Because I Know You Love Me So

“Because I Know You Love Me So” is an early Lennon-McCartney song, reportedly written in January 1958, according to Mark Lewisohn. The first known recording of the song surfaced on January 3, 1969, when The Beatles performed it during the “Get Back” sessions.

From earlybeatlessongs:

Mark Lewisohn dates this song to January 1958, and the opening line, “Wake up in the morning” recalls the start of McCartney’s “I Lost My Little Girl” (“I woke up late this morning”) suggesting that it was derived from that lyric. But Lewisohn also points out that the Quarry Men never performed it – and their reticence is odd; the song is pretty decent by early standards.

The first audio of the song originates from the Get Back sessions, where Lennon and McCartney led the group through a spirited rendition with lead vocal harmonies, interrupting rehearsal of “One After 909”. That recording, made on January 3, 1969, leaked out on bootlegs under the assumed title “Wake Up In The Morning”. It is interesting how well the two Beatles recalled tune and lyrics, after a decade or so of (apparent) dormancy for the song.

Come 2003, this rough and ready recording was selected among the bonus material for the album, Let It Be… Naked, where we hear about a minute and a half of the two and a half minute performance. Here it is given an official name, “Because I Know You Love Me So”. For this listener, the song surpasses “One After 909” as a composition, and would have made a nice addition to the Let It Be LP had the group given it some serious attention.

From “Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years” by Mark Lewisohn, 2013:

Another number seems to have been called “Because I Know You Love Me So.” The words were about someone who wakes up feeling blue because his lover doesn’t treat him right, but then reads her letters and finds she does care. It had appealing Holly-like changes and John and Paul sang it together in harmony like the Everlys, each encouraging good music from the other.

These were not songs they played with the Quarry Men. The group’s three other members (Eric, Len and Colin) never knew much about them: a rift had taken place, the front two getting together without their bandmates. Only certain people heard these new songs – select friends, Paul’s dad, brother and a few relatives. John may not have played them to anyone but Paul liked to demonstrate them, enjoying the resulting praise. Their harshest critics were always themselves. Paul has said that the two of them never reckoned any of these early songs, not even at the time; they knew they were unsophisticated, just a step. John in particular was never slow to say if something was “crap, ” even if it was his own.

From “Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years” by Mark Lewisohn, 2013

It’s just we all used to sag off every school day. You know, and go back to my house, and the two of us would just sit there and write. There’s a lot from then, you know? There’s about 100 songs from then that we never reckoned, ’cause they were all very unsophisticated songs.

Paul McCartney talking to Michael Lindsay-Hogg – January 3, 1969 – Transcript from Peter Jackson’s film “The Beatles: Get Back“, 2021

Lyrics

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

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