Beatles – It Won’t Be Long

I wrote this for Dave’s Turntable Talk. I’ve asked our writers to pick a song that wasn’t a “single” – thus was either an ordinary album cut or perhaps the “b-side” to a regular single – that they think was good enough and should have been a single. Today, we’ll act like it was one! Thanks, Dave, for publishing this yesterday!

I was 8 years old, and my cousin and I were spending time in an old shed that had been abandoned for years, and it was our clubhouse. It had a wood floor, and somehow, my cousin Greg got a slot machine and put it in there. We also found a couch somewhere, but most importantly, Greg brought his record player. I had never heard the Beatles, and he put the needle on Meet The Beatles. This song jumped out at me, and I fell completely. It not only made me a lifelong Beatles fan, but it also made me a lifelong MUSIC fan. Plus, it’s catchy and has a great guitar line. It should have been a single.

Whenever someone asks me what Beatles album track should have been a single, I don’t have to think very long. This song is my answer. Not because it’s the greatest song they ever did, but because it’s the one that made me a Beatles fan when I was eight years old. We all have that one song that opens the door to a favorite artist, and this was mine. Every time I hear that opening, I’m taken right back to being a kid discovering the Beatles for the very first time. For me, that’s something no chart position could ever top.

It was recorded in July 1963 at EMI Studios in London; the song was written primarily by John Lennon, with the usual Lennon-McCartney credit. The famous “Yeah…yeah!” call-and-response was inspired by the audience reaction the Beatles were already getting at their concerts. While it was never released as a single in Britain, many fans have long believed it easily could have been. It has all the ingredients: a great guitar hook, tight harmonies, and the excitement that defined Beatlemania.

Musically, the song is remarkable for its vocal arrangement. Lennon leads the way, but Paul McCartney and George Harrison weave harmonies around him that give the record an urgency few bands could match in 1963. Ringo Starr keeps everything driving forward without overplaying, while George Martin’s production captures the group just as they were becoming the biggest band in the world.

There are other songs like In My Life, Here Comes The Sun, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and many more that are more worthy, but…they didn’t mean as much to me as this one did.

It Won’t Be Long

It won’t be long, yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
It won’t be long, yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
It won’t be long yeah (yeah), ’til I belong to you

Every night, when everybody has fun
Here am I sitting all on my own

It won’t be long, yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
It won’t be long, yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
It won’t be long yeah (yeah), ’til I belong to you

Since you left me, I’m so alone
Now you’re coming, you’re coming on home
I’ll be good like I know I should
You’re coming home, you’re coming home

Every night, the tears come down from my eyes
Every day, I’ve done nothing but cry

It won’t be long, yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
It won’t be long, yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
It won’t be long yeah (yeah), ’til I belong to you

Since you left me, I’m so alone
Now you’re coming, you’re coming on home
I’ll be good like I know I should
You’re coming home, you’re coming home
So every day we’ll be happy, I know
Now I know that you won’t leave me no more

It won’t be long, yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
It won’t be long (yeah), yeah (yeah), yeah (yeah)
It won’t be long yeah (yeah), ’til I belong to you