Off The Beatle Track

The Beatles have three songs that contain an exclamation point in the title. Can you name them? The answers appear at the end of this post.

But the exclamation point isn’t the punctuation mark that concerns us today. Instead, we’re looking at the six (or seven) titles that contain parentheses (singular: parenthesis). Specifically, I’m curious whether fans use the parenthetical titles when they refer to these songs. I’d say they generally don’t, with a couple of notable exceptions.

Anna (Go To Him)

This cover of the Arthur Alexander song appeared on 1963’s Please Please Me. The parenthetical title appears in Alexander’s 1962 original, which is also terrific. But here’s the thing: Neither Arthur nor John sings “go to him.” They both sing “go with him.” Weird, right? My sense is that about half the time, this song is referred to with the parenthetical, and about half the time not. I tend to think of this as just Anna.

Money (That’s What I Want)

From With The Beatles, this is the second 1963 cover song with a parenthetical title. It was written by Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and Barrett Strong released the original in 1959. Among the best early John vocals (and best Paul and George backing vocals). I think we normally refer to this as Money.

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

From 1965’s Rubber Soul, this is the first Beatle original with a parenthetical title. But it’s the second song for which the parenthetical title differs from the song lyrics: John sings “this bird had flown,” not “this bird has flown.” I rarely read or hear anyone referring to this with the parenthetical title; it’s always just Norwegian Wood.

Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

This one feels like a technicality, but it does contain parenthetical information that distinguishes it from the 1967 album opener. I think of this as the Sgt. Pepper Reprise (and I also think it’s superior to than the other version, though I wonder why the 2017 remix seems to feature a lead vocal from John).

I Am the Walrus (“No you’re not,” said Little Nicola)

I don’t consider the parenthetical in this case to be an “official” part of the title, but it does appear as recently as on the back cover of the 2009 remaster (though it didn’t seem to appear on any of the EP or album labels, from what I can tell). I don’t recall from the 1967 Magical Mystery Tour film whether Little Nicola says this to John in the movie, but I guess that’s where it came from. No one calls this anything other than I Am the Walrus, except for maybe just Walrus.

I Want You (She’s So Heavy)

The main title and the parenthetical title make up most of this 1969 Abbey Road song’s lyrics. I tend to think of this one as She’s So Heavy, which would make it the first of these songs to be known primarily by its parenthetical. Maybe that’s because probably more than 100 songs have I Want You in their title, including the 1966 Bob Dylan song of that name from Blonde on Blonde.

You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)

Released in 1970 as the B-side to Let It Be, this song contains just about all of its lyrics in its title. I think this is one case in which fans refer to the song by its full title, including the parenthetical.

!!!

Three Beatle songs have an exclamation point in the title: Help!, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, and Oh! Darling.

Do you use the parentheticals when you refer to these songs? Let me know at beatletrack@gmail.com.