Beatles: Across the Universe Meaning

Song Released: 1969

Covered By: Fiona Apple (1998)

Across the Universe Lyrics

Words are flowing out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass they slip away
Across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva...

1. anonymous

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   Feb 25th 2008 !⃝

   The "Jaia guru deva om" line came from when John was meditating with monks. I don't know why he incorporated it into this song, but that is its origin. There are interviews explaining the rest if the song from what John had to say.
2. anonymous

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   Jan 17th 2008 !⃝

   The song is about the mind empty state, and I believe John was referencing TM when it was written, though there was certainly no shortage of tripping going on at the time. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether you get to that state through meditation or drugs, the message is about the awareness one gains in that state.
3. anonymous

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   Dec 15th 2007 !⃝

   I recently did shrooms and listened to this song. It is undoubtedly referencing the trip that you experience on psychedelic drugs. It is easy to refute this if you have never tripped, but once you do, you will understand how every word of this song perfectly describes the experience....regardless of how lennon initially came up with the first few lines.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
4. anonymous

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   Oct 25th 2007 !⃝

   The girlfriend story only explains the first line of the song. What does "I give thanks to Guru Dev" have to do with that back story? In that quote, he says he turned it cosmic. That story may be the origin, but it's not what the song is about. But that doesn't mean it's ABOUT drugs, either. I really can't tell you what it's about yet, but my first hint is the words "open mind".
5. anonymous

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   Sep 9th 2007 !⃝

   ITS ABOUT DRUGS! gezzzzz

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
6. alexei

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   Sep 2nd 2007 !⃝

   To solstsmmr,
   
   I don't see any reason of saying "Across the Universe" was LSD induced. It is one of those deductions based on absolutely nothing. John Lennon says in an interview how the song came to be and that is a much more definite argument than vague generalizations based on an individual drug experience.
7. solstsmmr

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   May 22nd 2006 !⃝

   If you have ever tripped hard before in your life, you would know exactly what this song is about. When you're trippin', words and thoughts flow through your head faster than you can say them so you just sit and let your thoughts branch off from one another.
   
   "Pools of sorrow, waves of joy all drifting through my open mind they slither while they pass they slip away across the universe" - LSD and shrooms open your mind by knoking out a filter you have naturally set up through your life, allowing you to see things for the first time again thus letting you soak in pools of sorrow with waves of joy. When you hit the climax of the trip, you feel like you are floating through the universe. "Sounds of laughter shades of earth are ringing through my open ears" shades of earth cannot ring through yor ears unless you are seriously triping balls. "Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns"- if you are with someone who is a carring individual while trippin, you can feel it flowing through you which warms you into a euphoric mood. As you can see, this song is clearly about a trip.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
8. anonymous

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   Apr 8th 2006 !⃝

   The song was written when Cinthia was bothering him not Yoko.
9. anonymous

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   Dec 17th 2005 !⃝

   This song, while sounding very psychadelia-induced, actually has a funny back story. One night, and John and Yoko were in bed, Yoko was annoying John by talking about all the little things wives talk about. Annoyed, John walked downstairs and started writing "Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup..."
10. username

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    Jul 10th 2005 !⃝

    The refrain "Jai Guru Deva Um" is a mantra intended to lull the mind into a higher consciousness. The words are in Sanskrit, and they mean "I give thanks to Guru Dev," who was the teacher of The Maharishi. The "Um" at the end is the drawn out "oooohm" used in meditation to relate to the natural vibration of the universe.
    
    This song was played in an allstar tribute to the victims of the tsunami in indonesia.

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