The Beatles released many number-one singles throughout the 1960s, but John Lennon looked back on one of his favourites with a certain disdain.
When quizzed in 1970 about the legacy of the Fab Four, he was quick to name his favourite tracks from their history.
He listed: “I always liked [I Am The] Walrus, Strawberry Fields, Help!, In My Life.”
He was then asked: “Why Help!?” to which Lennon responded: “Because I meant it, it’s real.”
“The lyric is as good now as it was then,” he added. “It’s no different, you know. It makes me feel secure to know that I was that sensible or whatever.”
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Lennon said he was “aware of himself” while writing the 1965 record, which hit number one in the UK and the USA for three weeks.
“That’s with no acid,” he said. “No nothing… well, pot or whatever. It was just me singing ‘help’, and I meant it, you know?”
With that said, he confessed he still did not like how the track turned out, however.
“I don’t like the recording that much,” Lennon revealed.
“The song I like. We did it too fast to try and be commercial.”
It seems as if The Beatles were extremely successful in being “commercial” with Help!, however. After it was released, it hit number one in the UK and USA, and went on to tell a staggering 2 million copies.
Help! was penned after the band’s feature film of the same name had its title changed.
Lennon remembered saying: “They’ve changed the title of the film: it’s going to be called ‘Help!’ now. So I’ve had to write a new song with the title called Help!”
Paul McCartney later confirmed he was called in to “complete” the song’s composition.
