Published Northern Songs Genre Psychedelic rock Label Apple | Released 22 November 1968 Length 3:56 | |
Recorded 28–30 August 1968 at Trident Studios, London | ||
"Dear Prudence" is a song by the English rock group the Beatles from their 1968 album The Beatles (also known as "the White Album"). The song was written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Written in India, it was inspired by Prudence Farrow, a sister of actress Mia Farrow, who became obsessive about meditating while practising with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Contents
The song has been covered by many artists, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, whose rendition became a top five hit for the band.
Background
The subject of the song is Prudence Farrow, a sister of actress Mia Farrow, who was present when the Beatles went to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
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'". Lennon said later that "She'd been locked in for three weeks and was trying to reach God quicker than anyone else."
Dear Prudence is me. Written in India. A song about Mia Farrow's sister, who seemed to go slightly barmy, meditating too long, and couldn't come out of the little hut that we were livin' in. They selected me and George to try and bring her out because she would trust us. If she'd been in the West, they would have put her away. We got her out of the house. She'd been locked in for three weeks and wouldn't come out, trying to reach God quicker than anybody else. That was the competition in Maharishi's camp: who was going to get cosmic first. What I didn't know was I was already cosmic.
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."
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." 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."
Recording
The Beatles recorded the song at Trident Studios in London on 28, 29 and 30 August 1968. Utilising state-of-the-art eight-track recording equipment, the basic track included finger picking guitar performed by Lennon as well as Harrison on lead guitar, plus McCartney playing the drums in place of Ringo Starr, who had temporarily left the Beatles. The next day, McCartney overdubbed the bass track and Lennon recorded additional layers to his vocals. Handclapping, cowbell and tambourine were then added by Harrison and McCartney. On the last day of the recording session, piano and flugelhorn tracks were recorded by McCartney.
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 previous track, "Back in the U.S.S.R." The descending chromatic bass-line in the song is similar to that of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
The song was first played on the radio in November and December of that year.
Personnel
The complete list of recording session personnel included:
Legacy
Lennon is said to have selected it as one of his favourite songs by the Beatles. In 1987, Lennon's original handwritten lyrics of the song, containing 14 lines and some "doodles" in the margin, sold at auction for US $19,500. The song is playable in The Beatles: Rock Band.
"Dear Prudence" is one of 17 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.
Cover versions
English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees released a cover version of the song as a single in 1983, which became one of their biggest hits, peaking at number three in the UK Singles Chart.
Jerry Garcia, a member of 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.
The song was performed by T.V. Carpio, Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, and Dana Fuchs in Julie Taymor's 2007 film Across the Universe.
Phish performed the song on Halloween 1994 as part of their "musical costume" which was covering the White Album in its entirety. It was released as Live Phish 13 in 2002.
The song was used in commercial advertising by the US wireless phone company Cellular South in a TV commercial during 2008.
The song has also been recorded by the following artists: