Beatles Countdown #81: It Won’t Be Long

Apr 07

Doug1960s john lennon, the beatles No Comments

Popping back onto the countdown at #81 is John Lennon with the opening track from The Beatles’ second album With The Beatles: “It Won’t Be Long.”

This song is a prime example of The Beatles’ early work. It features distinctive “call and response” singing as John will sing “It Won’t Be Long” followed by George & Paul singing some “yeahs” in the background. The “yeahs” would also be a staple of early Beatles’ work like in “She Loves You” and this one was no exception with the four-letter word being repeated fifty-six times! Even more, the song would feature a descending guitar riff similar to the scaling work Harrison did at the time and also had a pause break near the end to set up a dramatic vocal ending. Clocking in at a little over two minutes as well, the song perfectly portrays the style of songwriting the band had at the time. It also features a bit of world play that Paul & John were enamored with at the time like in “Please Please Me.” While primarily a Lennon composition, Paul helped a bit and was marveled at their chance to do word play as he would later marvel at the line “It won’t be long ’til I belong to you!” So with all the musical characteristics and even a similar word play, it’s pretty apparent that this might be the template for their early works.

Early work aside, the song was Lennon’s attempt at a single which in hindsight seems kind of sad. The song is not a failure by any means, but when compared to later Lennon singles, this one definitely would rank lower. I would say that I enjoy this piece better than his first actual single “Please Please Me,” but like I said; when compared to works even in his early stage like “A Hard Day’s Night” & “I Feel Fine,” the song definitely doesn’t have the same appeal. Then when compared with his later songs like “Across The Universe” & “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” it definitely pales in comparision. But like Lennon said, it was his attempt at writing a single so even he must have known the song wasn’t as good as it could have been. I’m not trying to downplay the quality of the song though; I do hold it in high regard & have always enjoyed it. But for Lennon to actively try to make a hit song, it definitely didn’t reach his goal. The song still made it into the top hundred though which says a lot for what a “lesser” John Lennon song. Hell, the song was the first one Neil Young ever played for an audience. To inspire a true Hall Of Famer, obviously John did something right with the song.

Song: It Won’t Be Long
Album: With The Beatles
Year: 1963

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