Editing Get Back (section)

==Composition==

===Musical development===
"Get Back" is unusual in the Beatles' canon in that almost every moment of the song's evolution has been documented, from its beginning as an offhand riff to its final mixing in several versions. That is covered in [[The Beatles bootleg recordings|bootleg recording]]s, books,{{sfn|Sulpy|Schweighardt|2003|p=84}} the 1970 documentary ''[[Let It Be (1970 film)|Let It Be]]'', and the 2021 [[Peter Jackson]]-directed documentary ''[[The Beatles: Get Back]]''.

The song's melody grew out of some unstructured jamming on 7 January 1969 during rehearsal sessions on the sound stage at [[Twickenham Studios]].{{sfn|Sulpy|Schweighardt|2003|p=84}} After working out the rhythm and harmony of the primary riff on his [[Höfner 500/1|Höfner bass]], McCartney introduced some of the lyrics, reworking "Get back to the place you should be" from [[George Harrison]]'s "[[Sour Milk Sea]]" into "Get back to where you once belonged".{{sfn|Sulpy|Schweighardt|2003|p=152}} McCartney had played bass on [[Jackie Lomax]]'s recording of "Sour Milk Sea" a few months earlier. On 9 January, McCartney brought a more developed version of "Get Back" to the group, with the "Sweet Loretta" verse close to its finished version. For the press release to promote the "Get Back" single, McCartney wrote, "We were sitting in the studio, and we made it up out of thin air&nbsp;... we started to write words there and then&nbsp;... when we finished it, we recorded it at [[Apple Studios (recording studio)|Apple Studios]] and made it into a song to roller-coast by."{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=319}}

At the beginning of the ''[[Let It Be (album)|Let It Be]]'' version of the song, Lennon can be heard jokingly saying "Sweet Loretta Fart (often misheard as "fat", due to Lennon's pronunciation),<ref>{{cite episode|series=The Mike Douglas Show|date=7 February 1972}}</ref> she thought she was a cleaner, but she was a frying pan." The album version of the song also ends with Lennon famously quipping, "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition."{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=169}} (He had said that at the end of their 30 January 1969 [[The Beatles' rooftop concert|rooftop concert]] on the roof of Apple Studios, but [[Phil Spector]] edited it into the studio version of "Get Back" that was released on the ''Let It Be'' album.){{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=169}}

In an interview in ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine in 1980, Lennon described "Get Back" as "...&nbsp;a better version of '[[Lady Madonna]]'. You know, a potboiler rewrite". Lennon also said that "there's some underlying thing about Yoko in there", saying that McCartney looked at [[Yoko Ono]] in the studio every time he sang "Get back to where you once belonged."{{sfn|Sheff|2000|pp=201–202}}

===Early protest lyrics{{anchor|No Pakistanis}}===
When McCartney introduced the song to the group during the Twickenham rehearsals, the lyrics were mostly incomplete except for the "Get Back" chorus. McCartney improvised various temporary lyrics leading to what has become known in Beatles' folklore as the "No Pakistanis" version. This version parodied the [[anti-immigrant]] views of [[Enoch Powell]], a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) whose racially charged speeches, particularly the [[Rivers of Blood]] speech, had recently gained much media attention.<ref>{{cite web |last=Whatley |first=Jack |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/paul-mccartney-beatles-song-racist-lyrics-get-back/ |title=The controversial racist lyrics removed from The Beatles classic track |date=14 October 2020 |access-date=31 December 2021 |work=[[Far Out Magazine]]}}</ref> The lyrics addressed attitudes toward immigrants in the United States and the United Kingdom: "...&nbsp;don't need no [[Puerto Ricans in the United States|Puerto Ricans]] living in the USA"; and "don't dig no [[Pakistanis]] taking all the people's jobs."{{sfn|Sulpy|Schweighardt|2003|p=153}} Later during the same session, the subject of immigration came up again in an improvised [[Jam (music)|jam]] that has become known as "Commonwealth". The lyrics included a line, "You'd better get back to your [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] homes".{{sfn|Sulpy|Schweighardt|2003|p=158}}