#42: A Hard Day's Night

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Released: July 10, 1964
Appears on: A Hard Day's Night
Lead vocal: John (verses) & Paul (bridge)

One of my dreams is to see A Hard Day's Night in a movie theater. I'd love to go back in time to 1964 to do it, too. You figure, you'd be in a theater with about 100 to 200 screaming girls who have yet to figure out that The Beatles are not actually going to be there and then that....BANG!

That chord, plucked by George Harrison on his Rickenbacker 12-string, would just come over the speakers and immediately bring your attention to the screen. The first thing you see, of course, is three boys running through London from a mad pack of screaming teenagers....all in glorious black and white.

The title is the first one to come from a Ringo-ism. The story is that after a long day of shooting, Ringo said "It's been a hard day..." and then realized that it was night, adding, "....'s night!" Everyone agreed that that had to be the title...and that John and Paul needed to write a song.

...And, oh, what a song! To me, this is the epitome of the John/Paul writing team. The song is like a barrel that just keeps rolling and never stops, even when John leaves the vocal spotlight for Paul to sing the bridge. "A Hard Day's Night" is easily one of those songs that really proves that the Beatles were something special. I'm not getting cutesy, nor am I intentionally being repetitive - it's a simple fact. "A Hard Day's Night" is the first great Beatles song that no one could ever do and A Hard Day's Night is the first great Beatles LP.