There are so many iconic Beatles hits that it’s tough to rank any single one above the rest. But if you were looking for the most propulsive single by the Fab Four, “A Hard Day’s Night” would have to be very near the top of the list. With that starter’s pistol of an opening chord and an unrelenting pace, just listening to it will leave you somehow energized and breathless all at once.
Videos by American Songwriter
But how did this song come to be in relation to the movie of the same name? What exactly is that opening chord anyway? And what in blazes does that title phrase even mean? All those answers and more as we explore “A Hard Day’s Night.”
They’re Going to Put Us in the Movies
The Beatles found themselves amid a whirlwind of activity in the early part of 1964. Fresh off the massive success of their first visit to America, they hustled back to England to begin work on their first feature film with director Richard Lester. While they were doing that, they also had to record the music that would accompany the film.
So busy were the four men that Ringo Starr found himself stumbling out of the studio on one occasion not quite aware if it was morning, afternoon, or evening. He started to complain about what a hard day it had been when he realized that the sun had long set. Hence, he uttered the phrase “a hard day’s night.” (John Lennon used the phrase in his poetry collection In His Own Write, which also arrived in the spring of 1964, so the timing of when Starr said it is somewhat difficult to pin down.)
In any case, once Richard Lester heard that phrase, he immediately homed in on it as a title for the movie. The only problem is that the song needed to be written to fit the title. It was a bit of a backwards way of doing things, but The Beatles were operating at such a high level that no obstacle you could throw in their way could stop them at that point. As recounted in the David Sheff book All We Are Saying, John Lennon saw it as a challenge and an opportunity rather than a hassle:
“I was going home in the car and Dick Lester suggested the title Hard Day’s Night from something Ringo’d said. I had used it in In His Own Write but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringoism, where he said it not to be funny, just said it. So Dick Lester said we are going to use that title, and the next morning I brought in the song.”
A Few Words on That Chord
The opening chord to “A Hard Day’s Night” has confounded musicians since the first time it came blaring over a radio speaker in 1964 (on its way to worldwide No. 1 status, like just about everything else The Beatles touched around that time). One reason most people are baffled is because they believe it’s the product of a single guitar, when, in actuality, it’s pretty much a whole band blasting away and cohering into one sound.
While the dominant sound is George Harrison’s Rickenbacker 12-string, John Lennon’s acoustic guitar, Paul McCartney’s standup bass, Ringo Starr’s cymbals, and producer George Martin’s piano are also in the mix. Harrison is mostly playing an F chord, but the combination of extra notes from the other instruments transforms it into something more mysterious and captivating. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to start a song, an album, or a movie.
It’s a thrilling instrumental performance on the whole, one which is helped along by the nascent studio technology that The Beatles employed. By putting Lennon and Harrison on rhythm guitars to support the bottom end provided by McCartney and Starr, The Beatles ensure that every instrument is devoted to momentum. The instrumental break comes from Harrison on guitar and Martin on piano, both played at a slower speed and then revved up in the studio. Ringo’s cowbell and engineer Norman Smith’s bongos seal the deal on a thriller of a track.
What Is “A Hard Day’s Night” About?
As they often did in those early days, The Beatles say a lot with just a few words on “A Hard Day’s Night.” Lennon on lead vocal bemoans the severity of his work schedule, instead wishing that he was sleeping like a log. (He had a bit of a preoccupation with slumber, as later Beatle tracks “I’m Only Sleeping” and “I’m So Tired” would prove.)
“A Hard Day’s Night” also finds the narrator focused on what he’s missing, which happens to be his significant other. At a time when things were pretty chaste on the radio, it’s interesting to hear Lennon’s subtle innuendo: But when I get home to you / I find the things that you do / Will make me feel all right.
It’s more of the same in the second verse, with Lennon explaining that he works the long hours for the reward forthcoming (And it’s worth it just to hear you say / You’re gonna give me everything). Paul McCartney takes over in the middle-eight to tackle the higher notes and reiterates the main theme: When I’m home, everything seems to be right / When I’m home, feeling you holding me tight. In a way, “A Hard Day’s Night” is reminiscent of “Please Please Me,” which also slipped in sexual themes almost unnoticed, at least unless you’re paying close attention to the lyrics.
“A Hard Day’s Night” will always be connected with the thrilling opening to the film, with those four young guys running wildly and joyfully away from the hordes of fans trying to get at them. With that song as the propulsion, there was simply no catching them.
Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
