Sun King (Lennon/McCartney)
In 1971 John said that Sun King came to him in a dream, but in 1980 he said it was “garbage”. The ending is made up of several Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish words woven together. The 2006 release on Love is an excerpt from the song played backward.
Quotes
“It was just half a song I had which I never finished which was one way of getting rid of it without ever finishing it. Then in the medley, we just wanted a change of atmosphere, and, ‘Here comes the Sun King.’ Why not? And ‘Here he comes,’ and ‘Everybody’s happy’ and ‘quando paramucho‘ etc., etc.” – John Lennon
“We just started joking, you know, it’s ‘cod.’ You know, singing ‘Quando para mucho.’ So we just made it up. Paul knew a few Spanish words from school, you know. So we just strung any Spanish words that sounded vaguely like something. And of course we got ‘Chicka ferdy‘ in. That’s a Liverpool expression. Just like sort of – it doesn’t mean anything, just like (childish taunting) ‘Na-na, na-na-na!’ The one we missed, we should have had, was ‘Paranoia.’ We forgot all about it. We used to call ourselves ‘Los Paranoias.’ ‘Cake and eat it‘ is another nice line too, because they have that in Spanish – ‘Que,‘ or something, can eat it.” – John Lennon
“The vibe was so good that, this time around, Paul was invited by John to participate in both songs, which seemed to lift his spirits greatly. They even disappeared behind the screens at one point for a puff on a joint, just the two of them, and when they came out they had a fit of giggles as they sang the pseudo-Spanish gibberish at the end of “Here Comes The Sun-King”; in fact, they found it impossible to get through a take without dissolving into laughter.” – Geoff Johns
“At the time, ‘Albatross’ (by Fleetwood Mac) was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing Albatross, just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac…but that was the point of origin.” – George Harrison
“That’s where we pretend to be Fleetwood Mac for a few minutes. We did the introductions, we call it the ‘Sun riff,’ the little instrumental bit that’s like Fleetwood Mac, before we start singing, and we did it again at the end, so we are able to sing it to make them different, you know, so it wasn’t just the same riff.” – John Lennon
Personnel
- John Lennon – lead, harmony and backing vocals, electric guitar, maracas
- Paul McCartney – harmony and backing vocals, bass guitar, tape loops
- George Harrison – harmony and backing vocals, electric guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums, bongos, tambourine
- George Martin – Lowrey organ
Release history
- Abbey Road (1969)
- Love (2006) (as Gnik Nus)
- Abbey Road Anniversary Edition (2019) [2019 mix]
- Abbey Road Anniversary Edition (2019) [take 20]
- Abbey Road Anniversary Edition (2019) [as part of “The Long One” trial edit]
