(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Long before it became an Arnold Schwarzenegger catch-phrase, “I’ll Be Back” was a song written mostly by John Lennon for The Beatles’ film soundtrack of A Hard Day’s Night. Its inspiration was Del Shannon’s big hit, “Runaway”, which John was enamored of, especially its unusual chord progression.
The structure of the song is unorthodox, even for The Beatles, as it has two bridges and no chorus. In its original incarnation, it was intended to be a waltz, then the time signature was changed to 4/4 and it was meant to be recorded with electric guitars. The choice to switch to acoustic guitars prefigures their work on Rubber Soul, which was still a year away.
Like much of The Beatles’ material, “I’ll Be Back” has been covered by several artists and groups, such as The Buckinghams, Shawn Colvin, Firefall, Golden Earring, Cliff Richard, Johnny Rivers, Elliott Smith, and UB40. The original version is also included on Beatles ’65 and a couple of alternate takes appear on Anthology.
Stars On/Starsound recordings
Medley: Intro “Venus” – Sugar Sugar – No Reply – I’ll Be Back – Drive My Car – Do You Want to Know a Secret – We Can Work it Out – I Should Have Known Better – Nowhere Man – You’re Going to Lose That Girl – Stars on 45 (Jeff Barry/Martin Duiser/Jaap Eggermont/Andy Kim/Robbie van Leeuwen/John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Sources: