The Beatles song that was cut from the ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ film
The zany centrepiece to The Beatles’ first film, A Hard Day’s Night, is the much-loved field sequence. Featuring the antics of the cooped-up band just as they escape the confines of the theatre they’re about to play, the field sequence was one of the factors that pushed A Hard Day’s Night beyond faddish exploitation of fame and into the realm of a classic screwball comedy. And it all works without any dialogue.
The only sound to be found during the sequence is ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, the killer single that later went to number one in both the UK and the US. It’s the perfect piece of accompaniment – an uptempo and ferociously giddy song about the joys of simple pleasures. As a way of articulating the carefree attitude of The Beatles on film, it’s nothing less than a stroke of genius. But ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ wasn’t the original song choice for the field sequence.
Instead, ‘I’ll Cry Instead’ was originally meant to appear in the sequence. The filming of the A Hard Day’s Night film and the material later found on the A Hard Day’s Night album overlapped. The field sequence wasn’t filmed until April 23rd, 1964, by which point ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ had already hit number one. It only seemed logical to soundtrack the sequence with the band’s latest hit, but according to John Lennon, it was director Dick Lester’s dislike of ‘I’ll Cry Instead’ that led to the change.
“I wrote that for A Hard Day’s Night, but Dick Lester didn’t even want it,” Lennon told David Sheff in 1980. “He resurrected ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ for that sequence instead. I like the middle eight to that song, though – that’s about all I can say about it.”
“John was not known to suffer fools, and I probably fell into the fool category,” Lester later told The Express. “He was always willing to skewer the pomposity around him, and I think there can’t be any more pompous person on a set than the director. So, I have wounds. But I have a huge, huge admiration for John.”
“The general aim of the film was to present what was apparently becoming a social phenomenon in this country,” Lester added about the feeling of A Hard Day’s Night. “Anarchy is too strong a word, but the quality of confidence that the boys exuded! Confidence that they could dress as they liked, speak as they liked, talk to the Queen as they liked, talk to the people on the train who ‘fought the war for them’ as they liked.”
“[Everything was] still based on privilege—privilege by schooling, privilege by birth, privilege by accent, privilege by speech,” Lester added. “The Beatles were the first people to attack this… they said if you want something, do it. You can do it. Forget all this talk about talent or ability or money or speech. Just do it.”
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.