So why is The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
In the best 1,000 albums ever piece on Help! (#50), I noted that “Things We Said Today” was one of two Beatles songs – “Baby’s In Black” being the other – that compelled me to completely reassess my opinion on the entire “early” phase of the band’s career.
Both songs are extraordinary.
“Things We Said Today” would be on the shortlist of songs I’d select if I “had” to listen to one song over and over again until the end of time (quoting the song). Not that I’d wish that diabolical fate on anyone, let alone myself, but my point is that it’s so catchy, such an earworm, but in the best and most ear pleasing way I could ever imagine.
There’s a hypnotic and rousing and soothing quality to it. Perfection.
It’s almost unbelievable to me that this song isn’t considered to be one of the single best songs ever written, but then I consider with The Beatles, they alone have produced dozens of songs that could be argued in the same vein.
Wikipedia notes that the wistful and almost oddly nostalgic lyrics reflect Paul McCartney’s description of the song as showcasing “future nostalgia,” meaning being “nostalgic about the moment we’re living in now.”
And from a musical perspective, the song is a jewel in the band’s third studio album, showing both mastery of their early influences while pushing into experimentation that they’d take even further in their “middle phase” masterpieces Revolver and Rubber Soul. Here’s more on “Things We Said Today” from Wikipedia:
The music is melodically complex, using chords more typical of classical music and jazz than pop music. Between verses, it changes between major and minor keys, while the lyrics shift between the first and third person, and between the future and present tense.
On a minor note, I find it fascinating that as of this writing, “Things We Said Today” has the seventh highest number of plays on the album (though it’s closing in on 40 million, which ain’t bad!).
This simply means that the album is jampacked with Beatles classics. Chief among them is the title track, “A Hard Day’s Night” (~260 million for what it’s worth).
I read a long piece about Ringo Starr this past spring in The Atlantic called “When I’m 84” that I highly recommend. One really fun bit is with relation to Starr’s “Ringo-ism,” “as the band called them, “offbeat phrases” the Beatles’ drummer would use to “fill a gap in the language you hadn’t realized was there.”
As someone who deeply reveres creative use of the English language, color me a Ringo guy on that score.
And indeed a Ringo-ism became the name of the album and smash hit song you’re reading about right now:
Starr once described a particularly grueling Beatles session as being a hard day’s night. This presumably was meant to convey a hybrid sense of fatigue, relief, and satisfaction. Everyone who heard him seemed to know just what he meant. Soon enough, it would be a song, a movie title, and a universal refrain.
Musically, “A Hard Day’s Night” feels like one of those songs that is the very bedrock of rock music. It’s hard to imagine British and American audiences hearing it for the first time, and putting myself in their mindset I can totally get how they literally freaked out about how insanely good this song is – the harmonies, the driving rock beat that perfectly meshes the best of American rock and blues and their own homegrown British styles as well as the unique chemistry of these four kids from Liverpool.
And then it’s also incredible to think about the competition that would dominate the band’s dynamic throughout its existence (and that which would also ultimately lead to their breakup). Here’s an example of it, from Wikipedia, relative to the creation of “A Hard Day’s Night”:
Lennon dashed off the song in one night, and brought it in for comments the following morning. As he described in his 1980 Playboy interview, “the next morning I brought in the song … ‘cuz there was a little competition between Paul and I as to who got the A-side – who got the hits. If you notice, in the early days the majority of singles, in the movies and everything, were mine … in the early period I’m dominating the group … The reason Paul sang on ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (in the bridge) is because I couldn’t reach the notes.”[5] However, McCartney and others[who?] remember McCartney collaborating with Lennon.[9]
The dizzyingly catchy and bluesy “Can’t Buy Me Love” and sublime, Latin-flavored “And I Love Her” are arguably the other best known tracks on A Hard Day’s Night. It’s the elite kind of album where you simply can’t go wrong – both are fabulous.
Of the relatively lesser-known songs on the album, I’ll give a quick shoutout to the delightful and energetic “I’m Happy Just To Dance With You.” Imagine catching The Beatles before they were truly worldwide famous busting this one out? Give me a time traveling DeLorean on that score alone, says I.
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night
The Beatles appeared in five feature films. I’ll be honest: I have not sat through any of them, though I’ve seen clips. As far as they go, I’d say A Hard Day’s Night is probably near the top of the list as the trailer relays that it has at least somewhat of a more grounded quality to it versus the wacky/hi-jinks-y vibes you get from Help! the movie, for example.
I also dig the black-and-white vibes, and also seeing the band just at that hinge point where they visit the U.S. for the first time and become globally famous for what’s now 60+ years and counting.
There’s a fun moment when a reporter asks Ringo in the film, “Are you a mod or a rocker?” and he deadpans back, “No, I’m a mocker.”
Well done, Ringo. And well done, Beatles.
Some stats & info about The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? British Bands, Rock Music, Psychedelic Rock, Baroque Pop, Pop Music, Film Soundtracks
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #263
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was A Hard Day’s Night released? 1964
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #40 out of 1,000
The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Someday when we’re dreaming – deep in love, not a lot to say – then we will remember things we said today.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.