The Original Lyrics of The Beatles’ ‘Get Back’ Criticized Racism
TL;DR:
- The Beatles included “Get Back” on the album Let It Be.
- The Beatles’ producer said making Let It Be was “awful.”
- The original version of “Get Back” criticized a historical figure.
The Beatles‘ “Get Back” doesn’t contain any social commentary. Despite this, the original version of the song criticized racism in the contemporary United Kingdom. Paul McCartney revealed why he changed the lyrics of the song.
The Beatles’ producer George Martin hated making the album ‘Let It Be’ because John Lennon was being a perfectionist
According to the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, producer George Martin discussed what John Lennon wanted from The Beatles’ album Let It Be. “John said there was to be no echoes, no overdubs, and none of my jiggery-pokery,” Martin said. “It was to be an ‘honest’ album in that if they didn’t get a song right the first time they would record it again and again until they did.”
Martin didn’t like making Let It Be. “It was awful, we did take after take after take,” he recalled. “And John would be asking if Take 67 was better than Take 39.”
The Beatles worried listeners would misconstrue a line from ‘Get Back’
One of the songs from Let It Be that was drastically changed was “Get Back.” According to Salon, the song was initially a critique of Enoch Powell. Powell was a racist politician from the U.K. who promoted hatred of immigrants.
The original version of “Get Back” included the lyric “Don’t dig no Pakistani taking all the people’s jobs!” The line was supposed to parody racism. Despite this, The Beatles removed the lyric because they worried listeners could misconstrue it.
Paul later discussed his views on the original “Get Back.” “The words were not racist at all,” he said. “They were anti-racist. If there was any group that was not racist it was The Beatles.”
‘Get Back’ and ‘Let It Be’ became hits on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom
“Get Back” became a huge hit in the United States. The track topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, staying on the chart for 12 weeks in total. “Get Back” appeared on The Beatles’ album Let It Be. The album topped the Billboard 200 for four weeks, remaining on the chart for 79 weeks altogether.
The Official Charts Company reports “Get Back” topped the chart in the U.K. for two weeks in 1969. It lasted on the chart for 13 weeks. Subsequently, the song reached No. 28 in 1976 and No. 74 in 1989. Meanwhile, Let It Be reached No. 1 for three weeks and lasted on the chart for 53 weeks altogether.
“Get Back” became a huge hit — even if it’s very different from Paul’s original vision.
