She Came in Through the Bathroom Window

From the mid-60's on, a group of devoted fans that George Harrison dubbed the Apple Scruffs maintained a vigil outside Abbey Road Studios and, later, the Apple headquarters at 3 Savile Row.  Sometimes they would wander over to Paul McCartney's house on Cavendish Avenue.  On one occasion, a few of them used a ladder to climb into his house and grab a few items.  Though he was angry and demanded the return of some of his possessions, he used the incident to give him the title of a new song.

The Beatles rehearsed She Came in Through the Bathroom Window a number of times during the Get Back sessions at Twickenham Film Studios in early January 1969.  When those rehearsals shifted to the Apple Studios at Savile Row later in the month, they worked on the song again with Ringo on drums, Paul on bass, George playing tone pedal guitar and John on electric piano (this was just before keyboardist Billy Preston joined the proceedings).  Anthology 3 presents a very slow and mellow version of the tune from this time, showing that John sang a complementary harmony during the refrains.  Though they continued to return to the song throughout these sessions, it did not make the final cut for the project.

By the summer of '69, the group was committed to another album, and the idea of a long medley of unused songs was developing.  Many of these song snippets were even linked together in the recording process, though they were usually by the same composer.  The exception was Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window, combining tunes from both Lennon and McCartney.

The group gathered to record the backing track of both songs on July 25th, this time with John on acoustic guitar.  It required thirty-nine takes to attain the master, though Ringo had to re-record his drum part (see my entry for Polythene Pam regarding John's harsh criticism which prompted this).  Paul took the opportunity to re-record his bass part, as well, and to overdub his lead vocal.  They returned to the track on July 28th, with Paul double-tracking his vocal and playing piano and electric piano, John and George adding more guitars, and various bits of percussion were also added, including tambourine, maracas, cowbell and handclaps.  The final touches were applied on July 30th, with John, Paul and George overdubbing their distinctive backing and harmony vocals. 

To facilitate the song working in the long medley on side two of the album Abbey Road, it begins with a few introductory measures that change the key following the guitar solo at the end of Polythene Pam.  Also, it is played at a brisk tempo when compared to the January rehearsal.  In addition, the refrain is only heard twice (instead of four times as in the January version), and verses two and three are run together without interruption.  The song thus clocks in at less than two minutes, as opposed to the three-minute January version.  At its conclusion, there is a brief pause before the medley continues with Golden Slumbers.

This is the type of composition that McCartney would feature frequently in his solo career.  His lyrics are largely nonsensical, with no real story or point of view.  They are merely a collection of words and images that sound interesting when strung together, but they are always redeemed by his gift for a melody that is irresistibly catchy and instantly hummable.