The Beatles were certainly known for adding layers of experimental and uncommon noises to their recordings. But to find the most in depth Easter eggs hidden within the Beatles music, The Huffington Post sought out super fan Mike Brown, who has maintained arguably the most in depth list of Beatles anomalies since the ’90s. Brown’s website What Goes On, which has had a web presence since around 1997 as Brown recalls, has detailed recording notes on just about every Beatles song. Over the years, about 400 people have helped contribute to the database.
This list of anomalies even precedes Brown, as he inherited everything from a Beatles fan named Michael Weiss, who first publicly distributed it in 1992 on USENET, before the “world wide web” was prevalent. Asking how he has continued to find all these Beatles anomalies over the years, Brown explained:
Most now come from submissions — things I hadn’t noticed or considered to be that odd until highlighted. But for those that I spotted — just listening to the stereo vinyl/CDs in detail. In recent years, the availability of Dolby 5.1 Surround remixes for some tracks has opened up the ability for people to really hear stuff in detail that I was listing years before.
Jan. 30 is the anniversary of the Beatles last public performance — a 45-minute gig on the roof of their Apple Records headquarters in London in 1969 — here are some fairly deep-cut and often funny Beatles Easter eggs. A few of their classic songs may have been way dirtier than you remembered …
1. The Beatles purposely pronounce “Sie Liebt Dich,” the German version of “She Loves You,” incorrectly. This essentially makes the song “She Loves Dick.”
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Mike Brown told HuffPost that he first noticed this expletive “after seeing the cryptic reference to it in Mark Lewisohn’s Recording Sessions book.” Brown further said:
Brown: I think one of the funniest has to be the “undeleted expletive” in “Hey Jude.” Mainly because it’s probably the most played record in the history of the planet (I may have made that up), but radio stations seem to be oblivious to John swearing away in the background as he fumbled the acoustic guitar part … Some people think it’s Paul, fumbling on the piano. But I’m not convinced on that. I’d love to hear a clearer version of that backing.
It’s a bit hard to hear (which explains why radio stations play the song uncensored), but it does sound like someone says “wrong chord” and then shortly after shouts “fucking hell” in the background.
All images Getty unless otherwise noted.
