If I Fell

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If I Fell is a song of The Beatles' 1964 album A Hard Day's Night. It was written mainly by John Lennon with Paul McCartney helping with the middle eight. As always, it was credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Contents

[edit] Writing

When Playboy asked John about the song in his famous interview with the magazine in 1980, he said this, "That's my first attempt to write a ballad proper. In My Life was the first one that worked as a ballad. This one has the same chord sequence - just around D and D minor and E minor, those kinds of things. It is semi-autobiographical. It is really about this girl - not about Cyn (referring to Cynthia Lennon, John's then-wife). It has an intro like a Fifties song: "If I fell in love with you, would you promise to be true and help me understand..." Paul may have helped with the middle eight. So that shows I wrote sentimental love ballads, silly love songs, way back then." Paul later commented on the song in his authorized biography Many Years From Now, "People tend to forget that John wrote some pretty nice ballads. People tend to think of him as an acerbic wit and aggressive and abrasive, but he did have a very warm side to him really which he didn't like to show too much in case he got rejected. We wrote If I Fell together but with the emphasis on John because he sang it. It was a nice harmony number, very much a ballad" On April 8, 1988, the original lyrics, written on the back of a Valentine's Day card were auctioned off. It sold for 7,800 pounds.

[edit] Recording

The song was recorded on February 27, 1964 in fifteen takes. Also recorded on this date were Tell Me Why and the second and final reake of And I Love Her. The acoustic introduction to the song did not appear until Take 11, which is unusual seeing that it was on the original home demos. Both John and Paul's vocal parts were sung into a single microphone.

[edit] Recording Sessions


[edit] In The Film A Hard Day's Night

The song is played in The Beatles' first film A Hard Day's Night, when The Beatles lip-synch to the song and John is jokingly singing the song to Ringo.

[edit] Live

The song was played live throughout 1964, although, being the only ballad in the setlist, they often could not hear themselves playing it. Because of this, many live versions are played much faster than the studio recording. John would sometimes introduce the song as "If I Fell Over," which would sometimes make him and Paul laugh. Many of these "If I Fell Over" performances are available on bootleg.

[edit] BBC Recordings

The song was recorded twice for the BBC. Once it was recorded for Top Gear on July 14, 1964 and transmitted on July 16. It was later recorded on July 17 and broadcast on August 3. Neither of the two performances were included on 1995's Live At The BBC.

[edit] On International Charts

The song did not perform well on the charts. In the UK, it was available only as part of the album. In the US, it was the B-Side of the And I Love Her single, which reached number 12. In Norway, however, the song was released as an A-Side of a single and reached number 1. A rare single was pressed in the UK with Tell Me Why as the B-Side on December 4, 1964. It was made to be exported, but many record dealer sent them back to the UK to be resold. It had the catalogue number Parlophone DP 562.

[edit] Available On

[edit] Available Versions

  • Home Demo (0:17), January 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Home Demo (2:17), January 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Home Demo (0:26), January 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Home Demo (0:36), January 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Home Demo (0:11), January 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Take 15 plus overdubs, February 27, 1964. (A Hard Day's Night)
  • Top Gear BBC Radio Rerecording, July 14, 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • From Us To You BBC Radio Rerecording, July 17, 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Live on Blackpool Night Out TV show, July 19, 1964 (Bootlegs)
  • Live In Seattle, August 21, 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Live In Vancouver, August 22, 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Live In Los Angeles, August 23, 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Live In Philadelphia, September 2, 1964. (Bootlegs)
  • Live In Indianapolis, September 3, 1964. (Bootlegs)

[edit] Cover Versions

[edit] Source

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