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One morning Paul wakes up. He fumbles his way to the piano and lays his hands on the keys. He has this thing in mind… “Scrambled eggs… all my troubles seem so far away…” Paul closes the piano: scrambled eggs… what nonsense… But the melody doesn't go away… (he would later say that some things are born perfect like an egg: without a crack, without an imperfection…)
Well, we like to think that what is perhaps the most famous song in the world, “Yesterday”, was born just like that. A bit by chance. Sure, it was morning, sure, scrambled eggs were involved, but everything else was magic. Many legends have also flourished around this song, one of the most credited ones, even attributed to George Martin, claims that Paul composed the song in January 1964. If true, this absolute masterpiece would have been discarded from two albums to end up only at the last moment in a third one (this “Help!”). It is nonetheless true that McCartney couldn't convince himself that he was the real “father” of the song: he was playing it to everyone, incredulous that such a… perfect melody hadn't already been composed by someone else: he feared having copied it unknowingly.
In any case, the song was recorded on the evening of June 14, 1964, after Paul had spent the entire day straining his voice (another curious fact) on “I’m Down” (B-side of the “Help!” single). Among the many recorded versions, the one performed with a string quartet was finally chosen, not without great resistance from Paul. George Martin had in mind this string quartet thing from the very start, but Paul wasn’t interested: he didn’t want anything “like Mantovani”. In the end, he was convinced. Thank God.
But it must be said that Martin’s intuition wasn't the only one: in Beatles’ musical history, songs were certainly written by John, Paul, George, and (a few) by Ringo, but almost all the genius moves during arrangement are owed to the “Fifth Beatle”. It’s entirely his credit if often what was simply a “good song” became something immortal.
Returning to the album, “Help!” doesn’t only feature “Yesterday” (though for many that alone would be more than enough to justify its price): the album was the soundtrack of the Beatles' second film, but it had little to do with the film itself (to which the Beatles, incidentally, gave no creative contribution, lending practically only their presence), instead it was a collection of really good tracks. Some were excellent: obviously the mentioned “Yesterday” (not included in the film), “Help!” (which in John’s intentions, who wrote it, was supposed to be a ballad, but was rearranged in a fast pop style and worked out great), “Ticket to Ride” one of the best tracks from this period of the group. And then “You’ve got to hide away”, “The Night Before”, “I Need You”, “Act Naturally” and even the cover of “Dizzy Miss Lizzy”… these were more than good tracks, but, compared to “Yesterday”....
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Help! (02:21)
(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
I've opened up the doors
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
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
I've opened up the doors
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, oooo
07 Ticket to Ride (03:12)
I think I'm gonna be sad, I think it's today, Yeah
The girl that's driving me mad is going away
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care
She said that living with me is bringing her down, yeah
For she would never be free when I was around
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care
I don't know why she's riding so high
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me
Before she gets to saying goodbye
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me
I think I'm gonna be sad, I think it's today, Yeah
The girl that's driving me mad is going away, yeah, oh
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care
I don't know why she's riding so high
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me
Before she gets to saying goodbye
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me
She said that living with me is bringing her down, yeah
For she would never be free when I was around
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care
My baby don't care
My baby don't care
My baby don't care
My baby don't care
My baby don't care
08 Act Naturally (02:33)
They're gonna put me in the movies
They're gonna make a big star out of me
We'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely
And all I gotta do is act naturally
Well, I'll bet you I'm gonna be a big star
Might win an Oscar you can never tell
The movies gonna make me a big star
'Cause I can play the part so well
Well I hope you come and see me in the movies
Then I know that you will plainly see
The biggest fool that ever hit the big time
And all I gotta do is act naturally
We'll make the scene about a man that's sad and lonely
And beggin down upon his bended knee
I'll play the part but I won't need rehearsal
All I gotta do is act naturally
Well, I'll bet you I'm gonna be a big star
Might win an Oscar you can never tell
The movies gonna make me a big star
'Cause I can play the part so well
Well I hope you come and see me in the movies
Then I know that you will plainly see
The biggest fool that ever hit the big time
And all I gotta do is act naturally
13 Yesterday (02:07)
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it look as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
Why she had to go
I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Why she had to go
I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
14 Dizzy Miss Lizzy (02:54)
You make me dizzy Miss Lizzy
The way you rock and roll
You make me dizzy Miss Lizzy
When we do the stroll
Come on Miss Lizzy
Love me 'fore I grow too old
Come on, give me fever
Put your little hand in mine
You make me dizzy dizzy Lizzy
Oh, girl you look so fine
Just a rocking and a rolling
Girl I said I wish you were mine, ah
Ooh, ah
You make me dizzy Miss Lizzy
When you call my name
Ooo, baby
Say you're driving me insane
Come on, come on, come on, come on baby
I want to be your loving man, Ah
Run and tell your mama
I want you be my bride
Run and tell your brother
Baby don't run and hide
You make me dizzy Miss Lizzy
Girl I want to marry you
Come on, give me fever
Put your little hand in mine, girl
You make me dizzy dizzy Lizzy
Girl you look so fine
You're just a rocking and a rolling
Ooo I said I wish you were mine, ah
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Other reviews
By currahee72
The first interesting signs of sophistication emerge, and the first musical history standards are born.
'Yesterday' — the song that would become more famous over the years and at the time was not even considered worthy of a single.
By Rax
In that song, I was literally crying out for help. Look at me in the images of the time and in the film: I was fat, insecure, and I had completely lost myself.
This record could certainly have been better than it is.
