Only a Northern Song

When you dive into *Only a Northern Song*, you encounter a piece that, beyond its sound, tells an internal story of George Harrison and his connection with the band's music publishing company. The song was born from a particular dissatisfaction: Harrison felt that his role as a songwriter within The Beatles did not correspond to the benefit he received from his creations, especially after the publishing company Northern Songs went public in 1965. The lyrics and music reflect this disillusionment, suggesting that since the company retained the copyrights and the main shareholders benefited more from his compositions, the choice of chords or words lost relevance. It's as if he were saying, "After all, it's just a northern song."

The recording of *Only a Northern Song* took place mainly in February 1967, during the same sessions that shaped Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, although it was ultimately not included on that album. The process of completing the track, which included the overdubbing of various sounds such as trumpets and spoken vocals, extended until April of that same year. This experimental approach, almost anticipating John Lennon's sound piece in "Revolution 9," and the complexity of joining two different recording tapes, meant that the song remained in mono for a long time. It wasn't until 1999 that it could be heard in true stereo, with a remix for the album Yellow Submarine Songtrack. The song, written by George Harrison, was one of the four that The Beatles contributed to the animated film Yellow Submarine, fulfilling a contractual obligation.