Help! (song)

The documentary series The Beatles Anthology revealed that Lennon wrote the lyrics of the song to express his stress after the Beatles' quick rise to success. "I was fat and depressed and I was crying out for 'Help'", Lennon told Playboy.[3] Writer Ian MacDonald describes the song as the first crack in the protective shell Lennon had built around his emotions during the Beatles' rise to fame, and an important milestone in his songwriting style.[4]

In the 1970 Rolling Stone "Lennon Remembers" interviews, Lennon said that the song was one of his favourites among the Beatles songs he wrote. In these interviews, Lennon said he felt that "Help!" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were his most honest, genuine Beatles songs and not just songs "written to order". According to Lennon's cousin and boyhood friend Stanley Parkes, "Help!" was written after Lennon "came in from the studio one night. 'God,' he said, 'they've changed the title of the film: it's going to be called 'Help!' now. So I've had to write a new song with the title called 'Help!'."[5]

According to McCartney, he was called in "to complete it", providing the "countermelody" arrangement, on 4 April 1965 at Lennon's house in Weybridge.[6][7][8]

The Beatles recorded "Help!" in 12 takes on 13 April 1965 using four-track equipment. The first nine takes concentrated on the instrumental backing. The descending lead guitar riff that precedes each verse proved to be difficult, so by take 4 it was decided to postpone it for an overdub. To guide the later overdub by George Harrison, Lennon thumped the beat on his acoustic guitar body, which can be heard in the final stereo mix. Lead and backing vocals were recorded twice onto take 9, along with a tambourine. A reduction mix was applied to the two vocal tracks, taking three attempts (takes 10 to 12), freeing up a track for the lead guitar overdub.[9] This was the group's first use of two 4-track machines for "bouncing".[10]

The vocals were re-recorded for the film during a session on 24 May 1965 at CTS Studios, a facility specializing in post-synchronisation.[11] In addition to attempting a better vocal performance, the session might have been done to eliminate the tambourine (which had been on the same track as the vocals) since no tambourine appeared in the film sequence.[12] With the new vocals, a mono mix was created at CTS Studios which was used for the film soundtrack. Mixes for record releases were prepared on 18 June. For the mono version, Martin decided to use a mix of the opening chorus of take 12 edited to the remainder of the CTS film mix.[11] Because all instruments were combined on a single track for the CTS session, it could not be used for a stereo mix, so the stereo mix was made from take 12.[12]

This film version of the song was only heard on the original VHS releases of the movie, later replaced by the stereo mixes. A true release was never issued. New mixes were created for releases of the Help! CD (1987), the Love album (2006), and the Help! DVD (2007).[9]

The Beatles at a press conference in Bloomington, Minnesota in August 1965, shortly after the song's release

"Help!" went to number 1 on both the UK and US singles charts in late summer 1965. It was the fourth of six number 1 singles in a row on the American charts: "I Feel Fine", "Eight Days a Week", "Ticket to Ride", "Help!", "Yesterday" and "We Can Work It Out".[13] At the following year's Ivor Novello Awards, "Help!" was named as the second best-selling single of 1965, behind "We Can Work It Out".[14][15] "Help!" was nominated in four categories at the 1966 Grammy Awards but failed to win in any of them.[16]

The song appears on the Help! LP, the US Help! soundtrack, 1962–1966, the Imagine: John Lennon soundtrack, 1, Love, and The Capitol Albums, Volume 2. The mono version (with different vocals and no tambourine) was included on the Beatles' Rarities LP and in The Beatles in Mono collection. The American soundtrack album included a James Bond-type introduction to the song, followed by a caesura just before the opening lyric. No such introduction appeared on the British soundtrack album, nor was it included in the released single in either country.

Although Lennon was proud of "Help!" and the honesty it conveyed, he expressed regret that the Beatles had recorded it at such a fast tempo in the interests of giving the track more commercial appeal.[4] Music critic Dave Marsh refuted this idea, saying: "'Help!' isn't a compromise; it's bursting with vitality … [Lennon] sounds triumphant, because he's found a group of kindred spirits who are offering the very spiritual assistance and emotional support for which he's begging. Paul's echoing harmonies, Ringo's jaunty drums, the boom of George's guitar speak to the heart of Lennon's passion, and though they cannot cure the wound, at least they add a note of reassurance that he's not alone with his pain."[4]

The Beatles filmed the title performance for the movie Help! on 22 April 1965. The same footage (without the darts and credits seen in the film sequence) was used as a clip to promote the release of the single. It was shown starting in July 1965 on programmes such as Top of the Pops and Thank Your Lucky Stars.[17] They made another promotional clip of "Help!" on 23 November 1965 for inclusion in the year-end recap special of Top of the Pops. Directed by Joseph McGrath, the black-and-white clip shows the group miming to the song while sitting astride a workbench. Starr holds an umbrella overhead throughout the song, which becomes useful as fake snow falls during the final verse.[18] The November 1965 promo was included in the Beatles' 2015 video compilation 1.[19]

The Beatles performed "Help!" live on the 1 August 1965 broadcast of Blackpool Night Out, which was included in the Anthology 2 album and shown during The Beatles Anthology documentary.[20] On 14 August, the group recorded a live performance of "Help!" and five other songs for The Ed Sullivan Show, broadcast the following month;[21] the show is available on the DVD The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles.

"Help!" was included in the set list for The Beatles' 1965 US tour. The 15 August performance at Shea Stadium was seen in the 1966 documentary The Beatles at Shea Stadium, although the audio for the song was re-recorded prior to release.[22] The group's 29 August performance at the Hollywood Bowl was chosen for the 1977 album The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl.[23] The final live concert performances of "Help!" took place on The Beatles' 1965 UK tour in December.

• John Lennon – double-tracked lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Paul McCartney – bass guitar, backing vocals
• George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[24]

• 1968: Deep Purple's slower tempo cover of "Help!" helped them secure a record contract and appeared on their debut album Shades of Deep Purple along with a promotional video of a rooftop performance.
• 1970: The Carpenters covered "Help!" on their 1970 studio album, Close to You.
• 1976: Henry Gross covered "Help!" for the musical documentary All This and World War II.
• 1980: John Farnham released the song as a piano-based ballad at a much-slower tempo. His version peaked at No. 8 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.[48]
  • 1984: Tina Turner released a cover of Farnham's version of the song (recorded with the Crusaders) that peaked at number 14 in the Netherlands, number 25 in Belgium and number 40 in the United Kingdom. The song was included on European editions of her album Private Dancer. It was a staple of her live shows for a time, and appears on her double album Tina Live in Europe and the Private Dancer Tour concert film.
• 1982: South African rock group Hotline, featuring PJ Powers, released the song as a single.
• 1985: Roy Orbison performed a shorter version of the song at much slower tempo for the television documentary Everyman: John Lennon "Journey in the Life".
• 1989: The song was recorded by Bananarama (with French & Saunders and Kathy Burke) and released as the Red Nose Day single to raise money for Comic Relief. French, Saunders and Burke were credited as "Lananeeneenoonoo"[49] (a parody of Bananarama, whom they imitated in the French & Saunders television programme). This version is one of Bananarama's best charting singles, and reached #3 in the UK charts. It was Bananarama's last UK Top 10 single. The song was featured on the 1989 Christmas episode ("The Jolly Boys Outing") of Only Fools and Horses. It was included on reissues of the band's The Greatest Hits Collection compilation in 1989.
• 1997: dc Talk released a live album called Welcome to the Freak Show which featured a shorter version of this song as the opening track.
• 2001: The soundtrack to the film I Am Sam, which consisted entirely of Beatles covers, includes Howie Day performing a version of "Help!" at a slower tempo than the original. This tempo change is unique in the soundtrack, which was otherwise produced to mimic the tempos from the Beatles originals that were used in production, but changed to covers at the last minute due to licensing issues.[50]
• 2003: Art Paul Schlosser recorded a parody of "Help!" ("Smelt"), which appears on his Words of Cheese and Other Parrot CD.
• 2009: Silverstein covered "Help!" as a bonus track on their fourth album A Shipwreck in the Sand.
• 2012: Big Time Rush (group) covered "Help!" with a faster tempo for their Big Time Movie Soundtrack along with other Beatles covers.
• 2013: Krokus (band) covered the song on their album Dirty Dynamite.

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• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics