"It's All Too Much"

This is for pepperland67, Space Daisy42, ChrisG134, WendnesdayMorning, Siobhan, and gberman(with a nod to the heavy metal acknowledgement)and anyone I have missed:
I would like to bring to mind(maybe once again) one of the "underated" Beatle songs and subject it, with your approval, to open discussion. It holds so much that is forever relevant and still speaks to the moment. More and more lately this world does indeed seem like it's all too much.The title harkens back to the day when one could say "Too much, man." and not sound trite or hackneyed. I think Pinky (Sourmilk variety) used it well in a recent post.
Lyric wise, "The more I learn, the less I know." speaks to me at this particular juncture in my own some-what-gone-askew world. Also "the more I go inside the more there is to see" couldn't pinpoint better the way I feel so much of the time.
At the end of the song, what do you think George says after "With Your Long Blond Hair And Your Eyes Of Blue"? One source say "mumbles"; I am sure there is a line or two of lyrics that, to my mind, has not been defined.
Too much, man.

It's all too much
It's all too much
When I look into your eyes
You love is there for me
And the more I go inside
the more there is to see

It's all too much for me to take
the love that's shining all around you
Everywhere it's what you make for us to take
it's all too much

Floating down the stream of time
form life to life with me
Makes no difference where you are
or where you'd like to be

It's all too much for me to take
the love that's shining all around you
All the world is birthday cake
so take a piece but not too much

Sell me on a silver sun
where I know that I'm free
Show me that I'm everywhere
and get me home for tea

It's all too much for me to see
the love that's shining all around you
The more I learn, the less I know
and what I do it's all too much

It's all too much for me to take
the love that's shining all around you
Everywhere it's what you make for us to take
it's all too much

It's all too much
It's all too much

With your long blonde hair and your eyes of blue
With your long blonde hair and your eyes of blue
You're too much Availability:
Yellow Submarine (CD)
Yellow Submarine (1999 Reissue) (CD)
Yellow Submarine (UK)
Yellow Submarine (US)

Lead Singer: George

Recording: 5/25/67, 5/31/67, 6/2/67
Mixing: 10/12/67, 10/16/68, 10/17/68
Length: 6:24
Take: 2
© 1968 Northern Songs. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

"It's All Too Much" is definitely one of the Beatles' best masterpieces.

Excellent. The lyrics alone are brilliant. Once again a Harrison love song that is from the heart and universal. It can touch me in many different ways.

The music 'doesn't fit' the feel of the song for me, yet it is a masterpiece in itself.


ps. can I have what he's having?

Gah, this song is amazing. I'm pretty sure it's SpaceDaisy's favorite Beatles song. But I'll let her confirm that. Sometimes I like to say that music sounds like it's "swirling" and this song definetly swirls. And chiliace, when you say the world feels like it's too much sometimes, I can agree with that. But I've always thought this song was written to say that because of all the love and wonderful beauty in the world, it's almost too much to take. The way I feel about this song is probably why I like to listen to it if I need a pick-me-up, or when I'm in a good mood about something. In fact, erinluv might smack me for saying this, but she told me that one time she was driving along listening to this song, and it made her so happy she cried. Now, I've never actually cried while listening to it, but it does have the ability to make you feel a lot of different emotions. It's sad that you never hear about this song, not even from other fans usually.

I won't smack you, pepperland. In fact, I think I've told that story on here before. This song is the only secular music I've ever listened to that made me cry, I was just so happy. Music that can make you so HAPPY that you cry is pretty freaking powerful.

"IT'S ALL TOO MUCH" is too much, man!

love that song altho we cant figure out what the heck he says at the end

"free your head?"" free the dead" ???

Yes a highly underrated but great song. It was actually one of the last Beatle songs I ever heard. Somebody had taped all of the albums consecutively for me, but missed this song off for some reason. The first time I heard it was on the radio and I was blown away by it. It still does blow me away in fact, and is one of the main reasons I ever listen to Yellow Submarine, along with Hey Bulldog.

I was always pretty sure he says 'We are dead' near the end, but I have been wrong about these things before. Can't make out the little bit after that though.

Oh yes, definitly one of the best. The way it starts, the lyrics, the music, the end, I even like the repetition, and usually, I can't stand repitition (which is why I hate the second half of "All Together Now."). The song means a lot to me. I think it's because it can speak to every problem and every feeling. It's a song about begging to feel better and realizing that happiness was everywhere, you just didn't notice. It's a song about kicking yourself for ever feeling bad in the first place, because there was no need to. Right now, listening to it, that's what I'm feeling.
Love. Not "love" as in the single emotion. It's deeper than that. "Everywhere, it's what you make. For us to take, it's all too much." You can't feel down and lonely unless you want to. Accepting things for what they are, sometimes isn't good enough. Everyone has something as their own. When you figure that out, after discusing it with yourself for months, you feel meaningless. ("The more I learn, the less I know."). The whole idea makes me shiver. It should be an anthem. It is, in a way, isn't it?

Heh, yes Pepperland, this is my favorite Beatles song. I love it. At forst I thini it was more for the feeling the song held. The best way to describe it is a warm and sunny summer afternoon. It just feels relaxed and warm. But the lyrics are absolutely amazing, it's like this sit back and realize how far beyond the self, the individual's control everything in this life is, and how awe inspiring and sometimes overwhelming that can be. And yet just like the atmosphere of the song, it can also make you relax, if everything is so much bigger than you then you can feel a little less pressure concerning it. Let go a bit, the more I learn the less I know. I dunno, maybe this is just how I see it and hear it and feel it.

It's all too much is too much under-rated.
The lines :
All the world is birthday cake
so take a piece but not too much

alone makes it such a profound track in my opinion.

You guys are the best. When I restarted the topic of this song I wanted insight into what others felt (felt, not thought, because this song definitely provokes feeling) when they listened (subjected themselves?) to it. I sure got what I wanted, in spades. It all rang true, and Pepperland's comment about swirling music was such a knockout visual. Pinky's comment about the music not fitting the song, yes I know what she meant. The juxtaposition of the intense lyrics to the swirling melody makes both stand out; it is like they high-light each other. Something like that anyway, I really can't look to closely at the song anymore, for fear of making it sterile to me, if that is possible. Now on to more Beatle music. Of course any more comments would be more than welcome in my book.

I love this song too! I remember when we watched Yellow Submarine in Rockology and these 3 guys in the back (who love metal) heard the intro and one guy said "It sounds like metal!" and the other guy said "It DOES sound like metal"

Thanks for including me in your post, Chiliace.

"It's All Too Much" is one of those songs that could sort of slip my mind for months, or even years at a time, but whenever I get around to listening to it, it still blows me away. I'm probably a tad older than most of you, and many years ago I recorded all of the Beatles CDs, in order, on cassette, to create my own little 6-volume set (and I still love cassettes). Whenever I pop in volume 4 (includes "Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, etc.), it kind of sneaks up on me, with that awesome opening guitar chord.
I consider it one of the first heavy metal songs because the guitar work is so, well...metallic! And I don't consider myself a metal fan at all, but I love the musical arrangement, which throws in so many bits and pieces--trumpet flourishes, organ, that clomping rhythm track.
To be honest (and you'll want to choke me for this), I never really paid a lot of attention to the lyrics. I like them, but I never spent much time reading them over or trying to decipher them. Thanks for including them in your post.
But it's the overall somewhat noisy--but controlled-- quality of the music that impresses me the most.

Now, may I ask what everyone thinks of "It's Only A Northern Song"?

I like this song a lot, although I think it would be better a little bit shorter.

Originally Posted by EL PARANOIA

I like this song a lot, although I think it would be better a little bit shorter.

It's not long enough IMO.It's a great song to dance to.I think it's George's best Beatle song.

There is a longer remix out there, which I actually enjoy more than the actual track... they should've added the extra lyrics from the movie version to make a fantastic long revolutionary track. Great, one of my favorite Beatle songs as well.

I love this song. I have always thought that the beginning sounds like the 70s song "Family of Man." Does anyone else notice that?

I've related this on CP, but this song always makes me think of a young George fan who had Asperger's Syndrome. The young fan would say whenever she was on overload that "It's All Too Much" described that experience 100%. George, in effect lent his words to this young fan who could quote long passages from Beatle movies; interviews; George interviews by memory.

I love the song; find it very intense and wish it did have more lyrics as well.