From A Window

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“From a Window” is a song written by Paul McCartney, attributed to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, which was recorded by Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas. It was the sixth and final Lennon–McCartney composition given to Kramer.

Kramer recorded the song on 29 May 1964 at Abbey Road Studios. George Martin produced the session, which was attended by Lennon and McCartney. McCartney can be heard at the very end of the song, harmonizing on the final word.

“From a Window” was released as a UK single on 17 July 1964: its peak that August at no. 10 represented an abrupt drop in popularity for Kramer & the Dakotas whose previous chart history comprised four Top 5 hits, two of them no. 1’s. The follow-up, “It’s Gotta Last Forever“, fell short of the UK Top 50; the subsequent “Trains and Boats and Planes” at no. 12 punctuated their two-year UK chart career in the summer of 1965.

In the US — with “I’ll Be on My Way” serving as the B-side — “From a Window” reached no. 23 in October 1964. It was the band’s fourth US Top 40 hit in a five-month period, and also their last.

Chad & Jeremy recorded “From a Window” in a December 1964 New York City recording session produced by Jimmie Haskell; the track was featured on the February 1965 album release Chad & Jeremy Sing For You. World Artists Records issued the track as a single that June; by then Chad & Jeremy had more current releases on Columbia Records but their version of “From a Window” received enough regional attention to register on the Billboard Hot 100 at no. 97.

Billy J. Kramer’s version of “From a Window” was included on the 1979 compilation album The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away.

“From a Window” has also been recorded by Cisse (fi) (album Teen Dreams/ 1976) and by Graham Parker (album From a Window: Lost Songs of Lennon & McCartney/ 2003). A cover for the Mexican market: “Desde mi ventana”, was recorded by both Los Hermanos Carrión (es) and Sandro y los de Fuego.

Recordings of “From a Window” as The Beatles may have performed it are available on the 1989 album by Bas Muys entitled Secret Songs: Lennon & McCartney and on the 1998 release It’s Four You by the Australian tribute band The Beatnix.

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

Last updated on November 8, 2021

Lyrics