Julia

Copyright - 1968 EMI Records Ltd.

"Julia" is a song by The Beatles. It is the final song on side two (and disc one, in the CD era) of the band's 1968 album, The Beatles (often called The White Album).

Origins
"Julia" was written by John Lennon, and features Lennon on vocals and acoustic guitar. It was written during the Beatles' 1968 visit to India, where they were studying under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was here Lennon learned the song's finger-picking guitar style (known as 'Travis-picking') from the Scottish musician Donovan. No other Beatle sings or plays on the recording. While Paul McCartney made several "solo" compositions attributed to the group, dating back to his famous song "Yesterday", this is the only time that Lennon played and sang unaccompanied on a Beatles track.

"Julia" was written for John's mother Julia Lennon, who was struck and killed by a car driven by an off-duty police officer in 1958. It was also written for his wife Yoko Ono, whose first name, which literally means "child of the sea" in Japanese, is echoed in lyrics such as "Oceanchild, calls me."

The first two lines of the song -- "Half of what I say is meaningless/ But I say it just to reach you, Julia" -- were adapted from the poem "Sand and Foam," by the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran. The original line is: "Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you." The line, "When I cannot sing my heart/I can only speak my mind" is taken from the line, "When life does not find a singer to sing her heart she produces a philosopher to speak her mind," from the same work.

Lyrics:
Half of what I say is meaningless
But I say it just to reach you
Julia,

Julia, Julia
ocean child calls me
So I sing a song of love
Julia

Julia
Seashell eyes, windy smile calls me
So I sing a song of love
Julia

Her hair of floating sky is shimmering
Glimmering in the sun

Julia, Julia
Morning moon touch me
So I sing a song of love
Julia

When I cannot sing my heart
I can only speak my mind
Julia

Julia
Sleeping sand, silent cloud touch me
So I sing a song of love
Julia

Hum, calls me
So I sing a song of love for
Julia, Julia, Julia