At the height of Beatlemania, the frenzy surrounding John, Paul, George, and Ringo was coming from all directions. They couldn’t walk down a public street without getting harassed. The Beatles conquered radio, television, and, finally, movies. After the success of their first feature, A Hard Day’s Night, it was time for the follow-up. The working title was Eight Arms To Hold You, and the band got to work writing new songs for the project. Let’s look at the meaning behind “Help!” by The Beatles.
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Help! I need somebody
Help! Not just anybody
Help! You know I need someone
Help!
It’s Real
John Lennon was crying out in reaction to their situation. In one of his last interviews with David Sheff, published in the January 1981 issue of Playboy magazine, Lennon said, “I was actually crying out for help. Most people think it’s just a fast rock ‘n roll song. I didn’t realize it at the time. I just wrote the song because I was commissioned to write it for the movie. But later, I knew I really was crying out for help. It was my fat Elvis period… and I was crying out for help. In those days, when the Beatles were depressed, we had this little chant. I would yell out, ‘Where are we going, fellows?’ They would say, ‘To the top, Johnny,’ in pseudo-American voices. And I would say, ‘Where is that, fellows?’ And they would say, ‘To the toppermost of the poppermost.’ It was some dumb expression from a cheap movie, a la ‘Blackboard Jungle,’ about Liverpool. Johnny was the leader of the gang.”
(When) When I was younger (When I was young), so much younger than today
(I never need) I never needed anybody’s help in any way
(Now) But now these days are gone (These days are gone), and I’m not so self-assured
(And now I find) Now, I find I’ve changed my mind, I’ve opened up the doors
Lennon continued, “The Beatles thing had just gone beyond comprehension. We were smoking marijuana for breakfast. We were well into marijuana, and nobody could communicate with us because we were just all glazed eyes, giggling all the time. In our own world. That was the song, ‘Help.’ I think everything that comes out of a song– even Paul’s songs now, which are apparently about nothing– shows something about yourself.”
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please help me?
Lennon Wanted A Redo
Ten years earlier, Lennon told Rolling Stone the tempo of his song had been increased: “I don’t like the recording too much. We did it too fast, trying to be commercial… I might do ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ and ‘Help!’ again because I like them and I can sing them.”
(Now) And now my life has changed (My life has changed) in oh so many ways
(My independence) My independence seems to vanish in the haze
(But) But every now (Every now and then) and then I feel so insecure
(I know that I) I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before
Paul McCartney Provided the Countermelody
In Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, McCartney said, “I seem to remember Dick Lester, Brian Epstein, Walter Shenson, and ourselves sitting around, maybe Victor Spinetti was there and thinking, What are we going to call this one? Somehow Help! came out. I didn’t suggest it; John might have suggested it or Dick Lester. It was one of them. John went home and thought about it and got the basis of it, then we had a writing session on it. We sat at his house and wrote it, so he obviously didn’t have that much of it. I would have to credit it to John for original inspiration 70-30. My main contribution is the countermelody to John.
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please help me?
The Finished Arrangement
McCartney continued, “Once we’d done our writing session, there was nothing left to be done except put the instruments on. That’s what I was there for; to complete it. Had John just been left on his own, he might have taken weeks to do it, but just one visit and we would go right in and complete it. So we came down and played the intro, into the verse, descant coming in on the second verse. It was all crafted, it was all there, the final verses and the end.”
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody’s help in any way
(Now) But now these days are gone (These days are gone), and I’m not so self-assured
(And now I find) Now, I find I’ve changed my mind, I’ve opened up the doors
You Can’t Please Everyone
Lennon told Sheff, “I remember Maureen Cleave, a writer – the one who did the famous ‘We’re more popular than Jesus’ story in The Evening Standard – asked me, ‘Why don’t you ever write songs with more than one syllable?’ So in ‘Help!’ there are two- or three-syllable words, and I very proudly showed them to her, and she still didn’t like them. I was insecure then, and things like that happened more than once. I never considered it before. So after that, I put a few words with three syllables in.”
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please help me?
Help me, help me
Ooh
“Help” is about the human condition and how none of us can do it alone. We don’t have to be running from screaming fans to need a little help.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
