Golden Slumbers

The 1969 album, Abbey Road, ends in a lengthy medley. The first song in that sequence is Golden Slumbers, followed by Carry That Weight. Both songs were written by Paul McCartney, and both songs were recorded as a single unit. Golden Slumbers is really a setting of the first four lines of a poem that dates back to 1603 (The Pleasant Comodie of Patient Grissill). Thomas Dekker called his setting, Cradle Song, the sheet music for which Paul first saw as a child in his family's home. Paul's musical setting is much different from the Dekker version. Paul takes the lead in singing Golden Slumbers, which starts off softly with piano and strings and then crescendos towards the refrain. It was recorded on July 2, 1969. John Lennon was not present for the recording as he was recovering from an auto accident. Voiceovers (including Lennon's) were added on July 30, and orchestral dubs on August 15.