Beatles: A Song-a-Day
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87: I Want To Tell You
I Want To Tell You is a track from Revolver, written by George Harrison. It is an excellent example of the progress Harrison was making with his songwriting during this period. The Beatles global fame and fanbase may have peaked around 1965, at which point they had broken America, produced two films and continued a…
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88: I’m Only Sleeping
I’m Only Sleeping is a track from the Revolver album, written by John Lennon. As the title suggests, it is intended literally, as a defensive celebration of sleep. Every article I’ve read on the song (including the excellent Beatles Bible and Wikipedia articles linked above), provide essentially the same story, so I may as well…
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89: I Need You
I Need You, a track from the Help! album was George Harrison’s second original song for the Beatles (his first was Don’t Bother Me, and he also contributed You Like Me Too Much to the Help! album). George had written far fewer songs than Lennon and McCartney, and few would argue that Don’t Bother Me…
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90: Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
Norwegian Wood is a track from Rubber Soul. The original idea from the song came from John Lennon – it tells the story, cryptically, of a real-life extramarital affair. Lennon began working on the song while on a skiing holiday in Switzerland with his wife Cynthia and with George Martin and his wife Judy. The…
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91: Dear Prudence
Dear Prudence is a track from the White Album, written by John Lennon during the Beatles stay in Rishikesh, India where they were learning mediation at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The song is famously about Prudence Farrow (later known by her married name Bruns), the sister of movie star and celebrity Mia Farrow…
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92: Magical Mystery Tour
Magical Mystery Tour was the title track of the Beatles December 1967 TV special originally released in the UK as part of a soundtrack double-EP*. The song was an early component for McCartney’s concept for a movie project, and was seems to have been largely written by McCartney with some lyrical contributions from the band…
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93: Revolution
Revolution was the B-side of the Beatles’ Hey Jude single, written by John Lennon, released in August 1968. A different version of the song, Revolution 1, was included as a track on the White Album. Revolution 1 was the first version to be recorded, but the single was released before the album. Revolution 9, which…
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94: Wait
Wait is a track from the Rubber Soul album, believed to have been written mainly by Paul McCartney. I’ve always enjoyed this song but, I admit, I don’t think I’d listened to it for a few years. For me it’s one of those that shows the Beatles really hitting their stride as writers and performers.…
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95: Get Back
Get Back is a track from the Let It Be album and was also released as the A-side of a single (with Don’t Let Me Down as its B-side). It was written by Paul McCartney during studio sessions that were filmed as part of the Let It Be/Get Back project. As a result the process…
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96: There’s A Place
There’s A Place is an Lennon-McCartney original from the Please Please Me album. It was the first song to be recorded in the 11th February 1963 session at which the bulk of the new material for the album was recorded (Love Me Do , Please Please Me and their B-sides PS I Love You and…
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97: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Happiness Is A Warm Gun is a track from the White Album written by John Lennon. The song has an unusual structure with several substantial and distinct fragments welded together, each promising in its own right, none of them repeating. The Frankenstein construction is arty, intentionally strange and strangely compelling. The performance is a great…
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98: I Call Your Name
I Call Your Name was one of John Lennon’s earliest songs written in 1958. During the Beatles recording years it appeared in the UK only on the Long Tall Sally EP, released in 1964. The long gap between the writing and recording of the song, and the fact that it was written by a novice,…