Good Night (Beatles song)
| "Good Night" | |
|---|---|
| Song by the Beatles from the album The Beatles | |
| Released | 22 November 1968 |
| Recorded | 28 June 1968 |
| Genre | Orchestral pop, lullaby |
| Length | 3:11 |
| Label | Apple Records |
| Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
"Good Night" is a song by the Beatles, but sung by Ringo Starr, the only Beatle to appear on the track, and music provided by an orchestra arranged and conducted by George Martin. It is the last song on the Beatles' 1968 album The Beatles (also known as the "White Album").
John Lennon wrote the song as a lullaby for his five-year-old son Julian.
George Martin's arrangement is lush, and intentionally so. Lennon is said to have wanted the song to sound "real cheesy", like a Gordon Jenkins-esque Old Hollywood production number. The musicians play the following instruments: twelve violins, three violas, three cellos, one harp, three flutes, one clarinet, one horn, one vibraphone, and one string bass. The Mike Sammes Singers also took part in the recording, providing backing vocals.
Starr became the third member of the group (after Paul McCartney and George Harrison) to record a song credited to the group without the other members performing (Lennon was the fourth with "Julia"). The song ends with Starr whispering the words: "Good night... Good night, everybody... Everybody, everywhere... Good night."
The song makes three appearances on the Beatles' soundtrack to the Cirque du Soleil production of Love. It is used as a transition between "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Octopus's Garden". It can be heard a minor third lower than originally recorded. After the orchestral intro to the third verse of "Good Night", the same orchestral accompaniment is played over a sample of Starr freely, slowly singing the opening words to "Octopus's Garden". Later, at the end of the show, after the strains of "All You Need Is Love" have faded out, the orchestral coda of "Good Night", in its original key, G major (as well as the last bits of dialogue in the Beatles' fan club-exclusive Christmas album) brings the album to a close.
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