Music Blog

Across The Universe

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for Friday Faithfuls
February 28, 2025.

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This week at Friday Faithfuls, Jim Adams has asked us to respond by  writing anything about “cosmogenesis, or Plank time in early Universe, or the stellar nucleosynthesis process that is responsible for the formation of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium that we see in the universe today, or the idea that the universe is evolving as it changes over time, with its composition, structure, and distribution of matter continually shifting, or that the universe and humans are fundamentally connected, or if science is a noble pursuit of truth that should replace archaic religious beliefs.”

Regarding religious beliefs, I had this comment for Jim: “I’m born/raised Presbyterian, attended Lutheran school, converted to Catholic as an adult (long story). I have very fond memories of the Bible stories as a kid. When I was studying to be confirmed in the Catholic faith, my instructor (a Msgr at our church) lost patience with me because I asked “too many questions”! He gave me a passing grade after just 3 lessons! I guess I was supposed to sit there, nod my head and blindly accept it all.“

These days I no longer attend church; that seems to be very common among many of my peers. My faith is personal and I’m comfortable talking to God in my own home (or my car, at the dentist, in the nail salon …. you get my drift); I don’t need a congregation or a building, though at times I miss the music. I believe if I am sincerely sorry for my sins and ask God for forgiveness, I will be forgiven; I do not need a middle man. I’m just trying to be as good a person as I can be, a good Christian. This is my credo: treat others the way you want to be treated. Simple, isn’t it?

I may not be too well-versed in the fascinating cosmogenesis theory, but I do know a thing or two about music. I believe sometimes the best way for me to express my thoughts is through song.

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One night in 1967, the phrase “words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup” came to John Lennon after listening to the angry voice of his then-wife Cynthia. John said:

“I was lying next to my first wife in bed and I was irritated. She had been going on and on about something and she’d gone to sleep and I kept hearing these words over and over, flowing like an endless stream. I went downstairs and it turned into a sort of cosmic song rather than an irritated song, rather than ‘Why are you always mouthing off at me?’ The words were purely inspirational and were given to me as a boom! I don’t own them, you know; they came through like that.”

The flavor of “Across the Universe” was heavily influenced by the Beatles’ interest in Transcendental Meditation in the late 60s, when the song was composed. In his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, John referred to “Across the Universe” as [perhaps] the best, most poetic lyric he’d ever written.

On February 4, 2008 at 00:00 UTC, NASA transmitted the Interstellar Message “Across the Universe” in the direction of the star Polaris …. 431 light years from Earth. The transmission was made using a 70m antenna in the Deep Space Network’s Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex located outside Madrid, Spain. It was done to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song’s recording, the 45th anniversary of the Deep Space Network (DSN), and the 50th anniversary of NASA. The idea was hatched by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn who encouraged all Beatles fans to play the track as it was beamed to the distant star. The event marked the first time a song had ever been intentionally transmitted into deep space.

This is “Across the Universe” by the Beatles

“Jai Guru Deva” is a Sanskrit phrase that means “victory to the Guru” or “all glory to Guru Dev”. It’s a tribute to a spiritual teacher. 

Cosmogenesis

That’s all she wrote. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2025

All rights reserved for Nancy’s Notes 🖊️🎶, The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, The Rhythm Section, et al., and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

25 thoughts on “Across The Universe”

  2. Interesting. I used to attend church, mainly because my family was always very involved in matters of a religous nature! I’m now a regular visitor to cathedrals, admitedly just for the music. I’m passsionate about sacred choral pieces and I’ve got quite a few concerts lined up in the next few months!

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  4. There’s no way I’d skip a post I see that’s titled “Across the Universe” – one of my favorite John Lennon songs, and one of the many Beatles songs my great guitar teacher taught me many moons ago back in Germany. I still know the chords, but in the absence of practicing my playing has become pretty rusty.

    As to the oftentimes stiff and formulaic ways of the Catholic and many other churches, I hear you. I grew up Catholic, did first communion, etc. While I liked certain aspects of Catholic mass, such as some of the music and the singing, especially during major holidays like Christmas and Easter, at the end of the day, I didn’t feel I got much out of it.

    I mainly went to church to make my grandma happy, who was a devout Catholic. I haven’t been back in decades, and while I miss my dear grandma, I can’t say the same of Catholic mass.

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    1. Thanks for sharing these great thoughts, Christian. There’s nothing wrong with going to church to make your grandma happy!

      I hear ya loud and clear, my friend. You may not know that I was a church organist and choir director at one time. I’m intimately familiar with the Catholic Mass. There are some very meaningful and spiritual portions, times when I have been deeply moved, but I wonder if I would have felt the same way without the music.

      I will never forget my second time in the confessional; all the priest wanted to do was gossip. WTF was up with that? I was turned off by that and never went to confession again.

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      1. Having seen The Beatles at Shea Stadium, having been a church organist and choir director…something tells me you have some other intriguing stories to share, Nancy!😀

        I think I only went to confession twice. The priest told me to say a prayer, and my sins would be forgiven. I always found it a very strange concept!

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        1. And you’d be right, Christian …. like the three years I hung out with Steven Tyler, on and off and he was still Steven Tallarico at the time, just before Aerosmith. I’ve been around for a long time and I’ve had a lot of adventures along the way!

          Priests have a weird way of messing with our heads. There are some very good ones and some real assholes. We can say that about every vocation but we expect more from a man of the cloth!

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  5. This was an unexpected response to my prompt, but also such a beautiful written post, Nancy. Thanks for joining in and I wish that I could wake up every day listening to Across the Universe as now I am ready for anything this new day brings to me.

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