Why Paul McCartney Said The Beatles’ ‘Come Together’ Inspired Rap Songs
Paul McCartney said The Beatles’ “Come Together” paved the way for many rap songs. He’s probably overstating his case. On the other hand, there have been some notable hip-hop tracks that drew inspiration from the Fab Four.
Paul McCartney felt The Beatles’ ‘Come Together’ initially sounded like Chuck Berry
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the origin of The Beatles’ “Come Together.” “[John] originally brought it over as a very perky little song, and I pointed out to him that it was very similar to Chuck Berry’s ‘You Can’t Catch Me,'” he said. “John acknowledged it was rather close to it, so I said, ‘Well, anything you can do to get away from that.’ I suggested that we tried it swampy — ‘swampy’ was the word I used — so we did; we took it right down.” Notably, John released a faithful cover of “You Can’t Catch Me” for Rock ‘n Roll, his album of early rock ‘n’ roll covers.
Paul felt the bass line of ”Come Together” was significant. “I laid that bass line down, which very much makes the mood,” he said. “It’s actually a bass line that people now use very often in rap records. If it’s not a sample, they use that riff. But that was my contribution to that.”
Paul McCartney had some issues with the song and The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ as a whole
While Paul felt “Come Together” was influential, he took issue with the song. “On ‘Come Together,’ I would have liked to sing harmony with John, and I think he would have liked me to, but I was too embarrassed to ask him, and I do network to the best of my abilities in that situation,” he said.
He said The Beatles’ Abbey Road didn’t feature the band’s best harmonizing. He said part of this was because the band was more like four separate individuals by that point. Notably, Abbey Road was the final album that the Fab Four recorded before their much-publicized breakup in 1970.
‘Come Together’ probably didn’t influence hip-hop, but The Fab Four certainly did
Paul’s comment about hip-hop is fascinating because “Come Together” is so far removed from rap music. Hip-hop songs that sound like it are few and far between. The only real way “Come Together” resembles a rap song is in its vocal delivery. In its verses, John sing-talks the lyrics in rapid succession, but the similarity to hip-hop is slight.
Despite this, The Beatles did have some influence over the genre. For example, the Wu-Tang Clan sampled “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in their song “The Heart Gently Weeps.” George Harrison received a writing credit on the Wu-Tang Clan’s track. In addition, Rae Sremmurd paid tribute to the Fab Four with their single “Black Beatles,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks. The tune lyrically alludes to The Beatles’ “Day Tripper,” helping to introduce the classic track to a new generation.
The Beatles inspired some rappers even if “Come Together” didn’t.
