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"A Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles

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"A Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles

Episode Transcript

Joe: Welcome back to Prime Factors Music. This week, A Hard Day's Night.

Journalist (interview): How long do you think Beatlemania will last?

Beatle (interview): As long as you all keep coming.

Joe: Welcome back to Prime Factors Music. I'm Joe and I'm here with my son. This week we are covering A Hard Day's Night. Abram, do you have any thoughts?

Abram: Um, from what I remember about this album, like I did just do an entire Beatles marathon today where I spent an hour and a half listening to the Beatles in a row without stopping, but I— it only had four songs from A Hard Day's Night. Like any other album, I chose four songs per album, and I think this album is really good. It's the best of the first three and of all of the albums up until Revolver, but we can't be too sure. That's what this podcast is for. Do you have any thoughts?

Joe: I have a few thoughts, but you know, I just don't know.

Abram: Oh, something great! There's no covers on this album. No Motown. No annoying dad.

Joe: Yeah, that is too bad. Well, A Hard Day's Night, of course it was originally a film.

Abram: I'm gonna talk about that later.

Joe: Are you? Okay.

Abram: Yeah.

Joe: Well then I'll just let you talk about it later.

Abram: So I hope our thoughts stick true. But anyways, here's some background. It was released on July 10th, 1964, the same day as the Long Tall Sally EP. Which I haven't decided if we're gonna cover or not.

Joe: Oh, are we covering EPs?

Abram: It's the only EP that was never at any point an album that contains songs that aren't anywhere else, so possibly. I'm not really sure yet. And now here's some background between the last album. Shortly after the last album was released, the Beatles also performed on the renowned Ed Sullivan Show, where they became huge in the States. So huge, in fact, they signed a deal to make three movies. The first one was called A Hard Day's Night, which is where we get the first half of the songs from.

Abram: Uh, we were planning on watching this movie in preparation for this episode, but seeing as we started recording at like 9:15 at night, uh, we didn't really get around to it.

Joe: Well, but we've seen the movie.

Abram: Yeah, we're probably gonna do so for Help and all the other movies, but anyways, I think we should get on with the first song. So, a drum roll please for A Hard Day's Night, the title track. Okay, so what are your thoughts on track one, A Hard Day's Night, the title track?

Joe: You know, I really like this song. In some ways, A Hard Day's Night feels like the first of the real Beatles in a way, right? I mean, the early stuff is so full of covers and is very sort of '50s soda pop, but this feels different and it feels great. I really like the cowbell in the song, and I think it needs more cowbell.

Abram: I don't. I think the cowbell gets quite irritating.

Joe: I'm sorry that you don't like cowbell.

Abram: I mean, it's used to good— but when it's just—

Joe: Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh— it gets kind of irritating if they actually had like a melody for it maybe I guess so but I think if we ever cover Blue Öyster Cult we're gonna have a problem or not?

Abram: Ha ha... No idea who that band was.

Joe: They have a famous song called "Don't Fear the Reaper" which has a lot of cowbell.

Abram: Okay, my opinions on this song is: it's pretty good. I just feel like it's plain. Like, it didn't really go anywhere outside of the solo. Like, the beginning, ending, and middle are really good, but then parts in between are just like fillery, I feel like.

Joe: Yeah, I guess so. I mean, musically, I agree, it's not that sophisticated, but also I like that they have sort of taken their idea of love songs and they've now sort of advanced that a little bit. This is now a man supporting his person.

Abram: I mean, the solo's good. It's still a good song. I just feel like they could have included more, like, instruments and stuff. It's pretty good, but not amazing. I'm giving it a— I'm bordering on a 6 or the number after 6.

Joe: Well, I'm giving it a 7. 6, 7, 6, 7.

Abram: I think that's the new running gag.

Joe: I think at this point everybody in the world knows that elementary school and middle school children around the world are bizarrely obsessed with the numbers 6 and 7.

Abram: Mm-hmm.

Joe: And every time I say those numbers, Abram, he gives me a very bad look.

Abram: I'm going with 7 to avoid certain numbers. Yeah, I think 7 fits though.

Joe: Great.

Abram: Drum roll please for track 2. "I Should Have Known Better." What are your thoughts?

Joe: This is one of those songs where I can really see the movie scene.

Abram: Yeah, they're in the train car in the weird cage thingy.

Joe: And they're playing the harmonica.

Abram: Yeah.

Joe: And then suddenly all their instruments appear. It was good. I like that. Yeah.

Abram: Well, you should see the music video for "Real Love" where we learn that the Sgt. Pepper outfits, John Lennon's white piano, and their instruments all can fly apparently. And also in the "Real Love" music video, which I find quite funny, you see a small white piano swimming to the larger white piano at the beginning, which I find sort of interesting. I just like that music video.

Joe: I have no idea what it is you're talking about.

Abram: You should look it up.

Joe: Okay. I like the harmonica here. I like the song. What do you think, Abram?

Abram: Uh, the harmonica is good. Like, I feel like it doesn't have an amazing intro or an amazing outro or an amazing solo. I think they could have done a bit better of the solo, to be honest.

Joe: Mm-hmm.

Abram: But unlike the last song, it doesn't just plod. I feel like it goes at a much better rate. However, since it doesn't have any extremely good sections, I'm giving it the same rating as the previous— 7.

Joe: Well, I'm giving it a 6. Mm, I know, it's the evil number.

Abram: Okay, drum roll please for track 3, "If I Fell."

Joe: Is this the song where Ringo is like by the river?

Abram: No.

Joe: Okay.

Abram: That is an instrumental version of "This Boy," which we are not covering.

Joe: Ah, okay. So this song is just a little slow, a little bit traditional, and a little bit—

Abram: Don't say that, Jamie will get offended. Okay, fair warning. If you're Jamie, please skip ahead. Please. You would not like to hear what we were talking about.

Joe: Well, what do you think?

Abram: I think it's fine, but this is a major turning point, Dad. This is their first song that I don't consider upbeat. Even a song of the title "Misery" is upbeat. This is their first not upbeat song.

Joe: Okay, that doesn't mean I like it.

Abram: Yeah, I feel the same way. It's definitely a career advancement, but it's not an amazing song. There's nothing like wrong with it. It's just slow, which is kind of the point, but it's just not my style. 5?

Joe: 4.

Abram: You've offended Jamie.

Joe: He'll live.

Abram: Really? He might refuse to collaborate with us. Now for track 4, the only song to use the George theme. A drum roll, please. "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You." What are your thoughts?

Joe: I like the song a little bit. It's definitely very up-tempo. I like that they're sort of making fun of their earlier song, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."

Abram: Huh?

Joe: Well, he says, "I don't wanna hold your hand anymore. Now it's time to dance." Kuh!

Abram: This is George singing, and it's actually his first vocal performance that I don't think is horrible. If you remember from the first album, both of his vocal performances were eh. And he did okay in the last album. Same with this. Isn't too special. I feel like he doesn't have a good voice yet, but it's fine.

Abram: I guess this is a pretty good song. The song was so short we didn't have time to cough. Yeah, it's less than two minutes long. I think it's the shortest in the album, and I would say it's pretty good. There's not too much to say. It's a good song. It's not written by George, however.

Joe: Who's it written by?

Abram: Lennon-McCartney.

Joe: Is that common that they would write a song for George to sing?

Abram: Yeah, they did that a lot, especially for Ringo, but for George too.

Joe: But George is going to become such a great songwriter.

Abram: Yeah, right now he can't even sing. He's too soft at singing.

Joe: Do you think he's the most improved Beatle?

Abram: Yeah, I would say so. John didn't really improve. Like, he never really got better after his early days. He got more psychedelic, but not necessarily better. Paul improved a little bit. He went from writing "Love Me Do" to "Darling," which is a more advanced love song. George, however, went from being scared of singing to writing songs like "Here Comes the Sun." We'll save that for Abbey Road, though. Ringo went from Ringo to Ringo.

Joe: That's fair.

Abram: Yeah. Okay, so what's your rating?

Joe: 6.

Abram: I would also say 6. Good, no one said 7.

Joe: Thank goodness.

Abram: Drum roll please for track 5, "And I Love Her." I think this is a better ballad than "If I Fell." Sorry, Jamie. It's the same situation. It isn't upbeat, but this is a full love song. It's Paul's first "Yesterday," as John Lennon said.

Joe: That makes sense. Uh, are they doing something interesting with the guitar picking? I can't quite make out how special it is, but it certainly has a very different—

Abram: Spanish guitar.

Joe: Spanish guitar, I see.

Abram: And it has the weird echoey sounds. That's cool. There is a percussion instrument I forget the name of. It's a really cool song. I wish they used the middle eight more, though. Oftentimes middle eights are like bad compared to the rest of the song.

Abram: Take "Love Me Do," for example. Its middle eight, "Someone to Love," versus the main part. The "Someone to Love" section, it's worse, but I wanted it to appear more because you need middle eights in order to, like, contrast, and songs like "Love Me Do" get very repetitive. How this connects to this is that it only used the instruments for the middle eight once in the entire song. Like, there was barely any contrast. That's my only real complaint about it, though. What are you rating it?

Joe: 5 or 6?

Abram: You choose.

Joe: 5.

Abram: I'm rating it a 6. It's better than "If I Fell." I don't think it's like an amazing song. I would say one of the Beatles' first masterpieces though. That doesn't mean I necessarily like it. Drum roll please for track 6. "Tell Me Why." What do you think of this song?

Joe: I mean, it does sound a little bit of a '50s throwback again, um, but a high-quality one.

Abram: I really like the falsetto part. Yeah, I hoped it would be more than one line.

Joe: No, I like this song. I find I don't have a lot of interesting things to say about it. Who's it written by?

Abram: It's Lennon-McCartney. All of the songs in this album are Lennon-McCartney.

Joe: But who are they really written by?

Abram: This is a John song.

Joe: Okay.

Abram: This is the only song on the album to feature George Martin in any way other than producer. Usually appears more than just once. He plays piano in this song because that's before either John or Paul could play piano.

Joe: Really?

Abram: Or they could, not well enough to be on like a professional song, I assume.

Joe: Interesting. I had no idea.

Abram: I don't think they actually played piano on songs until like Revolver.

Joe: The things I learn on this podcast.

Abram: It was all George Martin before that. This is a 6. It's a pretty good song, nothing too special though.

Joe: I agree, it's a 6.

Abram: Now drum roll please for track 7, "Can't Buy Me Love." What do you think?

Joe: Um, is this the first song in the second half?

Abram: No, this is the last song in the first.

Joe: Okay.

Abram: This is used in the movie twice.

Joe: Oh right, this is the song they play at the variety show at the end, right?

Abram: This is the song they play in the field in the middle.

Joe: I apparently need to rewatch the movie. Um, I really like this song. This is like—

Abram: Yeah, it's really good. I would say it's better than most of the ones recently, but not— but perhaps not by enough to justify a point difference. But it is slightly better. The guitar solo is eh, I don't like it.

Joe: I like it.

Abram: It didn't need that guitar solo.

Joe: Yeah, I like its energy. I like its message.

Abram: Yeah, it's the exact opposite of a certain song I won't mention. Because you'll go Motown mode.

Joe: Nothing wrong with Motown. I'm not leaving. I know what I'm rating this one.

Abram: What?

Joe: 8.

Abram: Ah, okay. I'll rate it a 6. It isn't amazing, but it's pretty good. I would say it's very good, but not amazing. Now, drum roll please for track 8, the first non-movie song. "Anytime at All." What do you think of this song?

Joe: I like it. It's another upbeat.

Abram: I would say this is the basic A Hard Day's Night song. Good guitar, weird guitar solo that doesn't quite fit, but it's fine. Love song, John. It's just the basic A Hard Day's Night song. However, A Hard Day's Night's good, and thus this song's good.

Joe: Yeah, I'm giving it a 6, but I don't know. It moves well, it has nice guitar, but you're right, it's feeling like it's just another one of the bunch. Like, it's not really sticking out.

Abram: Yeah, it opens side 2, but I don't think it's anything great, but it's certainly better than the next song.

Joe: Uh-oh.

Abram: I'm gonna give this a 6. Yeah. The next song isn't great. Drum roll please for— "I'll Cry Instead." Well, we've just learned what happens when John loses his girlfriend and throws a fit. He creates this mess of a song that doesn't even fit on this album.

Joe: I don't know that it doesn't fit. I mean, listen to that tambourine. It is just nonstop tambourine.

Abram: Is that good or bad?

Joe: I don't know. I didn't really have an opinion, but it's sort of like John is like, hide your women. I am coming after all of your women all around the world because I'm a better man than you. But also I'm crying because I'm a sensitive man.

Abram: Yeah, he's throwing a fit.

Joe: It's a little complicated.

Abram: This song— the song doesn't fit. There's no weird piano guitar solos. No good message. Kick this song out to Beatles for Sale. There. It's in Beatles for Sale now. That's better.

Joe: Should we rate it?

Abram: Yeah, we have to. We can't wait till Beatles for Sale, unfortunately.

Joe: I— I'm giving it a 4.

Abram: I'm giving it a 3. It doesn't have any particular parts I like. Just to note, we are using the Totalus Rankium rating scale for this, so that helps. At least it isn't Revolution 9. Drum roll please for track 10, "Things We Said Today." This song's an improvement. It's actually released as a B-side to the title track. It's just as good as the title track. I think this is a pretty good song.

Joe: I like this song because of what it sort of pretends. Right? I don't know, Abram, have you listened to much of The Doors?

Abram: You're obsessed with non-Beatles.

Joe: Well, the point is it really sounds like a prototypical Doors song, even though this is still several years before their first album. It's very moody, minor key rock. And in fact, Paul McCartney, I think, even sounds a little bit like Jim Morrison in this song. So I really like it, and I think that The Doors were probably inspired by this song, or other traditions around the same time.

Abram: It's fine. It's pretty good, I would say. It's better than most songs recently. Uh, 7.

Joe: I'm giving it a 7 as well.

Abram: Drum roll please for track 11, "When I Get Home." What do you think?

Joe: It's sort of a middling song. It's not good, it's not bad.

Abram: Like all of the other songs in this album besides "I'll Cry Instead," which has been kicked out of this conversation, all of them have like something really cool about them. Hard Day's Night is a solo. "Should Have Known Better" has harmonica. "If I Fell" has like the cool like slow tempo. "Happy Just to Dance with You" has like cool guitar. All of them have something special. This one doesn't. It's a solid song, but unlike the others, it doesn't go anywhere further than that.

Joe: Yeah, we just listened to it and I already don't remember it. I'm giving it a 5.

Abram: Yeah, me too. Track 12, one you probably hate the theme of. A drum roll, please! "You Can't Do That." What do you think of it?

Joe: Um, I mean, it's okay.

Abram: I don't like the theme, but it's a good song.

Joe: Yeah, I don't like the theme for some reason. I don't know if it's the cowbell.

Abram: The cowbell's actually good in this appearance. It doesn't go— it doesn't do that.

Joe: Yeah, I mean, much, much, much, much, much later, there's a song called "Cleveland Rocks" that has like elements of this song stuck in it.

Abram: Is it like a remix?

Joe: No, I don't know. I could be misthinking. No, it's not "Cleveland Rocks." It's "5 O'Clock World" that I was thinking of. Anyway, I'm not going to compare this anymore. I'm just going to say it's a 6.

Abram: It's a 6. Yeah, we have one last song to go. Drum roll please for track 13, "I'll Be Back." It's another slow song. It's the third ballad of the album. Solid song. It's a pretty weak closer. I wish they swapped this with "You Can't Do That." It would have made a better closer. Like, it's a good song but a bad closer.

Joe: Yeah, I agree.

Abram: I really like the intro, like really high-pitched guitar, but after that it just does absolutely nothing with it, and you never get the, like, cool high-pitched sound again.

Joe: Yeah, I agree.

Abram: 5.

Joe: Yeah, I'm gonna go with a 5. And actually, now that we've finished this album, I really thought that the first two Beatles albums, like, really had a theme.

Abram: Like, what were they?

Joe: Well, I thought the second one was like a love letter to American rock, and then the first one was sort of an introduction to—

Abram: Well, this one's just Beatle pop album.

Joe: Yeah. Um, I mean, it's a soundtrack album. Do you think because it's a soundtrack album that maybe they approached writing it differently?

Abram: I guess half of it isn't though, only the first seven are.

Joe: That's true.

Abram: "Anytime at All" onwards aren't. But anyways, "I'll Be Back," you're being Beatles for Sale'd. And "I'll Cry Instead," you'll actually be a decent song for the album and not a complete joke. So good job, I guess, but you're still being Beatles for Sale'd.

Joe: Okay, so I guess that's another 5.

Overview

Abram: Yeah, there we have it. A Hard Day's Night. Now time for the overview sections. First category, great songs. There are a lot of these in this album. I'm gonna try to not choose every single song, but the first three songs, "And I Love Her," "Can't Buy Me Love," and "Things We Said Today," I think would all fit under that category.

Joe: Yeah, I think "Hard Day's Night," definitely. "Can't Buy Me Love," definitely. I don't think the others are like their all-time greats, but they're all very good.

Abram: Yeah. Hidden gems. There are quite a few. "Happy Just to Dance with You" is one of them, definitely. And "Anytime at All" is probably the other big one.

Joe: I agree completely.

Abram: Those are the two hidden gems of the album.

Joe: Yes.

Abram: Best guitar on the album. What do you think? The track where guitar stood out to you the most.

Joe: It's the Spanish guitar. Does that count?

Abram: Yeah. "And I Love Her." "And I Love Her" wins for best guitar. Best bass. I wasn't really paying attention to bass, so we can skip this category.

Joe: That's fair.

Abram: Best drums.

Joe: More cowbell.

Abram: Less cowbell. What do you think the best drums are? They didn't really— this album's not very drum-focused.

Joe: Yeah, I agree.

Abram: I think "Anytime at All," if it's like big chorus intro.

Joe: Makes sense to me.

Abram: Okay, "Anytime at All" wins. Best vocal performance. What should it be? What should it be? "And I Love Her," for sure.

Joe: Yeah, definitely.

Abram: I, I, I don't think there's much competing there. Best other instrument?

Joe: Cowbell!

Abram: No, Dad, you've been cowbelled out. Go meet the other cows. So Mr. Moo is not going to be participating anymore. Uh, the best other is piano for "A Hard Day's Night." It's used very well. It's also used in "Anytime at All," but it isn't quite as good.

Abram: Now time to calculate the overall score. Okay, if I calculate this right, it's 5.77, which is quite good. I don't know what our last ones were. We'll figure that out eventually, but it's quite good. So Mr. Moo has to eat some grass, so I'll be the only one to do the recap.

Joe: So, are we gonna talk about the movie?

Abram: You're a cow.

Joe: Yes, but I'm a cow that likes movies.

Abram: You're still a cow!

Joe: Moo-vies.

Abram: Why'd the cow cross the road?

Joe: I don't know.

Abram: To go to the—

Joe: Moo-vies.

Abram: I invented that joke.

Recap

Abram: So, Mr. Moo, uh, this is my overall opinion. This album is really good for only having one bad song, "I'll Cry Instead." It's very bad. A Hard Day's Night is the perfect pop album for the Beatles, especially the title track and its B-side "Things We Said Today."

Abram: It shows maturity — "If I Fell," "And I Love Her," and "I'll Be Back." "I Should Have Known Better" is good, but I feel like it runs on a bit long, and it's the longest on the album. I think that instrumental on the American Hard Day's Night side is actually better than the original Beatles song from this album.

Abram: I feel bad for "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You," 'cause it's sandwiched between the two gentle songs, and it's not gentle. "Tell Me Why" is also pretty underrated, I didn't mention earlier, and that's pretty much all. Hard Day's Night's the best the Beatles could do at base level, and it's pretty good. So now, here's some grass for you to eat.

Joe: Yum.

Abram: You're a weird cow. Say goodnight, Abram.

Joe: We haven't talked about the movie. I wanted to talk about the movie. It has Paul's fake grandfather. It was nominated for two Academy Awards. And it's the thing that The Monkees was based on. And—

Abram: Oh!

Joe: Ew! Oh!

Abram: Ah!

Joe: Ah!

Abram: Say goodnight, Abram. Good morning.

Joe: Fine, say goodnight, Abram.

Abram: I already did. Too late, Mr. Cow.

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