This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Like a rolling stone
A like a rolling stone
Like the FBI and the CIA
And the BBC, BB King
And Doris Day
Matt Busby
Dig it, dig it, dig it
Dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it
"That was 'Can You Dig It' by Georgie Wood.
And now we'd like to do 'Hark The Angels Come'."
A like a rolling stone
Like the FBI and the CIA
And the BBC, BB King
And Doris Day
Matt Busby
Dig it, dig it, dig it
Dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it, dig it
"That was 'Can You Dig It' by Georgie Wood.
And now we'd like to do 'Hark The Angels Come'."
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also, at the end..someone (i have no idea who it is) says- "That was 'Can You Dig It' by Georgie Wood. And now we'd like to do 'Hark The Angels Come'." then it goes into Let It Be.
I'd like to hear one the longer versions
This is the original version from the Let It Be album, so I don't think there is a longer one. (Although you posted this a while ago so nobody probably cares anymore)
There is a longer version, I have it. I don't think it's on the original album, though.
i have the longer one too i downloaded it it's about 8 mins plus. no it wasn't on the original album i think the when phil spector got a hold of it he just had it fade in at this part. on the long one at this part paul mccartney can also be heard making background sounds and that's not in this one so he probably filtered it out.
This song was the result of a 12 minute jam session. They took the best bit from it and made a song. That's why it wasn't just "Lennon/McCartney", they all contributed to it.
John Lennon was the one who said, "That was 'Can You Dig It' by Georgie Wood. And now we'd like to do 'Hark The Angels Come'." 'Can You Dig It' was the original name for the song. I've heard different versions of it, each one sounding very different. I'm quite surprised they chose this for the album, because some of the other takes were actually quite interesting (unlike this).
I always found it to be just a weird add-in on the CD. I never understood why it was there. I would also like to hear the longer versions of this song... can I download it somewhere? Or find it on some rare Beatles CD? It was interesting that they didn't include it on Let it Be... Naked. Because Phil Spector had a say in this song? They pretty much took out what he had put into the album and made George Martin the producer again...
This long version is totally awesome! The Beatles knew it; apparently Phil Spectre was not too bright.
On the Let It Be... Naked bonus disc, there's a very brief clip of an early version of "Can You Dig It." In fact, it includes John's little "That was 'Can You Dig It' by Georgie Wood..." line. I think it's about 18 minutes into the disc, but I could be wrong.