I Want You (She's So Heavy)

• 1. The D Minor Arpeggio

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  John Lennon wrote the song about his love for Yoko Ono. It begins in 4/4 time, with an arpeggio guitar theme in D minor. The progression moves through E7(9) and B7 before cadencing on an A augmented chord. In this sequence, the F note acts as a drone. The bass and lead guitar ascend and descend with a riff derived from the D minor scale. As the last chord fades, a verse begins in 4/4 time. This section is based on the A and D blues scales. Lennon sings "I want you / I want you so bad ..." during these verses.

• 2. Recording At Trident Studios

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  The song was initially titled "I Want You". It was rehearsed several times during the Get Back/Let It Be sessions. The first occasion occurred on the 29th of January 1969 at Apple Records. The basic track and Lennon's guide vocal were recorded at Trident Studios on the 22nd of February. This session happened shortly after shooting for the Let It Be film ended. Lennon played the lead guitar himself. Harrison stated that he would later add multi-tracked heavy guitars on the 18th of April 1969. Billy Preston's Hammond organ and Ringo Starr's congas were added on the 20th of April 1969.

• 3. The Final Studio Session

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  The band gathered in the studio to mix the song on the 20th of August 1969. This date marked the final time all four Beatles were together in the studio. Different overdubs were made to the second generation tape on the 8th of August. The final overdub session included the final mixing and editing. It remains the last occasion when John, Paul, George, and Ringo worked in a studio together. The final master lasted 8:04 before any edits were applied. Lennon decided on a surprise ending during this process.

• 4. White Noise And Abrupt Cuts

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  During the final edit, with the guitars, drums and white noise climaxing, Lennon told recording engineer Geoff Emerick to "cut it right there". He had assumed that they "would be doing a fade out". The cut occurred at the 7:44 mark. This brought the song and side one of Abbey Road to an abrupt end. The song's coda consists of a three-minute repetition of the "She's So Heavy" theme. Arpeggios are double-tracked and intensify with white noise generated by a Moog synthesizer played by Lennon. The theme continues with multi-tracked guitars from Lennon and George Harrison. Drums and bass guitar come from Ringo Starr and McCartney respectively.

• 5. Heavy Metal Origins",

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  Pitchforks Jillian Mapes describes the track as a song in which Lennon "predates heavy-metal transcendence". In 2015, Josh Hart and Damian Fanelli placed it 34th in their list of the "50 Heaviest Songs Before Black Sabbath". They called the track a "bluesy rocker" that "might have inadvertently started doom metal". Jo Kendall of Classic Rock magazine states that the song predated "Black Sabbath's creation of doom rock by several months". James Manning of Time Out London recognises the song as the foundation for stoner rock. The song features a Santana-like Latin blues section during its middle passages.

• 6. Cultural Appearances

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  The song is featured in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It appears during the scene where Big Deal Records president B.D. Hoffler negotiates the contract with the band over a sex-and-drug-induced dinner. It also features in the film Across the Universe. A recruitment poster of Uncle Sam sings the opening lyrics on screen there. The abrupt ending of Dream Theater's song "Pull Me Under" was inspired by the Beatles song. The song's title was used for an episode of The Simpsons in 2019. On the Beatles' 2006 remix album Love, the three-minute guitar coda from the track is attached to "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!".