Another Girl

From Wikipedia:

“Another Girl” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 album Help! and included in the film of the same title. The song was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song is addressed to the singer’s girlfriend, who is informed that the singer has found “another girl.”

Background and recording

Although “Another Girl” is credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, it was written primarily by Paul McCartney. On 4 February 1965, following completion of the Beatles’ Christmas shows, McCartney and then girlfriend Jane Asher flew to Hammamet, Tunisia, for a 10-day holiday. Because McCartney was there as a guest of the British government, he was able to relax protected from the hassles of Beatlemania. The couple stayed at a villa that was built in the 1920s by Romanian George Sebastian. According to music journalist Steve Turner, the villa – known as “Sebastian’s Villa” or “Villa Sebastian” – had previously been visited by such writers as Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The property contained a small amphitheatre that had been built the previous year, and McCartney was inspired by its acoustics to begin writing a new song. He finished “Another Girl” in a bathroom in the villa, which biographer Barry Miles described as having “ideal” acoustics for songwriting.

The Beatles began recording the song on 15 February, the day after McCartney returned from Tunisia. It was the first day of recording for the soundtrack of the band’s second feature film, Help! “Another Girl” was the second of three songs worked on that day, after “Ticket to Ride” and before “I Need You“. Held in EMI’s Studio Two, the session was produced by George Martin and engineered by Norman Smith, Ken Scott, and Jerry Boys. The band achieved a satisfactory basic track in one take, featuring McCartney on lead vocals and bass, Ringo Starr on drums, and John Lennon and George Harrison on backing vocals and acoustic and electric rhythm guitars.

The band then added overdubs. McCartney double-tracked his vocal and Lennon added more backing vocals. Harrison took 10 attempts at a guitar flourish to be edited onto the end of track, with the seventh being deemed best; however, this was left out of the final mix. Harrison struggled with the lead guitar for the rest of the song, so McCartney recorded his own the next day using his Epiphone Casino. The song was mixed for mono on 18 February by Martin, Smith, and Scott, and in stereo on 23 February by Smith and Malcolm Davies.

Composition

With an up-tempo swing-beat that McCartney favoured (“Can’t Buy Me Love“, “She’s a Woman“) it opens with a short refrain, powered by block vocal harmonies, that segues straight into the verse, which is constructed on the blues-mode chord changes that the group favoured at that time. The bridge theme makes a sudden key change up a minor third from A to C (a harmonic strategy also used on the record’s next track “You’re Going to Lose That Girl“) and features more close three-part harmonies as the aggressively sung verse’s apparent threat to a jealous girl turns into a sweet tribute to the “other” girl who “will always be my friend”.

This song features the often-utilized three-part harmonies between Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, but it is one of the only instances in which Lennon sings the highest harmony.

McCartney said of this song and other album tracks, “It’s a bit much to call them fillers because I think they were a bit more than that, and each one of them made it past the Beatles test. We all had to like it.”

Live performances

The song was performed live for the first time by a Beatle when Paul McCartney returned to the Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, on 28 April 2015; this was 49 years after the Beatles had first played at the venue, in June and July 1966. In a released statement, McCartney said, “It was sensational and quite emotional remembering the first time and then experiencing this fantastic audience tonight.”

In the film Help!

In the film Help!, McCartney lip-syncs “Another Girl” while standing on a coral reef on Balmoral Island in the Bahamas, and plays a girl in a bikini as if she is a guitar. Since McCartney’s hands are occupied (with either bass or girl), Harrison mimes McCartney’s guitar fills. The four Beatles also each change instruments; Harrison is seen playing McCartney’s bass, Starr is shown playing acoustic guitar, and Lennon mimes playing drums. Another scene was filmed at the Cloisters, a famous Bahamian landmark. […]

It’s a bit much to call them fillers because I think they were a bit more than that, and each one of them made it past the Beatles test. We all had to like it. If anyone didn’t like one of our songs it was vetoed. It could be vetoed by one person. If Ringo said, ‘I don’t like that one,’ we wouldn’t do it, or we’d have to really persuade him.

Paul McCartney – About “Another Girl” and other album tracks – From “Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now” by Barry Miles, 1997

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

• [a] mono 18 Feb 1965.
  UK: Parlophone PMC 1255 Help! 1965.
• [b] stereo 23 Feb 1965.
  UK: Parlophone PCS 3071 Help! 1965.
  US: Capitol SMAS 2386 Help! 1965.
• [b1] mono made from [b] 1965, by Capitol.
  US: Capitol MAS 2386 Help! 1965.
• [c] stereo 1987.
  CD: EMI CDP 7 46439 2 Help! 1987.

The main rhythm track is mixed quieter in mono [a] than in stereo.

Lyrics

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

Videos

Live performances

“Another Girl” has been played in 22 concerts and 10 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where “Another Girl” has been played