Tell Me Why (Beatles song)

Paul McCartney said:

{{cquote|I think a lot of these [Lennon's] songs like "Tell Me Why" may have been based in real experiences or affairs John was having, or arguments with Cynthia [Lennon’s wife] or whatever, but it never occurred to us until later to put that slant on it all.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=164}}}}

Lennon described the song as resembling "a black New York girl-group song".{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=489}} Its basic structure of simple doo-wop chord changes and block harmonies over a walking bass line "creates an illusion of sincerity through its sheer attack".{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=110}}

The song is in the key of D major. John, Paul, and George sing a three-part harmony. In the chorus, John's lead vocal part sits higher than George's, and more unusual in this case, Paul's harmonies.

"Tell Me Why" was performed in the Beatles' debut feature film, A Hard Day's Night. The song was part of the "studio performance" sequence, which was filmed at the Scala Theatre, London, on 31 March 1964. That marks the only time the song was ever performed in front of a live audience, which consisted of 350 paid actors, one of whom was a thirteen-year old Phil Collins.{{cite web|title="TELL ME WHY" (John Lennon - Paul McCartney) HISTORY|url=http://www.beatlesebooks.com/tell-me-why|website=Beatles eBooks}} The song was mimed by the Beatles and the words were lip-synced on stage.{{cite web|title="TELL ME WHY" (John Lennon - Paul McCartney) HISTORY|url=http://www.beatlesebooks.com/tell-me-why|website=Beatles eBooks}}

• Included on the British LP A Hard Day's Night.
• Included on the British EP Extracts from the Film A Hard Day's Night.
• Included on the North American LP A Hard Day's Night.
• Included on the North American LP Something New.
• B-side of the Parlophone single "If I Fell".{{sfn|Calkin|2002}}{{sfn|Spizer|Daniels|2011|p=115–116}} It was one of three singles that Parlophone produced for export but not for release in the U.K.{{sfn|Spizer|Daniels|2011|p=115–116}}
• On Italian and French releases, "Tell Me Why" is featured as the B-side of "I Should Have Known Better."{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Beatles-I-Should-Have-Known-Better/master/81030|title=The Beatles - I Should Have Known Better|website=Discogs|year=1964 }}

• John Lennon – lead vocal, rhythm guitar
• Lennon's vocal is double-tracked in the stereo version, but single-tracked in the mono mix.
• Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass
• George Harrison – harmony vocal, lead guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums
• George Martin – piano

:Personnel per MacDonald{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=110}}

• In 1965, The Beach Boys covered "Tell Me Why" on their Beach Boys' Party! album.
• In 1982, April Wine covered it on their album Power Play. It reached #46 in Canada.{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6952&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6952.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6952 |title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1982-11-06 |access-date=2018-03-19}}
• In 1986, The Chenille Sisters covered the song, as a medley with "Chains", on their self titled first album.
• In 2002, The Punkles did a cover of the song on their second album, Punk!.

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|2}}

• {{cite web

| last=Calkin

| first=Graham

| year=2002

| title=The Beatles - If I Fell

| work=JPGR

| url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/dp562.html

}}

• {{cite book

| last=Harry

| first=Bill

| year=2000

| author-link=Bill Harry

| title=The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated

| publisher=Virgin Publishing

| location=London

| isbn=0-7535-0481-2

}}

• {{cite book

| last=Lewisohn

| first=Mark

| year=1988

| author-link=Mark Lewisohn

| title=The Beatles Recording Sessions

| publisher=Harmony Books

| location=New York

| isbn=0-517-57066-1

}}

• {{cite book

| last=MacDonald

| first=Ian

| year=2005

| author-link=Ian MacDonald

| title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties

| publisher=Pimlico (Rand)

| location=London

| edition=Second Revised

| isbn=1-84413-828-3

}}

• {{cite book

| last=Miles

| first=Barry

| year=1997

| author-link=Barry Miles

| title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now

| publisher=Henry Holt and Company

| location=New York

| isbn=0-8050-5249-6

| url-access=registration

| url=https://archive.org/details/paulmccartneyman00mile

}}

• {{cite book

| last=Spitz

| first=Bob

| year=2005

| author-link=Bob Spitz

| title=The Beatles: The Biography

| url=https://archive.org/details/beatlesbiography00spit

| url-access=registration

| publisher=Little, Brown

| location=Boston

| isbn=0-316-80352-9

}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Spizer

|first1=Bruce

|last2=Daniels

|first2=Frank

|author-link=Bruce Spizer

|year=2011

|title=Beatles for Sale on Parlophone Records

|publisher=498 Productions

|location=New Orleans

|isbn=978-0-9832957-0-9

}}

• {{cite web

| work=The Beatles Bible

| year=2009

| title=Tell Me Why

| url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/tell-me-why/

| access-date=15 April 2009

| ref=none

}}

{{Refend}}

• {{Notes on|http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/tmw.shtml|Tell Me Why}}
• [http://www.beatlesebooks.com/tell-me-why Dave Rybaczewski's analysis of "Tell Me Why"]
• {{YouTube|GVub1QCUCGc|The Beatles - Tell Me Why}}

{{A Hard Day's Night}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1964 songs

Category:The Beatles songs

Category:The Beach Boys songs

Category:Song recordings produced by George Martin

Category:Songs written by Lennon–McCartney

Category:Songs published by Northern Songs

Category:April Wine songs

Category:1982 singles

Category:Capitol Records singles