Flying

When you dive into *Flying*, you encounter an instrumental piece that stands out by its very nature. It is one of the few compositions by The Beatles credited to all four members: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The idea behind this piece emerged as a sonic exploration, revisiting the path of instrumentals the band had traveled before, but this time with a collective signature. The basic structure relies on the well-known twelve-bar blues progression, but the way they approach it gives it a particular character, with layers of sound that invite attentive listening.

The recording of *Flying* took place in September 1967, at EMI studios in London. Initially, it was conceived as "Aerial Tour Instrumental," and its development included the incorporation of Mellotron, guitars, bass, maracas, and drums. An interesting detail is that, at a later stage of the recording, tapes with sound effects created by John Lennon and Ringo Starr were added. These tapes, which considerably extended the original duration of the piece to almost ten minutes, were later shortened for the final version we know, just over two minutes long. Part of these sonic textures and elements of a coda with influences of traditional New Orleans jazz, which had been considered for the ending, ended up being used in another incidental piece for the television film. The version we hear on the album *Magical Mystery Tour*, released in November 1967 in the United States and in December of the same year in EP format in the United Kingdom, is the one heard on the film's soundtrack, accompanied by images of landscapes from Iceland seen from an airplane.