The beloved Beatles classic John Lennon labelled “lousy”
The Beatles‘ career is as close to perfection as any band could possibly achieve. Significantly, they were pioneers and refused to rest on their laurels, constantly seeking new musical challenges. For the most part, they succeeded with aplomb at every task and could do no wrong in the eyes of most.
To provide context on the scale of their success, they had become too popular to tour. Due to the size and devotion of their army of fans, stepping out onto the road had become a security risk. Furthermore, when they did play Shea Stadium, the sound quality could have been better, and the infrastructure didn’t exist to cater to their needs.
Instead, The Beatles focussed on the recording process, which proved to be a blessing. Unlike their peers, they didn’t have long and arduous touring schedules to abide by, which meant they could spend as long in the studio as they desired.
Even before retiring from the road, The Beatles achieved a prolific output during the 1960s that placed them in a league of their own. The Fab Four churned out timeless classics at a frantic pace and achieved a greater lasting impact within one decade than any other band’s entire career.
Nevertheless, Lennon was always their harshest critic and often lunged into vicious verbal assaults on their work. In all likelihood, his perfectionist personality made him such a world-class artist as he was unprepared to settle for anything other than magnificence. Therefore, even when The Beatles created a moment of magic in the studio, Lennon was often unhappy with the final outcome. In his mind, if it wasn’t of a similar quality to ‘A Day In The Life‘, then he had little reason to celebrate, and instead, he chose to pick holes.
By 1964, The Beatles had become more than a ban; they were a commercial entity that had become greater than they could have envisaged. In a short space of a few years, the Fab Four had evolved from playing sparsely attended working men’s clubs in Liverpool to being on par with royalty. At this time, they were not just musicians but movie stars, too. According to Lennon, like many famous people, they lost sight of who they truly were amid the glamour and bright lights. For this reason, in his opinion, ‘Eight Days A Week’ embodied The Beatles at their very worst.
The track appeared on Beatles for Sale and was a huge success for the group, topping the charts in the United States. However, even though ‘Eight Days a Week’ was lapped up by fans far and wide, Lennon didn’t believe this to be a worthy metric.
“Help! as a film was like ‘Eight Days A Week’ as a record for us. A lot of people liked the film, and a lot of people liked that record,” Lennon remarked in Anthology. “But neither was what we wanted – we knew they weren’t really us. We weren’t ashamed of the film, but close friends knew that the picture and ‘Eight Days’ weren’t our best. They were both a bit manufactured.”
Over the years, Lennon’s opinion of the track became even more hostile, with his dislike for what it represented only enhancing with age. During an interview with Playboy in 1980, shortly before his death, Lennon spoke about why he took no pride in the effort.
“‘Eight Days A Week’ was the running title for Help! before they came up with Help!” he revealed to the publication. “It was Paul’s effort at getting a single for the movie. That luckily turned to ‘Help!’ which I wrote, bam! bam!, like that and got the single. ‘Eight Days A Week’ was never a good song.”
“We struggled to record it and struggled to make it into a song. It was his initial effort, but I think we both worked on it. I’m not sure. But it was lousy anyway,” Lennon concluded.
Although Lennon took his resentment of ‘Eight Days A Week’ to his grave, it remains a beloved creation. However, shortly after its release, The Beatles stopped writing love songs of this nature and expanded their musical horizons. It’s a track they would never have made towards the end of their career, but it’s still representative of the band they were in 1964.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.