THEGarcia+Lennon IndexEVERY SONG IS SOMEWHERE.

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The Beatles

Dig It

Let It Be · 1970 · Lennon / McCartney / Harrison / Starkey

GLI14
Pure Garcia
Confidence 62% · evidence quality, not position
The BeatlesPhotograph loading from archive
The Beatles arriving at JFK Airport, New York, 7 February 1964.
United Press International, photographer unknown · Public domain

The Beatles did not write this one. They played it.

GARCIAPerformance creates the music
DEAD CENTERNeither wins
LENNONComposition creates the music

Hollow marks: the other 49 scored songs · Hatched band: the Crossover Zone

The case

The strongest honest argument for each side, then the ruling.

The Garcia argument

The Beatles did not write this. They played it. On 26 January 1969 the four of them, with Billy Preston on organ, jammed for more than twelve minutes while Lennon free-associated over a three-chord vamp. The credit goes to all four because there was no composition to assign. What was released is a recording of an event.

The Lennon argument

The track on Let It Be lasts 51 seconds. Somebody chose those 51 seconds, faded them in and placed them between two other songs, and that edit is the only Dig It most listeners know. The Beatles never played it again, so there is no second performance to compare. The released object is a constructed fragment.

The verdict: GLI 14

All of the music was generated in the act of playing, which is the Garcia condition in its plainest form, and the band is the Beatles. The edit pulls it a few points right, because selection is a decision applied afterwards. Confidence is low because the evidence is a single afternoon.

What is fixed

  • The choice of excerpt
  • Its place in the album sequence

What is open

  • Everything that was played

Evidence dimensions

Each runs from 0, Garcia, to 100, Lennon. Their weighted composite is 14. The published GLI is 14, the same.

Structural FixityHow much of sequence, form and duration is settled beforehand?
10
ElasticFixed

A three-chord vamp with no sections and no set length.

Performance ConsistencyHow far can two performances differ and still be the same work?
12
TransformativeReproducible

Inferred. Only one realization exists, and it was made up as it went.

PredeterminationHow much of what matters exists before the performance begins?
8
EmergentPredetermined

Nothing was written beforehand, which is why all four Beatles are credited.

Development MethodHow does the music move forward?
6
ExploratoryComposed

A jam. Lennon free-associates and the band follows.

Recording SpecificityDoes the recording document an occurrence, or define the object?
40
Documents eventDefines work

The only dimension that pulls right. The released track is a 51-second excerpt somebody chose.

Transformational tolerance

Untested. The work has one realization, and listeners know it through an edit.

Confidence: 62%

The evidence is one afternoon. The Beatles never played it again, so Performance Consistency is inferred.

Keep arguing

Every placement is relative. These are the songs this one was measured against.

GLI neighbours

Numerically closest

The Other OneGrateful Dead · Anthem of the Sun, 1968GLI 10Playing in the BandGrateful Dead · Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses), 1971GLI 18Dark StarGrateful Dead · Live/Dead, 1968GLI 4

Cross-band twin

Closest song from the other band

The Other OneGrateful Dead · Anthem of the Sun, 1968GLI 10It began as the middle of a composed suite. The band kept only the part that left room.Compare the two

Editorial counterpart

Chosen because it argues back

Attics of My LifeGrateful Dead · American Beauty, 1970GLI 88

Each band's biggest heretic, facing the other across the whole Index.

Compare the two

The record

  • Credited to all four Beatles.Source ↗
  • The album track is a 51-second excerpt from a jam recorded 26 January 1969.Source ↗

Where the sources disagree

  • Length of the source jam: 12 minutes (Beatles Bible) or 15:05 (Wikipedia).

Catalog facts

Catalog no.
GLI·TB·001
Artist
The Beatles
Writers
Lennon / McCartney / Harrison / Starkey
Release
Let It Be (1970)
Released
8 May 1970
Duration
0:51

Sources

Classified 5 October 2026