3 Things to Know About the Backwards Guitar Solo in "Tomorrow Never Knows"

The backwards guitar sound is not a solo but a tape loop It is George Harrison’s guitar playing sped up and reversed, mixed with other tape loops and John Lennon’s heavily processed vocal.

Radio stations banned the song for its lyrics, not the guitar trick Lines like “Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream” made some stations nervous about drug references.

The backwards technique was groundbreaking for its time The Beatles had used reversed sounds on “Rain” earlier, but “Tomorrow Never Knows” took it further with its swirling, sitar-like sound.