Comments on: Tell Me What You See

By: dgw28

dgw28 — Sun, 17 Dec 2017 16:50:48 +0000

Everything I love about the Beatles in this one. Great vocals, melodic, interesting instrumentation and of course, Ringo’s drumming.

By: Days of Broken Arrows

Days of Broken Arrows — Sat, 07 Oct 2017 23:36:34 +0000

I just noticed “Sam” made the same comment before I did. My apologies to Sam and good observation. I broke down the harmony parts, though, so there’s that.

By: Days of Broken Arrows

Days of Broken Arrows — Sat, 07 Oct 2017 23:34:04 +0000

Doesn’t George sing on this? In the chorus (at 1:02 first time around) the line “Tell me what you see” has three-part harmony.

Lennon takes the middle (D-D-D-D-C), while Paul sings the high part (F-F-F-F-E). But there also is a lower-register harmony that’s single tracked. It has the notes A-A-A-A-G. That sounds like George taking the low part, like he did on “Tell Me Why,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me,” and other songs.

It could be Paul, but it’s got a slightly rough quality to it that makes me think it’s George.

By: jim grana

jim grana — Sun, 03 Sep 2017 14:20:39 +0000

is Paul singing lead vocals, or George? it doesn’t sound like Paul at all.

By: Bruce Morrison

Bruce Morrison — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:05:37 +0000

Beautiful song. Not weak to me at all. I love Ringo’s drumming. And great vocals.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 12:11:52 +0000

That is a truly excellent take on this great song. Deliciously creepy! I love it!

By: ianiachimoe

ianiachimoe — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 02:45:32 +0000

This is one of my favorite Beatles songs; John and Paul sound great singing it together.
A professor of mine once told the story of him listening to this song immediately after his first son was born and just being hit by it. I’m years away from having any children of my own, but I think looking at it in that context makes it absolutely beautiful, especially considering it’s not necessarily a romantic song.

By: GotToBeGoodLookinCosHesSoHardToSee

GotToBeGoodLookinCosHesSoHardToSee — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 17:17:08 +0000

Filler track? Wow. IMHO, “rock” music really doesn’t get any more beautiful than this. And funny how some stuff that was recorded just last week doesn’t sound this warm and spacious.

By: Marcio

Marcio — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 00:44:09 +0000

Always had the same impression. I have a kind of Help Reconstruction CD where se can hear the instruments track a vocal track with kind of separation…. Really the 3rd voice is like George…..

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 02:25:12 +0000

Sam, I hear a 3rd voice too during the “Tell me what you see” parts and the “mmm,mmm,mmm…” part at the end. my guess is that Paul put that high part in later.

By: OldFartBassPlayer Walt

OldFartBassPlayer Walt — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 16:55:24 +0000

I agree with poster who consider this a preview of where they would be interms of arranging music in a few months- consider all the textures of sound that weave in and out, each
verse being slightly different, constantly building.

My favorite part is Ringo’s drums during the piano break- perfect!

By: Jon Purnell

Jon Purnell — Mon, 04 May 2015 07:11:30 +0000

Has a kind of indian drone to it in parts. Inspired by See my Friends from year before???
The songs lyrics about the perception of others could be deemed psychedelic? Not sure if they had taken LSD at this point.

By: James Ferrell

James Ferrell — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 16:55:50 +0000

Steely Dan borrowed the melody for “Barrytown” on Pretzel Logic.

By: david

david — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 10:38:51 +0000

That’s really interesting.

I’ve always found the lyrics to this song to be deliciously creepy – it’s like someone dangerously, obsessively, wanting to be everything to another person, to be their every waking hour: ‘If you let me take your heart….we will never be apart: if I’m part of you’, ‘Can’t you see that I’m trying to get to you’, ‘Open up your eyes, tell me what you see, it is no surprise now, what you see is me’; and I love the way they scream ‘Tell Me What You See!!!’

So having the protagonist borrowing this religious passage and seeing himself as almost Godlike (God’s light make bright your day/I’ll make bright your day) adds even more depth and interest to a song that many dismiss as a throwaway love song.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 02:31:11 +0000

Yes , it’s a joke that it’s thought of as a weak song. A beautiful melody and feel with great lyrics.
Any songwriter would give their hind teeth to write such a perfect song.

By: Ken Kuehner

Ken Kuehner — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 23:30:23 +0000

This is a classic. It is not weak. Are you kidding me?? Got dam dummies, get it together.

By: Bongo

Bongo — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 17:48:42 +0000

Yep, another throw away song, that would have probably been a minor hit for another Band!

By: Baggio

Baggio — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 04:33:21 +0000

One of the weakest songs on the album but I still like it.
The vocal dynamics between John and Paul (switching melody) reminds me of “Wait”

By: Melba

Melba — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 12:21:27 +0000

Yep, I agree too! Most songwriters would give their right arm to pen a song as good as this. Just shows how incredibly rich the Beatles’ musical legacy is, that this song suffers by comparison with their other love songs.

By: Julian

Julian — Mon, 12 May 2014 00:00:20 +0000

Here’s an interesting bit from “Tune In” about John’s childhood that’s related to the song:
“[…] he was fascinated by a religious motto which Mimi or George had framed and hung on the wall at Mendips:

However black the clouds may be
In time they’ll pass away
Have faith and trust and you will see
God’s light make bright your day”

Remove the God connotation & there you have it! John tapping into his early memories for a verse of the song.
I was BLOWN AWAY when I read that part in Lewisohn’s book. Thank the higher powers that Mark exists, haha. 🙂