Many Books Have Appeared Over the Years About the Beatles Lyrics – About the Words of Those Songs Which the Whole World Knows
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MaNyMany booksbooks havehave appearedappeared overover the yearsyears aboutabout the BeatlesʼBeatlesʼ lyricslyrics – aboutabout the wordswords ofth thoseose so soNgsngs wh whichich the wh wholeole wo worldrld kn kNowsows an aNdd sin siNgs.gs. Bu Butt no Noone oNehas eve everr trtriedied to tr tracack dowNdown aNdand publishpublish the origiNaloriginal versioNsversions of the classicclassic soNgs,songs, showiNgshowing the wordswords iNin thethe BeatlesʼBeatlesʼ owNowN haNdwritiNg,handwriting, sometimessometimes scribbledscribbled oNon the backsbacks of eNvelopes,envelopes, withwith crossiNgscrossings outout an aNdd chaNges,changes, showiNgshowing the evolutioNevolution of the soNgssongs we kNowknow aNdand lovelove today.today. Hunter Davies has tracked down over 100 of the original manuscripts. He lists each song in chronological order, putting it in the context of what the Beatles were doing at the time and how the original version sometimes differs from the final one. The Beatles Lyrics is a unique insight into their creative genius, and a must-have for every Beatles fan. ● The Beatles have sold over 2.3 billion albums worldwide ● Their songs, among the greatest ever written, continue to be re-discovered by each new generation ● This is the first ever publication of the lyrics in the Beatlesʼ owN handwriting ● Hunter Davies, sole authorised biographer of the Beatles, has uncovered previously unseen drafts ● The John LeNNon Letters, also by Hunter Davies, has sold over 30,000 copies ● Publication will be marked by huge media attention 11 SEPTEMBER 2014 | £25 | 9780297608127 | HB | 246 X 189mm | 400pp For publicity enquiries contact [email protected] www.orionbooks.co.uk Beatles Lyrics Blad cover.indd 1 25/03/2014 14:04 INTRODUCTION My self-imposed, self-created mission was to track down as many manuscripts of the Beatles’ songs as possible. To look at their lyrics, both in first drafts and finished versions, and try to explain the meaning, the references, the names and places, phrases and expressions. Or just to unveil them, and leave others to do the pondering and evaluation . I have tried to arrange them chronologically in the order in which we, the fans, heard them, which was not necessarily the order in which they were written or recorded. I have also tried to tell the story of the band’s music-making and its development. Their music comes out of their lives, just as their livesand feelings and emotions got reflected back into their music. So in some ways The Beatles Lyrics has become the story of their lives as told through their music . Beatles Lyrics Blad246x189REPRO.indd 1 25/03/2014 02:13 A Hard Day’s Night The words are quite well thought out. After the opening chorus, John wrote two verses, with the chorus repeated in between, then back to the chorus at the end. Another of the standard formats for a pop song. Reading the words now, and probably trying too hard to work out exactly what he is trying to say, it would seem the message is simple: work hard, bring the money home, and you will get marital bliss. There is a slight hint ofa chauvinism when he moans that he is working all day for money so she can buy things. 2 THEBEATLESLYRICS Beatles Lyrics Blad246x189REPRO.indd 2 25/03/2014 02:18 Maureen Cleave of the London Evening Standard happened to be interviewing John on the day they were to record the song and went with him to Abbey Road in a taxi. During the journey, John showed her the words of the song, written down on an old birthday card given to Julian – he had recently had his first birthday – with an illustration of a little boy on a toy train. ‘I said to him that I thought one line of the song was rather feeble. It originally said, “But when I get home to you, I find my tiredness is through, then I feel all right.” Seizing my pen, John immediately changed the second line of it and came up with the slightly suggestive “I find the things that you do, will make me feel all right”.’ It’s been a hard day’s night It’s been a hard day’s night And I’ve been working like a dog. And I’ve been working like a dog. It’s been a hard day’s night, It’s been a hard day’s night, I should be sleeping like a log. I should be sleeping like a log. But when I get home to you, But when I get home to you, I find the things that you do I find the things that you do Will make me feel alright. Will make me feel alright. You know I work all day You know I feel alright, To get you money to buy you things. You know I feel alright. And it’s worth it just to hear you say, You’re gonna give me everything. So why on earth should I moan, ’Cos when I get you alone You know I feel okay. When I’m home everything seems to be right. When I’m home feeling you holding me tight, tight, yeah. So why on earth should I moan, ’Cos when I get you alone You know I feel okay. When I’m home everything seems to be right. When I’m home feeling you holding me tight, tight, yeah. THEBEATLESLYRICS 3 Beatles Lyrics Blad246x189REPRO.indd 3 25/03/2014 02:18 Help! The song was written to order, seven weeks into shooting, when at lastthey decided on a title. Until then, there had been various possibilities – ‘Beatles 2’, ‘Eight Arms To Hold You’ and ‘High-Heeled Kickers’. John wrote the song, mainly on his own, with helP from Paul, at home in Kenwood. The words to ‘Help!’ are some of the clearest, least evasive he hadwritten up to that point, and also the strongest, with no slack or corny ‘blue’‘true’ rhymes or tired pop-song I love yous, dropped in for the teen market. He also uses some rather long words, not normally found in pop songs – such as self-assurance, appreciate, independence, insecure – one result, apparently, of Maureen Cleave teasing him that all Beatles’ songs seemed to be filled with one-syllable words. At one level you could take the lyrics to be another love song – wanting someone to come along and love him, take care of him, the sort of thing most people wish for in life. He does thank someone, appreciates them being ‘round’, which you could read as meaning he was OK really, he did have a loving wife so you didn’t have to worry too much about him. On the other hand, as John told us later, it was a personal cry of anguish. It might have been influenced by their first LSD experience, which had taken place a few weeks earlier. The phrase ‘I find I’ve changed my mind’ can betaken two ways: a simple change of opinion or a mind change due to trying life- altering drugs. Help, I need somebody, Help, not just anybody, Help, you know I need someone, help. When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never needed anybody’s help in any way. But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured, Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors. 4 THEBEATLESLYRICS BBeatleseatles LyLyricsrics BBlad246x189REPRO.inddlad246x189REPRO.indd 4 25/03/2014 02:18 Help me if you can, I’m feeling down And I do appreciate you being round. Help me, get my feet back on the ground, Won’t you please, please help me. And now my life has changed in oh so many ways, My independence seems to vanish in the haze. But every now and then I feel so insecure, I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before. Help me if you can, I’m feeling down And I do appreciate you being round. Help me, get my feet back on the ground, Won’t you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh. THEBEATLESLYRICS 5 BBeatleseatles LyLyricsrics BBlad246x189REPRO.inddlad246x189REPRO.indd 5 25/03/2014 02:18 6 THEBEATLESLYRICS BeatlesLyricsBlad246x189REPRO.inddBeatles Lyrics Blad246x189REPRO.indd 6 25/03/2014 02:18 Yesterday Paul woke up one morning in his attic bedroom in Wimpole Street, with a melody in his head that he couldn’t erase. He went to the piano, beside his bed, and played it through. The melody had arrived almost intact, with the glory and the freshness of a dream (which is Wordsworth, ‘Intimations of Immortality’, but Paul over the years used similar phrases to recount how it had first came to him). Worried that it was someone else’s tune that had crept into his subconscious, for several weeks he played it to friends, such as the singer Alma Cogan, asking if they recognized it. It was during a long car drive while on holiday in Portugal with Jane (Asher) in May 1965, after they had started recording the album, that he finally put some proper words to it. After fitting ‘Yesterday’ to the first three notes he needed a rhyme, and came up with ‘all my troubles seemed so far away’. That left him needing another three-syllable word, and out popped ‘suddenly’. John always thought the melody was beautiful, but the words, though good, didn’t get very far and were not resolved. That in a way is a strength, leaving it vague. Why had she gone, why was a shadow hanging over her, what was the wrong thing he had said? This is never explained, leaving some analysts to suggest he wasn’t in fact talking about a row with a current love, i.e.