A Hard Day's Night

Beatlemania arrives on American shores, and the Beatles arrive artistically. A major artistic leap above both of their previous albums, A Hard Day's Night marks the undisputed crowning of the Beatles as the Kings of Rock and Roll. And if that crown was to eventually become too big for any one artist to wear, we had mainly the Beatles to thank, for it's with this bit of wax that the Fabs began to implement the changes that would turn Rock and Roll into a recognized art form. (Contrary to popular belief, it was already art.)

This album was preceded by singles like "She Loves You" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", both of which led us to believe that what we'd heard before was just the tip of the iceberg. AHDN was a bold move all around -- the first movie/album tie in, done by four foreigners who'd just stepped out of a country not known for good Rock. What's more, all 13 of these songs were originals. That may not seem like much of a statement now, but in the teenybopper Rock medium of the early 60's, it was apocalyptic. AHDN broke rules in half that hadn't even been recognized yet. much less challenged.

I Should Have Known Better More of the harmonica. This is the full fruition of the early Beatlemania sound, with an interesting lyric twist; we think John's going to spin a heartbroken tale, but he's in the first flush of love. The Smart One at his most optimistic and open-hearted.

If I Fell Another conundrum: a stunningly beautiful ballad that conceals a good bit of bitterness. John pledges his love, but mainly to get revenge on the one who dumped him. Side One of AHDN is almost all John, and it's a fascinating trip through the complexities of his heart, a suite we wouldn't see the likes of until the Fabs had had their day.

I'm Happy Just To Dance With You A slight but sweet declaration from John, who wrote this for George. Ringo adds bongos, which, coupled with John's excellent rhythm work on guitar, gives this song an almost Latin feel.

And I Love Her Paul finally gets center stage with another quasi-Latin ballad. It's deceptively simple; Paul originally did this in a more typical arrangement, before finally ditching it for this three-guitar, all-acoustic version. Written for Jane Asher. If you think the Fabs got their musical ideas from God himself, listen to "A Taste Of Honey" and especially "Till There Was You" from the previous albums. They form almost a direct line.

Tell Me Why Considering its climactic placement in this film, this song should have a higher place in Beatles fans minds -- it's on a level with any of the early Fab songs, especially those incredible triple harmonies, which really were meshing into one voice. That sort of makes sense, really: they were actually done by John, Paul, and... John.

Can't Buy Me Love Paul's shining moment on AHDN and a huge hit for the Beatles on both sides of the sink. One of his bluesiest moments by far, and a nice skewering of the materialistic romance gestures that were currently clogging up the airwaves. Note: Paul insists he's NOT talking about prostitution. Another subversion of song form, starting cold and ending on an odd chord. Any Time At All Fairly workmanlike John tune, nothing very special. John later admitted that this was just a rehash of "It Won't Be Long". Written and recorded merely to pad out side two, but don't you wish all filler sounded this good?

I'll Cry Instead More vengeful behavior for John; he is really messed up. John would later speak badly of a lot of the music in this period, but he did like this one, especially the bridge. One of the Fabs' first country experiments.

Things We Said Today Paul's contributions to AHDN were very folk-rhythmic in nature (even "Can't Buy Me Love", if you listen hard). This is no exception. It's a deceptively simple affair that again seems to describe a world of emotion. Written while Jane was around, and very autobiographical, the dark tone is not redolent of doubt so much as firm resolve. A quite serious and adult love song for supposed teenybop idols.

When I Get Home Doesn't hold up very well, especially placed as it is next to the similar but far superior "You Can't Do That". This Lennon composition is probably the weakest of the numbers on AHDN, and some fans consider it their worst original, but it actually rocks pretty nicely.

You Can't Do That To hear this song, you'd think John was the Beatles' lead guitarist; his solo is the best on the album. Supposedly inspired by Wilson Pickett, which explains the harder sound: they weren't imitating Motown but rather Stax. George's 12-string makes its first appearance, and that slow ending is a thrill. The best of John's "cowbell songs".