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SongsRevolverTomorrow Never Knows
Revolver album cover

Tomorrow Never Knows

1966 · Revolver

“Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream”

The Beatles' first wholly psychedelic recording and Revolver's closer - Lennon's adaptation of Timothy Leary's The Psychedelic Experience set over a single-chord C drone, drone-tambura, Ringo's monolithic loop-like drum pattern, and five tape loops created at home by the band and flown in live to the mix.
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Year1966
AlbumRevolver
Track14 · Album closer · Side 2 · Side closer
Duration2:58
Songwriter(s)LennonCredited as Lennon-McCartney
Lead VocalJohn
RecordedApril 6, 7 & 22, 1966
ReleasedAugust 5, 1966
Song familyIndian songTwin songsTwin of Eleanor Rigby: death-themed, serious and experimental.

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Text158 tags

Motif

PhilosophicalSpiritualMeditationDrugsDeathFound inspirationWarSelf reflectionLightDialogueLoveInstructional

Influence

Drugs influenceEastern philosophy influenceMusique concrète influenceLiterary influence

Title

RingoismTitle not in lyricsNegation in title

Vocabulary

Positive toneDark lyrics

Narrative

Second personObservationalImperative

Lyrical device

Anaphora

Rhyme type

Feminine rhymeHalf rhyme

Song form

StrophicNo verse-chorus

Sections

No chorusStandard verses (2-4)Has outroHas introHas interlude

Section links

Verse variationOutro based on verseIntro based on verse

Repetition

Recurring lineConsecutive lineConsecutive word
Word cloud

Recurring words

believingdeaddreamsdyingeveryonefloatgamehateknowinglivingmeaningmindshiningthoughtsturnwithinand loveis allis notis shiningit islisten tothat lovethe beginningthe deadthe endthe gameyou mayyour mindlisten to thelove is allplay the gamethat love is

Cover-shared words

allitlistenloveplayseeyouyourlove isof youroff yourplay thesee thethat you

Lyric shape

[VERB] may[WORD] downis [NOUN]is [WORD]may [VERB]not [VERB]or [VERB][NOUN] of [WORD][VERB] [VERB] to[VERB] is [NOUN][VERB] is [WORD][WORD] to theit is [VERB]not [VERB] itof your [NOUN]that [NOUN] isthe [NOUN] ofto the [NOUN]you may [VERB]your [NOUN] [VERB][NOUN] of the [NOUN][VERB] the [NOUN] of[VERB] to the [NOUN][WORD] to the [WORD]the [NOUN] of [WORD]the [NOUN] of theto the [NOUN] of[VERB] [VERB] and [VERB] [WORD][VERB] the [NOUN] of [WORD]the [NOUN] of the [NOUN]you may [VERB] the [NOUN]

Cover-shared shape

[NOUN] of[VERB] and[VERB] is[VERB] it[VERB] off[VERB] the[VERB] to[WORD] and[WORD] toand [VERB]but [VERB]down [WORD]is [VERB]of [WORD]that [NOUN]that [WORD]the [ADJ]the [NOUN]the [WORD]your [NOUN][VERB] [VERB] and[VERB] and [VERB][VERB] the [ADJ][VERB] the [NOUN][VERB] to the[WORD] and [VERB]and [VERB] [WORD]down [WORD] [NOUN]of the [NOUN]the [NOUN] [WORD]to the [WORD][VERB] [VERB] and [VERB][VERB] and [VERB] [WORD][VERB] off your [NOUN][VERB] the [NOUN] [WORD][VERB] to the [WORD]

Rhyme scheme

AAAABCBDEUnique rhyme scheme

Line length

Unique line length

Distinctive word

colourdownstreamexistenceignorancelaymournrelaxsurrendervoid
You might also like:All the SongsThe Beatles Illustrated Lyrics

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Sources & references

Tags on this page are original analysis, transcribed and cross-checked against the fine work of others: Alan W. Pollack's “Notes on…” series, the Beatles Complete Scores (Hal Leonard), Mark Lewisohn's session histories, Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head, Dave Rybaczewski's Beatles Music History and Andy Babiuk's Beatles Gear for the instruments and studio equipment, and others besides - then verified by ear against the recordings. Full bibliography: Sources & thanks.

External entity links: Wikipedia · MusicBrainz recording · MusicBrainz work · Wikidata

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