Song Lyric Sunday – This Boy, The Beatles

Today we have been given the prompts This, That and Other for his week’s Song Lyric Sunday challenge. Our host, Jim Adams, is giving a nod to our friend, Fandango, from the blog This, That and the Other. For the last three-plus years Fandango, not his real name, has given us a daily prompt word to tickle our muses and get us writing, along with Flash Fiction challenges, Provocative Questions and Who Won The Week? A big thank you from your fellow bloggers!

This SLS challenge was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I found a few songs that fit but I wasn’t that thrilled with them. In the end I went with a very pretty song with great harmonies, This Boy, by the Beatles.

The second video is short and sweet. George Harrison is observing and commenting on another video of The Beatles singing this song. He pokes a little fun and it’s quite funny. I hope you enjoy it.

The Song

John Lennon wrote this song. One of his early compositions, it is seemingly simple, but very clever. The song contains only a few notes, but the space between the notes is filled by the arrangements. It’s the same technique you hear in Liszt’s “Liebestraum,” the piano piece in Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze and in Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.”

This was the first Beatles composition that was commented on by a music critic. William Mann wrote in The London Times December 27, 1963, that the song had “pendiatonic clusters.”

George Harrison: “It was John (Lennon) trying to do Smokey (Robinson).”

The vocals were a three part harmony sung by Harrison, Lennon and McCartney.

The Beatles performed this on their second Ed Sullivan Show appearance – Feb 16, 1964. They played six songs on the show that night, and this provided a slow change of pace from the uptempo songs like “She Loves You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” The Beatles were just beginning their breakthrough in America and got a huge audience from the show.

This was used in Ringo’s big scene in The Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night. The version used in the film is an instrumental renamed “Ringo’s Theme (This Boy),” and without any harmony singing.

This was one of the first songs on which The Beatles used a 4-track recorder.

Artists to cover this song include Tom Baxter, David Bowie, Sean Lennon, George Martin, Delbert McClinton and The Nylons.

The Lyrics

That boy
Took my love away
Though he'll regret it someday
But this boy wants you back again

That boy
Isn't good for you
Though he may want you, too
This boy wants you back again

Oh, and this boy would be happy 
Just to love you, but oh my 
That boy won't be happy
'Til he's seen you cry

This boy
Wouldn't mind the pain
Would always feel the same
If this boy gets you back again

This boy, this boy, this boy
Writer/s: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
 
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management,
Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Courtesy of Songfacts