On this day in 1969, The Beatles recorded their anthem, “Come Together”

Lennon had a busy start to 1969 with his and Yoko Ono’s peace campaign, and during the Montreal portion of the bed-in, they were met by numerous countercultural figures. One of these people was American psychologist Timothy Leary, who intended to run for governor of California in 1970. Leary requested that Lennon write him a campaign song based on his slogan, “Come together – Join the Party!”

Lennon recorded a simple chant of “come together and join the party” and Leary recalls Lennon giving him a tape of the piece with a promise to complete it, however the two did not interact again. During the sessions for Abbey Road, Lennon decided to use the phrase “come together” as the basis for a new song. The song was also heavily inspired by the 1956 single “You Can’t Catch Me” by Chuck Berry, with some lyrics only slightly altered, which led to a later string of lawsuits.

“Come Togther” is now widely considered one of The Beatles best and most iconic songs, shooting to the top the charts around the world. Rolling Stone listed it at number 202 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.