Beatles Countdown #81: It Won’t Be Long
{Apr 07}
1960s 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.






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