Getting Better

Getting Better
The Beatles
publication	June 1, 1967
length	2 min 48 s
Genre (s)	Psychedelic rock
Author (s)	Lennon / McCartney
album	Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Getting Better ( English better be ) is a song by British rock band The Beatles , which in the year 1967, the fourth track on the LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released.

The song is mainly from Paul McCartney . It is under the copyright Lennon / McCartney , which was common in Beatles times . The idea for the title goes back to Jimmie Nicol , who represented Ringo Starr during a tour for a few concerts and is said to have said with relief after each performance: “It's getting better!” (,It gets even better!')

Recordings

The recordings took place on March 9th and 10th as well as on March 21st and 23rd, 1967 in the Abbey Road Studios in London . The rhythm track was developed on the first two days of recording. George Martin played the pianet as an instrument , the strings of which were struck directly, which gave them a hard sound.

On the third day of recording, March 21, 1967, John Lennon is said to have suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He was escorted to the studio roof by George Martin to get some fresh air. Since the studio was always surrounded by fans, there was no other option. Martin had left Lennon alone on the roof without parapets, where he was walking around confused. The other Beatles recognized that Lennon was on an LSD trip and got him off the edge of the roof before he could crash.

This piece is a good example of the collaboration between the composer duo Lennon / McCartney . While Paul McCartney sings with a very strong and optimistic voice, John Lennon's voice sounds thin. To the chorus line “It's getting better all the time” Lennon answers cynically: “it can't get no worse”. This idea should have occurred to him spontaneously when McCartney played him the song for rehearsal.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney recalled in 1980 and 1984 interviews with Playboy :

“It is a diary form of writing. All that 'I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved' was me. I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically - any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. "

“It's something like a journal entry. All of this 'I was brutal to my wife, I beat her and kept her away from the things she loved', that was me. I was brutal to my wife, physically too - every woman. I was a thug. I couldn't express myself so I struck. I fought with men and I beat women. "

- John Lennon : Playboy , 1981

“Wrote that at my house in St. John's Wood. All I remember is that I said, 'It's getting better all the time,' and John contributed the legendary line 'It couldn't get much worse.' Which I thought was very good. Against the spirit of that song, which was all super-optimistic […] then there's that lovely little sardonic line. Typical John. "

“I wrote that at my home in St. John's Wood. The only thing I can remember is when I said 'it's getting better and better' and John came up with the legendary line 'it couldn't get any worse'. I liked that very much. That was totally against the mood of the song, which was so super optimistic [...] and then comes this nice little malicious line. Typical John. "

- Paul McCartney : Playboy , 1984

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Barry Miles: Many Years from Now. Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1999. p. 364
2. ^ Ian MacDonald: Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties . Chicago: Chicago Review Press 2007, p. 241
3. ^ Mark Lewisohn: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions . London: Hamlyn 1988, p. 104
4. ↑ Playboy Interview: John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In: Playboy . January, 1981, p. 75 ff.
5. ↑ www.john-lennon.com: Playboy Interview: John Lennon and Yoko Ono .
6. ^ Playboy interview: Paul and Linda McCartney. In: Playboy . December, 1984, p. 75 ff.
7. ↑ www.beatlesinterviews.org: Playboy Interview with Paul and Linda McCartney .