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Tell Me Why (Beatles song)

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"Tell Me Why"
Cover to Parlophone single for export release
Song by the Beatles
from the album A Hard Day's Night
Released10 July 1964
Recorded27 February 1964
StudioEMI, London
GenreRock and roll, doo-wop[1]
Length2:10
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)George Martin

"Tell Me Why" is a song by English rock band the Beatles from their album A Hard Day's Night. In North America, it was released on both the American version of A Hard Day's Night and the album Something New. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by John Lennon in either Paris or New York City,[2][3] and recorded in eight takes on 27 February 1964.[4]

Composition

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Paul McCartney said:

I think a lot of these [Lennon's] songs like "Tell Me Why" may have been based in real experiences or affairs John was having, or arguments with Cynthia [Lennon’s wife] or whatever, but it never occurred to us until later to put that slant on it all.[5]

Lennon described the song as resembling "a black New York girl-group song".[6] Its basic structure of simple doo-wop chord changes and block harmonies over a walking bass line "creates an illusion of sincerity through its sheer attack".[3]

The song is in the key of D major. John, Paul, and George sing a three-part harmony. In the chorus, John's lead vocal part sits higher than George's, and more unusual in this case, Paul's harmonies.

Release

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"Tell Me Why" was performed in the Beatles' debut feature film, A Hard Day's Night. The song was part of the "studio performance" sequence, which was filmed at the Scala Theatre, London, on 31 March 1964. That marks the only time the song was ever performed in front of a live audience, which consisted of 350 paid actors, one of whom was a thirteen-year old Phil Collins.[7] The song was mimed by the Beatles and the words were lip-synced on stage.[8]

Releases

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Personnel

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Personnel per MacDonald[3]

Covers

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Notes

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  1. ^ "The Beatles: Every song ranked in order of greatness". NME. 2 November 2023.
  2. ^ Harry 2000, p. 1067.
  3. ^ a b c MacDonald 2005, p. 110.
  4. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 40.
  5. ^ Miles 1997, p. 164.
  6. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 489.
  7. ^ ""TELL ME WHY" (John Lennon - Paul McCartney) HISTORY". Beatles eBooks.
  8. ^ ""TELL ME WHY" (John Lennon - Paul McCartney) HISTORY". Beatles eBooks.
  9. ^ Calkin 2002.
  10. ^ a b Spizer & Daniels 2011, p. 115–116.
  11. ^ "The Beatles - I Should Have Known Better". Discogs. 1964.
  12. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1982-11-06. Retrieved 2018-03-19.

References

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