I'm going to pull out all the stops and get down to the very best of the very best that rock and roll has to offer. This is as close as I can narrow down my favorite Beatles song: The Side Two Medley of Abbey Road. The medley consists of eight, somewhat incomplete songs, arranged into a seemingly awkward arrangement that starts slow and melodic, and builds and builds and builds into a crashing halt aptly named “The End”. It would be impossible for me to walk through a room where the Medley was playing and not stay to hear the rest of it. This composition moves me as much of any piece of music and satisfies.

I’m sure that I’ve heard it at least a thousand times, and the words just roll off my tongue that is until a new arrangement was released in 2019 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the album. Was I ever surprised, (and grateful) to hear this new arrangement entitled, “The Long One”, slightly realigned to reflect the original intended order. I'm picturing that this was one of the original edits of the Abbey Road sessions which eventually the sound engineers nuanced into the final masterpiece we have been hearing for fifty years. The changes are very subtle in some places, and obviously missing whole instruments or vocals in others, and then in other places, some vocals and effects have been deleted. It's the same, but different. To me, it is very exciting to hear greatness realigned ever so slightly so that I can enjoy trying to hear the subtle variations.

Here are the most notable differences I have been able to hear:

1. Starts off with just a second of recording studio chatter.
2. You never give me your money. There’s an extra “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…all good children go to heaven”, played one bar earlier during "I didn't get it nah ah ah ah ah ah". It starts over your right shoulder and will catch you off guard because you are not ready to sing along with it. In fact, I don't even hear the "one", I only hear " two, three, four…"
3. Simultaneously as that first “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…all good children go to heaven” is being rattled off in the background, Paul sings his "I didn't get it nah ah ah ah ah ah" followed by a powerful Little Richard "Wooooooooo".
4. The bridge between YNGMYM, leading into Sun King is a long electronic chord instead of the bell and crickets and is over before the guitar and bass of Sun King begins.
5. Her Majesty is moved up from twenty seconds after “The End” and inserted between Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam bringing the total number of songs to nine. It seems strange (now) to hear it there, but the opening chord of Her Majesty now makes sense, however the rhythm of the version you're used to will really be thrown off.
6. Polythene Pam. Listen for some random wisecracks from John in the background during the instrumental second half of the song. "Fab!…isn't that great…it's real good that…real good" just before She came in through the bathroom window and the "Oh listen to that now….hehehe…oh look out!" you are used to hearing.
7. Golden Slumbers. This is very subtle, but I believe a different take of Pauls vocals is used. This is most apparent in the chorus when he sings "Golden slumbers fill your eyes, smiles awake you when you rise, sleep pretty darling, do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby" as you would expect but the timing is oh so slightly different and his voice just a tad bit shakier. You may have to listen a couple of times, sing along in your head, but not out loud so you can feel it. Then compare to the radio version. It also sounds more like "Awake" on The Long One, and "Await" on the radio. The second verse is even harder to distinguish from the radio version but listen hard on "Do not cry". If you hear all these things, you are a true Medley fan.
8. Carry That Weight. It seems that the bass is a little more pronounced on this and maybe even earlier tracks. Listen for it during "Boy…You're gonna carry that weight…carry that weight…a long time" it's the same thing as the radio version, just can just hear the jazziness of it on The Long One where its a little muddier on the radio.
9. The symphonic background is noticeably missing before we hear "I never give you my pillow". You can hear the piano more, and also THERE IS NO LEAD GUITAR!
10. No horns during the short drum sequence right after "I break down". No symphony
11. From here out it is more difficult to establish the differences. Generally, the symphony is missing and even some lead vocals.
12. The opening of The End is minus the "Oh yeah…all right…are you gonna be in my dreams…tonight." (and because of that, it tricks you into thinking that there is an extra stanza). From 14:41, you get (what feels like) an extended 42 seconds of killer lead bass. No, it just sounds that way because it is usually backing three separate dueling lead guitars. Those George, John and Paul leads are not there yet and this just rocks with the bass leading over a background rhythm guitar and accompanying drums. If I were a guitar player, I could have a field day filling in my own lead(s) over this awesome baseline.
13. 15:29 no symphony guitar fills and no "Love you…love you…love you…love you" and finally, no "And, in the end…the love you take…is equal to the love…you make" (is that really true?). No backing "Ahhhhhh…AHHHHH"
14. No Her Majesty at this point because it was already played earlier.

1. Now go listen to it!

You Never Give Me Your Money
Sun King
Mean Mr. Mustard (John, who wrote it, said it was a piece of crap. Maybe so, but it works)
Her Majesty
Polythene Pam
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End

If anything qualifies as genius, the Medley does.