February 27th, 1964, the third day in a row of recording in EMI Studio Two for their first motion picture, was a very productive one. The morning session finally brought Paul's "And I Love Her" to completion as well as starting and completing John's "Tell Me Why." The second session, which ran from 2:30 to 5:30, saw the song "If I Fell" from beginning to end as well.
This three-hour session consisted of 15 takes of the song with all The Beatles on their usual instruments and singing simultaneously. In order to get the proper feel, John and Paul insisted on doing the intricate harmonies singing into the same microphone. The song did evolve as the takes went on, such as Ringo's heavier drum sound (suggested by producer George Martin) starting from take three. Two other changes began at take eleven, which were John's punchy acoustic guitar introduction and George Harrison's distinctive 12-string guitar run at the end of the song. "Something like that, you mean?" asked Harrison at the end of the take (probably to George Martin). Also, apparently John had "an itchy bum" by the end of take nine, because he made sure to capture this statement on tape.
Take 15 ended up being the final take even though it contained a semi-serious flaw at the end of the second bridge. Paul's voice cracked on the word "vain" to the point that this extremely high note actually cut off. This was easily fixed by double-tracking another vocal part as an overdub for that part of the song. John also double-tracked his vocals throughout the entire song, which gives their two-part harmony a rich and full sound.
On March 3rd, George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and A.B. Lincoln got together in the control room on Studio One to perform mono mixes for all the tracks to be included in their first movie "A Hard Day's Night." When they did the mix for "If I Fell," they kept John's vocal in the introduction single-tracked to create an intimate feel. When Paul's vocals begin with the first verse, John's double-tracked vocals kick in and remain intact for the remainder of the song. They were also careful to make sure Paul's double-tracked vocals were in place for his flub at the end of the second bridge.
George Martin, Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Ken Scott gathered in the control room of Studio Three on June 9th, to make mono tape copies of the soundtrack songs (including "If I Fell") for distribution to both American record labels that would be releasing them. United Artists included the song on the soundtrack album, and Capitol Records released it as a single as well as on their album "Something New."
June 22nd was the day that was used to create the stereo mixes for the songs on the "A Hard Day's Night" album, which were also sent to Capitol Records for release on the "Something New" album. Since United Artists were rush releasing the soundtrack album, they only had the mono mixes in time for its release. George Martin, Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Geoff Emerick were the only ones present in the control room of Studio One on this day for this marathon session.
Less care was taken for this stereo mix than had been achieved for the previous mono mix in March. They allowed the double-tracking of John's voice to be heard even in the introduction, which has a somewhat out-of-sync beginning. They also forgot to correct Paul's flub in the second bridge, so anyone who spent the extra dollar for the stereo version of the American or British album got to hear Paul's voice crack embarrassingly towards the end of the song.
A final recording session for "If I Fell" can be said to have occurred at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California on August 23rd, 1964. This concert performance was recorded for the intention of release as a live album by Capitol Records in America in late 1964. The producers for this event were Capitol vice-president Voyle Gilmore and George Martin with Hugh Davies as engineer. A rough stereo mix of the show was made on August 27th by Voyle Gilmore and Hugh Davies, adding equalization, reverb and limiting.
Despite their hard work, the album got rejected for release because of the bad quality of the recording. The tapes did resurface in 1977 and, combined with a recording of a 1965 Hollywood Bowl concert, were released as the successful album "The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl." Unfortunately, "If I Fell" did not appear suitable for release and remains in the vaults to this day.
Song Structure and Style
Structurally and lyrically, we are witnessing an early manifestation of the mature intricacies that will consume the Lennon/McCartney catalog in later years, such as in 1967's "Sgt. Pepper" album. Anyone paying attention in 1964 was in denial if they hadn't admitted to being impressed by the complexity displayed in "If I Fell."
As discussed in our review of "Not A Second Time," music critic William Mann of the London Times stated the following way back in 1963 about the songwriting of Lennon and McCartney: "One gets the impression that they think simultaneously of harmony and melody, so firmly are the major tonic sevenths and ninths built into their tunes." Although this article was written in advance of "If I Fell," this song is arguably the best example of what Mann was making reference to.
When you listen to the melody lines that John and Paul individually sing in this song, you'll notice that they interweave each other throughout, jumping, diving and even singing unison in strategic places. John's melody line may rise while Paul's will fall and vice-versa while Paul still maintains his usual higher register. While their usual practice shows the lower register as the actual melody line and the higher one being the harmony, one cannot tell which is which in this case. They both actually could be identified as such.
Nonetheless, the actual structure of the song follows their usual verse/ verse/ bridge/ verse format (or aaba) but with very interesting twists. After an introduction and first verse, we see an abbreviated second verse which segues midway through a lyric line into the bridge. A final verse is also abbreviated to create another segue into the repeated bridge and then back to the third verse, which falls back to the home key before resolving into a short conclusion. Let's try to break it down in order to clear things up (or attempt to).
First of all, there is an eight-measure introduction that is not even hinted at elsewhere in the song which starts with an E-flat-minor chord. From here we go through a series of disorienting chord changes that conceal what the root key of the song is. Finally, by the seventh and eighth measure, we find our footing by seeing the transition to the key of D-major in the first verse. This introduction serves the purpose of Lennon intimately setting the stage for what concerns him storyline-wise.
Instrumentally, the sparse arrangement of the introduction consists merely of Lennon's acoustic rhythm guitar and Harrison's guitar strums on the first beat of each measure. This continues until the eighth measure where Ringo performs an introductory drum fill to get the actual song into gear.
With the ten-measure first verse, we see the arrival of McCartney's bass and harmonized vocals along with Harrison's plucking 12-string guitar phrases with Starr's rim-shot drum beat. Both the fourth and eight measures are primarily taken up by unison singing from John and Paul to add a nice variation within the otherwise harmonized verse. The first eight measures comprise the actual verse, while an additional two measures are needed as a transition into a second verse.
The second verse is identical in structure, but is cut off after the eighth measure in mid-sentence to abruptly jump into a seven-measure bridge. This bridge, which is sung fully in harmony, can be divided into two sections: the first section consisting of three measures, which completes the melodic phrase that was started at the end of the previous verse, and the second section consisting of the remaining four measures to encompass a second melodic phrase. Are you still with me?
A third verse then appears which is structurally identical to the second verse, because of its natural segue into a repeat of the bridge (with McCartney's cracking vocal line at the end). After this bridge, we repeat the third verse, but this time it stretches to thirteen measures to include a fitting conclusion to the song, complete with Harrison's simple but appropriate guitar fill.
Lennon shows unusually outstanding vocal control for singing such a winding melody line against McCartney's prominent higher melody line. He also is playing the singer-songwriter role quite well, his acoustic rhythm guitar being his 'tool of trade' for this song.
McCartney's strong-suit here is his spot-on vocal work in the highest possible register he can muster, so we can easily forgive him for cracking in the second bridge. His bass work is perfunctory but suitable, keeping primarily to the chord changes.
Harrison's 12-string Rickenbacker is proudly displayed throughout, adding a distinctiveness that elevates the song above the otherwise simplicity of his sound in 1963. Ringo, once again, falls into the background nicely with his subdued rim-shot beat and simple occasional fills.
Since John was quoted as saying the song was "semi-autobiographical," it's not too much of a stretch to say that the lyrics are depicting the contemplation of turning one of his adulterous affairs into a replacement of Cynthia in his life. Within the lyrics he makes excuses for this by finding fault with how Cynthia is treating him, such as intimating that she doesn't love him very much ("I must be sure...that you would love me more than her") and that he is mistreated by her in some way ("Don't hurt my pride like her, 'cause I couldn't stand the pain").
In essence, what John is saying is that he wants to leave his wife for this new love, but only if she promises "to be true," because it would be at great cost to make this change. After all, "she will cry when she learns that we are two," causing her great pain as well. It's interesting to note also that the love interest he is singing to is very aware of his being married and that he is still in love with his wife ("if I love you too"), otherwise he wouldn't be telling her this whole story with such openness.
John's sincerity comes through convincingly in this song as a result of the heart-wrenching lyrics in juxtaposition with the dual melody lines and chord changes. His pleading, as in his repeating the phrase "oh please" in the second verse, shows him desperately wanting this change in situation to occur.
The only awkwardness in the lyrics appears in the transition from the third verse to the repeated bridge, which results in a nonsense thought ("she will cry when she learns that we are two, 'cause I couldn't stand the pain").
Beatles enthusiasts will be interested to notice (if they haven't already) that by the time this song was written in January of 1964, John no longer thought 'holding hands' was the ultimate goal in a relationship as depicted in their current #1 hit "I Want To Hold Your Hand." "If I Fell" states: "I've found that love was more than just holding hands." It may be Lennon's "coming to maturity" lyrically that led him to possibly put this personal "jab" into this song.
Ironically, Lennon did succumb to the temptation depicted in these lyrics in real life in 1968 when his obsession-turned-affair with Yoko Ono resulted in the exact situation that he contemplated in the lyrics to "If I Fell" four years earlier. Listening to the song as if John is singing to Yoko puts an ironic spin on the song, making it seem ever more realistic.
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