Things We Said Today

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Things We Said Today is a song off The Beatles' 1964 album and film A Hard Day's Night. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Contents

Writing

Along with And I Love Her and Can't Buy Me Love, Things We Said Today was one of McCartney's major contributions to A Hard Day's Night. McCartney wrote the song on a yacht called Happy Days in May 1964, during a vacation with his girlfriend Jane Asher and Ringo Starr and his girlfriend Maureen Cox. McCartney recalls, "I remember writing Things We Said Today in one of the cabins below deck one afternoon on my acoustic guitar. I got away from the main party but it was a bit queasy downstairs; you could smell the oil and the boat was rocking a bit and I'm not the best sailor in the world, so I wrote a little bit of it downstairs and then the rest of it on the back deck where you couldn't smell the engine. I don't know why the engine was on, I suppose we were moving." The lyrics reflected how McCartney knew that his and Asher's lifestyles would later drive them apart - though they stayed together until July 1968 and announced their engagement in December 1967. McCartney recalls, "It was a slightly nostalgic thing already, a future nostalgia: we'll remember the things we said today, sometime in the future, so the song projects itself into the future and then is nostalgic about the moment we're living in now, which is quite a good trick. It has interesting chords."

Recording

Things We Said Today was completed in just three takes on June 2, 1964. The first take was a false start. The second take was complete, and the third take was the overdubbing of piano by John Lennon, another vocal by Paul McCartney, and tambourine by Ringo Starr onto Take 2. McCartney double-tracked his vocals, though he would occasionally sing harmony, but most of the time he sang in unison with himself. John Lennon's piano part was eliminated from the final mix, but because of the lack of separation of the instruments because of the sound leaking to other microphones, the piano stayed in. The Beatles recorded Thing We Said Today twice for BBC Radio. The first was recorded on July 14, 1964 at the BBC Broadcasting House for the Top Gear program. It was broadcast two days later. This version was included on the 1994 compilation Live at the BBC. The other performance was recorded on July 17, 1964 at BBC Paris Studio in London for From Us To You. It was broadcast on August 3.

Recording Sessions

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Live Performances

The Beatles performed the song as part of their live set for a short time. The song was in their set list for their tours of the USA and Canada in August and September 1964. It disappeared shortly afterwards. George Harrison sang the harmony vocals for these live versions.

Release

Things We Said Today was first released in the UK on July 10, 1964, when the A Hard Day's Night album and single were released. Things We Said Today would be on the B-Side of both of those releases, both of which topped the UK charts. It was also included on the EP Extracts From The Album A Hard Day's Night, released on November 6, 1964. It was first available in the US on the album Something New, released on July 20, 1964.

Personnel

The Beatles

Production

Available Versions

The Beatles

Paul McCartney

  • To Be Completed...

Known Unavailable Versions

Available On

Cover Versions

Source

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