John Lennon based “Come Together” on Chuck Berry’s 1956 single “You Can’t Catch Me.”
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He even kept the “flat-top” line and was later sued by Berry’s publisher. They settled out of court but Lennon maintained his song “remains independent of Chuck Berry or anybody else on earth.”
Lennon wrote the tune in 1969 for Timothy Leary’s California gubernatorial campaign opposing Ronald Reagan. The campaign slogan was “Come together, join the party.”
Leary’s candidacy didn’t last long, but The Beatles’ recording of “Come Together” endures as one of the Fab Four’s defining tracks. So this list highlights its legacy by looking at three great versions of the Abbey Road classic.
Finally, a note on the lyrics Lennon called “gobbledygook.” The excerpts below reflect the cover versions that have slight variations from The Beatles’ original.
Gary Clark Jr. and Junkie XL: Justice League Soundtrack (2017)
Gary Clark Jr. had no plans to cover “Come Together.” But Junkie XL invited the guitarist to play over what Clark called the producer’s “industrial, raw, futuristic-type sh-t.” Clark also told Rolling Stone he was asked to “do that fuzzy guitar sh-t that you do.” It reminded him of being a teenager, bashing it out inside the garage. Meanwhile, Clark revisited this “futuristic-type” sound on the title track to his 2019 album, This Land.
Here come old flattop, he come groovin’ slowly
He got juju eyeball, he one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker, he just do what you please
Aerosmith: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Soundtrack (1978)
One of the most successful covers of “Come Together,” Aerosmith’s version reached No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. But it was the Boston group’s final hit for a decade. They performed the song in the 1978 jukebox musical film Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The track, produced by Jack Douglas and George Martin, also appears on the band’s 1980 Greatest Hits collection.
He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football
He got monkey finger, he shoot Coca-Cola
He say, “I know you, you know me”
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free
Soundgarden: B-side to “Hands All Over” Single (1990)
When Soundgarden released their 1989 major label debut Louder Than Love, Seattle grunge bands had yet to transform pop culture. Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was still two years away from MTV. But the record labels must have sniffed something in the Pacific Northwest air, drawing their attention to Kim Thayil’s trudging riffs and Chris Cornell’s piercing howl. Soundgarden’s take on “Come Together” reinterprets John Lennon’s song through the lens of Black Sabbath and the Melvins. It backed the 1990 single release of “Hands All Over.”
He bag production, he got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knees
Hold you in his armchair, you can feel his disease
Photo by Donna Santisi/Redferns
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