Album This song officially appears on the A World Without Love 7" Single.
Timeline This song was officially released in 1964
Officially appears on Nobody I Know / You Don't Have To Tell Me
Officially appears on I Don't Want To See You Again / I Would Buy
Officially appears on Woman / Wrong From The Start
From Wikipedia:
“A World Without Love” is a song recorded by the English duo Peter and Gordon and released as their first single in February 1964, reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart in April. The song was written by Paul McCartney and attributed to Lennon–McCartney. The B-side was “If I Were You” written by Peter and Gordon. In June 1964, “A World Without Love” topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It also reached number one on the Cash Box chart in the US for one week. It was included on the duo’s debut album in the UK, and in the US on an album of the same name.
It is one of two songs written by Lennon–McCartney to reach number one in the US by an artist other than the Beatles. The other is “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by Elton John. “Bad to Me” written by Lennon in 1963 was given to Billy Kramer and reached number 1 in the UK, however it failed to do so in the US. The song was one of the seven #1s written by Lennon-McCartney that charted in the US in 1964; an all-time songwriting record for most songs to top the US charts in a calendar year.
“A World Without Love” is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. A version by the Supremes made the Top 10 in countries in Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Del Shannon also performed a cover of this song on his 1964 album Handy Man.
A cover version by Bobby Rydell released May 1964 did well enough regionally to reach number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. In Rydell’s native Philadelphia his version reached number 1 in a tandem ranking with the Peter and Gordon version, while in the Pittsburgh market Rydell’s version reached number 4 to the exclusion of the Peter and Gordon original.
McCartney did not think the song was good enough for The Beatles. Prior to giving the song to Peter and Gordon, he offered it to Billy J. Kramer, who rejected it.
McCartney described John Lennon’s reaction to the song: “The funny first line always used to please John. ‘Please lock me away –’ ‘Yes, okay.’ End of song.” Lennon said of the song that “I think that was resurrected from the past….I think he had that whole song before the Beatles….That has the line ‘Please lock me away’ that we always used to crack up at.” McCartney wrote the song when he was 16. When he moved into the London home of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher in 1963, sharing a room with her brother Peter Asher, he offered the song to Asher and Gordon Waller after the pair obtained a recording contract as Peter and Gordon.
This song was never released by the Beatles, and the only known recording of the song by any member of the Beatles is the original demo of the song performed by McCartney, which is now in the possession of Peter Asher.
As of January 2013, Paul McCartney’s demo has been leaked on YouTube. It is 30 seconds in length, but offers a rare glimpse into the song’s origins. The clip was played at Asher’s most recent string of concerts.
John and I were a song writing team and what song writing teams did in those days was write for everyone – unless you couldn’t come up with something or wanted to keep a song for yourself and it was a bit too good to give away. John and I would get together, ‘Oh we gotta write one for Billy J, OK’… and we just knocked them out. In our minds there was a very vague formula and we could do it quite easily.
Paul McCartney – From a late eighties interview – From “Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire”, by Rupert Perry
Please lock me away
And don't allow the day
Here inside
Where I hide
With my loneliness
I don't care what they say
I won't stay in a world without love
Birds sing out of tune
And rain clouds hide the moon
I'm okay
Here I'll stay
With my loneliness
I don't care what they say
I won't stay in a world without love
So I wait and in a while
I will see my true love smile
She may come, I know not when
When she does, I'll know, so baby, until then
Lock me away
And don't allow the day
Here inside
Where I hide
With my loneliness
I don't care what they say
I won't stay in a world without love
So I wait and in a while
I will see my true love smile
She may come, I know not when
When she does, I'll know, so baby, until then
Lock me away
And don't allow the day
Here inside
Where I hide
With my loneliness
I don't care what they say
I won't stay in a world without love
I don't care what they say
I won't stay in a world without love
7" Single • Released in 1964
Studio version • A
Performed by : Peter Asher • Gordon Waller
The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away
LP • Released in 1979
Studio version • A
Performed by : Peter Asher • Gordon Waller
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Gary Stearns • Dec 31, 2018 • 6 years ago
The lyrics listed say "When she comes, I'll lose" twice. But EVERY time I've heard the song played, by P&G, or McCartney, or anyone else, the lyric is "When she comes, I'll KNOW"...and not only is that what they sing, it makes sense, whereas "lose" seems completely out of context. So where did the "I'll lose" lyric come from?
The PaulMcCartney Project • Jan 02, 2019 • 6 years ago
Hi Gary, thanks for noticing. I can find various versions of the lyrics.
https://genius.com/Peter-and-gordon-a-world-without-love-lyrics mentions "When she does, I'll lose"
https://www.google.com/search?q=a+world+without+love+lyrics mentions"When she does, I lose"
http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Peter_%26_Gordon:A_World_Without_Love mentions "When she does, I"ll know"
https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/peter-gordon/a-world-without-love writes "When she comes, I'll know"
I'm making the change for the latter - thanks again !
Art Connor • Apr 07, 2022 • 3 years ago
With the passing of Bobby Rydell the other day, I just wanted to point out that Bobby also recorded a version AWWL and in some US markets rivaled P&G's version. He was one of the first American artist to record and have a hit with a Lennon & McCartney before others jumped on the Beatles juggernaut. Ironically, with The Beatles, they swept away most of the early 60's American teen idols.
Steve • Sep 20, 2023 • 1 year ago
Opening line is 'Please lock me away.'
The PaulMcCartney Project • Sep 24, 2023 • 1 year ago
Thanks Steve, I'm updating the lyrics
Alex James • Mar 03, 2025 • 2 months ago
re: your message above. I continue to be confused as to why you rely on lyric sites instead of just listening to the song. Paul doesn't always sing the printed lyrics, and sites like genius, etc. are often wildly inaccurate.
This site is a great resource, and it's continually frustrating that it can't be relied on for accurate lyrics.
Just a suggestion from a loyal researcher. <3
The PaulMcCartney Project • Mar 03, 2025 • 2 months ago
Hi Alex, thanks for the fair criticism. There are two reasons why I rely on external sources for lyrics and why I don't curate them myself. 1. Laziness is the first reason, there is so much work to continue enriching this site, and lyrics are not a high prio for now. 2. I'm not an English native, and I sometimes struggle to understand the proper words. But thanks again, it's important for me what my readers find important as it guides me in my priorities