Things We Said Today

Infobox Single
Name = Things We Said Today
Writer = Lennon/McCartney


Artist = The Beatles
from Album = A Hard Day's Night" in the United Kingdom and "Something New" in the United States
A-side = "A Hard Day's Night"
Released = 10 July 1964 (UK)
13 July 1964 (US)
Format = 7"
Recorded = Abbey Road Studios 2 June 1964
Genre = Rock and roll
Length = 02:38
Label = Parlophone (UK)
Capitol (US) 5222
Producer = George Martin
Reviews =
Last single = "Can't Buy Me Love""
(1963)
This single = "A Hard Day's Night"
(1964)

Next single = "I Feel Fine"
(UK-1964) --- "I'll Cry Instead" (US-1964)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = A Hard Day's Night
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side one
# "A Hard Day's Night"
# "I Should Have Known Better"
# "If I Fell"
# "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"
# "And I Love Her"
# "Tell Me Why"
# "Can't Buy Me Love";Side two
# "Any Time at All"
# "I'll Cry Instead"
# "Things We Said Today"
# "When I Get Home"
# "You Can't Do That"
# "I'll Be Back"

"Things We Said Today" is a song by the Beatles and credited to Lennon & McCartney. It was composed for the film "A Hard Day's Night" and was the B-side of the "A Hard Day's Night" single in the UK.

The song is one of three main compositions (along with "And I Love Her" and "Can't Buy Me Love") that Paul McCartney wrote for the Beatles film. Recorded in advance of film production for lip-synching reasons, "Things We Said Today" has a reverse nostalgia premise. Paul McCartney: “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”.cite book |first=Keith |last=Badman |authorlink=Keith Badman |title=The Beatles Off The Record |year=2000 |pages= 91|publisher=Omnibus |location=London |isbn=0-7119-7985-5]

McCartney was particularly satisfied with his 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. [Barry Miles "Paul McCartney Many Years From Now" P.122] John Lennon accentuates McCartney's strident acoustic guitar strumming by triple hitting a low A note on a piano. The tempo of the song moves from ballad to rock and back with a minor to major key change during its middle eight section.

McCartney’s diction, double tracked, is so accurate that in places it cancels itself out, sounding untracked (conversely, Lennon’s vocals were always different, and often sounded quite messy when double tracked). This was still before ADT (Automatic double tracking) had been invented at Lennon’s behest, [Mark Lewisohn "The Compleate Beatles Recording Sessions" P.70 ] by Abbey Road studio's Ken Townsend.

Paul McCartney wrote the song while cruising the Caribbean aboard a yacht called "Happy Days" in May 1964. It is based on his relationship with his then-girlfriend, Jane Asher. Because of their busy lives, they could not spend much time together.

The Beatles included "Things We Said Today" as part of their live set during their world tour. [Bill Harry "The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia" P.649]

The French singer Dick Rivers recorded the song as "Ces Mots Qu'On Oublie Un Jour".

In 1989/90, Paul McCartney included the song as part of his own world tour. [Bill Harry "The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia" P.649]

Releases

* UK LP soundtrack for "A Hard Day's Night" on Parlophone PMC 1230 (mono) / PCS 3058(stereo). Appeared also on their British EP "Extracts From A Hard Day's Night".
* American release on Capitol's "Something New" LP.

Credits

*Paul McCartney – double tracked vocal, bass guitar, acoustic guitar
*John Lennon – acoustic guitar, piano
*George Harrison – lead guitar
*Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine

References