The Beatles fans say Anthology 4 ‘missed opportunity’ to include one of band’s biggest unreleased songs

A song which fans of The Beatles are hoping to see released has been left off Anthology 4, leaving many bitterly disappointed.

Some believe it is a “missed opportunity” not to feature Carnival of Light on the project, with the fourth instalment set to release on November 21. The soundscape was made during the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band recordings, and had been intended for release on the initial Anthology release. The inclusion was vetoed by George Harrison, however, whose dislike for the project has seen it barred from inclusion. It is not known if Paul McCartney pitched the song for release on the Anthology 4 package, though fans believe it is a missed opportunity to release the track.

Fans are so upset to see the song will not be released, they suggested the set is not worth listening to. One fumed: “For me, not really anything to get too excited about here. Strange, missing the opportunity to put a big hitter (Carnival of Light) on there and get people frothing at the mouth: if not here then where?”

Others believe the song will be released, just not as part of the Anthology series. A reply reads: “I still could see it come out in a joint Magical Mystery Tour / Yellow Submarine Super Deluxe edition. But it does seem like this would have been the perfect opportunity to release it.” The song is yet to see the light of day and may never be released.

Fans have speculated over why the song has not yet been released, with r/Beatles subreddit users suggesting it could be too long to “justify” releasing on a record. One user wrote: “Didn’t they all think it was awful? Maybe they don’t want it released. Or maybe it’s too long to justify taking up that much space on a record.

“Or maybe it’s just nice for them to keep at least some mystery in the world’s most written about band and go to their graves with one thing that can’t be found.” Another has suggested Carnival of Light’s exclusion makes the Anthology release “disappointing”.

They wrote: “Rather disappointing. Surely out of all the hours and hours of to work with, they’d do something with them. Such as the 25-minute version of Helter Skelter and Carnival Of Light, as a few examples. This seems like a massive rip-off in my opinion.”

Another added: “I understand Carnival of Light – but why have tracks like Watching Rainbows and Palace of the King of the Birds never been officially released? Not on Let It Be super deluxe, and now not on this.

Though the Grammy Award-winning Now and Then was advertised as the last-ever release from the band, there is still plenty of unreleased material which may be released on anniversary albums.

One track which appears in conversation more than most is Carnival of Light, a sound collage offering from Paul McCartney, which the songwriter has wanted to release for some time. But as of this year, the song is no closer to being released. A proposal to include the song on Anthology was vetoed by George Harrison, who deemed it “too boring” to release.

Carnival of Light came close to release on a 50th Anniversary edition of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band but, according to Giles Martin, was cut.

He said: “Yes, it was [considered]. As was It’s Only A Northern Song, as well, actually. But it wasn’t really part of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It wasn’t part of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band recording. It’s a very different thing. I hope we can do something interesting with that at some point…but it wasn’t really part of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.”