Help! (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Help!" | ||
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| Single by The Beatles | ||
| from the album Help! | ||
| B-side(s) | "I'm Down" | |
| Released | 1965-08-06 (UK) 1965-08-13 (U.S.) |
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| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | Abbey Road: 1965-04-13 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 2:18 | |
| Label | Parlophone (UK) Capitol Records (U.S.) |
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| Writer(s) | Lennon/McCartney | |
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| The Beatles singles chronology | ||
| "Ticket to Ride" (1965) |
"Help!" (1965) |
"We Can Work It Out" / "Day Tripper" (UK-1965) ----- "Yesterday" (US-1965) |
| Music sample | ||
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"Help!" (file info) |
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| Help! track listing | ||
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| "Help! (with Lananeeneenoonoo)" | ||
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| Single by Bananarama | ||
| from the album Greatest Hits Collection | ||
| Released | February 1989 | |
| Format | 7" single, 12" single, CD single | |
| Recorded | 1989 | |
| Genre | Pop, Dance | |
| Label | London Records | |
| Writer(s) | John Lennon Paul McCartney |
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| Producer(s) | Stock Aitken Waterman | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Bananarama singles chronology | ||
| "Nathan Jones" (1988) |
"Help!" (1989) |
"Cruel Summer '89" (1989) |
"Help!" is a song by The Beatles that served as the title song for both the album Help! and the film Help!. It was also released as a single, and was #1 for three weeks in both the UK and USA.
As revealed in the miniseries The Beatles Anthology, John Lennon wrote the lyrics of the song to express his stress coming from the quick rise to a massive level of success for The Beatles after years of obscurity. The rest of the band felt somehow surprised learning this, but they considered it normal. Since Lennon's feelings of insecurity were incongruous with the band's image of confidence, Lennon felt it was nearly impossible for the fans to understand the origin of the song. "I was fat and depressed and I was crying out for 'Help'," Lennon told Playboy.[1]
In the 1970 Rolling Stone "Lennon Remembers" interviews, Lennon said that because of its honesty it was one of his favorites among the Beatles songs he wrote, but he wished they had recorded it at a slower tempo. In these interviews, Lennon felt that "Help!" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were his most genuine Beatles songs and not just songs written to order.
Paul McCartney reports that he had a hand in writing the song as well, being called in "to complete it" it in a two-hour joint writing session at Lennon's house.[2]
The single and album versions of the song have slightly different lyrics. The American version begins with a James Bond-style instrumental.
The song appears on the Help! LP, the USA Help! soundtrack, 1962-1966, the Imagine soundtrack, 1, Love, and The Capitol Albums, Vol. 2. The single version appeared on the Beatles' Rarities LP.
Rolling Stone put it at #29 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
[edit] Cover versions
- U2 played it often during their 1986 A Conspiracy of Hope Tour and 1987 Joshua Tree Tour at a slower tempo.
- Noel Gallagher perfomed it at certain Oasis concerts at a slower tempo.
- Paul McCartney also slowed it down a bit when he played it during his 1990 concert tour as part of a tribute to Lennon.
- In 1976, Henry Gross covered it for the ephemeral musical documentary All This and World War II. John Lennon once stated that this was his favourite version of the song. George and Paul do backing vocals.
- In 1976, The Damned covered the song for the B-side of "New Rose".
- "Help!" has also been covered by Deep Purple (a greatly slowed-down version), The Carpenters, dc Talk, Bananarama with British comediennes French & Saunders and Kathy Burke as Lananeeneenoonoo (as featured in The Jolly Boys' Outing, an episode of the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses), Dolly Parton, Alma Cogan, Tina Turner, John Farnham, Rick Wakeman, The Damned, Howie Day, McFly, Roxette and Fountains of Wayne.
[edit] In popular culture
This song was featured in Cutting it Close, an episode of Full House, when Jesse Katsopolis breaks both of his arms in a motorcycle accident and has to adjust to a life where he always needs assistance.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Bob Spitz, The Beatles, p. 555.
- ^ Barry Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 199; cited in Bob Spitz, The Beatles, p. 555.
| Preceded by "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (The Beatles version) September 4, 1965 |
Succeeded by "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire |
| Preceded by "Mr Tambourine Man" by The Byrds |
UK number one single (The Beatles version) August 5, 1965 |
Succeeded by "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher |
