Beatles Countdown #98 – I Will
Feb 25
1960s paul mccartney, the beatles No Comments
At number 98 is another song written by Paul McCartney that also appears on side two of disc one of The White Album: “I Will!”
A simple & short love song, “I Will” clocks in at 1:46 with oversaturated love for Paul’s future wife Linda Eastman. Isn’t it weird to think of a song being that short & being only the third shortest on the record? Anyway, McCartney wrote the music to the song in India in the aforementioned trip (again with Donovan), but he actually didn’t finish the lyrics to the song until shortly before recording took place. He had the same problem with “Rocky Raccoon” as he even changed the lyrics to that song during recording.
Funny fact about the recording: they did sixty-seven takes. Might not seem like that long, but considering the length of the song and time he had to perfect the music, it seems excessive to me. Even more so, it was the sixty-fifth take that was used which means they did it sixty-four times before someone finally said sure. Well actually, they strayed from the song a lot in between. Take nineteen, for instance, included an impromptu lyric & breakdown that was fitted into “Cry Baby Cry” near the end of the album. Next funny fact about the recordings: George Harrison didn’t play on the track. During The White Album sessions, it wasn’t unusual for the band members (save Ringo really) to record in different studios while working on their own songs. I would work on my own song too if I was belittled constantly like George. This funny fact was more funny boo-hoo than funny ha-ha of course. Last funny fact: Paul McCartney is credited as vocal bass. He didn’t play the bass, he sang the bass part. Now go back, listen, and see if you can really tell the difference because I’m sure none of you did at first. I know I didn’t!
Sad fact about the song: Charles Manson would point to this song as a message that The Beatles were looking for him. Now, I’ve had some crazy imagination regarding song lyrics, but holy crap man (a great superhero name there too). Some people in this world are just nuts and it’s sad that we couldn’t lock them up before they did something as terrible as Manson. That aside, what we have here is a beautifully concise love song with a clever rhythm & riff that keeps you engaged for the short duration. It’s no wonder it cracked the list here.
Song: I Will
Album: The Beatles
Year: 1968
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