There's a Place
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “There's a Place” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles | ||
| Album | Please Please Me | |
| Released | March 22, 1963 (mono) April 26, 1963 (stereo) |
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| Recorded | February 11, 1963 | |
| Genre | Rock and roll | |
| Length | 1:49 | |
| Label | Parlophone | |
| Writer | McCartney/Lennon | |
| Producer | George Martin | |
| Please Please Me track listing | ||
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| “There's a Place” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single B-side to "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles | ||
| Released | 2 March 1964 | |
| Label | Tollie 9001 (US) | |
"There's a Place" is a song composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and was first released as a track on The Beatles UK debut LP, Please Please Me. Lennon and McCartney share the main vocal with George Harrison singing back up vocal.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
The song was inspired by Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere" from West Side Story which contained the line: "somewhere there's a place for us". Paul McCartney owned the album of the soundtrack at the time of writing "There's a Place" and acknowledges its influence.[1] The "place" in question was "the mind", making its subject matter slightly more cerebral than Britain's kissing and cuddling songs and America's surf music from that period.[2] Lennon is quoted as saying: ""There's a Place" was my attempt at a sort of Motown, black thing."[2] It says the usual Lennon things: 'In my mind there's no sorrow...' It's all in your mind." Composed at McCartney's Forthlin Road home, it was part of the group's stage repertoire in 1963.[3] With its major seventh harmonica intro (later reprised) and searing two-part vocal harmonies in fifths (Lennon low, McCartney high), it stands out as an early Beatles milestone track.
The song was officially credited to Paul McCartney and John Lennon, in that order, as were all other Lennon/McCartney originals on the Please Please Me album. The songwriting credit was changed to "Lennon-McCartney" for their second album, With The Beatles.
[edit] Personnel
- John Lennon – joint lead vocal, harmonica, rhythm guitar
- Paul McCartney – joint lead vocal, bass guitar
- George Harrison – backing vocal, lead guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums
- Credits per Ian MacDonald[4]
[edit] Cover versions
A cover version was released by The Flamin' Groovies.
[edit] Cultural legacy
It was used at the start of Daniel Farson's Associated-Rediffusion documentary "Beat City", a portrait of Liverpool which was shown at Christmas 1963.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Miles, Barry (1998). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. London: Vintage, 95. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4.
- ^ a b MacDonald, Ian (1998). Revolution in the Head, 58.
- ^ Harry, Bill (1992). The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia. London: Virgin Books, 649. ISBN 0-86369-681-3.
- ^ MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties, Second Revised Edition, London: Pimlico (Rand), 65. ISBN 1-844-13828-3.
