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
Discover more from PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Great pick, Max. As I noted on Dave’s blog yesterday, it also happens to be one of my favorite early Beatles songs that should have been a single everywhere, not just in Germany!
Thanks man.
I need to get my work bag and find my notes from when I was trying to figure out my pick. I know I have a list of songs that were b-sides or album cuts I love
Hey dude…here is a list: https://powerpop.blog/2025/05/15/beatle-album-tracks-that-could-have-been-singles/
So many good ones here!
There is man…just “In My Life” and Here Comes The Sun…blows your mind that they were not singles! Not to mention Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and the countless others.
Things We Said Today was a B-side. I loved the minor chords and the harmonies
I like that one as well…it’s not played enough
Small hint – my pick has a Beatle connection
Cool!
Good stuff. I didn’t hear this one until I was already a Beatles fan. A lot of elements to the song in a short time span.
Someone commented yesterday on Daves blog that if someone asked ai to make up a Beatles type song…this would be it lol…it’s so Beately.
As I eluded to on the post to Turntable Talk, I was a bit stunned, in more ways than one on this one. I always believed it was a single, so my mind certainly agreed with you!
Left a comment at Dave’s place.
George Harrison was underrated as a guitarist. I agree – this is a great and simple hook. He never overplayed but served the song well.
He played for the song no doubt.
100% agree, Steve.
Absolutely, though I do sense that in general time is treating George well. More and more are understanding his talent and contributions to their work.
Yes, I think you’re right – some people are only appreciated in retrospect.
“1963”? That’s crazy. This stuff attracts me ear still.
Yea man…this one got me into them but music as well seriously. All it took was that small simple riff and I was hooked.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. This is one of my top Beatles songs. Just thinking about their output in the few years they were together is more and boggling.
That should be mind boggling, of course. Damn speller.
Ah….I can’t spell worth a damn…and yea that speller messes me up
Yea…it’s not their best song that wasn’t a single…but I loved it and I credit this for getting me into music seriously…
McCartney hits some great bass notes on this song, bum, bum, bum bum, and that ya, ya ya is a signature of early Beatles.
Yea…this is the song that I connected to as a youngster.
thanks again Max! a great choice, and as I said before, the great non-singles by the Beatles could be an entire category of their own. This is a good one and your personal connection really makes it important and a good read
Here you go! https://powerpop.blog/2025/05/15/beatle-album-tracks-that-could-have-been-singles/
A truly amazing list. Young rock fan- ‘Sgt.Pepper’ , some say best album of ’60s period, every track a classic….not one single. Zero. Mind blown?
I didn’t mean to pimp myself there lol…but it has a lot of them. Yes…hell the White album didn’t have many if any. Back in the USSR…but Sgt Pepper does surprise me. But I guess they wanted people to buy the album BUT…it really was a single…Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane…but they just didn’t appear on the album.
The nuances and heights some could hit
With three great guitars and a drum kit.
You have a way with words, obbverse.
The Beatles probably have about 50 songs that could have been singles, but good choice!
Thanks…and I agree!
It’s funny…I’ve never thought the Beatle hits and non-hits or singles…….was the night before a single?…but yep, yeah, yeah, yeah
It’s wonderful and that is all I have to say about it.
I think the song that really got to me on the first Beatles album we had was “Do you want to know a secret.” Their voices and their harmonies always send me into orbit.
Yet another one with an immediate hook/melody!
Yes! You were into George to start with. John wrote that song for George to sing.
Oh, I didn’t know that, or I forgot. Cool!
You know I love early Beatles, and this is one of their best. But their entire discography is full of songs that would have been singles, and big hits, for literally any other band!
Yea…In My Life,…and on…and on…and on. This is probably one of the weak ones compared to the rest…but it means a lot to me.
Classic Beatles, Max. I have never sat down and given thought to what I consider my all-time Beatles list, but this song definitely warrants consideration. It really draws you in from the jump. I am often amazed when you highlight great songs on this site and report they were B-sides, or not even released as singles. There is so much quality music out there that we’ve never heard, no matter how old or old-er we are. I know picking songs for single release sometimes can be a dart throw, but it is hard to believe this was not a “featured” tune.
I’m so happy that more people than me know this song! It’s a very good one from their early period…they have better songs that werent singles…like Here Comes The Sun, In My Life, etc… but this one really hit me
So good.
The word “infectious” has two definitons: 1) A communicable medical condition, and, 2) Any song by Lennon and McCartney. See “It Won’t Be Long!”
YES! Thank you Mitch!