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Released in 1970

I've Got A Feeling

Written by Lennon - McCartney

Last updated on October 12, 2021

Album This song officially appears on the Let It Be (Limited Edition) LP.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1970

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1969, when Paul McCartney was 27 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

From Wikipedia:

“I’ve Got a Feeling” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album Let It Be. It was recorded on 30 January 1969 during the Beatles’ rooftop concert. It is a combination of two unfinished songs: Paul McCartney’s “I’ve Got a Feeling” and John Lennon’s “Everybody Had a Hard Year”. The song features Billy Preston on electric piano.

A studio take of the song, recorded about a week earlier, was released on the Anthology 3 compilation in 1996. The 2003 remix album Let It Be… Naked includes a version of the song that is a composite edit of the rooftop concert take used on Let It Be and a second attempt at the song from the same concert.

Composition

Lennon’s song was a litany where every line started with the word “everybody”. The song had been recorded twice before by Lennon, prior to the Let It Be sessions. The first occurred in early December 1968 at Lennon’s Kenwood estate on a portable cassette tape. For this, the lyric was “Everyone had a hard year” instead of the later “Everybody”. Later in December 1968, with the lyric changed to “everybody,” Lennon was filmed performing the song in the back garden of Kenwood. This footage was used in the Yoko Ono art film Rape: Film No. 6, which was broadcast on Austrian television on 31 March 1969.

While McCartney’s song was very optimistic, Lennon had actually endured a “hard year” — he divorced his first wife, Cynthia; his new partner Ono had a miscarriage; he was battling a heroin addiction; he was arrested for drug possession; he was estranged from his son Julian; and he had grown deeply unhappy in the Beatles. […]

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

[a] stereo 23 Mar 1970.
UK: Apple PXS 1 and PCS 7096 Let It Be 1970.
US: Apple AR 34001 Let It Be 1970.
CD: EMI CDP 7 46447 2 Let It Be 1987.

The talk at the end belongs, as seen in the film Let It Be.

Lyrics

I've got a feeling, a feeling deep inside

Oh yeah, oh yeah, that's right

I've got a feeling, a feeling I can't hide

Oh no, no, oh no, oh no

Yeah, I've got a feeling

Oh please believe me I'd hate to miss the train

Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah

And if you leave me I won't be late again

Oh no, oh no, oh no

Yeah, yeah, I've got a feeling, yeah

I got a feeling

All these years I've been wandering around

Wondering how come nobody told me

All that I've been looking for was somebody

Who looked like you

I've got a feeling that keeps me on my toes

Oh yeah, oh yeah

I've got a feeling I think that everybody knows

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

Yeah, yeah I've got a feeling, yeah, yeah

Everybody had a hard year

Everybody had a good time

Everybody had a wet dream

Everybody saw the sunshine

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

Everybody had a good year

Everybody let their hair down

Everybody pulled their socks up

Everybody put their foot down

Oh yeah

(I've got a feeling)

Everybody had a good year

(A feeling deep inside)

Everybody had a hard time

(Oh yeah)

Everybody had a wet dream

(Oh yeah)

Everybody saw the sunshine

(I've got a feeling)

Everybody had a good year

(A feeling I can't hide)

Everybody let their hair down

(Oh no)

Everybody pulled their socks up

(Oh no no)

Everybody put their foot down, oh yeah

I've got a feeling

I got a feeling

Oh yeah

I got a feeling, yeah

Oh my soul, so odd

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “I've Got A Feeling”

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “I've Got A Feeling”

Videos

Album Amoeba Gig (Limited Edition - Clear Amber Vinyl)

Concert Aug 19, 2009 in Dallas

Concert Mar 30, 2010 in Los Angeles

Concert Jun 27, 2010 in London

Concert Sep 07, 2018 in New York

Live performances

“I've Got A Feeling” has been played in 328 concerts and 3 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where “I've Got A Feeling” has been played

See all concerts where “I've Got A Feeling” has been played

Going further

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present

"I've Got A Feeling" is one of the songs featured in the book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present," published in 2021. The book explores Paul McCartney's early Liverpool days, his time with the Beatles, Wings, and his solo career. It pairs the lyrics of 154 of his songs with his first-person commentary on the circumstances of their creation, the inspirations behind them, and his current thoughts on them.

Buy on Amazon

Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989

With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.

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Paul McCartney writing

Talk more talk, chat more chat

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