Overview
"Julia" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles (also known as "the White Album"). It is performed as a solo piece by John Lennon. The song was written by Lennon (though credited to Lennon–McCartney) about his mother Julia Lennon, who died in 1958 at age 44.
The track is the final song on side two (disc one on CD) of The Beatles and was the last song recorded for the album. In 1976, it was issued as the B-side of the Beatles single "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".
Composition
"Julia" was written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) in the key of D major and features Lennon on vocals and acoustic guitar. It was written during the Beatles' 1968 visit to Rishikesh in northern India, where they were studying under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was here that Lennon learned the song's finger-picking guitar style (known as 'Travis-picking') from the Scottish musician Donovan. Donovan later explained:
No other Beatle sings or plays on the song. While Paul McCartney made several "solo" recordings attributed to the group, dating back to his famous song "Yesterday", this is the only time that Lennon played and sang unaccompanied on a Beatles track. The ballad itself was the final track to be composed during recording sessions for The Beatles.
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