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We Can Work It Out | ||
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Single by The Beatles | ||
Released | October 20, 1965 | |
Length | 02:15 | |
Written | Lennon–McCartney | |
Producer(s) | George Martin |
"We Can Work It Out" is a song by the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, but mainly by Paul McCartney. It was released as a "double A-sided" single with "Day Tripper", the first time both sides of a single were so designated in an initial release. Both songs were recorded during the Rubber Soul sessions.
The song is an example of Lennon–McCartney collaboration at a depth that happened only rarely after they wrote the hit singles of 1963. This song, "A Day in the Life", "Baby, You're a Rich Man" and "I've Got a Feeling", are among the notable exceptions.
Recording and release[]
The Beatles recorded "We Can Work It Out" on October 20, 1965, four days after its accompanying single track, with an overdub session on 29 October. They spent nearly 11 hours on the song, by far the longest expenditure of studio time up to that point.
In a discussion about what song to release as a single, Lennon argued "vociferously" for "Day Tripper", differing with the majority view that "We Can Work It Out" was a more commercial song. As a result, the single was marketed as the first "double A-side," but airplay and point-of-sale requests soon proved "We Can Work It Out" to be more popular, and it reached No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic, the Beatles' fastest-selling single since "Can't Buy Me Love", their previous McCartney-led A-side in the UK. It has sold 1.39 million copies in the UK.
"We Can Work It Out" was the last of six number one singles in a row on the American charts, a record at the time. It was preceded by "I Feel Fine", "Eight Days a Week", "Ticket to Ride", "Help!", and "Yesterday". The song became the band's 11th number one, accomplished in just under two years time.
The Beatles made 10 black-and-white promo films for television broadcasters on 23 November 1965, at Twickenham Film Studios in London, as they were often unable to make personal appearances by that time. Three of the films were mimed performances of "We Can Work It Out", in all of which Lennon was seated at a harmonium. The most frequently-broadcast of the three versions was a straightforward performance piece with the group wearing black suits. Another had the group wearing the stage suits from their Shea Stadium performance on 15 August; the third opens with a shot of Lennon with asunflower in front of his eye.
In 1991, McCartney played an acoustic version of the song for his MTV Unplugged performance, memorable for his flubbing the first verse and his good-natured reaction, later released on Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).
Other cover versions[][]
- In 1966, Petula Clark recorded a version for the My Love album.
- In 1971, Valerie Simpson covered the song on her album Exposed.
- In 1975, Humble Pie covered the song for their album, Street Rats.
- In 1975, Mike Harrison covered the song on his album Rainbow Rider.
- In 1976, The Four Seasons did a cover version of the song for the musical documentary All This and World War II.
- In 1978, Melanie covered the song on her album Phonogenic – Not Just Another Pretty Face.
- In 1981, Chaka Khan covered the song on her album "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me".
- In 1981, Stars on 45 covered it as part of an eight song Beatles medley in their hit "Stars on 45", which hit #1 that June.
- In 1990, Tesla covered the song on their live album Five Man Acoustical Jam.
- In 1995, PFR released a cover of the song with Phil Keaggy for the various artists tribute CD Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles.
- In 2001, Anthony Stewart Head & George Sarah recorded the song on their album Music for Elevators.
- In 2002, Heather Nova recorded a version for the I Am Sam soundtrack.
- In 2002, The Punkles recorded a cover version of the song on their second album Punk!.
- In 2002, Noa and Mira Awad did a cover version together that appears on Noa's album Now.
- In 2004, Beatallica recorded a mashup of the song and Metallica's "Hit the Lights" called "We Can Hit the Lightz", on their second EP Beatallica.
- In 2006, Plain White T's recorded a cover of the song for the deluxe version of their album Every Second Counts.
- In 2007, Shelter recorded a version for a re-release of their 1995 album Mantra.
- In 2007, Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor did their version at Chicago Convention. [clarification needed]
- In 2008, Chris de Burgh recorded a cover version of the song on his album Footsteps.
- In 2008, Overboard recorded an a cappella version for their album Castaways.
- In 2009, The Slackers recorded a reggae version of the song on their album Lost & Found.
- In 2011, Crooked Still recorded a bluegrass music version of the song for their EP, Friends of Fall.
- In 2012, Big Time Rush recorded a pop version of this song for their television film Big Time Movie.
Cultural references[][]
- The song is mentioned in the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, starring Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier and Spencer Tracy.
- Denis Leary's character in National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 quotes the lyric "life is very short, and there's no time for fighting or fussing, my friend" during a war of words with William Shatner'scharacter.
- Bad Religion quoted the lyric "there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend" in their song "You" on the No Control album. The same song references McCartney's solo hit "Maybe I'm Amazed."
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