Rocky Raccoon

The lyric mentions real places (Black Mountain hills of Dakota), and it deals in the motifs of religion and relationship too. The writing is sung in a persona, something the Beatles started 4 years before and went on doing for 18 songs. There is pastiche in the writing (western/cowboy ballad parody). A multi-syllabic rhyme arrives once, "fancy/Nancy". The title gives a person's name, and the language is dense on the page and tonally neutral. In 1968, 4 of their songs pack in the most words, more than in any other year: 'Hey Jude', 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', 'Revolution 9' and this one.

Written in C major and taken at about 79 BPM, 'Rocky Raccoon' is a folk and country piece. The harmony reaches for a 7sus4 chord, heard on nine Beatles records in all, such as 'We Can Work It Out' and 'A Hard Day's Night'. Whether it was meant or not, the chords run C → Am7 → D7 → G7, the same shape 'Real Love' plays as A♭ → Fm → B♭ → E♭.

Recorded in a single session at Abbey Road. McCartney improvised the spoken intro in a mock-cowboy voice during the take. They reached for the Ludwig Super Classic. The studio work runs to VariSpeed, one of 25 Beatles records to use it, going back to 1963. It is taken out on a fade-out, something they started 5 years before and went on doing for 46 songs. 1968 brought 37 songs, and this was the 21st of them, the 167th record of their career.

The record is McCartney's, words and voice, and there is a role swap on it, Lennon on 6 string bass, as on 'Helter Skelter' and 'The Long and Winding Road'. George Martin played piano, as he also did on 'What You're Doing' and 'All You Need Is Love'. The record has a Lennon on Fender VI six-string bass on it.

This song was never released as a single, arriving instead with The Beatles (The White Album), November 22, 1968. This track was the 17th of 34 released in that year, and the 159th in the order they were recorded.