Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 1 July 1963
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith
Released: 23 August 1963 (UK), 16 September 1963 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass, handclaps
George Harrison: backing vocals, lead guitar, handclaps
Ringo Starr: drums, handclaps
Available on:
Past Masters
Anthology 1
On Air – Live At The BBC Volume 2
Written by Lennon and McCartney as the intended follow-up to From Me To You, I'll Get You was eventually released as the b-side to the international smash hit single She Loves You.
That was Paul and me trying to write a song and it didn't work out.
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
The song was composed at John Lennon's aunt Mimi's house on Menlove Avenue, Liverpool. Lennon and McCartney rarely wrote at the house because of Mimi's disapproval of their music.
As with She Loves You, I'll Get You was full of 'yeah's; The Beatles' use of the word in the songs earned them the nickname The Yeah-Yeahs throughout Europe.
I'll Get You became one of Paul McCartney's favourite Beatles tracks. It was frequently played live by the group too – a version from the London Palladium, recorded on 13 October 1963, appears on Anthology 1.
It's got an interesting chord in it: 'It's not easy to pre-tend...' That was nicked from a song called All My Trials which is on an album I had by Joan Baez: 'There's only one thing that money can't buy.' It's like D, which goes to an A minor, which is unusual, you'd normally go from a D to an A major. It's a change that had always fascinated me, so I put it in. I liked that slightly faggy way we sang. 'Oh yeah, oh yeah,' which was very distinctive, very Beatley.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
In the studio
The Beatles recorded I'll Get You on 1 July 1963, after they'd finished taping She Loves You. It originally had the working title Get You In The End.
Details no longer exist of the number of takes required to complete the song, as Abbey Road's documentation was somewhat haphazard at the time. However, the stumbling over the vocals in the middle eight – Lennon sings "I'm gonna make you mine", instead of the correct "gonna change your mind" – suggest that the group dashed it off quickly.
After taping the rhythm track John Lennon overdubbed his harmonica part, and the rest of The Beatles contributed handclaps.
According to Geoff Emerick, I’ll Get You “took quite a bit of time to record, and the session ran a little overtime.”
Here, There and Everywhere (2007), p. 68
“It’s like D, which goes to an A major”
Should that be D to A minor?
It should have been – I missed out part of the quotation. Thanks for pointing it out.
Paul even these days plays this song live. It´s really beautiful, it should have been a double A side (W/She loves you)
I love this beautiful song–especially the harmony when they sing, “I’ve imagined I’m in love with you…” It sounds so innocent and makes one nostalgic for what seemed a much more innocent era.
Who doesn’t love the ” Oh yeah…. Oh yeah!” Part in this song?? Hahahaha!!!!
I sounds like a Roy Orbeson song to me.The part with the”now there’s gonna be a time…..”
this is another song that is wrong in the chorus where it says “Well, there’s gonna be a time, When I’m gonna change your mind.”
“I liked that slightly faggy way we sang. ‘Oh yeah, oh yeah,’ which was very distinctive, very Beatley”
Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
******************************************************************
And – to reiterate – very “faggy”. What was that all about anyway, Sir Paul? Maybe it was the Beatles’ way of acknowledging or thanking their erstwhile (gay) manager Brian Epstein. Or maybe the song was inspired by Epstein’s trip to Spain with Lennon earlier that year (1963). Cavern Club emcee Bob Wooler soon learned that this was not a suject one brought up in public…unless one had a hankering to have the crap pummeled out of them by John Lennon himself. Touchy subject, eh Paul? So why did you have to go and “touch” it?. LOL
John wasn’t around when “Many Years From Now” was written, so Paul and Barry were safe from punches.
What??? It means exactly what he said. They sang in an effeminate way.
“Fans” just seem to love making something out of nothing. Way too much time on their hands, I guess.
I’ve just ‘rediscovered’ this excellent song; it should’ve been an A side. ‘Imagine I’m in love with you’ a great line and then ‘I’ve imagined …’ a beautiful melodic line, a classic. I suppose it’s so simple that John cuffed it off at the time. But I hope he changed his mind! Maybe subconsciously he did, with ‘Imagine’. I was playing this on the piano just a minute ago, and made a mistake ‘I’ll get you in the end’ which is supposed to be Bm. But I did a B, and it sounds nice. I’m going to sing this to a beautiful girl who said she loves me, after I’ve practiced a bit.
this song done slowly and seductively is absolutely beautiful
Just recently occurred to me, but ‘Imagine’ has some lyrics in common with ‘I’ll Get You’ and it’s fun to sing some of the lyrics from IGY to the melody of Imagine. Example, ‘Imagine I’m in love with you …. it’s easy ’cause I know …’ (and of course Imagine has ‘it’s easy if you try’)….. The second verse IGY also works with Imagine melody.
Watch out, Yoko’s about! So much for her getting a credit for Imagine, John got it from his back catalogue.
I think that the rising melody in the begining is like the middle part in Lennon´s Yes it Is. Even the two repeating notes in the beginning here are typical Lennon´s ? When McCartney discuss this song he only praises the chord behind “…to pre t e n d…”. That could have been his main contribution. If he hade done more in melody, he would have said it. After “…to pretend…” it followes “…but I get you in the end…” with the melody exact from From Me To You!
Ian MacDonald sais in his Revolution In The Head, that “…by its melodic directness…” the song was “written fifty-fifty by McCartney, who probably started it”. That is interesting. if it is not clear who composed what, you use T h e M c C a r t n e y p r e s u m t i o n, ore I n d u b i o M c C a r t n e y (because he did Yesterday)
“That was Paul and me trying to write a song and it didn’t work out.”-John Lennon. If you know more or better about who wrote what in this song feel free to share it with us. But, once again, your bias or jealousy is showing.
agreed that this could have been a double A single. Simply a beautiful song. I have always loved it. And love singing it.
The only 45rpm record I ever bought.just to get that song…love singing “well there’s gonna be a time”
I just sang it for my physics of music class to illustrate how the Beatles would throw in just a little chord twist here and there, even very early: the minor 7th on ‘pretend’.. the major 9th fillip after imagine I’m…. and the very powerful surprising E7 at the end of the middle eight (same melody over three increasing powerful chords there). It is indeed one of the greatest Beatle songs, and perhaps their single most “Beatley” one. And I love singing it to myself too!
That was Paul and me trying to write a song and it didn’t work
Most of us mere mortals would be thrilled to have created something as beautiful as this song!
Man, John was a brutal critic of his own work, wasn’t he?
That’s why in later years when John ripped his solo stuff during his longest weekend or Paul’s stuff you have to take it with a huge grain of salt
First heard this song when I got a reissued copy of”She Loves You” single. Instantly loved it. I can see why this became a favorite of Paul McCartney’s. As some one else said on this site I love the nostalgic feel to this song. A nostalgic side is evident in many Beatles songs and not just McCartney’s, John Lennon’s too. “She Loves You” obviously was the right choice as A side. But I have no doubt this would have been a big hit in it’s own right at another time.It is just so catchy.
Andy Fairweather-Low has a nice version of this song . Check Youtube.
Don’t get me wrong, She Loves You is a fantastic song, but there is just something magical about this one. The lyrics are very Lewis Caroll, and set to that driving merseybeat rhythm, it grabs our attention right away. I love John’s vocals here, he sounds like he was really enjoying himself. His rhythm guitar is also fantastic as always, not to mention the harmonica. Paul does a nice “natural double tracking” of John throughout most of the song, slipping into those lovely harmonies of his at just the right time. George isn’t really doing much as far as lead goes, but he definitely contributes to the driving rhythm section. And speaking of the rhythm, Ringo keeps the beat perfectly, one would expect no less. The lads were in top form for I’ll Get You, which may not have turned out to be the hit single, but is definitely one of my personal favorites
Just one of those songs that sticks in your head like gum on your shoe. The chorus is so imaginative and is a beautiful counterpoint to the verses. And the harmonies steal the show. Oh what magic they had when they were together.
Really sounds like it’s John Lennon all throughout but we can hear when Sir Paul McCartney joins in.
Sounds to me as if Paul wrote the 2nd chorus “Well there’s going to be a time”, all the rest maybe John.
Musically there is a volcanic build during “So I’m telling you my friend” that breaks out and gushes like an orgasm at “That I’ll get you, I’ll get you in the end”and levels back down at “Yes I will, I’ll get you in the end. Then the slow build ending in orgasm starts around another time.
If I wanted to write a tune that would unconsciously touch a young sexually maturing girl’s heart, it would be ‘I’ll Get You’.
I was 8 yrs old when my older cousin played that song for us. I remember being there because of the strength of that song etching it into my mind. There is certainly something unearthly about the creation of such a sound.