Birthday (The Beatles song)

Infobox Song
Name = Birthday
Artist = The Beatles
Album =

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Released = 22 November 1968
track_no = 1 of disc 2
Recorded = 18 September 1968
Genre = Hard rock, rock and roll
Length = 2:42
Writer = Lennon/McCartney
Label = Apple Records
Producer = George Martin
Tracks = Side one
#"Back in the U.S.S.R."
#"Dear Prudence"
#"Glass Onion"
#"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
#"Wild Honey Pie"
#"The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill"
#"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
#"Happiness Is a Warm Gun"Side two
#

"Martha My Dear"
#"I'm So Tired"
#"Blackbird"
#"Piggies"
#"Rocky Raccoon"
#"Don't Pass Me By"
#"Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
#"I Will"
#"Julia"Side three
#"Birthday"
#"Yer Blues"
#"Mother Nature's Son"
#"Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"
#"Sexy Sadie"
#"Helter Skelter"
#"Long, Long, Long"Side four
#

"Revolution 1"
#"Honey Pie"
#"Savoy Truffle"
#"Cry Baby Cry"
#"Revolution 9"
#"Good Night""Birthday" is a song written mostly by Paul McCartney and performed by the The Beatles on their eponymous double album "The Beatles". It is the opening track on the third side of the LP (or the second disc in CD versions of the record). This song is a prime example of the Beatles' return to more traditional rock and roll form, although their music had increased in complexity and it had developed more of its own characteristic style by this point.

The song was largely written during a recording session at the EMI Abbey Road Studios on September 18, 1968 with Paul McCartney coming up with the main riff. During the session, The Beatles (along with the recording crew) made a short trip around the corner to Paul McCartney's house to watch the classic 1956 Rock & Roll movie 'The Girl Can't Help It' (which was being shown for the first time on British television) before returning back to the studio to record 'Birthday'.

"Birthday" begins with an intro drum fill, then moves directly into a blues progression in A (in the form of a guitar riff doubled by the bass) with McCartney singing at the top of his chest voice, "They say it's your birthday/ Well it's my birthday too, yeah!" with Lennon on a lower harmony. Afterwards, a drum break lasting eight measures brings the song into Lennon's section, which rests entirely on the dominant before returning to a third section, sung by McCartney and Lennon. It is among McCartney's most intense vocal performances given the range in which he sings during the blues run. This song is the only track on "The Beatles" in which Lennon and McCartney share lead vocal duties.

Personnel

*John Lennon – vocal, backing vocal, lead guitar, handclaps
*Paul McCartney – vocal, piano, handclaps
*George Harrison – 6-string bass, handclaps
*Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine, handclaps
*Pattie Boyd – backing vocal, handclaps
*Yoko Ono – backing vocal, handclaps
*Mal Evans – handclaps:Credits per Ian MacDonaldcite book |first=Ian |last=MacDonald |authorlink=Ian MacDonald |title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties |year=2005 |pages=316 |edition=Second Revised Edition |publisher=Pimlico (Rand) |location=London |isbn=1-844-13828-3]

Other uses

* Underground Sunshine scored a Top 40 hit with this song in the US in 1969.
* Philadelphia Phillies games play this song while showing the attendees celebrating their birthdays on the Jumbotron as do the New York Islanders.
* Similarly, Detroit Lions games play the song while showing the attendees celebrating their birthdays on the scoreboard screen.
* A number of minor league baseball teams, including the Altoona Curve, also play the song while showing the names of attendees celebrating their birthdays on the scoreboard screen.
* On an episode of Full House, the family goes into Jesse's (John Stamos) bedroom to wake him up for his birthday. The family sings "Birthday", while Joey (Dave Coulier) imitates the guitar riff.
*There are multiple instances in the "Hypno-Birthday to You" episode of where you can hear "Birthday" in the background.

*Used in Moonlighting (TV series) , on the second season episode "In God We Strongly Suspect", Bruce Willis (David) sings with the whole office crew to Cybill Sheperd (Maddie) as a surprise on her birthday.
*In an episode of The Sopranos, Carmela mentions the song at the dinner table to try to make conversation with her son, but he is unimpressed, due to the fact that drum solo was too basic.

Notes