Comments on: Wait

By: Teddy Salad

Teddy Salad — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 18:28:08 +0000

Lately I’ve begun to feel that this is an early example (perhaps the earliest) of Lennon and McCartney writing incomplete songs and fusing them. As L-H fan says above, the verses are pure John and the middle eight sounds so much like Paul. However, instead of being co-written, which implies eyeball to eyeball or whatever passed for it at that point in the partnership, I believe it might have been brought together as two different compositions that they decided fit together.

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 08 Jul 2018 06:05:54 +0000

Lennon acolytes have a serious complex. John doesn’t remember writing the song five years later and Paul says his help was minimal or nonexistent… you’d think that would be enough. But because some early Beatles books speculated it was cowritten or John’s and deep down they want it to be John’s (even though it’s only satisfactory by Beatles standards), they’re still so incredulous… Paul couldn’t have written this song alone! Paul couldn’t have helped John write It Won’t Be Long or Help or In My Life. They won’t budge an inch and they’re typically either criticizing Paul’s songs or indignantly trying to preserve John’s legacy. I love John but this kind of neurosis from his fanboys makes me like him less.

By: ginny white

ginny white — Sat, 26 May 2018 15:39:40 +0000

i hear that same really weird sound on this one as well. is it a guitar or what?

By: Pablo Castro

Pablo Castro — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 06:47:42 +0000

Regardless wether this is a joint collaboration or not between John and Paul, I think this song already “belonged to Rubber Soul when it was recorded on the last session of Help.

I think it´s incredible how the arrangement expresses the insecureness of the bridge, with its crescendo parts , and how it stops dryly on the verses, with the pessimistic section of the song. It also recalls the alternation between Lennon and McCartney on We Can Work It Out.

By: dgw28

dgw28 — Sat, 11 Nov 2017 20:47:29 +0000

..and how about the Frankie Vaughn version? He was my Mum’s favorite!

By: MikeP

MikeP — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 01:43:42 +0000

Agreed. Never thought too much of this one. Michelle is a classic- wonderful melody and recording.

By: Eric Cee

Eric Cee — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 18:30:48 +0000

***ALL*** = see the opening to the Wikipedia page for this song.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wait_(Beatles_song)

It contains some interestingly sourced material:

“Wait” is a song released by the Beatles, on their 1965 album Rubber Soul. The songwriting credit is Lennon–McCartney, and the song is usually said to be a joint effort between the two, although in the 1997 book, Many Years from Now, McCartney recalls it as entirely his.[1] This is supported by a 1970 interview with John Lennon by Ray Connolly. John could not remember writing it. “That must be one of Paul’s,” he said.

These statements back up what is said in this article above:

“Paul McCartney recalled writing the song in the presence of actor and former child star Brandon de Wilde.

He was a nice guy who was fascinated by what we did. A sort of Brat Pack actor. We chatted endlessly, and I seem to remember writing Wait in front of him, and him being interested to see it being written. I think it was my song. I don’t remember John collaborating too much on it, although he could have.

Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles”

By: J Neo Marvin

J Neo Marvin — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 22:02:17 +0000

I also love the “sad trombone” effect of the final volume-pedal guitar there.

By: cobrunstrom

cobrunstrom — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 08:56:04 +0000

Wrote a little piece on this one. The fascinating thing about this one is the way in which the erratic rhythm suits the words – it’s a perfect little poem in its own way.

https://conradbrunstrom.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/words-and-music-wait-by-the-beatles/

By: Young Fred

Young Fred — Sun, 18 Sep 2016 01:56:22 +0000

What I like best about this one, is the end. The way the cymbals and the tambourine sound together as both fade out give the song a somehow obscure conclusion on the loneliness idea of the lyrics.

By: Lennon-Harrison fan

Lennon-Harrison fan — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 14:58:37 +0000

Definitely co-written. The verses and chorus are typical John 1964-65.
“Ive been away now / oh how, I’ve been alone”
“If your heart breaks / don’t wait, turn me away”
“We forget the tears we cried”

It was normal for John to insert depressing lyrics in otherwise upbeat songs, and he also was familiar with the subject of being away from home.
When I Get Home and It Won’t Be Long coming to mind.
John sings the lead on both the verses and chorus, singing the first words of every verse solo

Paul wrote the middle eight, the most upbeat part of the song.
“I’ll trust in you / I know that you will wait for me”
But because he sings it solo, rather than harmonizing with John, people assume it’s Paul’s song

By: ddchapin

ddchapin — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 22:57:06 +0000

check out Bettye LaVette’s verssion on her new 2015 LP Worthy.. she did it on Letterman last night 2/5/15 – and it took me a minute to realize what the heck song she was singing…!! wow

By: Beatle Chris

Beatle Chris — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 18:05:53 +0000

Then they’re not real fans, IMO! Great song for any album.

By: cold turkey 1987

cold turkey 1987 — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:51:27 +0000

Wait as filler! Michelle is filler if ive ever heard filler. Wait, while having a simpler structure than other songs on the album its rythm and catchy vocals make it one o my favs on rubber soul.

By: Mocker

Mocker — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:21:42 +0000

It is interesting to think of this as being close to a ‘filler’. Whilst I don’t think it is anywhwere near the strongest track on the album, it was strangely the first track to grab me when i first listened to the album. Bizarrely I got talking to a stranger in a pub a couple of months ago and got onto the topic of The Beatles – within 5 minutes we were singing Wait. Most Beatles fan I talk to don’t seem to have even heard of it!

By: Lukey Boy

Lukey Boy — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 04:07:39 +0000

Not a bad song, but the closest thing to ‘filler’ on Rubber Soul.

By: carlos gutman

carlos gutman — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 14:37:33 +0000

The lyrics rhyme “It´s been a long TIME now I´M” are the same as “I´ll be back” (this TIME I will try to show that I´M)so I´m sure John had a lot of work on the writing on this one. Paul must have written the bridge where he sings lead doubletracking

By: Bronx Boy Billy

Bronx Boy Billy — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 22:54:54 +0000

Pure speculation here, but highly likely IMO: John wrote only the chorus “It’s been a long time, now I’m, coming back home…” (11 notes) which repeats. Paul wrote the chorus “Wait…!” and the break “I feel as though…” This would account for Paul recalling that he wrote it even though John had a big part in it. This could all be nonsense.

By: Joshua Cook

Joshua Cook — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:14:19 +0000

It may be worth noting that “Wait” was begun near the tail end of the Help! sessions, which had already spanned five months. They would certainly have been under pressure to finish this project, with a projected release date a mere month away. They would also have known that this track couldn’t supersede any of the Side 1 material because this was the movie’s songtrack and all the musical sequences were already shot — Lester’s latest work was nearing completion at this point. If “Wait” replaced anything on the album it would have to have been on side two, and most likely would be one of Paul’s songs to maintain the balance of power: he had three compositions to John’s one, George’s one, and Ringo’s one (though, on the movie soundtrack side, Paul has only has two songs to John’s four and George’s one).

By: Joshua Cook

Joshua Cook — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:59:42 +0000

I never noticed that before, the rising melodic intro. On the contrary, it would seem to work in the two songs’ favour, lending unity to two otherwise disparate songs — a unity that might not be so obvious were they further apart on the record.