Things We Said Today
Encyclopedia
"Things We Said Today" is a song by The Beatles
written by Paul McCartney
and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was composed for the film A Hard Day's Night
and appears on the soundtrack album
. It was also released as the B-side
of the "A Hard Day's Night
" single in the UK.
aboard a yacht called Happy Days with his then-girlfriend Jane Asher
. Music critic Ian MacDonald
said, "The sombre lyric—provoked by the frustrating interruptions of a relationship between two career people—matches the lowering gloom of the music."
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 film. Recorded in advance of film production for lip-synching reasons, "Things We Said Today" has a reverse nostalgia premise. McCartney said, "I wrote this on acoustic. It was a slightly nostalgic thing already, a future nostalgia. We’ll remember the things we said today, sometime in the future, so the song projects itself into the future."
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. The tempo
of the song moves from ballad
to rock
and back with a minor
to major
key
change during its middle eight section.
s on 2 June 1964. Take one was a false start, take two was the rhythm track, and take three was used for overdubs of the main vocal, tambourine, and piano. According to author and Beatle historian Mark Lewisohn
, the piano was supposed to be omitted from the mix but is audible due to leakage onto other microphones during the recording of the overdubs, but MacDonald was skeptical about that conclusion.
The group also recorded "Things We Said Today" twice for BBC
radio, on 14 and 17 July 1964. The first, a performance for the Top Gear
radio show, was featured on the Live at the BBC
album in 1994.
The Beatles included "Things We Said Today" as part of their live set during their 1964 tour of the United States and Canada, although it was dropped afterwards. George Harrison sang harmony vocals alongside Paul McCartney during the performances.
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
written by Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was composed for the film A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
and appears on the soundtrack album
A Hard Day's Night (album)
A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by The Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 as the soundtrack to their film A Hard Day's Night. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing...
. It was also released as the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of the "A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (song)
"A Hard Day's Night" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released on the movie soundtrack of the same name in 1964...
" single in the UK.
Composition
McCartney wrote the song in May 1964 while cruising the CaribbeanCaribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
aboard a yacht called Happy Days with his then-girlfriend Jane Asher
Jane Asher
Jane Asher is an English actress. She has also developed a second career as a cake decorator and cake shop proprietor.-Early life:...
. Music critic Ian MacDonald
Ian MacDonald
Ian MacCormick was a British music critic and author, best known for Revolution in the Head, his forensic history of The Beatles which borrowed techniques from art historians, and The New Shostakovich, a controversial study of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich...
said, "The sombre lyric—provoked by the frustrating interruptions of a relationship between two career people—matches the lowering gloom of the music."
The song is one of three main compositions (along with "And I Love Her
And I Love Her
"And I Love Her" is a song recorded by The Beatles, written mainly by Paul McCartney . 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.The Beatles performed "And I...
" and "Can't Buy Me Love
Can't Buy Me Love
"Can't Buy Me Love" is a song composed by Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles on the A-side of their sixth British single, "Can't Buy Me Love"/"You Can't Do That".-Interpretation:...
") that Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
wrote for the film. Recorded in advance of film production for lip-synching reasons, "Things We Said Today" has a reverse nostalgia premise. McCartney said, "I wrote this on acoustic. It was a slightly nostalgic thing already, a future nostalgia. We’ll remember the things we said today, sometime in the future, so the song projects itself into the future."
McCartney was particularly satisfied with his chord change, F major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
to B flat major
B flat major
B major or B-flat major is a major scale based on B-flat, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats, B/E .Its relative minor is G minor, and its parallel minor is B minor....
—instead of the more obvious F minor—which first occurs beneath "…wishing you weren't so far away" in the song. John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
accentuates McCartney's strident acoustic guitar strumming by triple hitting a low A note on a piano. The tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of the song moves from ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
to rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and back with a minor
Minor scale
A minor scale in Western music theory includes any scale that contains, in its tonic triad, at least three essential scale degrees: 1) the tonic , 2) a minor-third, or an interval of a minor third above the tonic, and 3) a perfect-fifth, or an interval of a perfect fifth above the tonic, altogether...
to major
Major scale
In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, ", the "Do" in the parenthesis at...
key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
change during its middle eight section.
Recording and performing
The Beatles recorded "Things We Said Today" in three takeTake
A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production.-Film:In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup"...
s on 2 June 1964. Take one was a false start, take two was the rhythm track, and take three was used for overdubs of the main vocal, tambourine, and piano. According to author and Beatle historian Mark Lewisohn
Mark Lewisohn
Mark Lewisohn is an English author and historian, regarded as the world's leading authority on the English rock band The Beatles.-The Beatles and related subjects:...
, the piano was supposed to be omitted from the mix but is audible due to leakage onto other microphones during the recording of the overdubs, but MacDonald was skeptical about that conclusion.
The group also recorded "Things We Said Today" twice for BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio, on 14 and 17 July 1964. The first, a performance for the Top Gear
Top Gear (radio show)
Top Gear was originally a short-lived pop music show on the BBC Light Programme in the mid-1960s.- Origin and format :It was one of the Corporation's few attempts to compete with the pirate radio stations and Radio Luxembourg, who had attracted large audiences of young British pop music listeners...
radio show, was featured on the Live at the BBC
Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)
Live at the BBC is a 1994 compilation album featuring performances by The Beatles that were originally broadcast on various BBC Light Programme radio shows from 1963 through 1965. The monaural album, available in multiple formats but most commonly as a two-CD set, consists of 56 songs and 13 tracks...
album in 1994.
The Beatles included "Things We Said Today" as part of their live set during their 1964 tour of the United States and Canada, although it was dropped afterwards. George Harrison sang harmony vocals alongside Paul McCartney during the performances.
Personnel
- Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
– double-trackedDoubletrackingDouble tracking is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or "bigger" sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. It is a form of overdubbing; the distinction comes from the...
vocalLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
– acousticAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... - Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
- Personnel per Ian MacDonaldIan MacDonaldIan MacCormick was a British music critic and author, best known for Revolution in the Head, his forensic history of The Beatles which borrowed techniques from art historians, and The New Shostakovich, a controversial study of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich...
Releases
| Country | |
|---|---|
| UK | "A Hard Day's Night A Hard Day's Night (song) "A Hard Day's Night" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released on the movie soundtrack of the same name in 1964... "
|
| UK | A Hard Day's Night A Hard Day's Night (album) A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by The Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 as the soundtrack to their film A Hard Day's Night. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing... LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
| UK | Extracts from the Album A Hard Day's Night Extracts from the Album A Hard Day's Night Extracts from the Album A Hard Day's Night is The Beatles seventh official EP, released on 6 November 1964. This EP contains four tracks from the album, but not featured in the film. Its catalogue number is Parlophone GEP 8924... Extended play An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact... |
| US | Something New Something New (album) Something New is The Beatles' third Capitol LP release, but fifth American album following the United Artists release of A Hard Day's Night. This album includes eight songs from the original British release of A Hard Day's Night, as well as the remaining tracks "Slow Down" and "Matchbox" from the... Capitol Records Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine... , |
Covers
- In 1964, Dick RiversDick RiversDick Rivers is a French singer and actor who has been performing since the early 1960s. He was an important figure in introducing rock and roll music in France. He is known for being an admirer of Elvis Presley, who highly influenced both his singing and looks...
released a cover (as "Ces Mots Qu'On Oublie Un Jour") for his album Je ne suis plus rien sans toi. - In 1977, Mary McCaslinMary McCaslinMary McCaslin is an American folk singer who wrote, recorded and performs contemporary folk music. She recorded primarily for Philo Records and traveled and performed with her husband, Jim Ringer....
included the song on her album Old Friends. It also appeared on her 1992 album, Things We Said Today. - In 1978, Jackie DeShannonJackie DeShannonJackie DeShannon is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll period.- Life and early career :...
had the only US chart single of this song. The release hit the Billboard "Easy Listening" survey. - In 1989/1990, McCartney included the song as part of his world tour.
- In 1997, Dwight YoakamDwight YoakamDwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
released the song for his covers album Under the CoversUnder the Covers (Dwight Yoakam album)Under the Covers is a 1997 album of cover songs recorded by Dwight Yoakam. It peaked at No. 8 on Billboards Top Country Albums chart, and No...
. - The RutlesThe RutlesThe Rutles are a band that are known for their visual and aural pastiches and parodies of The Beatles. Originally created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes as a fictional band to be featured as part of various 1970s television programming, the group recorded, toured, and released two UK chart hits in...
' song "Lonely-Phobia" is a pastichePasticheA pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of this song. - Since 1989 Kevin HewickKevin HewickKevin Hewick is an English singer-songwriter who was an early member of the Factory Records roster. In the present day he is known for his recording on Pink Box records, an independent label based in Leicester and his recent work with Italian collective Unfolk.-The Factory years:Newly added to the...
has often featured Things We Said Today in the cover versions section of his longer live sets.