"It Won't Be Long" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released as the opening track on their second UK album With the Beatles (1963), and was the first original song recorded for it.[1] Although credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was primarily a composition by John Lennon, with Paul McCartney assisting with the lyrics and arrangement.[2]
| "It Won't Be Long" | |
|---|---|
 The German single release of the song, backed with "Devil in Her Heart" | |
| Song by the Beatles | |
| from the album With the Beatles | |
| Published | Northern Songs |
| Released | 22 November 1963 |
| Recorded | 30 July 1963 |
| Studio | EMI, London |
| Genre | Merseybeat, rock |
| Length | 2:13 |
| Label | Parlophone |
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
Composition
editJohn Lennon claimed in 1971 and 1980 that he wrote the song. In the 1990s Paul McCartney described the song as dominated by Lennon, but written in collaboration, stating: "John mainly sang it so I expect that it was his original idea but we both sat down and wrote it together."[2][3] The chorus is a play on the words "be long" and "belong".[4]
The song features early Beatles trademarks such as call-and-response yeah-yeahs and scaling guitar riffs.[5] Typical also of this phase of Beatles songwriting is the melodramatic ending (similar to "She Loves You", which had just been recorded and was about to be released) where the music stops, allowing Lennon a brief solo vocal improvisation before the song finishes on a "barber shop" major seventh[4] ("She Loves You" ends on a major sixth). The middle eight uses chromatically descending chords over which Lennon, McCartney and Harrison sing in counterpoint.
John Lennon, in one of his final interviews, told Playboy magazine that the song was the beginning of a wider audience for Beatles music than the youthful throngs that had fervently followed them from their Liverpool club days. "It was only after a critic for the [London] Times said we put 'Aeolian cadences' in 'It Won't Be Long' that the middle classes started listening to us. ... To this day, I have no idea what 'Aeolian cadences' are. They sound like exotic birds."[6] In fact, the critic, William Mann, had written this about the song "Not a Second Time."[7] Rolling Stone stated that "It Won't Be Long" was "the kind of song Bob Dylan had in mind when he wrote that Beatles chords were 'outrageous, just outrageous.'"[8] With its composers not being versed in musical theory, the song incorporates chords it "shouldn't", being in the key of E but veering off into D, C and F♯, and "a hybrid of D and Bm".[9]
Recording and release
editThe Beatles recorded this song on 30 July 1963 in two sessions. The first session was in the morning, where they recorded ten takes. The second session was in the afternoon, where they recorded seven more takes. The final product was a combination of takes 17 and 21, put together on 21 August.[1]
The original release in the UK was on With the Beatles, on 22 November 1963. In the US, "It Won't Be Long" first appeared on Meet the Beatles!, released 20 January 1964.[10]
The song was never performed live or at any of the group's BBC sessions, although they did lip-synch to the track on an edition of Ready Steady Go! in March 1964.[11]
Personnel
editAccording to Ian MacDonald:[5]
- John Lennon – double-tracked vocal, rhythm guitar
- Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass
- George Harrison – backing vocal, lead guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums
- George Martin – producer
- Norman Smith – engineer
Notes
edit- ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, p. 34.
- ^ a b Miles 1998, p. 152.
- ^ Compton 2017, p. 59.
- ^ a b MacDonald 2005, p. 92.
- ^ a b MacDonald 2005, p. 91.
- ^ "John Lennon Interview: Playboy 1980 (Page 3)". Beatlesinterviews.org. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- ^ "The Beatles - Not A Second Time - History and Information". Oldies.about.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- ^ "53 - 'It Won't Be Long'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ Hertsgaard, Mark (1995). A Day In the Life: the Music and Artistry of the Beatles. New York: Delacorte Press. p. 57. ISBN 0-385-31377-2.
- ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 200–201.
- ^ "The Beatles Bible - The Beatles' second appearance on Ready, Steady, Go!". The Beatles Bible. 1964-03-20. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
References
edit- Compton, Todd (2017). Who Wrote the Beatle Songs? A History of Lennon-McCartney. Pahreah Press. ISBN 978-0-9988997-0-1.
- "It Won't Be Long". The Beatles Bible. 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
- Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-55798-7.
- MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
- Miles, Barry (1998). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. London: Vintage. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4.