"Let It Be" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 6 March 1970 as a single, and (in an alternative mix) as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single version of the song, produced by George Martin, features a softer guitar solo and the orchestral section mixed low, compared with the album version, produced by Phil Spector, featuring a more aggressive guitar solo and the orchestral sections mixed higher.
At the time, it had the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100, beginning its chart run at No. 6, peaking at No. 1 for two weeks in April 1970. It was the Beatles' final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band. Both the Let It Be album and the US single "The Long and Winding Road" were released after McCartney's announced departure from and the subsequent break-up of the group.
Origin and background
Two conflicting explanations exist concerning the origin of the song. McCartney stated that he had the idea of "Let It Be" after he had a dream about his mother Mary Patricia McCartney, who had died of cancer in 1956 when Paul was 14. "It was great to visit with her again. I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing 'Let It Be'." In a later interview, he said about the dream that his mother had told him, "It will be all right, just let it be." The song is widely interpreted as an allusion to the Virgin Mary, in particular the Annunciation, although McCartney has typically replied that listeners can interpret the song however they like.A Lesson on Text Criticism and the Beatles' Let it Be Jeff McLeod, Catholic Stand, 30 July 2013, Accessed 9 February 2014
Another explanation of the origin of the song was given by the Beatles' road manager Mal Evans, who claimed that McCartney had conceived the song after having a vision of Evans during the group's meditation sessions in India in March 1968. He stated in a 1975 interview with David Frost:
Paul was meditating one day and I came to him in a vision. And I was just standing there saying let it be, let it be, and that's where the song came from. And it's funny, because I drove him home from a session one night, and it was three o'clock in the morning, raining, dark in London, and Paul was telling this, you know, saying I've wrote this song, he told me the instant, the song is gonna be "Brother Malcolm", but uh, I want to change "Brother Malcolm" in case we give the wrong idea!
McCartney first began to play around with "Let It Be" in the recording studio in between takes of "Piggies" on 19 September 1968, during the sessions for The Beatles ("The White Album"). During this rehearsal, he sang "Brother Malcolm" (referring to Evans) instead of "Mother Mary", corroborating Evans' explanation.
In the podcast McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, McCartney reflected that William Shakespeare's Hamlet may have subconsciously inspired "Let It Be". McCartney recalled memorizing Shakespeare passages during his school years, and later having it pointed out to him that in Act 5, Scene 2, as he dies, Hamlet comforts his friend with the words, "But let it be. Horatio, I am dead." McCartney interpreted the line as the playwright's answer to the eternal question posed in the protagonist's earlier soliloquy, "to be or not to be?" He considered whether the phrase may have bubbled up from his subconscious so many years later, as his late mother in a dream, offering him the same comforting advice during a stressful period in his own life.
Lyrics Jacob Uitti writing for American Songwriter interpreted the lyrics of the song to be McCartney's farewell song to the group expressed through his mixed feelings of sadness for seeing the breakup of the group. The lyrics of the song have three main stanzas of four verses each, with a large number of repetitions of the main chorus sung in minor variations of the repeated lyrics "Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be/ Whisper words of wisdom, let it be." Uitti presents the opening stanza as stating McCartney's call to his listeners to accept that the reality of the break-up the group needs to be faced squarely using the words:
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Uitti states that the second main stanza indicates McCartney's restatement of the reality of the group break-up though, in the second stanza, he indicates a possible getting together for the group in the future with the words:
And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree There will be an answer, let it be For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see There will be an answer, let it be
The contemplated reunion for McCartney never took place before Lennon's death in 1980, in spite of the hope McCartney expressed in the closing third major stanza (from around 1970) reflecting on the promise which 'the sound of music' holds for his sentiments about the group disbanding and possibly eventually reuniting in the future."What do the Lyrics of the Beatles' 'Let It Be' Really Mean?," BY JACOB UITTI, JULY 7, 2023. American Songwriter.
Recordings
The song would be rehearsed properly at Twickenham Film Studios on 3 January 1969, where the group had, the previous day, begun what would become the Let It Be film. During this stage of the film they were only recording on the mono decks used for syncing to the film cameras, and were not making multi-track recordings for release. A single take was recorded, with just McCartney on piano and vocals. The first attempt with the other Beatles was made on 8 January. Work continued on the song throughout the month. Multi-track recordings commenced on 23 January at Apple Studios.Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. .
The master take was recorded on 31 January 1969, as part of the "Apple studio performance" for the project. McCartney played a Blüthner piano, Lennon played six-string electric bass (replaced by McCartney's own bass part on the final version at the behest of George Martin), George Harrison and Ringo Starr assumed their conventional roles, on guitar and drums respectively, and Billy Preston contributed on Hammond organ. This was one of two suitable performances of "Let It Be" recorded that day. The first version, designated take 27-A, would serve as the basis for all officially released versions of the song. The other version, take 27-B, was included in the film Let It Be as part of the Apple studio performance along with "Two of Us" and "The Long and Winding Road".
Before 2021, the film performance of "Let It Be" was never officially released as an audio recording. The lyrics in the two versions differ a little in the last verse. The studio version has mother Mary comes to me... speaking words of wisdom, whereas the film version has mother Mary comes to me... there will be no sorrow. In addition, McCartney's vocal performance is noticeably different in both versions: in the film version, it sounds rough in certain moments since he is not using anti-pop on his mic; there are also a couple of falsetto vocals performed by him (extending the vocal 'e' on the word 'be'), for instance in the 'let it be' line that precedes the second chorus. Finally, the instrumental progression featured in the middle of the song after the second chorus (that descends from F to C), which is played twice on all released studio versions, is played (or at least is shown being played) only once in the film. A new mix of the take used in the film was included as "Take 28" on the 2021 Super Deluxe edition of the album Let It Be.
On 30 April 1969, Harrison overdubbed a new guitar solo on the best take from 31 January. He overdubbed another solo on 4 January 1970. The first overdub solo was used for the original single release, and the second overdub solo was used for the original album release. Some fans mistakenly believe that there were two versions of the basic trackbased mostly on the different guitar solos, but also on other differences in overdubs and mixes.
McCartney sent a demo of this song to Jerry Wexler in late 1969 and he passed along the recording to Aretha Franklin, whose version came out in January 1970, as the first release of "Let It Be".
Single version
The single used the same cover photographs as the Let It Be album, and was originally released on 6 March 1970, backed by "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)", with a production credit for George Martin. This version includes orchestration and backing vocals overdubbed on 4 January 1970, under the supervision of Martin and McCartney, with backing vocals that included the only known contribution by Linda McCartney to a Beatles song. It was during this same session that Harrison recorded the second overdubbed guitar solo. The intention at one point was to have the two overdub solos playing together. This idea was dropped for the final mix of the single, and only the 30 April solo was used, although the 4 January overdub can be heard faintly during the final verse. Martin mixed the orchestration very low in this version.
The single mix made its album debut on the Beatles' 1967–1970 compilation album. Original pressings erroneously show the running time of 4:01 (from the Let It Be album), and not the single version's running time of 3:52. This version was also included on 20 Greatest Hits, Past Masters Volume 2 and 1.
The Let It Be EP (1972 Melodiya) was the Beatles' first release in the Soviet Union.Nicholas Schaffner -The Beatles Forever – Page 113 1978 Let It Be. E.P., Russia, 1972 (Melodia). The first official Beatles release back in the USSR." The 3-track 7-inch vinyl EP, M62-36715/6, also included "Across the Universe" and "I Me Mine".
Album version
On 26 March 1970, Phil Spector remixed the song for the Let It Be album. This version features Harrison's second guitar solo overdub, fewer backing vocals, a delay effect on Starr's hi-hat, and more prominent orchestration. The final chorus has three "let it be..." lines, as the "there will be an answer" line is repeated twice (instead of once as on the single) before the "whisper words of wisdom" line to close the song. On the album, as the preceding track "Dig It" ends, Lennon is heard saying in a falsetto voice, mimicking Gracie Fields: "That was 'Can You Dig It' by Georgie Wood, and now we'd like to do 'Hark, the Angels Come'."
Anthology version A previously unreleased January 1969 take of the song (recorded before the master), without heavy production, appeared on Anthology 3 in 1996. This version, take 1, was recorded on 25 January 1969. It is a much simpler version, as McCartney had not written the final verse yet ("And when the night is cloudy ... I wake up to the sound of music ..."). Instead, the first verse is repeated. The track, as released on Anthology 3 also features studio talk between Lennon and McCartney prior to a 31 January 1969 take:
Also, at the end of the song on the Anthology 3 version, Lennon can be heard saying, following another 31 January take, "I think that was rather grand. I'd take one home with me. OK let's track it. (Gasps) You bounder, you cheat!" (This is a reference to the no-overdub policy that the Beatles had adopted for the Get Back project – "tracking" refers to double tracking the vocals on a recording.) The running time of the Anthology version is 4:05.
Let It Be... Naked version
Still another version of the song appeared on the Let It Be... Naked album in 2003. The majority of this remix is take 27-A from 31 January 1969, with parts of take 27-B (as used in the film Let It Be), including the subdued guitar solo, spliced in.