Rock and Roll

This is one of the beautiful Sixties British invasion songs. “Things We Said Today” was written in 1964 for the Beatles’ film A Hard Day’s Night and is on the soundtrack album. It was also the B-Side of the “A Hard Day’s Night” single in the U.K.

While cruising the Caribbean on the Happy Days yacht with his girlfriend Jane Asher, Paul McCartney wrote the song. It has a haunting minor key feel and speaks of how we may remember our lives today when looking back from the future. McCartney said, “I wrote this on acoustic. It was a slightly nostalgic thing already, a future nostalgia. We’ll remember the things we said today, sometime in the future, so the song projects itself into the future.”

The song features an unusual chord change, F major to B flat major—instead of the more obvious F minor—which first occurs beneath “…wishing you weren’t so far away” in the song. John Lennon accentuates the strident acoustic guitar strumming by triple hitting a low A note on a piano. The dynamic of the song moves from melancholy to rock and back with a minor to major key change during its middle eight section.

The Beatles recorded “Things We Said Today” in three takes on June 2, 1964. Take one was a false start, take two was the rhythm track, and take three was used for overdubs of the main vocal, tambourine, and piano. On the track were Paul McCartney (doubled-tracked vocal, bass), John Lennon (acoustic rhythm guitar, piano), George Harrison (lead guitar, harmony vocals), and Ringo Starr (drums, tambourine). The song never made it into the film.

Here are the lyrics to “The Things We Said Today” by The Beatles:

You say you will love me
If I have to go
You’ll be thinking of me
Somehow I will know
Someday when I’m lonely
Wishing you weren’t so far away
Then I will remember
Things we said today

You say you’ll be mine, girl
Till the end of time
These days such a kind girl
Seems so hard to find
Someday when we’re dreaming
Deep in love, not a lot to say
Then we will remember
Things we said today

Me, I’m just the lucky kind
Love to hear you say that love is luck
And though we may be blind
Love is here to stay and that’s enough

To make you mine, girl
Be the only one
Love me all the time, girl
We’ll go on and on
Someday when we’re dreaming
Deep in love, not a lot to say
Then we will remember
Things we said today

Me, I’m just the lucky kind
Love to hear you say that love is luck
Though we may be blind
Love is here to stay and that’s enough

To make you mine, girl
Be the only one
Love me all the time, girl
We’ll go on and on
Someday when we’re dreaming
Deep in love, not a lot to say
Then we will remember
Things we said today

Please click here if you are interested in reading about and listening to “A Hard Day’s Night” by The Beatles.

Check Out The Groove Pad for More 1960s Music

The Pass the Paisley Groove Pad is a resting stop, a place to chill out and listen to the featured song on the stereo. If the mood strikes you, click on the juke box to access and listen to the 50+ free online songs there. The TV has several channels, with selections updated twice a week. Every now and then, Pass the Paisley hosts an all-request of 1960s and 1970s songs for a Be-In at the juke box in the Groove Pad. Keep on truckin’.

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