Alan Aldrigde, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr en George Harrison Alan Aldrigde, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (c) Alan Aldrigde, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics

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I Wanna Be Your Man

Composer(s) : Lennon and McCartney
Year : 1963

Chords/Tabs: I Wanna Be Your Man

Notes on "I Wanna Be Your Man" (IWBYM)

KEY E Major

METER 4/4

FORM Verse -> Refrain -> Verse -> Refrain -> Break -> Verse -> Refrain -> Outro (fadeout)

GENERAL POINTS OF INTEREST

Style and Form

- This song is ravingly bluesy in a stylized but facile, simplistic way, representing a certain kind of triumph of style per se over content. If you're charitably disposed, you'll say that the heavy attention paid to external mannerism and evocation of mood more than adequately compensates for the otherwise minimalistic amount and quality of material used throughout. In any event, the song would seem to demonstrate just how it is that a pop song *can*, under some circumstances, be be written on the fly in what I'd wager must have been less than a single afternoon.

- In context of the other contemporaneous L&M originals of the period, this one is formalistically notable for its bridge-like refrain, and the improvisatory instrumental break.


Harmony

- Very few chords are used at all, with the verse section being a jam session on virtually just one chord. A few additional chords appear in the refrain though they are all garden variety in nature.


Arrangement

- Ringo, of course, gets to sing the lead vocal and he's accompanied by John and Paul in the refrain. The rest of the texture is quite fluffed up, perhaps even overdone a bit, with double tracking, overdubbed Hammond organ, and a lot of screaming.

- We have the case here where non-official versions of the song, perserved as they are in unreleased recordings of BBC radio broadcasts and live concerts, present a revised arrangement which omits the organ but is in all other respects more effective. I'll single out such specific improvements as we come to them in our walkthrough below.

SECTION-BY-SECTION WALKTHROUGH

Verse

- You can hardly call it an intro by itself, but the hot little guitar lick that precedes the opening downbeat helps immediately set the wild and crazy mood of what is to come. Several live versions include four full measures of introductory vamping on E before Ringo's vocal entry.

- The overall section is seventeen measures long and divides up into two eight-measure couplets, plus one additional measure to give a little breathing space for the long pickup into the refrain. This last measure is not strictly "required" in the scheme of things, and its presence does indeed create a slightly awkward metrical asymmetry. My guess is that they decided to include it as the lesser of two evils because if you try this section out without that seventeenth measure, the title phrase which commences the refrain gets garbled in a scramble to squeeze it into measure sixteen.

- Only the I chord (E) is used in this section, though there is a brief hint of the V chord (B) in the second half of measures 8 and 15; this chord change is much more clearly articulated in the live versions.

- The bluesy melody with its emphasis on f# and the flat-seventh (d) lends some indirect harmonic embellishment of that lone E chord.

Refrain

- This refrain is eight measures long and built out of four little 2-measure phrases each of which declaims the title phrase of the lyrics:

riff:     f#-f-e|d#       e-d#-d|c#       f#-f-e|d#
	|F#	|B	|E	|C#	|f#	|B	|E	|-	|
E:	 V-of-V  V	 I       V-of-ii ii	 V	 I
					 **

	[** that f# minor chord just *might* be F# Major but I find
	 the recording too muddy to tell for sure.]

- The shift in this section to a distinctly non-bluesy style with those cornball chromatic-scale guitar riffs is the primary source of formal contrast.

- On a more subtle level, the introduction in this section of a number of different chords with a concommitant amount of harmonic rhythm also contrasts with the monotony of the verses. Though this refrain doesn't actually stray at all from the home key, the large number of intensely functional chord changes (with root movements lying along the circle of fifths) make it sound as though it's very much on the harmonic prowl.

Break

- The break is twelve bars long and like the verse, it jams on just a single chord. The heavy blues style returns with what seems like a high water mark amount of shouts and grunting.

- The guitar solo here consists of sound-bite-like short 'licks'. There is very little of the sort of melodic continuity or dramatic sense of direction seen in the solos of either "I Saw Her Standing There" or even "Little Child."

- The live versions turn this section very clearly into a 12-bar blues frame and feature more overall shape to the guitar solo.

Outro

- The outro brings a return of the texture heard in the Break, only this time there is an adaptation of the vocal parts of the refrain superimposed over the backing track.

- A small flash of the IV chord (A) during the fadeout hints at the *real* blues jam session that might have gone on in the studio after the faders had been lowered all the way; see the unreleased Take 7 of "She's A Woman" for an example of what I'm thinking of.

- The live versions of our song in fact replicate the 12-bar blues form seen in the Break and thus take the song to an alternate complete ending.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

- Tony Barrow, whose liner notes on the first couple albums are surprisingly accurate most of the time in spite of their unabashed PR-perspective, gets caught in, not one, but *two* lies regarding this song: #1 -- saying the song was written "specially" for Ringo rather than the Rolling Stones, and #2 -- that it is John on the Hammond organ, not (as Lewisohn reports) George Martin.

- There are a number of well known Dylan-Beatles connections out there, but one of the more obscure and unusual examples must be Zimmy's unreleased track from a late '65 session done with the proto-Band; a song entitled "I Wanna Be Your Lover", in the refrain of which he humorously sends up our own "I Wanna Be Your Man". The existence of such a parody forces me to acknowledge, almost against my will as it were, that our song *must* have had, in spite of whatever its limitations, a sufficient presence as a ready-made pop-culture icon in order to draw such distinguished imitation, even if only in jest. But I guess that's what I meant to begin with, with my own wisecrack about the triumph of style per se over content.

Regards,
Alan (awp@bitstream.com *OR* uunet!huxley!awp)

---
"I don't wanna be her's, ... I wanna be your's!" 112491#40
---

Copyright (c) 1991 by Alan W. Pollack All Rights Reserved This article may be reproduced, retransmitted, redistributed and otherwise propagated at will, provided that this notice remains intact and in place.


Ook op With the Beatles:

ChordsNotes On
It Won't Be Long It Won't Be Long
All I've Got to Do All I've Got to Do
All My Loving All My Loving
Don't Bother Me Don't Bother Me
Little Child Little Child
Till There Was You Till There Was You
Please Mr. Postman Please Mr. Postman
Roll over Beethoven Roll over Beethoven
Hold Me Tight Hold Me Tight
You've Really Got a Hold on Me You've Really Got a Hold on Me
I Wanna Be Your Man I Wanna Be Your Man
Devil in Her Heart Devil in Her Heart
Not a Second Time Not a Second Time
Money (That's What I Want) Money (That's What I Want)

Ook op Anthology 1:

ChordsNotes On
Free As A Bird Free As A Bird
Speeches_ant_1 We Were Four Guys ... That's All (john Lennon Speaking To Jann Wenner) 
That'll Be The Day 
In Spite Of All The Danger 
Sometimes I'd Borrow ... Those Still Exist 
Hallelujah, I Love Her So 
You'll Be Mine 
Cayenne 
First Of All ... It Didn't Do A Thing Here 
My Bonnie 
Ain't She Sweet 
Cry For A Shadow 
Brian Was A Beautiful Guy ... He Presented Us Well 
I Secured Them ... A Beatle Drink Even Then 
Searching 
Three Cool Cats 
Sheik Of Araby 
Like Dreamers Do 
Hello Little Girl 
Well, The Recording Test ... By My Artists 
Besame Mucho 
Love Me Do Love Me Do
How Do You Do It 
Please Please Me Please Please Me
One After 909 (Takes 3, 4, & 5)
One After 909 (Takes 4 & 5)
Lend Me Your Comb 
I'll Get You (Live at the London Palladium)
We Were Performers ... In Britain 
I Saw Her Standing There (Live in Stockholm)
From Me To You (Live in Stockholm)
Money (that's What I Want) (Live in Stockholm)
You've Really Got A Hold On Me (Live in Stockholm)
Roll Over Beethoven (Live in Stockholm)
She Loves You (Live at the Royal Variety Show)
Till There Was You (Live at the Royal Variety Show)
Twist And Shout (Live at the Royal Variety Show)
This Boy (Live on The Morecambe and Wise Show)
I Want To Hold Your Hand (Live on The Morecambe and Wise Show)
Boys, What I Was Thinking ... (morecambe & Wise Speaking To The Beatles) 
Moonlight Bay (Live on The Morecambe and Wise Show)
Can't Buy Me Love (Takes 1 & 2)
All My Loving Live on The Ed Sullivan Show)
You Can't Do That (Take 6)
And I Love Her (Take 2)
A Hard Day's Night (Take 1)
I Wanna Be Your Man I Wanna Be Your Man
Long Tall Sally Long Tall Sally
Boys Boys
Shout ! 
I'll Be Back (Take 2)
I'll Be Back (Take 3)
You Know What To Do 
No Reply No Reply
Mr. Moonlight (Takes 1 & 4)
Leave My Kitten Alone (Take 5)
No Reply (Take 2)
Eight Days A Week (Takes 1, 2 & 4)
Eight Days A Week (Take 5)
Kansas City-Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! [medley] (Take 1)

Ook op Live At The BBC:

ChordsNotes On
Beatle Greetings (speech) 
From Us To You 
Riding On A Bus (speech) 
I Got A Woman 
Too Much Monkey Business 
Keep Your Hands Off My Baby 
I'll Be On My Way 
Young Blood 
A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues 
Sure To Fall 
Some Other Guy 
Thank You Girl Thank You Girl
Sha La La La La! (speech) 
Baby It's You Baby It's You
That's All Right (mama) 
Carol 
Soldier Of Love 
A Little Rhyme (speech) 
Clarabella 
I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (over You) 
Crying, Waiting, Hoping 
Dear Wack! (speech) 
You've Really Got a Hold on Me You've Really Got a Hold on Me
To Know Her Is To Love Her 
A Taste of Honey A Taste of Honey
Long Tall Sally Long Tall Sally
I Saw Her Standing There I Saw Her Standing There
The Honeymoon Song 
Johnny B. Goode 
Memphis, Tennessee 
Lucille 
Can't Buy Me Love Can't Buy Me Love
From Fluff To You (speech) 
Till There Was You Till There Was You
Crinsk Dee Night 
A Hard Day's Night A Hard Day's Night
Have A Banana! 
I Wanna Be Your Man I Wanna Be Your Man
Just A Rumour 
Roll over Beethoven Roll over Beethoven
All My Loving All My Loving
Things We Said Today Things We Said Today
She's a Woman She's a Woman
Sweet Little Sixteen 
1822! 
Lonesome Tears In My Eyes 
Nothin' Shakin' 
The Hippy Hippy Shake 
Glad All Over 
I Just Don't Understand 
So How Come (no One Loves Me) 
I Feel Fine I Feel Fine
I'm a Loser I'm a Loser
Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
Rock & Roll Music Rock & Roll Music
Ticket to Ride Ticket to Ride
Dizzy Miss Lizzy Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Kansas City-Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! [Medley] Kansas City-Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! [Medley]
Set Fire To That Lot! 
Matchbox Matchbox
I Forgot To Remember To Forget 
Love These Goon Shows! 
I Got To Find My Baby 
Ooh! My Soul 
Ooh! My Arms 
Don't Ever Change 
Slow Down Slow Down
Honey Don't Honey Don't
Love Me Do Love Me Do

(c) 2024 Serge Girard