‘For No One’, Paul McCartney’s meditation on the end of a love affair, was one of the highlights of the Revolver album.
It’s a song about rejection. The breakup, or marking the end of a relationship that didn’t work, has always been quite a rich area to explore in a song. Having been through it a few times – as I suppose a lot of people have – it was an emotion I could relate to, and it seemed like a good idea to put into a song because probably a lot of other people could relate to it too. In the song, I’m talking about two people who’ve broken up, but obviously, as with any writer, it all comes from your own experience, and inevitably you’re talking about yourself…It’s a horrible moment when you’ve broken up with someone, and you look at them – this person you used to be in love with, or thought you were in love with – and none of that old feeling is there. It’s like it just switched off too, and it’s not great to be on the receiving end of that.
At that time, you think any love affair could or should or would or will last forever, unless it’s a really quick ‘wham, bam, than you ma’am’ one-night stand. But when you’re going out with someone, when it’s your girlfriend and you’ve been with her for a reasonable amount of time, it’s very different. Jane Asher and I were together for around five years, so at the back of my mind I expected to marry her, but as the time got closer, I think I also realised it wasn’t right.
The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present
The song was written in March 1966 while McCartney was on holiday with Jane Asher in Switzerland. It was originally called ‘Why Did It Die?’
I was in Switzerland on my first skiing holiday. I’d done a bit of skiing in Help! and quite liked it, so I went back and ended up in a little bathroom in a Swiss chalet writing ‘For No One’. I remember the descending bassline trick that it’s based on, and I remember the character in the song – the girl putting on her make-up.Occasionally we’d have an idea for some new kind of instrumentation, particularly for solos… On ‘For No One’ I was interested in the French horn, because it was an instrument I’d always loved from when I was a kid. It’s a beautiful sound, so I went to George Martin and said, ‘How can we go about this?’ And he said, ‘Well, let me get the very finest.’
Anthology
George Martin wrote down the understated melody that Paul sang to him, and Alan Civil performed it. Always pushing boundaries, Martin and McCartney decided to insert a top note into the score outside the instrument’s normal range.
We came to the session and Alan looked up from his bit of paper: ‘Eh, George? I think there’s a mistake here – you’ve got a high F written down. Then George and I said, ‘Yeah,’ and smiled back at him, and he knew what we were up to and played it. These great players will do it. Even though it’s officially off the end of their instrument, they can do it, and they’re quite into it occasionally. It’s a nice little solo.
Anthology
The song was admired by John Lennon, who spoke positively about it in a 1980 interview for Playboy.
One of my favourites of his. A nice piece of work.
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
The distinctive chords were played by McCartney on George Martin’s clavichord, which was brought in to EMI Studios from Martin’s home.
It was a very strange instrument to record, and Paul played it. But we wanted a very special sound, and French horn was what he chose.Paul didn’t realise how brilliantly Alan Civil was doing. We got the definitive performance, and Paul said, ‘Well, OK, I think you can do it better than that, can’t you, Alan?’ Alan nearly exploded. Of course, he didn’t do it better than that, and the way we’d already heard it was the way you hear it now.
Anthology
In the studio
The Beatles began recording ‘For No One’ on 9 May 1966. Ten takes of the rhythm track were recorded, with Paul McCartney on a Steinway grand piano and Ringo Starr on drums.
The tenth take was selected as the best. McCartney overdubbed a clavichord, and Starr added maracas, hi-hat, and tambourine.
McCartney overdubbed his lead vocals on 16 May. The tape was slowed to 47.5 cycles rather than the usual 50, which made the vocals higher and faster upon playback.
Alan Civil’s horn solos were recorded on 19 May, as was McCartney’s bass guitar and a tambourine part.
George Martin rang me up and said ‘We want a French horn on a Beatles song, can you do it?’ I knew George from his very early days at EMI because I’d been doing a lot of freelance work then. So I turned up at Abbey Road and all the bobbysoxers were hanging around outside and trying to look through the windows.I thought the song was called ‘For Number One’ because I saw ‘For No One’ written down somewhere. Anyway, they played the existing tape to me, which was complete, and I thought it had been recorded in rather bad musical style, in that it was ‘in the cracks’, neither B-flat nor B-major. This posed a certain difficulty in tuning my instrument. Paul said, ‘We want something there. Can you play something that fits in?’ It was rather difficult to actually understand exactly what they wanted so I made something up which was middle register, a baroque style solo. I played it several times, each take wiping out the previous attempt.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
Civil was the principal horn player in the Philharmonia Orchestra. He was paid a session fee of 50 guineas (£52.50) and was given a credit on the sleeve of Revolver, leading to more work and greater recognition for his playing.
What always fasinates me about the Beatles, even to this day, is their ‘play on words’ wolven into the titles, songs mentioned or suggested in other songs. They kept their consistent’ Sun King:(RA), theme all the way through their albums: The Beatles-Rolling Stones ‘Backwards’….(Eternal Themes) all!! I was very shocked when I 1st heard ‘I’m a loser’ + even ‘She’s leaving home’, but when I heard ‘For no one’, I actually cried! The song almost foreshadowed the bands break-up if only lyrically/symbolically! Richard 2009′
You’ve misattributed George Martin’s quote there (the third one, about Paul’s reaction to Alan’s solo) to Paul.
Oops – so I did. Thanks, fixed now.
In Geoff Emrick’s book, he recounts a similar story of Paul being unsatisfied with a stellar horn performance, except that is involved David Mason and the piccolo trumpet solo in Penny Lane. I wonder if either George or Geoff is confused, I’d imagine they’re referring to the same event.
Based upon Ken Scott and others’ reaction to Emerick’s book, I’m betting it was Geoff that got confused. Before he began the book he stated he could hardly remember anything specific about sessions. So it’s not surprising there are so many misquotes and errors in the book itself.
To me, it was just hypocritical for Geoff Emerick to say that he was unable to remember anything specific about his work on The Beatles’ session (he himself admitted this as early as 1979), but then he published that book of his that unfairly misrepresented John, George and Ringo’s musicianship.
I agree with you that there was no many unnecessary errors and misquotes not to mention things that were patently fabricated, especially sessions that he either played only a minor role on or was not involved with at all.
To me, it was just hypocritical for Geoff Emerick to say that he was unable to remember anything specific about his work on The Beatles’ sessions, but then he published that book of his.
I agree with you that there was no many unnecessary errors and misquotes not to mention things that were patently fabricated, especially sessions that he either played only a minor role on or was not involved with at all.
Everett’s take:
The basic take has Paul on Steinway and Ringo on drums, each on separate tracks but with some acoustic leakage. The piano is given some added reverb from the control room.
Track three adds Paul’s clavichord, Ringo’s hi-hat, maracas and a tambourine that doubles the maracas in the second bridge.
Paul’s compressed and sped-up vocal was recorded to track four, when the tape was then transferred, reducing all to one vocal and instrumental track.
The new third track was filled with bass and second tambourine.
Alan Civil’s horn solo was put onto track four.
I suspected pauls vocal was sped up! sounds far too ‘bright’ for his usual tone.
Paul was really good at singing in different voices, so it’s hard to tell. But maybe
One of my favourite Beatles songs showcasing Paul McCartney’s brilliance. The lyrics are amazingly understated. She doesn’t need him yet still she cries. So, she cries for no one.
However he is implying she cried for him but her tears were not sincere or real.
I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. The emptiness is why she’s crying. So she’s crying for no one. She doesn’t need him(she doesn’t love him anymore, the relationship is used up, empty, over in all but name really) but she’s crying because of the loss of what once was hoped to be but now no longer exists. It’s not the same thing as crying for someone, as though you still have feeling specifically for the person in some way. It’s more about crying over the loss of a way you’d pictured your life would be(and most likely not knowing what to do now to move on which is why the relationship still exists, empty and unfullfilling as it is). Her tears are real but they aren’t for him or anyone in particular.
In a way though it’s a good illustration of what’s happening in the song, you’re doing the same thing the guy in the song is “And when she says her love is dead, you think she needs you”. Paul’s actually tackling a pretty complex issue in these lyrics.
NIna, you nailed the meaning, I echo everything you stated regarding this extraordinary song.
The lyrics are clever and very astute. There seem to be many layers open to interpretation. It could be that the woman is crying because she has been hurt and is numbed by pain. She finds it difficult to show him any love and says she no longer needs him. Depressed, she blankly goes about her daily life. She cries for no one. She says long ago she knew someone (before he became famous) but where did he go? The man is heartbroken at her reaction. There could be a hidden element of self-reproach. It was a love that should have lasted years.
You know, in some personal way, for me in these lyrics she’s not crying a lot. I always imagined it as McCartney mourning the loss of this relationship, and he imagines her crying but not for him anymore. I always felt like this lyrics were one sided, meaning that we don’t get much of how the girl is feeling but only what he is feeling. I don’t know, that was only my interpretation
Nina hits the nail on the head here.
Exactly. At least, that’s how I hear it as well.
The lyric is very very good.
Besides much of what he is, Paul is a poet.
What blew my mind was how young he was when he wrote it. I mean, these are very mature and deep lyrics. Light years away from the hand holding love songs. By the way, I never understood the Beatles vs Beach Boys thing. John, Paul and even George were so much more mature and creative with lyrics. Martin’s production blew them away. Music was definitely Brian’s stronger point but the Beatles ate him up and spit him out.
Yes. It makes you wonder why McCartney couldn’t have done more of it. Had all his lyrics been on this level, there would be just no discussion as to who of Lennon or McCartney was more talented.
Why do we compare who had more talent? Without both of their talents combined, there are no Beatles. They both had tremendous talent that complimented each other. Everything else is just one’s opinion anyway.
That’s an excellent analysis!
I get more than a little tired of the Lennon vs. McCartney nonsense.
“It makes you wonder….” — the same might well be asked of, say, Bob Dylan, who, years later, looked back on the “wild mercury sound” that he found circa 1965-66 and wondered why he couldn’t get it back. Or, to offer another example, why were Mick Jagger and Keith Richards red-hot for several years and then….not so much? Why was Francis Ford Coppola the greatest film director in the world for 10 years and then….not so much? The reason is, creativity is complicated and difficult. It’s shy. It hides. It’s easily frightened. It’s reluctant to come forth because it involves extreme vulnerability. The making of a great song and a great recording of that song are dependent on many factors coming together all at once — the songwriter gaining access to the depths of his/her unconscious (difficult to do, and scary), the presence in those depths of useful material (ideas, words, music) worth getting to (extremely rare), confidence that what’s residing in those depths is worth getting to, the vibe given off by one’s bandmates and producer, the vibe of the culture, maybe even the vibe of the security guard standing at the gate of the studio. Etc. To write and record one great song, one single song that is loved by millions, that endures for years and becomes a classic, a standard, is the dream of ten thousand professional songwriters, and wanna-be songwriters, in London, N.Y., L.A., Nashville, and in small towns and cities across the globe — and they’re not able to do it. The making of one great standard is a sort of miracle. The Beatles created a lot of standards — 20, 30, 40 or more. “Why couldn’t they have done more?” is not the interesting question. The interesting question is, “How the heck did they do so much?”
Before I’d even heard this song, I’d looked at the album cover – seen the background photo – seen the song titles – I knew we were in for something different.
In particular this song title “For No One” made think – what the heck is this song going to be about?
Maybe the most underrated song the Beatles ever recorded. Not underrated by Beatles buffs like us here, but by casual fans of the band. Such beauty
I think this is a well-written song, but…that french horn solo. Ugh. With all due respect to Mr. Civil, it was a bad call. It just doesn’t mesh with the arrangement, IMO, with the stripped down instrumentation centered around the piano/clavichord part. It just sounds stuffy and incongruous. But then again, as a classically trained musician, my loathing for the french horn is highly refined and extensive. I confess a bias.
Just to clarify. That solo was not written or improvised by Mr. Civil. That was Paul’s choice all the way and Paul and George Martin put the arrangement together. I think it’s a great addition and not meant to stay within traditional boundaries. The Beatles were all about expanding.
A sad viola would have had everyone sobbing
But the progression is too cheery and bouncy.
I think the horn solo works perfectly as it feels cold and lonely – like Paul in the song.
Probably the finest song Macca wrote with the Beatles, it’s stunning and George Martin captured the raw feel of emotion in the recording.
Love the question mark ending; the story is not complete yet!
I have to agree; i believe the horn makes the song.
“it feels cold and lonely – like Paul in the song” – That’s it.
such a Beautiful yet sad song, i understand Paul what he tried to say…he was actually very hurted…i felt the same now
The chord progression here in the verses is very similar to the chorus chords in Hello Goodbye.
I was 9 when this song came out and remember thinking, “What a completely different type of song”
It’s not a ballad, it’s a dirge – yet a beautiful dirge at that (I didn’t think that last part at 9!)
Perfect word…dirge. He is in mourning as the horn solo bends to that grief.
Lennon v McCartney. Banana or Apple. Coffee of Tea? Pointless debate for the insecure.
This song is classic PM. It just reverberates the harmonic style that he has. Love it.
I thing that this song is about John and Cyn.
This song is about Paul and Jane Asher.
Agreed. I think Paul loved Jane but he couldn’t stop screwing around, what with his age and all the women about. They were in the break-up /make-up stage at this point, I believe? He was selfish and admitted as much.
She got cheated on too many times and removed herself emotionally from him. In the end he needed her more than she needed him IMO.
But they both found lasting love after this, so it ended up OK and Macca got a great song out of it!
Darius, this song is about Jane Asher. Paul McCartney wrote “For No One” in a bathroom at a ski resort in the Alps. He just had a fight with Jane. And the song’s working title was “Why did it die?” and was changed to “For No One”. John Lennon and George were not on this song.
Good evening all I am trying to track down the horn used in for no one. Alan civil was my cousin and it was not in his personal possessions when he passed. His brother Dave Civil would love to know what happened to it. Get in touch: ss.freeman [at] hotmail.co.uk
Emmy Lou Harris did a GREAT rendition of this on her 2nd (?) album in the 70’s.
It substitutes a weeping, wailing harmonica solo for the French Horn’s, and it
works just as well…
I’m no music expert but as I play some guitar, I’ve noticed that the top note in the horn solo is actually G# and not F. Maybe someone with more expertise could clarify the quote for everybody?
In those days the UK had a different tuning reference than we did in The States. Our G# would have been an F for them, as they were tuning to “435” and not our standard A-440 reference. They later tuned to 440 to accommodate the songs where they used orchestras..
With respect, Donny, your information makes no sense, and is factually incorrect. Most orchestras tune their ‘A’ to anywhere from 435 to 444hz, but it’s still an ‘A’, and the difference is barely discernible to the untrained ear. This chart https://mathman.biz/html/piano.html shows the nearest notes below and above A-440 (G# and A#) are at around 415 and 466, respectively; and F# is down around 370. There are various reasons, most based on temperature fluctuation, to choose different references. (There is also a controversial theory that A- 432 is ideally suited to the natural vibration of our environment. see: https://www.viewzone.com/432hertz222.html )
Donny: To use a George Martin quote (among many others): “That’s codswollop”.
I wondered about that, too. First, I read that Alan Civil said the track had been recorded “in the cracks, between B-flat and B” — probably having been vari-speeded down from C, which is where Macca plays it on his “Yesterday” guitar (tuned down a whole step) here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idqxslV4w-c — putting it in B-flat for the strings & horn, WHOSE HIGH NOTE IS CONCERT ‘G’ (written ‘D’). Possibly, for the REVOLVER horn session, they slowed it down to A-flat, making the high note an ‘F’; it does seem to have a thinner, quasi-flugelhorn tone which would result from playing back the recording whole-step higher (in B-flat). (Anyway, I learned it in B, same as Penny Lane, which I guess was lowered from C, and probably further lowered to B-flat for the trumpet solo, but I haven’t researched that. Having digressed this far, I might as well add that I associate B-major with the intro and interlude to “…Walrus” and the interlude to “Day Tripper”. I also happens to be the easiest scale , ergonomically, to play on piano.)
The high note for the French Horn on the finished track is def a High D# (ie concert G#). Pretty sure that this is also the way Alan Civil played it. Cause that’s the only way the story makes sense since a written High C (ie concert F) is on top of the normal scale, but feature often in mainstream music. In other words: Alan Civil would not have startled if it were only a High C (concert F). A High D# however, that’s not common at all ^^
Hey David. You heard correct – the top tone is gis/as. Concert F- the note you hear when playing the f key on your piano, sounds a minor third lower than the F mentioned by the horn player, Alan Civil (google him- he’s a legend). This suggests that the whole song was recorded in A flat major and later sped up (what later became varispeed). I am now searching for documentation on the Revolver recordings use of changing tape speed.
On the other hand, Macca is quoted to want a note outside the normal range of the horn, which even in these days, included the high concert F. (which is/was the top-tone).
Further confusion can occur because the horns is a transposing instrument. In most cases, you can leave it to the horn player.
Fred
The bootlegs seem to indicate the opposite, that the song was in fact in C and then slowed down to what we hear in the album version.
Has anyone noticed the ending notes if this song? One of the most fascinating things to me is the fact the song ends on the F sharp sus and Paul intentionally seems to have not returned to the B which would have been a logical and traditional ending to place it in the proper ending since it is in the key of B major. Instead the song ends, lingering just as the theme of the lyrics describe- an unfinished, unrequited love song, almost yearning for a proper resolution that is never delivered. I always wonder if that was intentional?
Of course it was intentional!
Anyone else here the similarities between the the bridge here and in Wings’ “With a Little Luck”? Dminor to A7. “And in her eyes…” versus “There is no end…”
Yes, I’ve taken note of that as well!
I like to read the responses here.. the folks discussing the Beatles canon at the molecular level…the sus” notes and the F to G progressions… did I get that right? . These are the architects of the experience, the ones who know how to build the bridge… myself, and I suspect many others, are not, and only able to be the ones who walk upon and cross the bridge… I learned here tonight why I always was haunted by the horn in this song….the high F note – so carry on, there is a time and a place for the molecules of a song…
I’m an amateur musician (guitar) and I feel the same as you about the theoretical discussions here. I suspect that approximately half of what people say is at least partially incorrect (or inexact) but I love all of it.
There is a rare video of “For No One” on YouTube where Paul is in the studio, playing the song on his acoustic guitar for the first time for George Martin (who was in the sound booth), to see if he liked it. It gives you chills to see the birth of a Beatle song in this manner.
That’s not from 1966, though. I think it was shot in 1982/83 when George was producing “Tug Of War” & “Pipes Of Peace”.
Actually I think that was done for the Give My Regards To Broad Street film.
Easily one of their finest songs. The original and one and only JPM was a poet and great musician. The replacement isn’t capable of such beauty that’s why we haven’t more songs like this. Sadly, this was months before we lost him.
Except “Hey Jude,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Blackbird,” “Mother Nature’s Son,” and “The End” are just as fine. (Just to mention a few that are in the same vein.) (By the way, just as an FYI, a major psychology scholar who studies compulsive behavior is considering launching a large–scale study of people who build their lives around crazy conspiracy theories. She will offer free confidential counseling and therapy.)
pammief,
It is Paul relationship with Jane Asher that made this Song possible. With him cheating on Jane. And with the turmoil in Paul and Jane relationship that is what make Songs like “Another Girl”, “I’m Looking Through You”, and “We Can Work Out”, so meaningful.
And Paul relationship with Linda Eastman they were married, he did not cheat on her, and they have kids. And Paul was in thirties and forties. Paul has changed so his Songs have changed. But “Maybe Im Amazed” is just as good as “For No One”.
It is ridiculous the notion that Paul is dead, Nonsense!
Brilliant Paul McCartney composition. The lyrics and delivery by McCartney are full of an aching pathos. One of many gems off the “Revolver” album, one of the greatest albums ever.First heard it when I got “Love Songs” compilation in 1977 and in 1980 when I obtained ” Revolver”, could see it’s place as part one of the great albums.
Listening to this in the car tonight, for the first time I heard a guitar chord strummed at the very end. I replayed the whole song on the right channel and believe there is also an acoustic guitar doubling the descending bass line on the piano.
Anyone else catch this?
I’d say that you’re hearing the bass notes on the clavichord doubling same on the piano. The clavi’s sustained notes sound similar to acoustic gtr.
Along with Eleanor Rigby, this song, produced in a more “academic, refined, classical” way, gives Revolver its unique and distinctive touch among the other tracks in it. Pure shiny melancholy. The French horn, two thumbs up!
Perhaps McCartney´s best composition. But what about the lyric bit: “…a love that should have lasted years…”? Like a slogan from a insurance company. Pitty McCartney´s voice. He sounds like a child.
Pity your posts constantly sound like that of a child. Shame you are such a blinders-on hater of Paul that you always feel the need to offer your utterly valueless opinions on the matter wherever and whenever you can. You’re either trolling or vainly trying to convince others you know more than they do, but in any case it is very immature and frankly, boring (not to mention flat-out wrong).
SMH…….
Other than your first comment, what an absolutely stupid post.
When I was a grade 3 pupil in primary school in 1973, a neighbor house beside the school, I always hear a trumpet player doing or practicing the For No One solo.
As a kid I was already familiar with Beatles songs so I knew it was For No One solo did on trumpet. He done it perfectly note for note. That was only for some days in weekdays not everyday, after some months it’s gone and I miss hearing that man practicing again.
I love “For No One” so much. Yes, much of the humanity of “Eleanor Rigby” is here, too. I have played that French horn bit on the trumpet as often as I can since1966… I can play a little French Horn, but I do vastly prefer the trumpet. Yes, I also like and play “Penny Lane”, but I play that part an octave lower! Paul isn’t there in the room when I play trumpet to try to get me to play the upper register. LOL
I want to draw fans of the French Horn’s attention to “Tommy” by the Who… and to the French Horn, there, in the overture and beyond… and of course to the Stones’ single version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”… delightful French Horn, there.
But, above all, Mozart’s concertos for French Horn are fabulous.
I like Dale Clevenger and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra… and recommend those versions of Mozart.
Cheers, all!
Intriguing, how some of Paul’s most acclaimed Beatles’ compositions — For No One…Here, There, and Everywhere…Eleanor Rigby…Yesterday — have minimal if any participation from the other Beatles. I’ve just noticed this, and am not sure what to make of it.
The Beatles were Paul’s first backup band, don’t you know? 😉
I left out my admiration for French Horn virtuoso Dennis Brain, who tragically died young in an accident, driving one of his beloved motor cars. He of course is the standard by which all French Horn players are judged… I meant to add that however much I enjoyed the CSO and Clevenger versions, the image of Dennis Brain lurks in these pieces, as it does in Alan Civil’s horn on “For No One”. That we are alluding to Dennis Brain, to Mozart, at all, is a testament to the utter brilliance of “For No One” as a composition. If only Dennis Brain had lived to hear it, he would have loved it immensely, as I, and all here obviously, do.
I was intrigued to read about the high note for the french horn and how it contributed to the pain and pathos of the song. That never occurred to me.
Once, many years ago, I attended a classical string quartet concert and there was a pre-concert talk given by the musicians. I cannot recall the piece but I vividly recall one of the musicians saying that the composer of the piece purposely created a fingering that was somewhat painful for the musician to play so that the listener could hear that pain in the music when it was performed. Perhaps the strain for the high note by the french horn is similarly felt.
To me, the brilliance of this song is how haunting the disconnect is between how very sad the lyrics are with the “apathy/coldness” of the delivery.
One of JPM’s best!!!
If the overdubbed drums, maracas and tambourine were recorded at once and on the same track, then surely Ringo couldn’t have played all three of them. George and John, or someone else, must be playing them.
Neither John nor George were involved with the recording.
I’m really late to the party here, but this is so much fun. I agree with other comments here, it’s somewhat ridiculous the degree to which this stuff is picked apart, but it’s also good, clean fun, too! And since I was thrown into some forensic work for myself about this song, I found this thread, and it’s great. And since I”m in lockdown, here’s yet another contribution of confusing minutiae, in the form of two questions that are related (I swear!).
First question: I’d like to know what kind of French Horn Alan Civil played on the track. The most common I believe is the Horn in F, but there are also horns in practically every other key (Horn in Bb, in A, in Eb, etc.), probably due to the difficulty in keeping these things in pitch over different keys (I’m a musician, but not a horn player).
This question is “important” because of the quote by Paul where he recalls Alan Civil telling George Martin, “you’ve got a high F written down”. If he played the normal Horn in F, transposed, his score would show a D# for that high note (if the song was actually recorded in B. If it was actually in C, then it would show an E. But this is part of the next question).
The only horns he would have to have played in order for his score to show the high note as an F would be a Horn in Eb (if the song is in B), or a Horn in E (if the song is in C).
It’s the middle of the night here, or I’d call a French Horn player pal of mine. And this is just too much of a burning question for me to wait. I pray to all that is holy that there is a French Horn player reading this thread that can shed light on which horn one would normally choose to play this passage.
Which leads nicely into the second question: What key did they actually record the song in, the version that finally made it? It’s in B when you just listen off of Revolver. But in every single rehearsal take that’s out there, and even in a solo acoustic guitar version that exists, it’s actually played in C. So did Paul record the piano in C and then was it slowed down to B and he sang in B, or was the piano and vocal recorded in C and slowed down? What lends credence at least the piano being recorded in C (besides all the rehearsal takes) is the fact that B is way harder to play in than C for a rock/pop guy like Paul (or anybody else, and it’s absolutely no slight on Paul’s musical genius.)
You can blame my vocal teacher for this, he’s making me sing the song.
Cheers everyone!
The first “adult” song written by Paul McCartney IMHO.
This is my favourite track on “Revolver” and it’s one of Paul’s best songs. It made a nice change to have a French horn in lieu of a guitar solo, as it gave another dimension and an interesting effect.
Suppose that all four Beatles recorded the basic track together, my theory is that Paul would’ve definitely have been on the piano, John and George could have played their Gibson J-160Es in either electric mode for the unique hybrid acoustic/electric sound or in regular acoustic mode and Ringo would’ve been on the drums obviously.
Paul’s singing, piano, clavichord and bass work is just so beautiful (I love how his bass sounds so melodic and plays in unison with his voice when he signs “and in her eyes, you see nothing, no sign of love behind the tears, cry for no one, a love that should’ve lasted years”) and Ringo’s drum, tambourine and maraca work is also very well-performed. Alan Civil also played two nice French horn solos.
Great comment. I like it very much. For No One is an absolutely wonderful song. Such a gem on the Revolver album.
Hi Joe, you don’t mention the bass overdub in the article… Do you know when Paul McCartney did it? (My guess would be either May 9 or May 16)
It was added on 19 May. I’ll amend the article.
Thank you!