just the introduction that's influenced by the Beach Boys", specifically the harmonies he and Lennon devised for the opening lines. The idea was to capture what McCartney called an "old-fashioned" preamble to the song. Rolling Stone later observed that the tune's chord sequence bears Brian Wilson's influence, "ambling through three related keys without ever fully settling into one."

  The harmonies were not the only nod to California. McCartney mentioned in the 1989 radio series McCartney on McCartney that the layered backing vocals were meant to have a Beach Boys sound. He has also said he was trying to sing it in the style of Marianne Faithfull. These two unlikely references sat side by side as guiding spirits in the recording booth.

• 3. The Chord Architecture

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  Author Kenneth Womack describes the song as a romantic ballad "about living in the here and now" and "fully experiencing the conscious moment." The introduction, beginning "To lead a better life", opens in the key of G and follows a I-iii-III-ii-V7 chord progression. The B chord that arrives on "I need my love to be here" is a dissonant substitute for the more predictable E7 that would normally lead to the Am chord. Music critic Richie Unterberger describes this "dramatic opening lyric" as carrying "an almost philosophical undertone of humility, acknowledging that the singer needs his woman not just to be happy, but also to be a better person."

  The modulation on the line "changing my life with a wave of her hand" is among the song's most discussed moments. The song drops six semitones from the C chord to an Fm, then to a B7, briefly pulling toward E minor before returning. Rolling Stone described these modulations as deftly underscoring the lyrics, which were inspired by McCartney's girlfriend, actress Jane Asher. The bridge shifts the key centre via an F7 chord toward B major, then again to G minor, before a final D7 pivot brings the whole structure back to G major.

• 4. Three Days at Abbey Road

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  The Beatles recorded "Here, There and Everywhere" at Abbey Road Studios on three session dates: the 14th, 16th and the 17th of June 1966. Before any overdubs were attempted, they taped 13 takes to arrive at a satisfactory basic track. Much of those three days was spent on the layered backing vocals, which McCartney, Lennon and George Harrison worked to perfect together. McCartney's lead vocal was multi-tracked.

  In his book Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald noted that Harrison's lead guitar part was given a mandolin-like tone through a Leslie speaker effect, shifting to what MacDonald called a "horn-like timbre" for the song's ending. According to MacDonald, the personnel were: Paul McCartney on double-tracked lead vocals, rhythm guitar, bass, and finger-snaps; John Lennon on backing vocals and finger-snaps; George Harrison on lead guitar, backing vocals, and finger-snaps; and Ringo Starr on drums and finger-snaps.

• 5. Reception and Legacy

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  Released in August 1966 as the fifth track on Revolver, the song was sequenced between Harrison's Indian-styled "Love You To" and the children's song "Yellow Submarine." Music critic Tim Riley wrote that the placement let "Here, There and Everywhere" "domesticate" the "eroticisms" of "Love You To", and he praised it as "the most perfect song" McCartney had written to that point. Richie Unterberger called it "the sound of an instant standard," adding that "the delicacy of the execution is exquisite, the sensual imagery more explicit, the sense of desire and fulfillment tangible."

  Not every critic agreed. Ian MacDonald admired the "ingenuity of the music" but concluded that "for all its soft-focus charm, the song's overall effect is chintzy and rather cloying." James Perone, writing in the book The Album, called it a "mid 1960s love ballad that could find its way into the set list for bands at a senior prom." Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound grouped it with "Got to Get You into My Life" as songs that feel "seemingly out of place" on Revolver given the album's otherwise psychedelic and experimental character.

  Those closest to it expressed no such reservations. George Martin, the Beatles' producer, highlighted it among his favourite McCartney songs. Lennon reportedly told McCartney that "Here, There and Everywhere" was "the best tune" on Revolver, and in a 1980 interview for Playboy, Lennon named it "one of my favourite songs of the Beatles." McCartney himself lists it among his personal favourites. Art Garfunkel described it as "intoxicating": "If music can be defined as that which perfumes the atmosphere, then 'Here, There and Everywhere' does it like no other single I've ever heard. It's supreme."

  In April 2004, Rolling Stone placed it 25th in their list of the 100 Greatest Beatles Songs.

• 6. Covers and Interpolations

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  One of the earliest known covers was recorded by the Fourmost in August 1966, the same month Revolver was released. The Fourmost were a Merseybeat band also managed by Brian Epstein, which gave them access to Lennon-McCartney compositions; they had previously recorded "Hello Little Girl" and "I'm in Love."

  Emmylou Harris recorded a version that became a minor hit in 1976, reaching number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 13 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, and number 30 on the Official UK music chart. Bruce Welch of the Shadows claimed in his autobiography that McCartney had offered the tune to Shadows lead guitarist Hank Marvin before the Beatles recorded it; Marvin eventually released his own instrumental version on his 2007 album Guitar Man.

  Frank Ocean interpolated the lyrics on "White Ferrari" in 2016, taken from his album Blonde, and for that use Lennon-McCartney received a writing credit. In 2022, Lennon's son Sean and Elvis Costello both performed the song in celebration of McCartney's 80th birthday. Pat Metheny recorded a solo guitar version for his 2024 album MoonDial. McCartney himself re-recorded the song for his 1984 soundtrack album Give My Regards to Broad Street and performed it for MTV in 1991, a version released on Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).