41. A Hard Day's Night

 

 

A Hard Day's Night" is a 1964 hit song mostly written by John Lennon and credited (as were most of their songs) to Lennon/McCartney, performed by English band The Beatles and produced by George Martin. It was released on the movie soundtrack of the same name. It was later released as a single, with "I Should've Known Better" as its B-side.

 

The song featured prominently on the soundtrack to The Beatles' first feature film, A Hard Day's Night, and was on their album of the same name. The song topped the charts in both the United Kingdom and United States when it was released as a single. Featuring a prominent and unique opening chord, the song's success demonstrated that The Beatles were not a one-hit wonder.

 

The American and British singles of "A Hard Day's Night" as well as both the American and British albums of the same title all held the top position in their respective charts for a couple of weeks in August 1964, the first time any artist had done this.

 

Title

The song's strange title originated from something said by Ringo Starr, the Beatles' drummer. Starr described it this way in an interview with disc jockey Dave Hull in 1964: "We went to do a job, and we'd worked all day and we happened to work all night. I came up still thinking it was day I suppose, and I said, 'It's been a hard day...' and I looked around and saw it was dark so I said, '...night!' So we came to 'A Hard Day's Night.'

 

Starr's statement was the inspiration for the title of the movie, which in turn inspired the composition of the song. According to John Lennon in a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine: "I was going home in the car and Dick Lester [director of the movie] suggested the title, 'Hard Day's Night' from something Ringo had said. I had used it in 'In His Own Write' [a book Lennon was writing then], but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny... just said it. So Dick Lester said, 'We are going to use that title.'"

 

In a 1994 interview for The Beatles Anthology, however, Paul McCartney disagreed with Lennon's recollections, basically stating that it was the Beatles, and not Lester, who had come up with the idea of using Starr's verbal misstep: "The title was Ringo's. We'd almost finished making the film, and this fun bit arrived that we'd not known about before, which was naming the film. So we were sitting around at Twickenham studios having a little brain-storming session... and we said, 'Well, there was something Ringo said the other day.' Ringo would do these little malapropisms, he would say things slightly wrong, like people do, but his were always wonderful, very lyrical... they were sort of magic even though he was just getting it wrong. And he said after a concert, 'Phew, it's been a hard day's night.'"

 

In 1996, yet another version of events cropped up; in an Associated Press report, the producer of the film A Hard Day's Night, Walter Shenson, stated that Lennon described to Shenson some of Starr's funnier gaffes, including "a hard day's night," whereupon Shenson immediately decided that that was going to be the title of the movie (the originally planned title was Beatlemania). Shenson then told Lennon that he needed a theme song for the film.

 

 

Production

Regardless of who decided on the title, Lennon immediately made up his mind that he would compose the movie's title track. He dashed off the song in one night, and brought it in for comments the following morning (the original manuscript lyrics may be seen in the British Library, scribbled in ballpoint on the back of an old birthday card). As he described in his 1980 Playboy interview, "...the next morning I brought in the song... 'cuz there was a little competition between Paul and I as to who got the A-side — who got the hits. If you notice, in the early days the majority of singles, in the movies and everything, were mine... in the early period I'm dominating the group.... The reason Paul sang on A Hard Day's Night (in the bridge) is because I couldn't reach the notes."

 

In the Associated Press report, Shenson described his recollection of what happened. At 8:30 in the morning, "There were John and Paul with guitars at the ready and all the lyrics scribbled on matchbook covers. They played it and the next night recorded it." Shenson declared, "It had the right beat and the arrangement was brilliant. These guys were geniuses."

 

On 16 April 1964, the Beatles gathered at Studio 2 of the Abbey Road Studios and recorded "A Hard Day's Night". It took them less than three hours to polish the song for its final release, eventually selecting the ninth take as the one to be released.

 

 

Release

"A Hard Day's Night" was first released to the United States, coming out on 13 June 1964 on the album A Hard Day's Night, the soundtrack to the film, and released by United Artists. The album was a hit, selling a million copies in just four days.

 

"A Hard Day's Night" was the first Beatles single released in the UK not to use a pronoun in its title. On all of their previous British singles ("Love Me Do," "Please Please Me," "From Me to You." "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and "Can't Buy Me Love"), the group had intentionally relied on the use of a pronoun to make a song "very direct and personal," so that, according to McCartney, "people can identify...with it."

 

The United Kingdom first heard "A Hard Day's Night" when it was released there on 10 July 1964, both on the album A Hard Day's Night, and as a single, backed with "Things We Said Today" on the B-side. Both the album and single were released by Parlophone Records. The album proceeded to sell 1.5 million copies within a fortnight of its release. The single began charting on 18 July 1964, a week later ousting the Rolling Stones' "It's All Over Now" from the top spot on the British charts on 25 July 1964, coincidentally the day when both the American and British albums too hit the peak of their respective charts. The single stayed on top for three weeks, and lasted another nine weeks in the charts afterwards.

 

America first saw the single of "A Hard Day's Night" on 13 July 1964, featuring "I Should Have Known Better" on the B-side, and released by Capitol Records. Capitol had been in a quandary about cashing in on the success of the movie A Hard Day's Night, as United Artists held the publishing rights for the soundtrack (thus owning the rights to release the album of the same title). However, there was nothing preventing Capitol from releasing the songs in other forms, leading to six out of the seven songs from the movie's soundtrack coming out on singles.

 

The American single began its 13-week chart run on five days after release, and on August 1 started a two-week long run at the top, setting a new record—nobody before had ever held the number one position on both the album and singles charts in the United Kingdom and the United States at the same time. The Beatles were the first to do so, and continued to be the only ones who had done this until 1970 when Simon and Garfunkel achieved the same feat with their album Bridge Over Troubled Water and its title track. "A Hard Day's Night" went on to sell one million copies in America within just over five weeks.

 

After the Beatles had performed on The Ed Sullivan Show when they first came to America in early 1964, some American critics had dismissed them as one-hit wonders. "A Hard Day's Night" proved them wrong, as it only strengthened The Beatles' dominance of the world music scene in 1964. They would continue to feature prominently for the next six years until their disbanding in 1970.

 

In 1965, "A Hard Day's Night" won the Beatles the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group. In 2004, this song was ranked number 153 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

 

 

Opening chord

"A Hard Day's Night" is immediately identifiable before the vocals even begin, thanks to George Harrison's unmistakable Rickenbacker 12-string guitar's opening chord. According to George Martin, "We knew it would open both the film and the soundtrack LP, so we wanted a particularly strong and effective beginning. The strident guitar chord was the perfect launch."

 

Listen to the opening chord (help·info)

 

The exact chord played by Harrison has been the subject of contention. According to Walter Everett, the opening chord has an introductory dominant function because McCartney plays D in the bass; Harrison and Martin play F A C G in twelve-string guitar and piano, over the bass D, giving the chord a mixture-coloured neighbor, F; two diatonic neighbors, A and C; plus an anticipation of the tonic, G — the major subtonic as played on guitar being a borrowed chord commonly used by the Beatles, first in "P.S. I Love You" (see mode mixture), and later in "Every Little Thing", "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "Got to Get You into My Life" (in the latter two against a tonic pedal).

 

In contrast, Alan W. Pollack interprets the chord as a surrogate dominant (surrogate V, the dominant preparing or leading to the tonic chord), in G major the dominant being D, with the G being an anticipation that resolves in the G major chord that opens the verse. He also suggests it is a mixture of d minor, F major, and G major (missing the B). Tony Bacon calls it a Dm7sus4 (D F G A C), which is the dominant seventh (plus the fourth, G).

 

Everett points out that the chord relates to the Beatles' interest in pandiatonic harmony.

 

Dominic Pedler has also provided an interpretation of the famous chord, with the Beatles and George Martin playing the following:

 

George Harrison: Fadd9 in 1st position on 12-string electric guitar

John Lennon: Fadd9 in 1st position on a 6-string acoustic guitar

Paul McCartney: high D played on the D-string, 12th fret on electric bass

George Martin: D2-G2-D3 played on a Steinway Grand Piano

Ringo Starr: Subtle snare drum and ride cymbal

This gives the notes: G-B-D-F-A-C (the B is a harmonic). One of the interesting things about this chord (as described by Pedler) is how McCartney's high bass note reverberates inside the soundbox of Lennon's acoustic guitar and begins to be picked up on Lennon's microphone or pick-up during the sounding of the chord. This gives the chord its special "wavy" and unstable quality. Pedler describes the effect as a "virtual pull-off".

 

Jason Brown, Professor for the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, whose research interests include graph theory, combinatorics, and combinatorial algorithms, announced in October 2004 that after six months of research he succeeded in analysing the opening chord by "de-composing the sound into original frequencies, using a combination of computer software and old-fashioned chalkboard." According to Brown, the Rickenbacker guitar wasn't the only instrument used. "It wasn't just George Harrison playing it and it wasn't just the Beatles playing on it... There was a piano in the mix." Specifically, he claims that Harrison was playing the following notes on his 12 string guitar: a2, a3, d3, d4, g3, g4, c4, and another c4; McCartney played a d3 on his bass; producer George Martin was playing d3, f3, d5, g5, and e6 on the piano, while Lennon played a loud c5 on his six-string guitar.

 

This famous chord was used on Get Back, the second track on the 2006 release Love (The Beatles album).

 

 

Music and lyrics

The song is composed in the key of G major and in a 4/4 time signature, though Richard Middleton (1990) describes G as the dominant in the key of C major. The verse features the ♭VII or major subtonic chord that was a part of the opening chord as an ornament or embellishment below the tonic. The modal frame of the song though pentatonic features a ladder of thirds axially centered on G with a ceiling note of Bb and floor note of Eb (the low C being a passing tone):

 

 

 

According to Middleton the song has "a deep kinship with typical blues melodic structures: it is centered on three of the notes of the minor-pentatonic mode (Eb-G-Bb), with the contradictory major seventh (B♮) set against that. Morever, the shape assumed by these notes - the modal frame - as well as the abstract scale they represent, is revealed, too; and this - an initial, repeated circling round the dominant (G), with an excursion to its minor third (Bb), 'answered' by a fall to the 'symmetrical' minor third of the tonic (Eb) - is a common pattern in blues."

 

Lennon opens the twelve measure-long verse and carries it along, suddenly joined at the end by McCartney, who then sings the bridge. This represented a division of work which would feature prominently in future Beatles songs, with Lennon and McCartney each singing the parts they composed individually. This also made it easier to identify the individual styles of each composer, as McCartney was often the one with more upbeat lyrics, while Lennon's would be in a more cynical tone.

 

However, in his interview with Playboy, Lennon denied that McCartney's authorship of the bridge was the reason that he sang it: "The only reason he sang on 'A Hard Day's Night' was because I couldn't reach the notes. ...which is what we'd do sometimes. One of us couldn't reach a note but he wanted a different sound, so he'd get the other to do the harmony."

 

The instrumental break, is often credited to George Harrison on a 12 string. This is not necessarily so. The break may have been played by George Martin on a harpsichord (the notes are two octaves apart, another clue that it may not be a 12 string guitar).

 

The song closes with Harrison's guitar-playing fading out, the first time the Beatles had used such a technique — most, if not all, of their earlier work had closed with a final chord (and cadence), such as "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

 

The lyrics speak about the singer's undying devotion to his lover, and how he toils so she can purchase the items she fancies. The singer sings about his tiredness when he comes home from work, but how the things that his lover does perk him up.

 

On the day the song was written, Lennon is purported to have shown reporter Maureen Cleave of London's Evening Standard the lyrics, and she said that word "tiredness" sounded weak in the line "I find my tiredness is through/And I feel alright." Lennon subsequently replaced the lines in question with "I find the things that you do/They make me feel all right".

 

With a six string,to play a chord with reasonable similarity to the opening chord of "A Hard Day's Night," play a first position D7 and then move the ring finger on the high E string (F#) up one fret so that you are now playing a G note on the high E string.

 

That's your chord (whatever it's called). In standard tablature it would be "300213."

 

 

Other recordings

Peter Sellers recorded a comedy version of the song "A Hard Day's Night", in which he recited the lyrics in the style of Laurence Olivier in Olivier's film version of Shakespeare's play Richard III. Sellers' version was a UK Top 20 hit in 1965.

 

Billy Joel recorded the song and it was released on his Complete Hits album and My Lives, his ultimate collection.

 

Sugarcult recorded the song for a EP A Hard Day's Night

 

Beatallica recorded a thrash version of this song called "A Garage Dayz Nite", with some references to Metallica's songs (coz when I see you, it's nice to play you "Trapped Under Ice" or wherever I may roam, the road becomes my bride), and other bands like Scorpions (and it kicks ass just to hear you say, when you don't want Love at First Sting).

 

Swedish band Mando Diao recorded a version and released it as a B-side to Tv & Me.

 

The Cirque Du Soleil production Love uses the opening chord of A Hard Day's Night to introduce Get Back. The chord is played forward, and while the drum solo from The End is playing, the chord is reversed to the beginning.

 

 

 

 

42. I Should Have Known Better

 

 

I Should Have Known Better" is a song composed by John Lennon (credited to Lennon/McCartney), and originally released by The Beatles on the United Kingdom-version of A Hard Day's Night, their soundtrack for the film of the same name.

 

"I Should Have Known Better" is basically an early imitation of American singer and songwriter Bob Dylan. In January 1964, during a three-week engagement at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, the Beatles acquired his albums Bob Dylan and Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and began playing them continuously. American journalist Al Aronowitz introduced them to Dylan when the Beatles visited New York in February 1964, and Dylan subsequently became a big influence on the group, especially Lennon, who even started wearing a copycat Huckleberry Finn cap. Paul McCartney said Dylan's songs were "great lyrically," and Lennon credited Dylan with inspiring him to write more meaningful lyrics.

 

Lennon's harmonica playing opens the track, the last occasion the Beatles were to feature the instrument on an intro ("I´m a Loser", recorded 14 August 1964, has a harmonica solo) and thus drawing a line under a significant era of their music. The song's middle sixteen section features George Harrison's brand new Rickenbacker 12 string guitar.

 

Recording

The first recording session for the song was on 25 February 1964 at Abbey Road Studios when three takes were attempted, but only one was complete. Take 2 was aborted when Lennon broke into hysterics over his harmonica playing. The song was re-recorded the next day after making some changes to the arrangement.

 

The mono and stereo versions have slightly different harmonica introductions. In the stereo version, the harmonica drops out briefly.

 

 

Release

 

United Kingdom

In the UK, "I Should Have Known Better" was on A Hard Day's Night and released on 10 July 1964. It was not released as a single at that time. In 1976, it was released as a B-side to "Yesterday".

 

 

United States

In the U.S., "I Should Have Known Better" was released on 13 July 1964 as the B-side to "A Hard Day's Night." As part of the movie contract, United Artists acquired album rights for the American market. They released a soundtrack album on 26 June 1964 with 8 Beatle songs and 4 instrumentals. "I Should Have Known Better" was performed in the film, and it appears on the soundtrack. Capitol Records released Something New a month later with songs from the UK-version of A Hard Day's Night that were not used in the film and other material. "I Should Have Known Better" did not appear on a Capitol album until five years later on the Hey Jude compilation album.

 

 

Continental Europe

"I Should Have Known Better" was released as a single in a number of continental European countries, including West Germany where it reached number 6 and Norway, where it reached number 1.

 

43. If I Fell

 

 

"If I Fell" is a song by The Beatles which first appeared on the 1964 UK album A Hard Day's Night and the US album Something New. It was also the B-side of the US single And I Love Her. Written primarily by John Lennon with help from Paul McCartney, the song is notable for its unusual structure, which includes an unrepeated introductory section (introduced as an afterthought as of take 11) followed by sequential verse sections, each having a slightly expanded form, but with no obvious chorus or bridge section. The song also features a two-part harmony, sung by Lennon and McCartney together into a single microphone at their suggestion, and intricate chord changes.

 

Lennon played acoustic guitar and sang, McCartney played bass and sang, George Harrison plucked out single notes on electric guitar, and Ringo Starr played drums.

 

The song was released as a single in Norway, where it hit number one.

 

There is an alternate take of the song in which McCartney's voice strains and cracks at the end of a line, which first appeared on the Love Songs compilation double-LP, by an archivist's error when returning to the master tapes in Capitol's vault. Since then, this version has appeared in many places and is often heard on oldies stations in some markets. This version is the stereo version now found in The Capitol Albums box set. In the mono version, Paul's voice strains, but does not crack.

 

"If I Fell" was included as part of The Beatles repertoire during their American tour 1964. For one performance, after McCartney introduced the song, Lennon appended the word "Over", which led to a rendition in which he and McCartney could barely contain their giggles.

 

44. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You

 

 

"I’m Happy Just To Dance With You" is a John Lennon and Paul McCartney composition recorded by The Beatles for the film soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night.

 

It was written specifically for George Harrison to sing at a time when he lacked the confidence to compose his own material. McCartney described it as a “formula song”, and Lennon said: “I would never have sung it myself”.

 

Structurally, its hectic Bo Diddley rhythm and busy banjo style guitar playing sound vaguely incongruous in juxtaposition with Harrison’s lightweight vocal. Teasingly, its composers give it an unusual choice of chord (augmenting the B7th on “I'm happy just to dance with you”) right at the crux of its title, jarring the chorus.

 

Recorded on a Sunday, the first time The Beatles had used Abbey Road Studios other than on a normal work day.

45. And I Love Her

 

 

"And I Love Her" is a song by The Beatles and is the fifth track on their third album, A Hard Day's Night. It was released 20 July 1964 with "If I Fell" as a single by Capitol Records in the United States, reaching #12 in Billboard.

 

Composition

This song was one of the first pop songs with a title that starts in mid-sentence. Paul McCartney was pleased with himself that he came up with this clever idea.

 

It is also notable for its complex structure. This song has no obvious key signature, but rather a pedal point signature that switches back and forth between the key of E and its relative minor C#m. It also changes keys altogether just before the solo, to F. It ends, oddly, on the parallel major of the key of F's relative minor, D.

 

The song was written mainly by McCartney, though John Lennon claimed in an interview with Playboy that his major contribution was the "middle eight" section ("A love like ours/Could never die/As long as I/Have you near me").

 

Beatles publisher Dick James lends support to this claim, saying that the middle eight was added during recording at the suggestion of producer George Martin. According to James, Lennon called for a break and "within half an hour [Lennon and McCartney] wrote...a very constructive middle to a very commercial song."

 

McCartney, on the other hand, maintains that "the middle eight is mine.... I wrote this on my own."

 

Covers

As with many Beatles songs, this has been covered by many artists of varying style from RnB, Crooner, Pop and even Grunge. It was translated into a power ballad - of sorts - by Australia's John Farnham, on his Anthology #2: The Classic Hits album.

Roberto Carlos made a cover, (Eu) Te Amo, in Portuguese and later in Spanish.

Esther Phillips reversed the gender of the song in 1965; her "And I Love Him" reached #54 that year on the Billboard charts.

In 2006, Barry Manilow covered the song for his The Greatest Songs of the Sixties.

Also covered by The Wailers at Studio One in the 1960s.

 

 

 

46. Tell Me Why

 

 

"Tell Me Why" is a song by The Beatles from their UK album A Hard Day's Night and US album Something New. Credited to Lennon & McCartney, it was written by John Lennon in either Paris or New York, it was completed in only eight takes on Thursday, 27 February 1964, at Abbey Road Studios, London.

 

Paul McCartney has said:

 

I think a lot of these [Lennon's] songs like "Tell Me Why" may have been based in real experiences or affairs John was having, or arguments with Cynthia [Lennon’s wife] or whatever, but it never occurred to us until later to put that slant on it all.

Lennon described the song as resembling "a black New York girl-group song". Using simple doo-wop chord changes and block harmonies, "Tell Me Why" races along at a pace.

 

 

Releases

Included on the British LP A Hard Day’s Night.

Included on the British EP Extracts from the Film A Hard Day’s Night.

 

Covers

"Tell Me Why" was later covered by the Beach Boys on their Beach Boys' Party! album

 

 

47. Any Time At All

 

 

"Any Time at All" is a Beatles song credited to Lennon & McCartney and mainly composed by John Lennon. It first appeared on The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night album.

 

Incomplete when first brought into Abbey Road Studios on Tuesday 2 June 1964, Paul McCartney suggested an idea for the middle eight section based solely on chords, which was recorded with the intention of adding lyrics later. But by the time it was needed to be mixed however, the middle eight was still without words, and that is how it appears on the LP.

 

What did get added at the mixing stage was the snare drum "crack" that opens the track (and side two of the album) edited from an unused take.

48. I'll Cry Instead

 

 

"I'll Cry Instead" is a John Lennon composition credited to Lennon/McCartney, and recorded by the Beatles for the soundtrack to their film A Hard Day's Night.

 

Lennon wrote the song for the "break-out" sequence in the film. The song was recorded on 1 June 1964 in two sections, A and B, which could then be spliced together at a later date to achieve the required length.

 

"I'll Cry Instead" was described by Cynthia Lennon as a cry for help, saying "It reflects the frustration he felt at that time. He was the idol of millions, but the freedom and fun of the early days had gone." Director Richard Lester eventually decided he preferred the livelier "Can't Buy Me Love" with its more upbeat lyric, and that was used in the film instead. When Walter Shenson re-released the film in 1981, "I'll Cry Instead" was included in a re-vamped opening sequence.

 

"I’ll Cry Instead" is rooted in country & western, a musical genre that the Beatles, and especially Ringo Starr, enjoyed playing.

 

 

 

49. Things We Said Today

 

 

"Things We Said Today" is a song by The Beatles and credited to Lennon & McCartney. It was composed for the film A Hard Day's Night and was the B-side of the "A Hard Day's Night" single in the UK.

 

The song is one of three main compositions (along with "And I Love Her" and "Can't Buy Me Love") that Paul McCartney wrote for The Beatles film. Recorded in advance of film production for lip-syncing reasons, "Things We Said Today" has a reverse nostalgia premise.

 

McCartney was particularly satisfied with his chord change, F major to B flat major—instead of the more obvious F minor—which first occurs beneath "…wishing you weren't so far away" in the song. John Lennon accentuates McCartney's strident acoustic guitar strumming by triple hitting a low A note on a piano. Interestingly, the tempo moves from ballad to rock and back with a minor to major key change during its middle eight section.

 

McCartney’s diction, double tracked, is so accurate that in places it cancels itself out, sounding untracked (conversely, Lennon’s vocals were always different, and often sounded quite messy when double tracked). This was still before ADT (automatic double tracking) had been invented at Lennon’s behest, by Abbey Road studio's Ken Townsend.

 

Paul McCartney wrote the song while cruising the Caribbean aboard a yacht called Happy Days. It is based on his relationship with his then-girlfriend, Jane Asher. Because of their busy lives, they could not spend much time together.

 

The Beatles included "Things We Said Today" as part of their live set during their world tour.

 

The French singer Dick Rivers recorded the song as "Ces Mots Qu'On Oublie Un Jour".

 

In 1989/90, Paul McCartney included the song as part of his own world tour.

 

50. When I Get Home

 

 

"When I Get Home" is a John Lennon composition credited to Lennon & McCartney and recorded by The Beatles on 2 June, 1964 for their LP A Hard Day's Night

 

Influenced somewhat by the Shirelles "When I get Home" is essentially a rock and roll number, but with its unusual chord progressions (changing from major to minor keys and back) it bucks the genre to some extent. Lennon liked this particular ploy, and used it on many of his songs at the time.

 

Typical also of this period of The Beatles is the vocal leap into falsetto (the pushes into the falsetto sections seem to catch Ringo Starr by surprise each time, making the song sound slightly under rehearsed).

 

It was the last track to be taped for the album and completed a whole LP’s worth of Lennon & McCartney songs, the first and last time that this would occur.

 

 

 

51. I'll Be Back

 

 

"I'll Be Back" is a John Lennon composition credited to Lennon & McCartney, and recorded by The Beatles for the soundtrack LP to their film "A Hard Day's Night".

 

Lennon ostensibly created the song around the chords (but not the melody) of Del Shannon’s “Runnaway”, which had been a UK hit in April 1961. Author Bill Harry wrote: “He [Lennon] just reworked the chords of the Shannon number and came up with a completely different song” .

 

 

With its heart-rending lyric and flamenco style acoustic guitars, "I'll Be Back" has a tragic air. The song oscillates between major and minor keys, appears to have two different bridges (transition themes) and does not have a chorus. The fade-out ending is unexpectedly sudden, seeming to arrive half a verse prematurely

 

Music Journalist Robert Sandall wrote in Mojo Magazine: “I’ll Be Back” was the early Beatles at their most prophetic. This grasp of how to colour arrangements in darker or more muted tones foreshadowed an inner journey they eventually undertook in three albums’ time, on Rubber Soul".

 

Producer George Martin preferred to open and close Beatles albums (and sides) using dominant material. He wrote: “Another principle of mine when assembling an album was always to go out on a side strongly, placing the weaker material towards the end but then going out with a bang“. With this in mind, "I'll Be Back", with its downbeat perspective, could be considered a surprising choice as the album closer.

 

Additional Information

The song was originally written in 3/4 time. The Anthology 1 CD includes an early take of the song in waltz form, before John Lennon fumbles over the words in the bridge, complaining on the take that "it's too hard to sing." A subsequent take, also included on Anthology, is performed in the 4/4 time used in the final take.

 

 

52. No Reply

 

(Beatles tribute act)

 

"No Reply" is a song by The Beatles from the UK album Beatles for Sale and the US album Beatles '65. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon-McCartney.

 

The song is about a young man who is unable to contact his possibly unfaithful girlfriend, even though he sees her through her windows.

 

Originally John Lennon had intended to sing the higher harmony part of the chorus, as this was the original melody. However, his voice had deteriorated due to excessive use and Paul McCartney had to take this part, relegating Lennon to the lower harmony line.

 

This song has been covered by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and is slated to be on their next album.

 

 

Tonality and Form

The song is in the key of C major, and modulates to A major in the bridge. The song form is standard AABA (verse-verse-bridge-verse), without a chorus as such, but including the refrain "No Reply."

 

 

 

 

53. I'm A Loser

 

 

"I'm a Loser" is a song by The Beatles originally released on Beatles for Sale (on Beatles '65 in the US).

 

The song was primarily written in the style of Bob Dylan, whose influence was also seen on the two other opening songs on Beatles for Sale, "No Reply" and "Baby's in Black".

 

The song's refrain sings, "I'm a loser, and I've lost someone who's near to me. I'm a loser, and I'm not what I appear to be." The lyrics appear to be about a man who lost a girl; however Lennon later suggested that he constantly felt like a loser in life. Lennon would later compose self-oriented songs without using love as a metaphor.

 

Singer Jackie DeShannon was on the Beatles summer 1964 North American tour. She recalled that Lennon was writting this song on the plane during the tour.

 

Lennon, who was a tenor, hits a low G in the verses, a hard note for a tenor to hit. It is arguably the lowest note Lennon hits in a Beatles song, with the possible exception of the line "I need a fix 'cause I'm going down" from "Happiness Is a Warm Gun".

 

"I'm a Loser" was once considered for release as a single in the UK until Lennon wrote "I Feel Fine".

 

On the original pressings of Beatles for Sale, the song was misprinted as "I'm a Losser".

 

Covers

This song was covered by The Lost Dogs on their 1993 album, Little Red Riding Hood. The bands Sum 41 and The Eels have also covered it live in concert.

54. Baby's In Black

 

 

"Baby's in Black" is a song by The Beatles, co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released in the United Kingdom on Beatles for Sale and in the United States on Beatles '65 Unusually for the Beatles, the song has a 6/8 time signature with a moderate tempo that makes it sound like 3/4 (waltz-time). The song's lyrics may be about Astrid Kirchherr, a friend and photographer the Beatles met during their first trip to Hamburg. She was Stuart Sutcliffe's fiance, and was distraught over his death.

 

 

Recording

The Beatles recorded "Baby's in Black" on 11 August 1964, the first song recorded for Beatles for Sale.

 

Lennon and McCartney sang their vocal parts simultaneously through the same microphone. This was done at their own insistence in order to achieve a closer feel to the performance. McCartney was subsequently contacted by their music publisher in 1964 inquiring as to which melody line was the main tune (i.e. Paul's higher or John's lower melody). McCartney later said that he told the publisher they were both the main melody.

 

The song was a lament to Astrid Kirchner, who favored dressing in black. Astrid was the German female photographer who styled the Beatles famous moptop haircut during their time in Hamburg, and had a deeply romantic relationship with Stu Sutcliffe, The Beatles' first bassist, and a cohort of Lennon's from his art college days. Sutcliffe died from a brain hemorrhage in Germany. It's said that Astrid never got over this hence the inspiration for the lyrics of this song.

 

 

Live performances

The Beatles performed "Baby's in Black" live during their appearances from late 1964 until their last tour in 1966, and usually as the third song in their set after "Rock and Roll Music" and "Long Tall Sally." McCartney said they introduced the song by saying, "'And now for something different.' ... We used to put that in there, and think, 'Well, they won't know quite what to make of this, but it's cool.'

 

In 1996, a live version of "Baby's in Black" was released as a B-side to the second (and last but one) Beatles "reunion" single, "Real Love".

55. Rock And Roll Music

 

 

"Rock and Roll Music" is a song written and originally recorded by Chuck Berry which became a hit single in 1957, and was later covered by many artists, notably The Beatles.

 

The lyrics of the song extoll the virtues of rock and roll in comparison to other musical styles, and express the singer's resolve to dance only to this style of music.

 

The song has subsequently been recorded by a number of other well-known artists, including The Beach Boys, Humble Pie, Manic Street Preachers, Bill Haley & His Comets, REO Speedwagon and Australian new wave band Mental As Anything.

 

Berry's version is ranked number 128 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

 

The Beatles version

The Beatles performed the song in many of their early Hamburg shows, and also played it on the BBC show Pop Go the Beatles. In late 1964, exhausted from non-stop touring and recording and short of original material, they decided to record several of their old rock and rhythm and blues favorites to fill out their LP release Beatles for Sale. Among these was a version of Berry's tune that eventually became as well-known as the original. The lead vocal in the Beatles' version was performed by John Lennon. In contrast to Berry's even-toned rendition, Lennon sang it as loudly and dynamically as his voice would permit. In the USA, it was released on the LP Beatles '65.

 

The Beatles' version of "Rock and Roll Music" was released as a single in some countries, and topped the charts in Norway and Australia.

56. I'll Follow The Sun

 

 

"I'll Follow the Sun" is a song by The Beatles. It is a melancholy ballad featuring Paul McCartney as the lead vocalist. Although the song was written by McCartney, as with all Beatles songs written by either McCartney or John Lennon, it is credited as Lennon/McCartney.

 

The song was released on the Beatles for Sale album in 1964, but was written previously to this album release. (In the United States it appeared on the Beatles '65 album.) The song is somewhat of a cult favourite, never released as a single, nor one of the most famous Beatles tracks.

 

The song's lyrics center around a male who feels he is unappreciated by a woman. The song is believed to be him giving her an ultimatum, and that, as the lyrics state, "One day, you'll look to see I'm gone." There is an unwillingness on the part of the song's narrator that adds a tenderness and tragedy to his leaving: "And now the time has come, and so, my love, I must go. And though I lose a friend, in the end you will know..."

57. Mr Moonlight

 

(Beatles cartoon)

 

"Mr. Moonlight" is a song written by Roy Lee Johnson, best known in a cover version by The Beatles which first appeared on the 1964 albums Beatles for Sale in the United Kingdom and Beatles '65 in the United States.

 

The first known recording of the song was by blues pianist Piano Red, recording as "Dr. Feelgood and the Interns". It was released as a b-side of a minor rhythm & blues hit single (titled "Dr. Feelgood") in 1962. The record became something of a cult favorite among several young British R&B enthusiasts, some of whom would soon go on to become members of well-known bands. The Beatles covered the song in their live act years before it appeared on record; another emerging Beat group, The Hollies, recorded and released their own performance of the same song nearly simultaneously with The Beatles' version.

 

The Beatles' recording of the song remains the most well-known version, featuring a rough lead vocal by John Lennon, classic Beatle harmonies, and a rolling organ solo. Despite this, it is cited by a few as possibly the worst song The Beatles ever recorded.

 

 

 

58. Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey Hey (Medley)

 

 

"Kansas City" is the title of a rhythm and blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952. It was first recorded by Little Willie Littlefield that same year, under the title, "KC Lovin'." (Ralph Bass of Federal Records, Littlefield's label, thought "K.C." sounded much "hipper" than "Kansas City," and so changed Leiber & Stoller's original title.) Littlefield's record was a regional hit in and around Los Angeles, where Federal was located.

 

The best known version of "Kansas City" was recorded in 1959 by Wilbert Harrison. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and also restored the song's proper title. Since Harrison's record, the song has been covered by hundreds of performers, including Little Richard, The Beatles, Joe Williams, Little Milton, Peggy Lee, and Bill Haley & His Comets. Many other artists found some degree of success on the Hot 100 with this song, including Rocky Olson, Hank Ballard and The Midnighters, Trini Lopez, and James Brown. Ten versions of the song are featured on the 1994 CD, The Best Of Kansas City.

 

Little Richard's and The Beatles' versions were combined into a medley with Little Richard's song, "Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey." This version differs considerably from the original, adding lyrics such as "Ah, Kansas City; coming to get my baby back home; yeah, yeah..." and removing most of the original lyrics (such as: "I'm goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come..."). Several different versions of Haley's "Kansas City" exist, some featuring vocals by Haley himself and others sung by his saxophone player, Rudy Pompilli; lyrically, however, all versions by Haley adhere to the Leiber & Stoller original.

 

In 2005, Kansas City adopted "Kansas City" as its official song, dedicating "Goin' To Kansas City Plaza" in the historic 18th and Vine Jazz district. The Beatles' version of Kansas City is played over Kauffman Stadium's sound system after each Kansas City Royals win, while the Wilbert Harrison version is played after each loss.

 

"Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey" is a song written by Little Richard (Richard Penniman) which he usually performed as part of a medley with the Leiber and Stoller song "Kansas City". It was covered by The Beatles in the same medley on the UK album Beatles for Sale and the US album Beatles VI.

 

It was later covered by The Libertines in a one off Radio 1 Live set in September 2003.

59. Eight Days A Week

 

 

"Eight Days a Week" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, which was recorded by The Beatles and released on their December 1964 album Beatles for Sale.

 

The song, along with two others from the album ("Baby's in Black" and "No Reply") was planned as a single release. In the end, it was released as a single only in the US on 15 February 1965 becoming a number-one hit. Its B-side was "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party". The single release in the US was the result of DJs playing the song from imported copies of the Beatles for Sale album as an exclusive since it was not included on the album's US counterpart Beatles '65. Later, it made a US album appearance on Beatles VI.

 

Although it was a huge American hit, the group didn't think highly of the song, and never performed it live. They did, however, lip-synch to it during an April appearance on Thank Your Lucky Stars.

 

According to Paul McCartney the title was inspired by a remark from a chauffeur who drove him to Lennon's house in Weybridge.

 

“ I usually drove myself there, but the chauffeur drove me out that day and I said, 'How've you been?' – 'Oh working hard,' he said, working eight days a week.' ”

—Paul McCartney,

 

 

The Beatles' version is noted for its fade in at the beginning of the song as opposed to most pop songs which end with fade outs.

 

The song has been covered by:

 

Alma Cogan in 1965 as a double-A sided single with "Help!"

Procol Harum in 1975 on their album Procol's Ninth

Billy Preston in 1976 on his album Billy's Bag

The Runaways in 1978 on their album, Little Lost Girls

Joan Jett in 1982

Lorrie Morgan in 1987

The Worthless Peons (Ted's Band) in the Scrubs season 3 episode, My Best Friend's Wedding

B.E. Taylor in 2006 on his album, Love Never Fails (he has also played the song during nearly all of his concerts)

60. Words Of Love

 

 

"Words of Love" is a song originally written by Buddy Holly and recorded by him on April 8, 1957. Holly harmonized for himself, by tape-recording each part and combining them. The song was not a notable hit for Holly, although it is regarded as one of his important recordings, and is available in most standard Holly collections.

 

A cover of the song by The Diamonds (best known for "Little Darlin'") was a hit, reaching Number 13 in Billboard's Hot 100 in July, 1957.

 

The song was also covered by The Beatles on the album Beatles for Sale. In the United States, it was on the album Beatles VI. The Beatles' version was recorded on October 18, 1964. Lennon and McCartney, who were fans of Holly's, harmonized on their version, holding to the vocal and instrumental sound of Holly's original as well as they could. When they had played this song in their early days at the Cavern Club in 1961 and 1962, Lennon and Harrison were the vocalists. Ringo Starr played a packing case on this song instead of drums, to achieve a similar sound to Holly's "Every Day".