Lyrics for Across the Universe as interpreted by Ice

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 om
Nothing's going to change my world
Nothing's going to change my world
Nothing's going to change my world
Nothing's going to change my world

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letterbox
They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's going to change my world
Nothing's going to change my world
Nothing's going to change my world
Nothing's going to change my world

Sounds of laughter, shades of earth are ringing through my open mind
Inciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing's going to change my world
Nothing's going to change my world
Nothing's going to change my world
Nothing's going to change my world

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thespacemanlives
10-30-2009

Rated 0 
Oh! I also love the way he plays the words against e/o like pools of sorrow waves of joy


This song i could listen to over and over again ~sexy~

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originl
10-22-2009

Rated 0 
This song is about meditation for me. The 'Jai guru deva om' is a mantra used by John for meditation, and then once in the meditative state 'nothing can change his world' - he's safe from it all. All the images that may be bad (pools of sorrow) or good (waves of joy) are irrelevant as he's in his own world where he's happy.

Amazing song

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thespacemanlives
10-14-2009

Rated 0 
i don`t remember the source from where i got this info and don`t know if it completely correct but i heard
the john and yoko had either a fight or were just talking and she said something and he couldn`t get it out of
his head so he wrote it down.

i think im wrong :(

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talasaurus
10-09-2009

Rated 0 
"Sounds of laughter, shades of earth are ringing through my open mind"
That's wrong..
It's
"Sounds of laughter, shades of life are ringing through my opened ears"
Just trying to help out


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stpittss
10-04-2009

Rated 0 
One of the best Beatles songs, This song is timeless, Thank you John Lennon, I love listening to your music; I know your in heaver just sitting there watching the wheels go round and round. We lost you just when you got your second wind, I know what we lost, it would have been amazing.

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lagwagon182
10-03-2009

Rated 0 
i say this a lot, but this song really is the most beautiful song i've ever heard.

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sonic_leaves
09-26-2009

Rated 0 
This song is about a beautiful, wonderful, glowing, sparkling, one with yourself in the wide open universe, blissfully happy about your place in the moving spehere and the beautiful connection with everyone around you and just life is goregous, LSD acid trip. Oh, I've been there lots and lots of times and John Lennon being able to capture that experience and explain it so flowingly prefect with all that description and colorful creativity is amazing!

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wallyworld333
08-25-2009

Rated -1 
I'm not gonna lie this song reminds me of a trip I had, hahaha great times! Hey you never know what was going on when this was written!

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GrungeRock1991
08-17-2009

Rated 0 
Greatest song ever written by the Greatest artists, The Beatles.

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funkybanana95
08-12-2009

Rated 0 
Divisionistic, that was excellent!
I sang this song in 2 talent shows (1 in school and 1 in camp)and its been one of my favorite songs ever since. And all the music teachers thought mine was the best too because
A. I'm an excelent singer.(Sorry for bragging!)
B. All the other girls were dancing to songs like "Single Ladies" and "Circus" Those are the popular ciques! Anyway, with my 2 good friends backing me up on flute and my flute teacher backing us up on guitar it sounded beautiful.

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Bortherman_711
08-07-2009

Rated 0 
Good song.

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Divisionistic
07-29-2009

Rated 0 
Personally, I think this song is one of the most lyrically great songs in history. John Lennon himself did say in an interview once that it was without a doubt the deepest song he wrote.

Here's what i think it means

"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe"

Think about it. a paper cup can only hold so much, and once it becomes full, it overflows. I think explains an experience John Lennon had where someone was talking to him about religion and then most, if not all of what he/she was talking about just "slipped away"...like he either had no use for it or there was simply too much to comprehend.

"Pools of sorrow, waves of joy, are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me"

To me, this talks about a situation where something bad must happen or resonate (the "pools of sorrow") in order for something good ("the waves of joy") to come. It seems like a really bittersweet kind of moment that could occur, and i think thats supported by the whole "possessing and caressing" part. The thing i think of when it comes to possessing is the lack of freedom, or when something takes over...just an overall negative connotation. And the word caress or caressing reminds me of like love, sex, tenderness, etc.

"Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world"

I believe "Jai guru deva om" is Sanskrit for "Hail To The Divine Guru" (if my wikipedia searching skills are good lol). I think this is a religious thing for John Lennon, as if he's saying "These are my beliefs, this is my world as i know it. And I don't intend on changing it whatsoever."

Overall the song to me is about how people have tried to change Lennon in his ways of thinking, and he has stood strong in what he believes. It also says about how hes been tempted a few times (The part about "Sounds of laughter, shades of earth, are ringing through my open mind Inciting and inviting me" stands out for me) but in the end the chorus is his main message- Nothing is going to change his world. Its pretty much a deep and meaningful song about something so simple, and thats what i think works for it.

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shainsworth
06-08-2009

Rated 0 
This is one of my all time favorite songs ,freaks the fuck out of you when your (*_*)
John Lennon wrote this after his wife was "going on and on" about something and he said that her words floated on like an endless stream in his head. Late in the night he turned those words into a song, which is obvious in the first line

The thing I think is really amazing is Lennon's ability to create such an extremely catchy and beautiful song that doesn't rhyme at all.

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Wolfie85
03-27-2009

Rated 0 
The very first time I remember hearing this song was on the day my sister died. I do love the song, I just think it's odd that it came into my life on that day. I still listen to it, but separate it from that memory. I think the song is mostly about happiness and love.

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berandomed
03-16-2009

Rated 0 
well i can see the picture he paints with the song's lyrics. i mean, i did my sharings of drugs, and the emotional rollercoaster can make you want to hear some purely fucking bliss and beautiful music on the come down, for all you puppets of inebriation. so look what i tripped on. what i noticed was was how he describes words, thought, emotions, and light in an awakening. sort of like an infinite suffocation to an infinite surge.

Words- endless rain into a paper cup
Thought - restless wind inside a letter box
Light - a million provoking eyes
Emotions - pools of sorrow, waves of joy, possessing and carressing
Love

words and thought are infinite and overwhelming, and nothing will change this perception. its like hearing someone blabber about god on alotta drugs like an idiot, and after theyve filled ur mind with this overwhelming speech, you would either agree or not. theres not much more to be done after that.
just an existence of nothing... (which is made up of words and thought).
Now, theres light, and a million eyes calling you on, as if its heavenly existence is infinite. the words and thoughts are enlightening, filling you with emotions, and pools of sorrow and waves of joy are just being observed in your awakening, because your either drowning in this pool of ur f-u-c-k-i-n-g sorrow, or your ridin those fuckin WAVEs of joy. and to me, theres a balance that can be observed, because i would avoid to bring myself down or to think of myself higher than others.
and the way of describing love speaks for itself in the song. and i think he was on alotta drugs when he wrote it. or on the comedown.

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rampagesk8a
02-07-2009

Rated +2 
this song is OBVIOUSLY about psychedelics. if you've done them then the song speaks for itself, you should be able to pick it up within the first stanza. yes some of the lyrics may have deeper meanings, but this is pretty much just harrison trying to describe the psychedelic experience, which can never be fully emphasized in words. little tip for you guys. take some shrooms, listen to this song, and you will instantly understand EVERYTHING.

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DeadlyRook
01-25-2009

Rated 0 
THis song calms me when I'm angry or sad. and it helps me think.
I love this song

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bananamama
11-18-2008

Rated 0 
The song is about being one with all of the universe & all of creation... the Creation itself was set in motion by the vibration of Om .. Once John Lennon is in his meditative state of mind with the help of the "OM" mantra... he feels this oneness with the whole universe with all it's joys & sorrows...

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avsrocket
10-30-2008

Rated +1 
If you ever sit and close your eyes and exist in your own head you are just a small piece in everything that exists, like the universe. When our mind is open its as big as the universe. Everything we’ve ever seen, said, imagined, light, all the people we’ve ever known, mixes of words and letters, our memories, they all exist in our minds, and they float around there undisturbed but in relation to each other, moving in harmony with each other and accepting and being thankful to this giant place they have to exist and be apart of because it is so magnificent. When we go into our mind everything in that universe is accepting they want to share their happiness with everything else, it’s true happiness and comfort. Something people should be in search of in their lives in the real universe where people have become greedy of the objects that were so friendly and loving to us in our mind, when we treat parts of this universe badly things are not balanced, they are not in harmony. But when we find our own universe in our mind its so powerful it’s so inviting, it’s so attractive, and we love it just like every other piece of the universe does. And the truth is no one can take the universe we have in our mind, no one. No one can ruin or change our universe like they can change the world we live in, and nothing could hurt it anyway because there is so much love to a limitless extent that nothing could disturb the peace. The feeling when we are loved and we give love is one we should never forget in order to make the real world more peaceful. To the people who complain about people who don’t know who wrote the song, remember the meaning of the song first, because in the end the lyrics of the song and the sound that comes from the song are what matters most, because we share these words and sounds with the universe. We shouldn’t be obsessed with the idea of ownership. Do you think the lyrics in this song want to be captured by a person? No, they want to be in harmony with the rest of the world. With any song, with any music there is harmony between the words and the singer, the notes and the player. When anyone sings this song it is just harmony it is the musician and the song harmonizing together giving each other love, thanks, and giving care for each other. As long as we give love to people in this world we are not wasting the time we have in this world. It would be nice if one day things can be in harmony as they are when we fall into our minds, I do hope that eventually all people won’t be so greedy as to take away happiness from others, but to give it. Because I love being apart of my universe as John Lennon loves being apart of his universe, and as a lot of people and words and memories, and songs love being apart of their universe. So maybe someday we can share our minds with others and they share with us, to bring our own universes to the universe we live in.

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2 Replies
amandax1962
10-13-2008

Rated -1 
i love this song
its amazing :]

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givepeaceachance64
10-08-2008

Rated 0 
I love love love this song. It's just amazing.
I've even started saying jai guru deva om when I'm upset. it's calming.

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njadams10
10-07-2008

Rated 0 
Lennon wrote this one night in bed. He couldn't sleep so he went to the other room to write. He wanted to write a trippy poetic song filled with imagery, so he twisted what he saw around him into interesting lyrics.


words flowing out like endless rain- speakers

pools of sarrow, waves of joy, drifting through his mind- his thoughts

JAI GURU DEVA OM- "thank you god" he learned this studying with the dali lama.

Images of broken light which dance before me- the fan blades cut the light as they spun

The rest is about his love he shares with his wife.

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avaisradlol
09-21-2008

Rated 0 
"Om" also refers to the noise of the vibrations that the universe makes. You know, like sound waves, but much, much smaller.

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hamilton23
07-26-2008

Rated 0 
i think that many people blow the meaning of this song way out of proportion. An artist like John Lennon, while I love every song he has written, enjoys creating very complex metaphors to describe very simple idealisms, as shown in Strawberry Fields Forever and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. I feel that this song is the embodiment of his feelings for music. The lyrics explain how his lyrics are the only cure for his spectrum of feelings. The metaphor "Across the Universe" simply means that his words and expressions are endless and they they can never really be conveyed directly through words or lyrics.

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mgoogbeat33
07-16-2008

Rated 0 
My favorite Beatle/Lennon song. The song itself meanders throughout the soul while listening! I know that Lennon liked wordplay. I don't think he had a specific subject in mind other than very nice and beautiful word play. The song speaks to each listener on his/her own terms allowing us to interpret it as we please to help us through the night. Crazy huh!

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