Things We Said Today
| "Things We Said Today" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK single B-side label | ||||
| Single by the Beatles | ||||
| from the album A Hard Day's Night | ||||
| A-side | "A Hard Day's Night" | |||
| Released |
| |||
| Recorded | 2–3 June 1964 | |||
| Studio | EMI, London | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 2:38 | |||
| Label | Parlophone | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |||
| The Beatles UK singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Things We Said Today" is a song by the English
McCartney wrote the song while holidaying in the Virgin Islands with his girlfriend, actress Jane Asher. The lyrics address the singer's love for a girl despite the distance between them. McCartney later described the song as exhibiting "future nostalgia", being "nostalgic about the moment we're living in now."[1] The music is melodically complex, using chords more typical of classical music and jazz than pop music. Between verses, it changes between major and minor keys, while the lyrics shift between the first and third person, and between the future and present tense.
"Things We Said Today" has received a favourable response from several music critics. Some reviewers express that the song presents more closely to John Lennon's style than McCartney's, with others comparing its mood to Lennon's "I'll Be Back". Some have interpreted the song as relating to difficulties in McCartney's relationship with Asher, caused in part by their pursuits of different careers.
Background and composition
"Things We Said Today" is mostly in the
Musicologist Walter Everett writes the song's verse–refrain has an "SRDC" structure: Statement–Restatement–Departure–Conclusion.[12] The lyrics affirm the singer's love for a girl despite the long distance between them.[1] McCartney described the song as a "future nostalgia", with the song "[projecting] itself into the future and then is nostalgic about the moment we're living in now".[1] In the verses the lyrics sing of the future and are in the third person, while the release changes to the present tense and the first person.[8]
Everett writes that the "strumming of the minor chord on acoustic guitar" and "vocal arpeggiation" are reminiscent of Bob Dylan's 1963 song "Masters of War", though "the lyrics are worlds apart".[13] He compares George Harrison's chiming of his Gretsch Country Gent guitar on the song's verse to the chiming he does on his Rickenbacker 12-string throughout the album.[14]
Recording
The Beatles recorded several songs for A Hard Day's Night on 2 June 1964, including "Things We Said Today". Recording in
While the Beatles were away on their 1964 world tour,[20] Martin, again assisted by Smith, returned to EMI on 9 June 1964. In Studio Three, they mixed "Things We Said Today" for mono from take three.[18] They returned on 22 June to mix much of the album in Studio One, including "Things We Said Today" for stereo.[21] Both mixes omit Lennon's piano overdub, but, due to audio leakage from the other instrument's microphones, it is still heard slightly on the released version.[15]
Release and reception
EMI's
Lennon dominated the songwriting of A Hard Day's Night;
Author Jonathan Gould calls "Things We Said Today" a "darkly beautiful love song", writing that McCartney "holding out the ends of his lines" suggests his hope to "prolong the happiness of the present moment".
In McCartney's authorised biography, Many Years From Now, Barry Miles writes that, like "And I Love Her", the song was inspired by McCartney and Asher's relationship and the frequent separation from one another they experienced due to their busy careers.[38] MacDonald similarly writes that the sombre lyric of "Things We Said Today" was inspired by the interruptions in McCartney and Asher's relationship.[9]
BBC Radio and live versions
British law in the 1960s compelled BBC Radio to play material recorded especially for the medium.[39] In keeping with this practice, the Beatles played "Things We Said Today" twice for radio,[40] recording for the BBC Light Programmes Top Gear and From Us to You on 14 and 17 July 1964, respectively.[41] The former, broadcast two days later, was the first Top Gear programme to run on BBC Radio 1.[42] EMI included this performance on the album Live at the BBC,[43] released in the UK and US on 30 November and 6 December 1994, respectively.[44] The album achieved number one on the UK Music Week top 75 and number three on the Billboard 200.[45]
The Beatles regularly performed an abbreviated version of the song during their 1964 North American tour.[46] MacDonald writes the song's combination of "ease and effectiveness" secured its inclusion in their set list.[47] Capitol, hoping to release a live album of the band in the US market, recorded their 23 August 1964 concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles but deemed the recording of insufficient quality for release.[48] In 1977, Capitol approached Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick to re-edit the tapes, along with a 30 August 1965 concert.[49] EMI released the resulting album, The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, on 6 May 1977, with "Things We Said Today" sequenced as the sixth track, between "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Roll Over Beethoven".[50] Apple released a remixed and remastered version of the album on 9 September 2016, re-titled as Live at the Hollywood Bowl.[51] Calling the song "often-overlooked", Beatles writer Robert Rodriguez writes that the live version of "Things We Said Today" features a "rave-up bridge".[52] Unterberg suggests that, while the song is often overlooked in modern-day listening, its inclusion in the Beatles' 1964 set list points to its major contemporaneous impact.[34]
Personnel
According to Ian MacDonald:[9][note 3]
- Paul McCartney – double tracked vocal, bass
- John Lennon – acoustic rhythm guitar, piano
- George Harrison – lead guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine
Notes
- ^ Only seventeen years old, this was second engineer Ken Scott's first ever recording session.[15]
- ^ In Lewisohn's 1988 book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, he writes that 3 June was "a rehearsal only" and "not recorded".[18] In 1993, it was discovered that the session tape had been misfiled, revealing song demos from Lennon and Harrison as well as overdubs to "Any Time At All" and "Things We Said Today".[19]
- ^ Beatles writer John C. Winn writes that, after the 3 June overdubs, the final track includes two acoustic guitars and an electric guitar, but does not specify who played them.[16] Everett writes the only guitars on the track were Harrison's Country Gent and Lennon's Jumbo.[2]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g Miles 1998, p. 122.
- ^ a b c d Everett 2001, p. 247.
- ^ a b Miles 2007, p. 123.
- ^ a b Miles 1998, p. 121.
- ^ Shepherd 1964, p. 9, quoted in Miles 2007, p. 123.
- ^ Shepherd 1964, p. 9, quoted in Everett 2001, p. 247.
- ^ a b Pollack, Alan W. (1996). "Notes on 'Things We Said Today'". soundscapes.info. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ a b Gould 2007, p. 247.
- ^ a b c d MacDonald 2007, p. 120.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 247: describes B♭ chord as being reminiscent of Frédéric Chopin; he describes the use of ♭II7 in place of V7 as a substitute typical "in the tonal language of jazz".
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 193.
- ^ Everett 2001, pp. 247, 365.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 401n103.
- ^ Everett 2006, p. 76.
- ^ a b c d Lewisohn 1988, p. 44.
- ^ a b Winn 2008, p. 187.
- ^ Lewisohn 2000, pp. 160–161.
- ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, p. 45.
- ^ Winn 2008, p. 186.
- ^ Miles 2007, pp. 124–131.
- ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 46.
- ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 47.
- ^ a b Everett 2001, p. 239.
- ^ Rodriguez 2012, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Miles 2007, pp. 133–134.
- ^ MacDonald 2004, p. 101.
- ^ a b Ingham 2009, p. 28.
- ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 38–43.
- ^ Hertsgaard 1995, p. 76.
- ^ Hertsgaard 1995, pp. 75, 80.
- ^ Hertsgaard 1995, p. 80.
- ^ Gould 2007, pp. 247–248.
- ^ Kramer 2009, p. 73.
- ^ a b Unterberger, Richie. "The Beatles "Things We Said Today"". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 25 August 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ Ewing, Tom (8 September 2009). "The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ Sandall 2004, p. 131.
- ^ MacDonald 2007, pp. 120–121.
- ^ Miles 1998, pp. 122–123.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 159.
- ^ Lewisohn 2000, p. 357.
- ^ Winn 2008, pp. 217–218.
- ^ Lewisohn 2000, p. 166.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 160.
- ^ Badman 2001, p. 524.
- ^ Badman 2001, p. 525.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 250.
- ^ MacDonald 2007, p. 121.
- ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 48.
- ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 48, 62.
- ^ Badman 2001, p. 208.
- ^ Bonner, Michael (20 July 2016). "The Beatles to release remixed and remastered recordings from their Hollywood Bowl concerts". UNCUT. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ Rodriguez 2010, p. 130.
Sources
- Badman, Keith (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After The Break-Up 1970–2001. London: ISBN 0-7119-8307-0.
- ISBN 978-0-19-514105-4.
- Everett, Walter (2006). "Painting Their Room in a Colorful Way: The Beatles' Exploration of Timbre". In ISBN 0-7914-6716-3.
- Gould, Jonathan (2007). ISBN 978-0-307-35337-5.
- ISBN 0-385-31377-2.
- Ingham, Chris (2009). The Rough Guide to the Beatles (3rd ed.). London: ISBN 978-1-84836-525-4.
- Kramer, Howard (2009). "Rock and Roll Music". In ISBN 978-0-521-68976-2.
- ISBN 978-0-600-63561-1.
- Lewisohn, Mark (2000). The Complete Beatles Chronicle. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-60033-5.
- ISBN 0-7566-0670-5.
- MacDonald, Ian (2007). ISBN 978-1-55652-733-3.
- ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
- Miles, Barry (2007). The Beatles: A Diary: An Intimate Day by Day History. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84772-082-5.
- Rodriguez, Robert (2010). Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980. New York: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-968-8.
- Rodriguez, Robert (2012). Revolver: How the Beatles Re-Imagined Rock 'n' Roll. Montclair: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-61713-009-0.
- ISBN 0-7566-0670-5.
- Shepherd, Billy (July 1964). "Beatles on Holiday". The Beatles Monthly Book. No. 12. pp. 7–13.
- Winn, John C. (2008). Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume One, 1957–1965. New York: ISBN 978-0-307-45157-6.
External links
