Back in the U.S.S.R.
by The Beatles
- 144
- BPM
- A major
- Key
- 11B
- Camelot
- 48
- Danceability
- 7
- Acousticness
On August 22, 1968, at EMI Studios in London, Ringo Starr tired of Paul McCartney's criticism of his drumming and of the bad mood in the room. He walked out, meaning to quit the Beatles. The others went on without him. Engineer Ken Scott later recalled that they built a "composite drum track of bits and pieces", with McCartney on drums, George Harrison on electric guitar and John Lennon on a Fender Bass VI. Of five takes of the basic track, the fifth was chosen.
The next day brought overdubs of piano, more guitars, bass, a snare drum and handclaps. McCartney sang the lead in what he called his "Jerry Lee Lewis voice", while the three of them stacked Beach Boys-style harmonies over the bridges. Scott opened and closed the track with a recording of a Viscount turboprop from the EMI library. Starr was back on September 4.
McCartney wrote "Back in the U.S.S.R." as a parody of Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A." and the Beach Boys' "California Girls". Mike Love, who was at the Rishikesh retreat, suggested the bridge should be about girls in Russia. It opened the White Album on November 22, 1968.
Back in the U.S.S.R. runs at 144 BPM, the tempo of dubstep and trap counted in half time, and hardstyle. In classical terms it sits in allegro territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 1.67 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 417 ms. It is in A major, Camelot 11B, which shares its notes with F# minor and mixes cleanly with D major and E major.
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