"Here, There and Everywhere" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver. A love ballad, it was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. McCartney includes it among his personal favourites of the songs he has written. In 2000, Mojo ranked it 4th in the magazine's list of the greatest songs of all time.

Inspiration and background

McCartney began writing "Here, There and Everywhere" at Lennon's house in Weybridge, in early June, while waiting for Lennon to wake up. McCartney recalled: "I sat out by the pool on one of the sun chairs with my guitar and started strumming in E. And soon [I] had a few chords, and I think by the time he'd woken up, I had pretty much written the song, so we took it indoors and finished it up."

When discussing his song "Here, There and Everywhere", McCartney has often cited the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows", his favourite pop song of all time, as a source of inspiration. In 1990, McCartney told Beach Boys biographer David Leaf that it was "just the introduction that's influenced [by the Beach Boys]", referring to the harmonies he and Lennon devised for the opening lines of "Here, There and Everywhere". McCartney added that, with this style of introduction, they wanted to capture the "old-fashioned" idea of a preamble to the song.

Musical structure

Author Kenneth Womack describes "Here, There and Everywhere" as a romantic ballad "about living in the here and now" and "fully experiencing the conscious moment". The verse is based on an ascending major chord sequence, while the middle eight (four bars in length) modulates to the relative major of the tonic. The introduction beginning "To lead a better life" opens in the key of G and involves a I–iii–III–ii–V<sup>7</sup> chord progression. The III (B chord) on "I need my love to be here" (arpeggiated in the melody line) is a dissonant substitute for the more predictable VI (E<sup>7</sup>) that would normally lead to the ii (Am) chord. Music critic Richie Unterberger considers that this "dramatic opening [lyric]" contains "an almost philosophical undertone of humility, acknowledging that the singer needs his woman not just to be happy, but also to be a better person".

The verse opens on "Here" in the key of G (with simultaneous I (G chord) and melody G note) and moves to a I–ii–iii–IV chord shift (G–Am–Bm–C) through "making each day of the year". This repeats on "Changing my life with a wave"; but immediately after (in bar 5) the song changes on "of her hand". It goes down six semitones from the IV (C chord) to a vii (Fm) [adding a non-G scale C] then a V-of-vi (B<sup>7</sup>) chord [adding a non-G scale D] which briefly modulates towards a new tonic E minor. McCartney mostly sings a B note ("of her hand") over both Fm, where it is the eleventh, and the B<sup>7</sup>, where it is the tonic. When the sequence is repeated ("nobody can"), McCartney sings both B and C over the Fm, the C natural producing a tritone.

During the bridge segment beginning "I want her everywhere", the key centre shifts via an F<sup>7</sup> chord (a VII in the old G key and a V<sup>7</sup> in the new B key) to a I–vi–ii (B–Gm–Cm) chord progression in B major. It then shifts again via a D<sup>7</sup> chord (a III<sup>7</sup> in the old B key and a V<sup>7</sup> in the new Gm key) to G minor where there is a i–iv (Gm–Cm chord) progression. Finally, the pivot of D<sup>7</sup> takes the scale back to the G major tonic and reinforcing G melody note of "Everywhere".

Rolling Stone has noted: "The tune's chord sequence bears Brian Wilson's influence, ambling through three related keys without ever fully settling into one, and the modulations – particularly the one on the line 'changing my life with a wave of her hand' – deftly underscore the lyrics, inspired by McCartney's girlfriend, actress Jane Asher."

In his authorised biography, Many Years from Now, McCartney names "Here, There and Everywhere" as one of his personal favourites. Beatles producer George Martin also highlighted it among his favourite McCartney songs. Lennon reportedly told McCartney that "Here, There and Everywhere" was "the best tune" on Revolver. In a 1980 interview for Playboy magazine, Lennon described it as "one of my favourite songs of the Beatles".

In 2000, Mojo placed "Here, There and Everywhere" at number 4 on its list of the greatest songs of all time.

McCartney re-recorded the song for his 1984 soundtrack album Give My Regards to Broad Street and also performed it for MTV in 1991, released on Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).

Other recordings

One of the earliest known covers of "Here, There and Everywhere" was recorded by The Fourmost in August 1966. A Merseybeat band also managed by Brian Epstein, The Fourmost had access to Lennon–McCartney compositions, as reflected in their earlier recordings of "Hello Little Girl" and "I'm in Love".

Unterberger highlights Emmylou Harris among the notable artists who have recorded "Here, There and Everywhere". Harris' version became a minor hit in 1976, reaching number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States. Frank Ocean interpolated its lyrics on his song "White Ferrari" in 2016 (from the album Blonde), for which Lennon–McCartney received a writing credit.

Bruce Welch of the Shadows claimed in his autobiography that McCartney offered the tune to Shadows lead guitarist Hank Marvin before the Beatles' recording. Marvin eventually released an instrumental version of the song on his 2007 album Guitar Man.

Lennon's son Sean and Elvis Costello both performed the song in 2022 in celebration of McCartney's 80th birthday.

Pat Metheny recorded a solo guitar version for his 2024 album MoonDial.

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald:

  • Paul McCartney – double-tracked lead vocals, rhythm guitar, bass, finger-snaps
  • John Lennon – backing vocals, finger-snaps
  • George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals, finger-snaps
  • Ringo Starr – drums, finger-snaps

Certifications

References

Bibliography

  • Handwritten lyrics of Here, There and Everywhere by Paul McCartney at the British Library
  • Sissel's cover of "Here, There And Everywhere"