The Beatles had multiple sonic eras throughout the 1960s. They had their boy band pop era, their psychedelic era, and their grand finale in 1970. Throughout the latter half of their enormously successful run, the Fab Four experimented with psychedelic elements and the avant-garde, notably in records like Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Rubber Soul. The following three songs are just a small handful of tracks that are The Beatles’ trippiest, and I think they deserve to be revisited.
1. “Tomorrow Never Knows”
Depending on who you ask, this track is at the top of The Beatles’ trippiest songs. This elevating, psychedelic tune from Revolver stands out from all of the other tracks on that album. John Lennon said that “Tomorrow Never Knows” was his very first psychedelic song that he had ever written, and it definitely doesn’t sound like an amateur effort.
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Fun fact: This song almost included a choir of monks chanting. One can’t help but wonder how much trippier this track could have gotten if Lennon had total control over its production.
2. “Norwegian Wood”
“Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” is just one of many gorgeous tunes from Rubber Soul. One can’t help but detect some acid rock elements in this song, as well as pure psychedelia. “Norwegian Wood” was written by John Lennon and features some of the best performances from each of the Fab Four. George Harrison’s sitar track is really gorgeous. It’s kind of a huge bummer that Lennon wrote this song about all the affairs he had while with his first wife, Cynthia.
3. “Within You Without You”
“Within You Without You” is one of George Harrison’s best written contributions to the band. It’s also one of the trippiest Beatles songs of all time. This Sgt. Pepper standout hit is very obviously inspired by the band’s LSD phase, but the vibe leans more towards spiritual than just unabashed psychedelia.
It’s interesting that Harrison was able to put this beautiful piece together, considering he was in the midst of his spiritual awakening and found everything outside of it to be “hard work.” That hard work really paid off.
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