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"I'll Be Back" is a song written by
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
, with some collaboration from
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
(credited to
Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney is the songwriting partnership between the English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is widely considered one of the greatest, best known and most successful musical collabo ...
). It was recorded by the English rock band
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
for the
soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
to their film '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) but not used in the film. This song was not released in North America until '' Beatles '65'', five months later.


Structure

According to
musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...
Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was an English music critic, journalist and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed te ...
, Lennon created the song based on the chords of
Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit " Runaway", which was covered la ...
's " Runaway" a UK hit in April 1961. Author
Bill Harry William Harry (born 17 September 1938) is the creator of ''Mersey Beat'', a newspaper of the early 1960s which focused on the Liverpool music scene. Harry had previously started various magazines and newspapers, such as ''Biped'' and ''Premier ...
echoed this, noting that Lennon: "just reworked the chords of the Shannon number and came up with a completely different song". With its poignant lyric and
flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...
style acoustic guitars "I'll Be Back" possesses a tragic air and is eccentric in structure. Unusually for a pop song, it shifts between major and minor keys, incorporates two distinct bridges, and lacks a traditional chorus. The fade-out ending also arrives unexpectedly, cutting off half a stanza early The metric structure also is unusual. The verse follows a six-measure phrase in time. The first and third bridges consist of a four-measure phrase in , followed by a phrase with two measures of and one of ; the second bridge has a four-measure phrase followed by five measures of and one of . Producer
George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...
preferred to open and close Beatles albums with strong material explaining: "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". However,
Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was an English music critic, journalist and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed te ...
observed that "I'll Be Back" took a different approach: "Fading away in tonal ambiguity at the end of ''A Hard Day's Night'', it was a surprisingly downbeat farewell and a token of coming maturity". Music journalist Robert Sandall later reflected on the song's significance in ''Mojo'' magazine writing: "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 ''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "We Can Work It Ou ...
''".


Recording

The Beatles recorded "I'll Be Back" in 16 takes on 1 June 1964. The first nine were of the rhythm track, and the last seven were overdubs of the lead and harmony vocals, and an acoustic guitar overdub. The ''
Anthology 1 ''Anthology 1'' is a compilation album of music by the Beatles, released on 20 November 1995 by Apple Records as part of ''The Beatles Anthology'' series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the period 1958–64, inclu ...
'' CD includes take two of "I'll Be Back", performed in time. The recording broke down when Lennon fumbled over the words in the bridge, complaining on the take that "it's too hard to sing." The subsequent take, also included on ''Anthology'', was performed in the time used in the final take.


Personnel

According to Walter Everett, except where noted: *
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
double-tracked vocal, acoustic guitar *
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
harmony vocal, bass guitar *
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...
acoustic and lead nylon-string guitars *
Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
drums


Notable cover versions

* The Chicago-based band
the Buckinghams The Buckinghams are an American pop band from Chicago. They formed in 1966 and went on to become one of the top-selling acts of 1967, charting their only five top 40 hits in the U.S. that year. The band dissolved in 1970, but re-formed in 1980 ...
released a version of this song in 1967 peaking #1 in the Philippines, according to ''Billboard'' magazine.Billboard - Google Books
/ref> *
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
covered the song on his 1967 album ''
Don't Stop Me Now! ''Don't Stop Me Now!'' is the eleventh studio album by Cliff Richard, released in 1967. It is his twentieth album overall. The album was arranged and conducted by Mike Leander. With this album, Richard made a "deep and serious thrust at establi ...
'' * The Dutch band
Golden Earring Golden Earring were a Dutch rock music, rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Tornados. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch chart, reached the top ...
covered the song as "I'll Be Back Again" on their 1995 album '' Love Sweat.'' *
Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early life Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and ...
recorded a version of the song as a bonus track on her 2004 '' Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection'' album.


Notes


References

* * * * * *


External links

* {{Authority control 1964 songs The Beatles songs Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs written by Lennon–McCartney Songs published by Northern Songs British folk rock songs Songs written for films