The first song John Lennon ever wrote: “It’s all very Freudian”
As a songwriter, John Lennon redefined the craft, inspiring countless others to pick up a pen. However, he wasn’t born with an immediate world-class gift for the medium. Everybody who has ever become great doesn’t start as the finished product, and it takes a considerable amount of persistence to become capable of churning out number ones like the Fab Four.
Admittedly, Lennon’s first attempt at songwriting already showed flashes of raw talent. While it wasn’t strong enough to earn a place on a Beatles release, even during their early scramble for material, it still found a home and eventually saw the light of day. By comparison, most artists would do anything to make sure their first efforts stayed buried.
Lennon’s music-making journey began when he was 15 after his mother bought him his first guitar. As the history books show, he soon formed his first group, The Quarrymen, but it took him another year before he finally jumped two feet into the world of songwriting. The Quarrymen were formed towards the end of 1956, starting life as a skiffle group. At this point, they had no ambitions to write their own material and were content with covering other artists.
Once Paul McCartney joined the band the following year, things started to fall into place, but original songs took a little longer to materialise. Eventually, this changed as McCartney and Lennon developed their writing partnership. They each wrote their first songs individually around the same time, with Lennon penning ‘Hello Little Girl’. The Beatles’ demo version of the track was eventually released in 1995 as part of Anthology 1.
Lennon wasn’t born with the musical ability to turn water into wine, as his first effort shows. The track was one of the two songs they recorded for their failed audition for Decca in 1962, a decision the record label would live to regret. Thankfully, it impressed George Martin, who signed The Fab Four to EMI and gave it away to fellow Liverpudlian band The Fourmost, who released their version in 1963. It peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart, giving the band their biggest hit.
The song features several confusing lines, such as, “Mother said not to stray, Still, I suppose, a small delay, Granny might like a fresh bouquet, Goodbye, Mr. Wolf, Goodbye, little girl.” It’s safe to say that Lennon had an ear for melody, but his development as a lyricist was still ahead of him.
Reflecting on ‘Hold Little Girl’ with David Sheff in 1980, Lennon said: “That was me. That was actually my first song. [Singing] ‘When I see you every day I say mmm hmm, hello little girl.’ I remember some Thirties or Forties song which was [singing] ‘You’re delightful, you’re delicious and da da da. Isn’t it a pity that you are such a scatterbrain.'”
Lennon referred to Cole Porter’s ‘It’s De-Lovely’ from the 1936 musical Red, Hot and Blue as inspiration. The song reminded him of his late mother, he explained: “That always fascinated me for some reason or another. It’s also connected to my mother. It’s all very Freudian. She used to sing that one. So I made ‘Hello Little Girl’ out of it.”
Writing ‘Hello Little Girl’ was part of Lennon’s learning curve as a rookie. While he had a sentimental attachment to it, McCartney was less keen, telling Barry Miles: “Unfortunately, the words aren’t too wonderful. They’re a bit average, but the Fourmost were eager to have a hit and they were very good friends of ours. They were more of a comedy group, a really very funny cabaret act, and when it came to making a record and being serious on a TV show, they always laughed and giggled.”
‘Hello Little Girl’ serves as a reminder that having a strong work ethic is crucial to excelling at anything, whether it’s songwriting or carpentry. If Lennon’s name hadn’t already built a strong reputation by the time The Fourmost released it, the track almost certainly wouldn’t have become a hit, and The Beatles’ decision to give it away makes complete sense. Nevertheless, it proved to be an important launching pad for Lennon’s songwriting career, helping to make the world a little brighter.
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