The Beatles Lyric That Borrowed From Del Shannon

The Beatles had to keep a bruising schedule in the early years of their recording career. In addition to their constant touring and live appearances, they were generally expected to crank out a pair of albums and a couple of singles per calendar year.

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This itinerary helped them develop as writers, especially John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The duo handled pretty much all the group’s original compositions at that time. It explains how fascinatingly offbeat tracks like “I’ll Be Back”, which appeared on A Hard Day’s Night in 1964, came into existence.

“Back” Pay

If you’re looking for a turning point in The Beatles’ career in terms of their writing skills, A Hard Day’s Night is a great choice. Their third album also represented the first time that Lennon and McCartney wrote every single one of the tracks.

It was an extremely atypical feat in the rock and roll world. Cover songs still loomed as a huge part of the average band’s recording repertoire. Lennon and McCartney were essentially getting songwriting reps that their peers lacked. You can understand why their writing was vastly improving.

John Lennon came up with the idea for “I’ll Be Back”, and likely did the bulk of the writing. Keep in mind, however, that this was an era where McCartney would often add his two cents to Lennon’s compositions (and vice versa). Thus, it’s likely that there was some collaboration in the finished product.

“I’ll Be Back” comes off as a bit unusual. It features Lennon and George Harrison playing acoustic guitars within the full-band approach. That lends the song a somewhat pensive vibe. In addition, the song’s format, with two middle eights that are structured separately from each other, is also a bit left of center.

If “I’ll Be Back” stirs up a bit of déjà vu as you listen, it’s because Lennon based some of the chord patterns on a huge hit from that era. The Beatles often ran in the same touring circles in the early days as American star Del Shannon. And it’s Shannon’s massive hit “Runaway” that informs the sound of “I’ll Be Back”.

Examining the Lyrics of “I’ll Be Back”

In “I’ll Be Back”, John Lennon plays the role of a put-upon but persistent suitor. In the opening lines, he explains that he’ll keep appearing, even after an absence. “You know if you break my heart, I’ll go / But I’ll be back again,” Lennon sings.

It’s something that he’s done before: “’Cause I told you once before goodbye / But I came back again.”

He’s not impervious to pain, as you can tell by his subtle plea for mercy: “You could find better things to do / Than to break my heart again.”

In addition, he suggests that he might be coming at the relationship with a bit more purpose this time around: “This time, I will try to show that I’m / Not trying to pretend.”

The second bridge makes clear that she’s the one who has the upper hand in the relationship: “I thought that you would realize / That if I ran away from you/That you would want me too / But I got a big surprise.”

Lennon sounds completely convincing, both in terms of the hurt this poor sap is feeling and his insistence on coming back for more punishment, if that’s what it takes. “I’ll Be Back” may not get a lot of attention from casual Beatles fans. But it serves as a good indicator of how quickly its writers were maturing.

Fiona Adams/Redferns