Dear Prudence

This article is about the song by The Beatles. For the advice column, see Dear Prudence (advice column). For the television movie, see Dear Prudence (film).

"Dear Prudence"
Song by The Beatles from the album The Beatles
Released	22 November 1968
Recorded	28–30 August 1968
Genre	Rock
Length	3:56
Label	Apple Records
Writer	Lennon–McCartney
Producer	George Martin
The Beatles track listing
30 tracks Side one "Back in the U.S.S.R." "Dear Prudence" "Glass Onion" "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" "Wild Honey Pie" "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" Side two "Martha My Dear" "I'm So Tired" "Blackbird" "Piggies" "Rocky Raccoon" "Don't Pass Me By" "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" "I Will" "Julia" Side three "Birthday" "Yer Blues" "Mother Nature's Son" "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" "Sexy Sadie" "Helter Skelter" "Long, Long, Long" Side four "Revolution 1" "Honey Pie" "Savoy Truffle" "Cry Baby Cry" "Revolution 9" "Good Night"

"Dear Prudence"
Single by Siouxsie and the Banshees
from the album Hyæna
B-side	"Tattoo", "There's a Planet in my Kitchen"
Released	23 September 1983
Format	7" single, 12" single
Recorded	1983
Genre	Post-punk
Length	3:48
Label	Polydor
Writer(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer	Siouxsie and the Banshees Mike Hedges
Siouxsie and the Banshees singles chronology
"Melt! / Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant" (1982) "Dear Prudence" (1983) "Swimming Horses" (1984)

"Dear Prudence" is a song written by John Lennon,^[1] and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released by The Beatles as the second track on their 1968 double-disc album entitled The Beatles, commonly known as The White Album.

Composition

The subject of the song is actress Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence Farrow who was present when The Beatles went to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.^[1]

Farrow became so serious about her meditation that she "turned into a near recluse" and "rarely came out" of the cottage she was living in. John Lennon was asked to "contact her and make sure she came out more often to socialize". As a result, Lennon wrote the song Dear Prudence. In the song Lennon asks Farrow to "open up your eyes" and "see the sunny skies" reminding her that she is "part of everything". The song was said to be "a simple plea to a friend to 'snap out of it'".^[2] Lennon said later that "She'd been locked in for three weeks and was trying to reach God quicker than anyone else".^[3] According to Farrow: "I would always rush straight back to my room after lectures and meals so I could meditate. John, George and Paul would all want to sit around jamming and having a good time and I'd be flying into my room. They were all serious about what they were doing, but they just weren't as fanatical as me".^[4]

Lennon did play the song for Farrow while they were in India together. According to Farrow, "I was flattered. It was a beautiful thing to have done".^[2] The lyrics of the song are simple and innocent and praise the beauty of nature in the lines: "The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you".^[5]

Recording

The song was recorded at Trident Studios in London on 28, 29 and 30 August 1968.^[6] The Beatles utilised state of the art eight-track recording equipment on the song. The basic track was finger picking guitar performed by John Lennon as well as George Harrison on the lead guitar, plus Paul McCartney playing the drums in place of Ringo Starr, who had temporarily left the band. The next day, McCartney performed and recorded the bass track and Lennon recorded additional layers to his vocals. Handclapping, tambourine and cowbell were then added by McCartney and Harrison. On the last day of the recording session, piano and flügelhorn tracks were recorded by McCartney.^[2][5]

The complete list of recording session personnel included:^[7][2][5]

• John Lennon – double-tracked vocal, backing vocal, guitar
• Paul McCartney – backing vocal, drums,^[8] bass guitar, piano, flügelhorn, tambourine, cowbell, handclaps
• George Harrison – backing vocal, lead guitar
• Mal Evans – backing vocal, handclaps
• Jackie Lomax – backing vocal, handclaps
• John McCartney (Paul's cousin) – backing vocal, handclaps^[2]

On The Beatles album, the song was sequenced as the second track on side one, its introduction cross-faded with the sounds of a jet aircraft landing which conclude the opening track, Back in the U.S.S.R.^[5]

The song was first played on the radio in November and December of that year.^[5]

In The Beatles: Rock Band, Starr appeared in this animated song clip.

Other

Lennon is said to have selected it as one of his favourite songs by The Beatles.^[5] In 1987, Lennon's original handwritten lyrics of the song, containing 14 lines and some "doodles" in the margin, sold at auction for $19,500.^[9] The song is playable in The Beatles: Rock Band.^{[citation needed]}

The song is one of seventeen songs recorded by The Beatles that mentions the words "sun" or "sunshine" and according to Julian Lennon, it is one of his favourite songs written by his father.^[2][5]

The descending chromatic bass-line in the song is similar to that of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.^[10]

Cover versions

When British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees released their version of the song in 1983, it became one of their biggest hits, peaking at number three in the UK singles chart.^[5]

Jerry Garcia, a member of the Grateful Dead was a fan of the song and is said to have called it "one of his all-time personal favorites". The Jerry Garcia Band covered the song in extended, improvised versions at concerts between 1979 and Garcia’s death in 1995. The song was recorded for the 1991 album, Jerry Garcia Band.^[5]

The song was used in commercial advertising by the US wireless phone company, Cellular South, in a TV commercial during 2008.^[5]

The song has also been recorded by the following artists:^[5]

Year	Artist	Release	Notes
1968	Ramsey Lewis	Mother Nature's Son
1969	Doug Parkinson in Focus	single
1969	Gábor Szabó	1969
1970	Kenny Rankin	Family
1970	The Five Stairsteps	"O-o-h Child" single	Released as a b-side, it reached #49 on its own on the R&B music charts.
1976	Leslie West	The Leslie West Band
1983	Siouxsie and the Banshees	single	See information in box on right
1991	Jaco Pastorius	Live in New York City - Volume Two
1991	Jerry Garcia Band	Jerry Garcia Band
1991	The Clarks	The Clarks
1992	Hiram Bullock	Way Kool	Instrumental[11][12]
1998	Jeff Lorber	Midnight	Instrumental[13][14]
2001	Graham Central Station	The Jam: The Larry Graham & Graham Central Station Anthology	Studio out-take recorded in the 1970s
2001	Alanis Morissette	Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music	A live all-star concert filmed for television
2002	Brad Mehldau	Largo	Instrumental
2007	Dana Fuchs, Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson and T.V. Carpio	Across the Universe	Soundtrack

See also

• Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. 
• MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-844-13828-3. 
• Rimer, Sara (28 June 1987). "The Beatles And Youth At Auction". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1D91F30F93BA15755C0A961948260. Retrieved 10 November 2009. 
• Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. 

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Sheff 2000, pp. 198–199.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Here, There and Everywhere: the 100 best Beatles songs, Stephen J Spignesi, Michael Lewis, page 252
3. ^ The American book of the Dead, Oliver Trager, page 90, Simon and Schuster, 1997
4. ^ Doyle, Jack (27 July 2009). "Dear Prudence, 1967-1968". PopHistoryDig.com. http://www.pophistorydig.com/?tag=beatles-prudence-farrow. Retrieved 15 May 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} The Pop History Dig, Dear Prudence
6. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 152.
7. ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 310.
8. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 153.
9. ^ Rimer 1987.
10. ^ MacDonald, Ian, Revolution in the Head, pg 311, Pimlico 2005
11. ^ "Way Kool overview". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r160636. 
12. ^ "Hiram Bullock Discography". HiramBullock.com. http://www.hirambullock.com/scrolls/cd_way.html. 
13. ^ "Midnight overview". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r341710. 
14. ^ "Midnight - Jeff Lorber". JazzTimes.com. http://jazztimes.com/articles/8159-midnight-jeff-lorber.