For the Beatles, Across the Universe was rather an odissey than a song. More than two years passed from the very first recording to the release of the most famous remix. In the meantime, there were six takes, a lot of rehearsals and at least three mixings. All of it with without making its author satisfied.

John Lennon always loved this song. He said he had written it as it came in mind, one morning, writing the lyrics first and the melody later. It was basically poetry in music, something very unusual for him.

He had in mind to release it as an A-side of a single, and that was his hope when he brought the other Beatles to start recording on February the 4th 1968. But during the day, something became clear soon: no one of them had idea how to play it.

Sadly at that time they suffered from such a lack of energy, after hard working on Revolver and Sgt Pepper during 1966-67. All the things they recorded after – including some real masterpieces – showed anyway more than a problem inside the band, something to become clearer during the year, while recording the White Album. Considering also a big drug intake (Lennon was a real Lsd-addicted at that time), the result was some chaotic sessions, such a mind confusion and a randomic way of working, doing and redoing many times the same songs. It seemed they had no more those graceful feelings of Sgt.Pepper sessions, the capability of having few good ideas and improve them with no hesitations.

On February the 4th the Beatles recorded 6 takes of Across the Universe, trying some different ways. At first the played acoustic instruments with a big amount of effects, later they added ethnic drums and sitar (it’s the take 2, as you can listen on Anthology album). In the afternoon they seemed to be satisfied of take 6, such an acoustic ballad.

But when they turned to work after a break, they started again experimenting. John recorded his vocals, but suddenly had the idea of adding some female choirs. So they took two of the little girls which used to stay day and night in front of the Abbey Road studios (called Apple Scruffs) and, despite their obvious anxiety, they made them sing not too much in tune some background choirs in the chorus.
As if it wasn’t enough, in the evening the Beatles added bass and drums too, destroying the acoustic nature of the song. They also recorded some takes of psychedelic effects and noises (with instruments played backward etc.) to be added later – no one knows how.

They spent some days completing Lady Madonna, then on February the 8th they went on torturing Across the Universe. First of all they threw away the bass and drums tracks, and added some other background vocals at their place; then went on experimenting some different instruments, such organ, mellotron and guitar.
But at the end they gave up and chose for the next single the other two songs they had recorded in the same days: Lady Madonna and The Inner Light. They couldn’t help this song finding its way.

But John Lennon didn’t give up for a long. Some months passed, they recorded and released the White Album. In January 1969, when they started rehearsing at Twickenham theatre, Lennon suggested this song again.
Let’s listen to a short passage of those rehearsals:

As you can notice, the song was played, according to the Get Back project philosophy, by all of them live, including this way bass and drum. It’s well known they were very crappy sessions, but it has to be said they could finally play Across the Universe a little better than in the vid before.

They worked hard on harmonized voices, singing in two in the verse and in three in the chorus, this one in a fascinating way, although at a point you can hear Harrison complaining it’s too high for him.
One of my favourite is the one of January the 7th 1969 (you can find it on the “Let it Be Rehearsals” vol. 1 bootleg): despite some mistakes, it’s quite pretty played and shows McCartney singing good background vocals on the second verse and jamming such a bass solo at the end.

Anyway, it seemed this song had no future. Unhappy with the result, the Beatles gave up again and didn’t play it any more as they moved to the Apple Studios.

Like a song of second choice, it became the Beatles‘ contribution to a charity album for the WWF, called from its chorus “Nothing’s gonna change our world”. George Martin, with no one of the Beatles in the studio, on October the 2th 1969 took the 1968 recording and mixed it with some bird singing effects and most of all speeding it up to semi-tone higher. The album was released in December 1969 and nowadays you can find this version in Past Masters vol. 2.

It seemed the song could rest in peace, but it was not so. In May 1969 producer Glyn Johns was asked to mix a master for an lp from the enormous number of takes recorded during the Get Back sessions. Across the Universe was not included, also since it had not been recorded ad the Apple Studios, but just rehearsed at Twickenham (so there were no professional recordings).
In January 1970 Glyn Johns was asked to make another version of the album. This time there was an important difference: the movie which would become Let it Be was nearly made and it had a very short passage of Across the Universe. So they thought the song had to be included in the album
Not having something like good recordings of the song from the Get Back Sessions, Glyn Johns was forced to use the 1968 recording again. So he threw away all effects and choirs, so to make people believe it was a live performance at the Apple Studios. On January the 5th 1970 he brought its mixing to the Beatles.

But this version had to remain unreleased. Glyn John’s mixings were refused again and the new producer was the unfamous Phil Spector.

Spector, well known even before for his “wall of sound”, worked on Let it Be multiplying if possibile his exagereted use of the orchestra and reverbers; this trying to hide the more he could the low quality of recordings.

Across the Universe was actually the only one not to need it, having been recorded non at the Apple but at the Abbey Road studios; anyway it was mixed by the same logic and flooded by a string ensemble in a Disney-like way – as Ian MacDonald ironically wrote.
The track was also slowed down to a D drop.

That’s the most famous version, as it was released on Let it Be on May the 8th 1970.

Could the song have finally peace?
Not completely.
In 2003, when Paul McCartney worked on Let it Be…Naked project, Across the Universe was mixed for another odd time.
Basically the philosophy of that project was to release Get Back as it had been conceived at the beginning, a live album with no overdubs; so Across the Universe shouldn’t be included, not having been recorded at the Apple studios.
But they made a differente choice, not to make the album too different from Let it Be; and since they hadn’t anything better, they took for another time the 1968 take and threw everything away but lead voice and guitar, to make us believe it was a live performance.

Such a pretty swindle, isn’it?