The Beatles, “Getting Better” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967): Deep Beatles
John Lennon and Paul McCartney could write from different perspectives — a young woman in “She’s Leaving Home,” or a randy young man in “Lovely Rita” — but “Getting Better” may be one of the most personal tracks the duo ever recorded. A tale of optimism, humility, and a touch of what author Gary Tillery calls “cynical idealism,” “Getting Better” narrates how one man tries to learn from past mistakes and reinvent himself. In 1980, Lennon called the lyrics a “diary form of writing,” and the track allows the duo to reveal their own transformations from their Liverpool days to their London present.
According to Hunter Davies’ Beatles biography, the idea for “Getting Better” came from an unlikely source: Jimmie Nicol, the drummer who subbed for an ailing Ringo Starr during the Beatles’ 1964 tour of Europe, Hong Kong, and Australia. While on that tour, the group would frequently ask Nicol how he was holding up under the pressure. “It’s getting better,” Nicol replied.
That phrase randomly popped into McCartney’s head while he walked his dog Martha one day in March 1967. After returning to his St. John’s Wood home, McCartney began composing a tune on his “magic Binder, Edwards and Vaughan piano,” as he told biographer Barry Miles. At this time, Lennon and McCartney were collaborating on songs for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and would work in McCartney’s music room. When Lennon arrived for their daily writing session, McCartney had already fleshed out the music for the song.
Next came the lyrics, and Lennon and McCartney drew upon personal experience for the words. McCartney wanted to create an overall positive track, although he and Lennon manage to insert a dig at their past teachers. “The ‘angry young man’ and all that was John and I filling in the verses about schoolteachers,” McCartney told Miles in Many Years from Now. “We shared a lot of feelings against teachers who had punished you too much or who hadn’t understood you, or who had just been bastards generally. So, there are references to them.”
By: Kit O'Toole
Source: Something Else Reviews
