The final song on A Hard Day’s Night, ‘I’ll Be Back’ was written mostly by John Lennon, and was a reworking of the chords to Del Shannon’s 1961 hit ‘Runaway’.
‘I’ll Be Back’ is me completely. My variation of the chords in a Del Shannon song.
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
On Please Please Me and With The Beatles, the final songs were spectacular Lennon-led rockers – ‘Twist And Shout’ and ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’ respectively. A Hard Day’s Night signalled The Beatles’ growing maturity as writers and performers by closing on a melancholy note.
‘I’ll Be Back’ was co-written but it was largely John’s idea. When we knew we were writing for something like an album he would write a few in his spare moments, like this batch here. He’d bring them in, we’d check ’em. I’d write a couple and we’d throw ’em at each other, and then there would be a couple that were more co-written. But you just had a certain amount of time. You knew when the recording date was and so a week or two before then we’d get into it.
‘I’ll Be Back’ is a curious composition, containing no chorus but two bridges. Furthermore, its switches between A major and A minor in the introduction and ending leaving a sense of unfinished business.
A nice tune, though the middle is a bit tatty.
Hit Parader, April 1972
Lyrically, the song is one of Lennon’s most vulnerable. After the bravado of ‘You Can’t Do That’ and ‘When I Get Home’, it was one of the first true instances of the raw confessional style which he would explore more fully on Help!.
In the studio
Recorded on 1 June 1964, ‘I’ll Be Back’ took The Beatles 16 takes to get right. The first nine were the rhythm track, and the final seven were the double tracked and harmony vocals, plus an acoustic guitar overdub.
The Beatles tried different arrangements in the studio before settling on the final version. Takes two and three were issued on Anthology 1. The first of these shows how Lennon originally conceived ‘I’ll Be Back’ as a waltz, though the recording breaks down with him claiming it too hard to sing.
Take three, meanwhile, saw the first instance of the song in its more familiar 4/4 rhythm, though performed with electric rather than acoustic guitars.
It is believed that The Beatles may have intended to record a 14th song for A Hard Day’s Night on 3 June 1964. However, Ringo Starr was taken ill with tonsillitis and pharyngitis during a photo session that morning, leading to a swift change of plans.
In his place, the group drafted in replacement drummer Jimmie Nicol for a rehearsal at Abbey Road ahead of their imminent world tour. The rehearsal took place between 2.30 and 5.30pm, replacing a pre-booked recording session.
After Nicol had left the studio that evening, The Beatles recorded demos of ‘You Know What To Do’, ‘No Reply’, and ‘It’s For You’, the last of which was given to Cilla Black.
It is not known whether any of these songs were intended to feature on A Hard Day’s Night. However, The Beatles’ failure to record a final song for the album meant that it was released, unusually, with 13 tracks.
Whether ‘I’ll Be Back’ was always intended to be the album’s last song is not known, but it intriguing to imagine how the album might have sounded if accompanied by a full version of one of the three demo songs.
Lennon sings lead (double-tracked) with McCartney and Harrison providing harmony vocals.
Paul doesn’t play guitar in this one. Of course, there are three guitars in the final mix, but two of them are recorded during the backing track (George’s lead RamÃrez nylon-string and John’s Jumbo acoustic) and the third was an overdub by George with his Jumbo.
Thanks for the clarification – line-up amended accordingly!
I’m not sure about George singing.
Agree. I don’t hear George at all on this. Only paul and john
According to Galeazzo Frudua, Paul is singing two sets of harmony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ikoo3rqJKQ
Somebody is doing an E throughout the verses. “You know, if you break my heart I’ll go, but I’ll be back again” all on the same E note. My guess is it’s Paul because I doubt George could sing the E without using falsetto.
“I doubt George could sing the E without using falsetto.”
Are you kidding? Listen to “Do You Want To Know A Secret”.
If any of you ever get the chance, check the the American album “Beatles ’65” in stereo. The sound of “I’ll Be Back” is more warm and haunting. Supposedly Capitol Records added more echo to this track. I actually prefer this version over the UK “A Hard Day’s Night” original.
Thanks for the info Mark. This is my fave singing of theirs. Again, not saying it is the best – just my fave singing. For me, just amazing – the vocal sound. It really does cast a spell. You don’t necessarily need brilliant lyrics to be mesmeric. The sound of it itself…
I don’t hear the Del Shannon “Runaway” influence here, instead I hear some of Johns brilliance in his writing as well as singing, as he did so much in the early days. In fact, Johns songs dominate the Hard Day’s Night album and though there may be one or to “filler” songs included, he wrote some real gems for this album.
Agreed. John was at one of his creative/musical peaks on this record. I love pretty much everything he was doing in this period, singing w supreme confidence w his vocals at their strongest, sounding fantastic, writing very melodic, complex pop songs seemingly w ease. He really dominated the early albums, this one, With The Beatles, For Sale, Help…i think it was understood back then(though maybe not admitted outloud) the Beatles were still very much “John’s band”. I think this started to change w “yesterday” and culminated w John’s ego destruction through the use of LSD, Paul’s continual growth as a writer (he was younger so natural he reached his artistic peak a bit later) and Epstein’s death, all occurring in a 1-2 year period.
I agree with your statement that Lennon was at his “vocal” peak in this more “raw” type of sound. Lyrically, John hadn’t quite hit his all time high until help or Rubber Soul. (In my opinion) He was still finding himself in a sense. At about “Help!” “When We Can Work It Out” was written this is when john’s Voice had really evolved in a sense. His range was better and he had grown up a bit and took more time on his writing. He hadn’t been introduced to LSD yet, but he was smoking marijuana. (As were all the other Beatles. You can tell in the filming of help.) Paul’s songs “Yesterday” And “Michelle” were the beginning of his very creative ballad writing. In all, In a sense, John’s more “rock and roll style voice” did reach its high at this time but not his range and writing.
You want to hear something funny, I just recorded the tune and played around with the arrangement, wondering what it would sound like with a “Runaway” type organ. And then here I read JL was influenced by Shannon!
SD has it pegged as usual (although I don’t hear any Harrison vocal). If you listen to the false start/blooper outttakes near the master (when they are playing acoustic), you can tell that George overdubbed some guitar to give the rhythm some more oomph. This is a fine song…highly underrated, with some beautiful, subtle lead guitar work by George on his Ramirez and some of John and Paul’s best harmonies.
Yed. Highly underrated. A unique song. I like it very much. Because of its “middle eight” it sticks out. I wish Paul would do it live some day (his “And I Love Her” from this era bests – or for purists at least – equala the original).
I’ve always loved this underrated gem, haunting and beautiful. Perfect ending to a classic album.
Wow, we actually agree on that.
does anyone know where can get a backing track, i.e. I want to record my vocals to it for fun, Peter
well, 5 years later is better than never try: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pOGQTR92iM
One of those tracks that barely anybody seems to know but I would put right up there with my favourites. Magic.
Ditto, a really beautiful song. Everything about it…perfect
whenever my friends and I break out the acoustic guitars this is easily one of the first songs we play and sing. It is an amazing and yes, hidden, gem of a song. Off the top of my head I can’t think of any other song by any artist, quite like this one.
In this song, Paul sings two different harmonies
In the 2nd line of 3rd verse (after the 2 refrains or codas) at the 1:37 mark, notice Paul’s bass hit the C# instead of a C.
Verse’s chords are Am-G-FMaj7/C.
Paul fretted a C# on FMaj7 instead of a C.
Was this deliberately done or just an accident/error by Paul?
wow – awfully good ears and attention to detail! never heard that before.
George does NOT sing in this one, fellows. Paul does two different backing vocals, one very clear,against John’s overdubbed vocals, and another high-pitched one quite in the background.
Put some headphones on and you’ll hea it more clearly.
I once read somewhere that this song was written because of a “suggestion” by Paul that both he and John each try to write a song in A minor. What Paul failed to say is that he had already written one…Things We Said Today, which was and is one of the best Beatles songs of that time period. John came up with I’ll Be Back. I very definitely read this story once, but I can’t remember where. I’ve never heard anyhting about the story again, but ever since then I can’t hear I’ll Be Back without also thinking about TWST, or vice versa. TWST always reminds me of I’ll Be Back.
I also think of this song as the brother of TWST. Over and over again you hear one of them writing a song and the other replying with something comparable yet different, and to me this is a prime example.
This is a nice melancholy one. Another possible reason it resonates so is that it was one of the first songs featured in the 1981 medley by Dutch novelty group “Stars on 45,” a song which hit #1 in the U.S. It was immediately preceded in the medley by “No reply”, another Lennon gem from this period. Lennon may have been the voice of The Beatles in the Netherlands.
One of my favorite Beatle gems (among about 250 others). Paul’s 2 vocals (one higher with same note throughout) during verses is subtle but helps make the song. Paul and John harmonizing is wonderful if a tiny bit rough (likely the way they intended). Guitar part during “the middle” is really neat. The many videos of this song by the Beatles on UTube (different renditions before the final cut) and videos of guitar chord s and vocals by others add to the song’s greatness. Overall
a simple but complex songs by the masters of song making. I still remember watching the Sullivan shows on a black and white TV in 1964 and 1965 (when Paul did Yesterday)in my college dorm basement. We had to talk some people out of watching a folk song show instead during the first Sullivan show. 50 years ago-wow.
I just have memories of my 15 year old brain being mesmerized by the the intro, passing back and forth between major and minor keys. II wore out the the final 25 seconds of groove on the album track, and once in a while even letting it continue into the rest of this song…
There are some parallels between I’ll Be Back’s lyrics and J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye”, the novel that Lennon’s assassin was obsessed about.
Going away and coming back again is what the novel’s protagonist does (going away to boarding school, coming home after being expelled, and we’re told this has happened before). “You could find better things to do” parallels the protagonist’s conversation with his sister, in which she interrogates him about what he wants to do with his life. “Not trying to pretend” parallels the protagonist’s hatred of everything “phony”. The protagonist tries to convince a girlfriend to run away with him, but gets a big surprise when she turns him down…
I’m sure that I read a mention about this connection somewhere before, but now I’m having trouble finding where that was.
There are 3 voices working on that harmony. One of them is one simple note If it was not 3 of them it was overdubed byr one of them.
Another one of my fave Beatles Songs. I loved John’s voice especially when he put feeling in it like in this song and his vocal solo in “This boy” amoungst others.
Always thought George’s riff sounded like the tones in the TV show Wheel of Fortune when they introduce the puzzle.
But it’s a top ten Beatles song for me. Grew up with the echoed Beatles ’65 version and grew to appreciate it more as the HDN closer.
A lovely John Lennon composition and a great way to end “A Hard Days Night”. Beautiful words and vocals by john Lennon.
A certain entry, for me, on any list of “Top 10 Most Beautiful Beatles Songs.” Can’t understand why it so often overlooked by anyone who knows their repertoire.
There is a guy on You Tube that has a series of videos called “The Beatles vocal harmonies” which, show how their harmonies were arranged. He does a good breakdown of I’ll be back and how Paul has the two different harmony parts.
I just can’t stop listening to this song lately.
Been listening to Beatles all my life (I’m 50) but funny how sometimes songs just grab you even after all these years.
The ‘warbled’ sound of the nylon string guitar is interesting (i.e around 1′ 30″)
A rare, recorded bass error. Probably drove/drives Paul nuts every time he hears it. Surprising they left it on. It’s buried in the mix, but still pretty obvious. Still one of my favorites. John drove the bus in the beginning. The balance of songwriting in his favor (in number and quality) is shocking when you do the math. And then it’s almost as if he lost interest in song writing. I have been thinking lately that there is only Paul now and he seems to indulge in revisionist history from time to time, crediting himself more than is properly warranted. I have always been a John fan. Without his great output in the early years…who knows?
Using the term “revisionist history” implies objective knowledge of the history in question, which no one actually has. The only reason it was “history” in the first place is because John’s account on songwriting credits was the only official one when he died… Paul would nearly always skirt Beatles questions in the 70’s. Paul then had two options… let Lennon’s account reign supreme or take partial credit (rightfully or not) for songs John contended he wrote alone (or omitted assistance). To assume Paul is lying shows implicit bias. To take Paul’s later accounts as absolute truth shows bias towards him. The truth, as we all know, is usually in between. To say Paul shouldn’t speak about or clarify history on Beatles songs because John can’t consent to it is no different than claiming Lennon’s account to be Gospel.
Your point is well made. However, Paul had 40 years to made adjustments to “his” side of the story. Perhaps it was out of respect for John, but he didn’t seem to be bashful when it came to Lennon’s comments on Eleanor Rigby and In My Life. Why so shy until now? To begin doing this when he is almost 80 is not very good optics. It makes him look revisionist whether he is or not. Additionally, Lennon would rave about tracks such as Hey Jude and deliberately say, “That was all Paul and it was a masterpiece.” Name me one song that Paul would say that about Lennon. Instead, he is quick to say, “We did this…” Lennon unfortunately is still dead and cannot add to the discussion.
The number of Paul songs John has praised is about a dozen— dismissing three times as many. Conversely, can you name a single Lennon song Paul has dismissed? I can’t. Just last year he praised Strawberry Fields, Across the Universe & Julia. Paul even chose Beautiful Boy as his Desert Island disc! No one could have predicted what happened to John so holding Paul permanently accountable for his silence in the 70’s (minus In My Life) seems unreasonable. Even if he had spoken out then, critics would have called him petty. And do you really trust bitter John in 1972 to remember/mention every Paul contribution? I love John but he wasn’t reliable. He often contradicted himself and even admitted to lying about the Beatles due to anger and insecurity. Every credit I’ve seen Paul “take” was Pepper or earlier (when they often wrote together) so the timeline checks out. I wouldn’t take any of Paul’s account changes in the past 10 years seriously as age distorts memory. I believe Paul’s recollection through Many Years From Now is much closer to objective truth than John’s account up until his death but, as I stated before, no one will ever truly know.
Paul’s memories have consistently been corroborated by others who were present. Geoff Emerick. George Martin, who was quoted saying, “Paul had the majority of the creative ideas in the Beatles.” John’s memories have consistently been shown to false (cf his memories of the writing of Eleanor Rigby and Pete Shotton’s quite convincing refutation). I love ’em both, equally, they were, together, quite obviously, the beating heart of the great pop music effort ever – but the fact is, Paul is by far – by far – the more credible source. And I disagree completely with the idea that “John drove the bus in the beginning.” Paul and John drove the bus in the beginning and middle and Paul drove it toward the end.
I’m so tired (as Lennon would say )of the fans constant bickering over John and Paul. Paul is my favorite. I love his optimism. That said anyone can easily see that John dominated the early Beatles output right up to Rubber Soul.
…Towards a cliff!
That hasn’t always been the case, Bob.
Steve,
One reason why Paul wrote the book “Many Years From Now” by Barry Miles is to balance the John Vs. Paul. With books like “Shout” by Phillip Norman. Were He said “John was three-quarters of The Beatles” clearly portray McCartney as Lennon’s creative inferior. Phillip bias when He present Paul as conniving, conventional, egotistical, shallow and manipulative in the “Shout” book. And in the “Lennon Remembers” book by Jann Wenner ( he is John Lennon Fan). One Example of the lie in the book is were John declaring that the two had stopped writing together as early as 1962. That is a reason why Paul let Barry Miles write Paul McCartney “Many Years From Now” book to tell his side of the story.
The guy who does all those Beatles harmonies on YouTube is Galeazzo Frudua. He is a great at demonstrating the harmonies. I thought it was simply one high, one low and maybe one in the middle, but if you look up eg If I Fell you will be amazed! He does all the vocals together and then sings each individual part, e.g. John’s verse. Paul’s chorus etc. I did not think it was possible to increase my love of The Beatles music, but this man has done so. Ps If you like a challenge, I recommend downloading a karaoke track and sing the vocal parts. This post is not meant for you musicians, as I’m sure you know all this music theory.
Yeah I agree. He is fantastic
The first time I heard this song was the night John died. One of the news coverage played this song with a montage of early Beatlemania and I remember the words “If you break my heart, I’ll go, but I’ll be back again” and to this day this song brings back that night when this incredible genius was taken from us. I love his voice and the whole song. Just magical
Often heard this Lennon number back in the mid sixties, initially from the Beatles 65′ album where it sounds even better than on the UK A Hard Day’s Night release. After the sad news of December 8th, 1980 when history was altered forever not for better, the deejay on an oldies radio station said, “And now we pay tribute to the late John Lennon” and this song came out. How haunting and sad indeed, for we all want him back!
Heard it on the radio today. Brought me back to late grade school.
I could be wrong, but I’m not too sure I agree with the idea that “I’ll Be Back” was “originally conceived… as a waltz” on account of take 2 on Anthology 1 (which is actually in 6/8, not 3/4, I would argue). The fact is, take 2 broke down because John couldn’t figure out how to sing the bridge in that time signature, as evidenced by his comment to that effect. This breakdown and John’s comment about it suggest to me that performing the song this way was an experiment based on a half-baked idea – as though they’d only rehearsed the first part in 6/8 before deciding to give it a try in 6/8 with tape rolling. In this scenario, after the failure the Beatles returned to the 4/4 arrangement for takes 3 and beyond.
The mono mix on “Beatles 65” was a fold-down of the U.K. stereo mix from “A Hard Days Night”. The same is true for “Money” on “The Beatles Second Album” being a fold-down of the stereo version from “With The Beatles”. No reverb was added by Dave Dexter Jr. either. And Paul did not write one note of “I’ll Be Back”.I used to have a bootleg with John’s home demo on acoustic guitar. It was in 4/4 time,not 6/8 waltz tempo.