If Abbey Road as a whole can be interpreted as a Beatles goodbye, then each member is given a unique opportunity within the album to express his own version of the message.
John Lennon and Come Together
The album opens, for example, with what is arguably John’s most autobiographical piece: Come Together. Only Julia rivals Come Together in his oeuvre in this regard, but where Julia is searching, internal, and melancholy to the point of despondent, Come Together takes a completely different tone; at one time joking, self-effacing, braggadocios, and seeringly clear-eyed in his self-descriptions, John attempts to capture multiple aspects of himself, both personally observed and by way of reputation.
The last line of each verse encapsulates a different aspect of John’s personality: “Got to be a joker he just do what he please”; “One thing I can tell you is you got to be free”; “Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease”; “Got to be good-looking 'cause he's so hard to see.”
George Harrison and Here Comes the Sun
George also takes advantage of the premise of Abbey Road to express extremely personal messages; Here Comes the Sun, for example, when interpreted in this manner, morphs from a simple, lovely song about brighter days ahead to a very specific message about the end of the Beatles. Seemingly innocuous lines such as “it's been a long cold lonely winter” and “it seems like years since it's been clear” take on new significance when one realizes George’s continuing and growing resentment at being given only two songs per album.
During the recording of Let it Be, George famously quit the band for a short period, reasonably certain he could be quite happy writing and recording his own albums; as with John, Paul talked him into returning to record a final album that would offer each member a chance at closure. Here Comes the Sun, then, is George’s reflection on the dark clouds that had enveloped them in recent years, and an entreaty to focus on what had been good, and what would be good again... albeit as each of the four continued on their own paths, with the others playing an increasingly diminished role.
Ringo's Only Solo
Ringo also bring his own unique dish to the table; first and foremost with his one and only drum solo in the entire catalog. Ringo held a personal and deeply ingrained dislike for drum solos—he preferred to stay in the background and provide the backbone for the band and its music—but was talked into it by the other three in this case for posterity’s sake. As with the rest of his playing, the solo is straightforward, strong, and deceptively simple.
Paul McCartney and the Medley
Finally, Paul’s contribution to the farewell message was in his conceptualization and production of what is perhaps the most well known and beloved section of any Beatles’ album: the final medley.
Continue reading; in Abbey Road's Medley, the justly famous final medley that makes up the second side of the record is discussed.
