Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 19 February, 30 March 1965
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith
Released: 6 August 1965 (UK), 13 August 1965 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: backing vocals, bass, piano
George Harrison: backing vocals, lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums, bongos
Available on:
Help!
Co-written by Lennon and McCartney at the former's home in Weybridge, You're Going To Lose That Girl was recorded three days before The Beatles left England to film Help! in the Bahamas.
The Beatles performed the song in a sequence in Help!, filmed at Twickenham Studios where they would later make Let It Be. In the scene, The group mimes to the song in a recording studio environment, presumably intended to represent Abbey Road.
The Beatles' performance is curtailed when the gang chasing Ringo cuts a hole around his drum kit from the room below.
You're Going To Lose That Girl is notable for its key change, a rare occurrence in The Beatles' songs. During the bridge the song shifts from E major to G major.
The song's vocals are perhaps the most impressive of all on the Help! album, with John Lennon's double tracked lead lines creating call-and-response patterns with McCartney's and Harrison's backing vocals.
The lyrics, too, are quintessential early Lennon, warning an unidentified male of his predatory intentions towards his female lover.
In the studio
The Beatles began the song during the fifth recording session for Help!, on 19 February 1965. They recorded just two takes of the backing track, the first of which was a false start, with Lennon's rhythm guitar, Paul McCartney's bass guitar and Ringo Starr's drums recorded onto track one of the tape.
During the same session they added some overdubs. Track two contained electric piano by an unknown player, plus a lead guitar by Harrison – these were later wiped. Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison added vocals onto track three, and Lennon double-tracked his lead vocals onto the fourth.
You're Going To Lose That Girl was completed on 30 March 1965, when further overdubs were added. Harrison added a new lead guitar part onto track two, accompanied by bongos and piano, played by Starr and McCartney respectively. The song was mixed on 2 April 1965.
Actually, “That Means A Lot” was the last song they recorded before they left for the Bahamas, which was recorded the next day (February 20th). It was also intended for the movie “Help!” but was rejected by Dick Lester. “You’re Going To Lose That Girl” was the last song they recorded that week that made it in the film, however.
Thanks for clarifying Dave. I did know that – the recording info’s all in the history section, though I got it wrong here. I’ll reword the article to make it clearer.
An excellent, classy song that sounds as good on the radio today as it did forty five years ago. But gee, I could be talking about nearly any Beatles song with that comment!
It always seemed to my ear that John’s ‘lose’ was a hair longer than Paul and George’s backing ‘lose’. John: You’re gonna loooose that girl’
I Love George’s Guitar work here.
I was at the recording of Lose that girl on 19th Feb 1965 with Micky Jones Trini Lopez drummer and Paul played the lead guitar while I stood next to him and he gave me his plectrum.However it is possible they returned to Abbey road and George covered the solo. Still interesting eh?
That’s my song !!!! Very simple, very nice melody, the key change and everything. Just love that song.
Funny how John transmits a kind of agressivity in most of the early love songs that he wrote. Run For Your Life is another notable example.
One of his first girlfriends accuses him of giving her a slap in front of her friends.
There’s also You Can’t Do that, which is one of the most nakedly aggressive songs he ever wrote.
I was reading an interview from 1971/2 recently where Lennon discussed the fracas with Bob Wooler on Paul’s 21st birthday. Lennon said it was the last time he was violent, then added something like “Well, apart from a few times with the wife, of course”. This is followed by giggles from Yoko Ono. When I read it I first presumed he was talking about Cynthia, but Yoko’s response suggests he might just have been joking. It’s difficult to interpret that sort of thing in print, without hearing the actual delivery.
Perhaps a joke, but also possible that Yoko got off on the thought of John battering Cyn.
There was also a session on 30 March, in which overdubs were recorded. This is mentioned in Lewisohn’s Beatles Chronicle, but not in his Beatles Recording Sessions. Lewisohn says that nothing from the session was used. However, there is a production acetate for the track, which was made for the group to mime to when they filmed the sequence. This has no piano or bongos, and has a different (weaker) guitar solo that is backed by blocked chords on electric piano. George Martin’s notes on the original 19 February session, reproduced in his Playback book, say that a solo guitar and electric piano were recorded on track 2 of the tape. I think that, having made the production acetate, track 2 must have been wiped on 30 March and (non-electric) piano, bongos and new guitar added, even though Lewisohn has these overdubs as also being recorded on 19 February.
Ringo is seen playing bongos in the film, but the sequence was shot on 30 April, after the overdubs were made.
Thanks Steve, I’ve updated the articles. Your interpretation of what happened after the acetate was made tallies with what John C Winn says in Way Beyond Compare, which builds upon and corrects a lot of what’s in Lewisohn’s books.
I’m still unsure about some of this, though. If the piano was recorded on 19 February (as Winn says), and the final mix was one from 23 February, that suggests that nothing from the 30 March session appears on the record. But the piano can clearly be heard. Winn says the 2 April mixes weren’t used, but as you say the bongos can be heard on the record (and seen in the film). Should we assume that piano and bongos were recorded on 19 February after all, or is the album mix more likely to be one from 2 April?
It’s all guesswork (!) but I think the track must have been mixed for mono and stereo on 2 April, and both mixes used for the LP. I’m going on the following: George Martin’s notes say that the 19 February recording was – bass, drums and John on guitar on track 1, solo guitar and electric piano on track 2, and John with George & Paul’s vocals on track 3. I have heard the production acetate, which has that instrumentation. There are no bongos, and the guitar solo is rather weak and is backed by electric piano chords. (Note: *electric* piano, not the acoustic piano in the released track.) The only other session documented is that 30 March session. So my guess is that track 2 was wiped during the 30 March session and a new guitar solo, acoustic piano (played very differently to the electric piano contribution that was wiped) and bongos were added on tracks 2 and 4. This was then mixed – very probably on 2 April.
I don’t know why Lewisohn says that the acoustic piano and bongos were recorded on 19 February – (i) George Martin doesn’t mention this, and (ii) the production acetate must have been the result of the mixing session on 20 or 23 February, and this has no acoustic piano or bongos. Clearly there must have been recordings made after these mixing sessions, and these recordings must have then been mixed.
I just looked at Winn, and he seems to say the same – I don’t think he says the 2 April mixes weren’t used, unless I’m reading it wrongly. Interesting he gives no remix number for the mono mix – Lewisohn notes RS3 in the entry for 2 April (though he says it wasn’t used), but doesn’t mention a mono mix.
I hope I haven’t made it even more confusing. I think I may have. Oh, for a Tardis …
Thanks for taking the time on this. I appreciate it. I think you’re right – re-reading Winn, he seems to say it’s the 2 April mixes that did appear on the album, which would make Lewisohn wrong. I assume there was only one mono mix, or else nobody knows how many were made.
This is just a great song period. Not a musician but really love love the beatles and always will
I’m not a musician, but don’t you think the bongo playing is totally random?
Love everything about the song and recording but every time I hear it all I can
hear are the wacky bongo sounds!
I’d say the bongos weren’t random. They were a hot item in parts of the world (San Francisco) and the band continued to broaden their musical tastes. This song was a precursor to Girl.
I don’t want to speak for William, but my impression is that he’s referring to the beats that Ringo plays with them on this particular track. I’ve always liked everything about this song, and those slightly odd bongo beats, especially in the last verse, are the cherry on top.
Absolutely thought the Same thing
At their best again- well weren’t they always. In Australia when the film was aired on TV this song was omitted. It drove me mad because I’d be waiting for it and wAiting for it- Nuts I tell you- but what a song!!!!cant praise their music enough. What a foursome.
The bongos are a bit off the beat.
Just learning this song on my guitar .I could sing this song when I was younger ,but couldn’t play it . now I can play it ,but can’t sing it .Do not want to change the key also.
Armchair Al 21 April 2015.
If you sing “you gonna loose that girl…” slowly, you have the beginning melody in A Day in the Life.
The guitar solo here, and in Something, are Harrison´s best during the Beatles epoch!
Wow! Nice catch. “You’re gonna lose that girl” and “I heard the news today” do match up, but with different under-pining chords and a different speed / cadence.
God I love this song. It took me a while to appreciate it, but it’s probably one of the most unique songs in the Beatles’ entire catalog. It almost has the feel of a Phil Spector/Motown girl group song with the harmonies and aggressive romantic lyrics. It’s just another testament, along with “The Night Before,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” and “I Need You” to the Help! record’s strength as an album. Rubber Soul gets more of credit as an album IMO because of its extremely tight American counterpart, but the British Help! is in many respects a companion piece to the British work that would be released later in 1965.
Who am I kidding? All of the Beatles’ works are perfection.
Ben Smith, I think the song is more a homage to the folk-rock of the Mamas and Papas. Think of John’s vocal as john Philips with backup harmony like Denny Doherty and Mama Cass. Note especially how the two sections of “I’ll make a point of taking her away from you………the way you treat her what else can I do” sound.
This Beatles song was recorded eight months before California Dreaming was released. In early 1965 the Mamas and the Papas were rehearsing in the Virgin Islands and did not even have a record contract at that time.
“I’ll make a point of taking her away from you………the way you treat her what else can I do” – surely has that “Monday Monday” sound – I never noticed that before.
But here’s the thing – You’re Gonna Lose That Girl song was written (or at least released) first! Also before California Dreamin’ – so how you can pay homage to something that hasn’t been done yet?
Maybe they heard the Mamas and Papas live during an early US Tour and emulated their sound or who knows – I’m really speculating. But the harmonies in this song are really close to Mamas and the Papa’s harmonies (the way you treat her what else can I do-ooo?).
Could it be that the M&Ps copped those Beatles Help harmonies? No surprise there. Anyone have any background on this?
There was no M&P tour until after the success of California Dreamin’.
The M&Ps did try to emulate the Beatles harmonies and it started when Denny Doherty gave John Phillips a copy of Rubber Soul and told him to listen and then arrange the M&P’s sound in the same Beatle way.
There is a M&P documentary where this was revealed by Denny.
Amazing song, and another great vocal from John. I always love the way he could be so intense, but also show great use of dynamics to change things up. In this one, coming out of the guitar solo, notice how he softens up on the lead line, almost like he’s whispering in the other guys ear… “You’re gonna lose that girl…” Then he comes back at full volume on the next one, like he’s playing with the guy. So many other examples of how John mixed up his delivery during a song, but this is one of my absolute favorites!
The off beat bongos are abviously intentional, they’d never have a song released at this time of their career without oversseing at least the mono mix
First of all, this is an amazing site. I’m writing a book on the Fab 4, so prepare to find the site in the acknowledgements and the bibliography.
I have to nitpick on this song though. Is there really technically a key change? Yes the key switches to G in the bridge, but don’t most Beatles songs switch to different chord patterns in the Middle Eight? It ends back in E. When I think key changes, I think of what Barry Manilow, to use the most obvious example, loves to do: start with a chorus in one key and then modulate up to a higher one for the chorus at the end of the song. Or, off the top of my head for another example, Jackson Browne’s “Lawyers In Love,” which rises to another key for the final verse. To me, those are key changes. What happens in YGTLTG is pretty common for the Fab 4, at least to these ears.
Or maybe I’m wrong. In any case, thanks, and keep up the great work.
No, you’re actually right, I’ve just been mishearing it all these years. Thanks for pointing it out! I’ll correct the article right away.
Joe, I think it is fair to talk about a key change, and the great Alan Pollack agrees:
“The home key of the song is E Major but its bridge is clearly in the remote key of G Major. There’s no flirtation or fake pass here; it’s a full-blown interlude in that second key. I call it “remote” because there is no G chord (either Major or minor) that’s native to the key of E; remember, there are four sharps in the key signature, the third of which is G#. In fact, there are no indigenous chords common between the two keys.”
http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/ygtltg.shtml
It’s not a Manilow-style step-up, and – as countdownkid said – it is pretty common for the Beatles to have a bridge in a different key. But I think the facts that (a) it’s a remote key, and (b) a clearly established one, do make this a pretty significant key-change. After that, yes, it goes back to the home key.
Ah, OK, thanks for the re-correction! I sort of did think it modulated, but had a moment of self-doubt (I also didn’t have an instrument with me to check when I wrote my previous comment). Perhaps I’ll put that bit back in the article.
I know Penny Lane has one of those Manilow-style changes. I’m not sure of any others, though there may well be some. They certainly used it sparingly.
Penny Lane is the only one that comes to mind for me too… I’ll try to remember to let you know if I think of any others!
There’s a step up on And I Love Her, last verse.
I had no idea that this was co-written by Lennon and McCartney. I’ve always considered it a Lennon composition. Does anyone know how much Paul contributed to it?
I always thought the same thing and also always wondered what McCartney’s contribution was. Also..one of my favorite songs!!!
It most definitely is à John’ song, with probably a bit of Paul, i guess the harmonies, and George solo as well.
When you said John played his Grestch, do you mean his Gretsch 6120? I thought that that was only used on paperback writer. If not which Gretsch was it? Also I’m assuming George is playing the Tennessee rose.
John didn’t have a Gretsch guitar until the Revolver sessions, where he plays it during the Paperback Writer session, I don’t know why you claim that John uses a Gretsch guitar. Also, if you listen closely, you will notice that there are 3 guitars, all electric, in the song, 2 on the backing track (one brightly strumming chords and the other hitting what seems to be power chords, my guess would be John on Fender and George on Gretsch) and George overdubbing the solo using his Fender.
This site author says in the song introduction:
“You’re Going To Lose That Girl is notable for its key change, a rare occurrence in The Beatles’ songs. During the bridge the song shifts from E major to G major.”
The “rare occurance” of the key change is, of course not true. In fact, all three Beatles composers (sory, Ringo) used this classical music method very often in their compositions, I have counted at least 20 Beatles songs, which modulate, some songs, such as Lucy, several times inside the song!
What is true, is that by the Help lp was published, this did not happen often, but as mentioned in this thread, e.g. 1963/64 composition And I Love Her by McCartney, is a beautiful example of the key change. The C#m song modulates a half step up in the solo section, and and stays there in the last verse. Btw, an other “classical music trick” in the very end, when the cadence resolves to major, when the rest of the song is in the minor.
A tiny addition: even Ringo’s OG from the Abbey Road album modulates in the solo, but that was the move other Beatles added to the Ringo’s original, very simple song, to make it more variable (among other changes and additions).
I’d like to start off by saying I adore the Beatles and I love this song. Since everyone else here is equally fanatical it’s likely you can let me know if I am mishearing. I’ll preface this by saying part of what makes the Beatles spectacular are the slight imperfections in playing and recording so this is not a dig; merely a comment. It sounds to me like John actually starts on the wrong notes in You’re Going to Lose that Girl (just the opening line) before the instrumentation comes in (I think he does the same on Mr Moonlight too If you listen carefully) – not out of tune per se, just not the same notes as the rest of the song. Equally I think Harrison’s guitar solo may actually be played a touch sharp giving it that slightly almost live feel. I wonder if that overdub session was either rushed or the track he recorded over was slowed down/sped up fractionally in post production. Any comment on this? Anyway, it’s a great song and it’s fun what you notice after listening to a song a million times. Thank you for this site by the way it’s a phenomenal resource.
I’m a huge fan of this song and album. Have played this song very accurately in a Tucson cover band called “The Billy Shears Band”….since we did loads of Beatles tunes in the band. I’m dying to know truthfully what guitar Lennon is playing on his quintessential rhythm track for that tune? I believe it’s his ’62 sunburst Gibson J-160E jumbo acoustic/electric, with the P-90 pickup relocated on other side of the soundhole near the bridge. It could also be that sonic blue Strat, the other of which Harrison is overdubbing that little lead solo. Any ideas from you folks would be appreciated. I used to cover it with my ’57 Strat reissue, bridge pickup, thru my Fender Super Reverb. Sounded almost exactly like John’s track. I’m probably one of the hugest Beatles fans there exists!! This blog site is great!!##
‘You’re Gonna Lose That Girl’ has always been one of my favorites. I was listening to the Beatles radio channel, and I thought I heard the announcer say Lennon wrote the first version of this song when he was 16′. That would have been 1956, he was rockin’ and do wop’n…
Also, I’m pretty sure they didn’t get absolute 4 track recording until ‘Sgt. Pepper”.
Unless you can find a track sheet from Martin, or a session photo saying otherwise, there is NO WAY that George is using a Strat for the solo. This is not a thin bridge pickup tone which it would be on a Strat, it has the same thick bridge pickup sound you can hear in the intro to “Roll Over Beethoven” which of course was a Gent.
For once, the visuals (in “HELP”) are correct, the solo is his Gent. I have owned two Gents and many Strats. Try it yourself…recorded it with both and let us all know what you found!