The Beatles Songs: Good Day Sunshine

Good Day Sunshine

Working title: A Good Day's Sunshine
Written by: Paul McCartney (80%), John Lennon (20%)
(credited to Lennon-McCartney)
Recorded: June 8 and 9, 1966 (Studio 2, Abbey Road Studios, London, England)
Mixed: June 22, 1966
Length: 2:06
Takes: 1

Musicians:

John Lennon: backing vocals, harmony vocals, handclaps
Paul McCartney: lead vocals, backing vocals, harmony vocals, bass guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1), piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills"), handclaps
George Harrison: backing vocals, harmony vocals, handclaps
Ringo Starr: drums (Ludwig)
George Martin: piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills")

Available on: (CDs in bold)
Revolver (UK: Parlophone PMC 7009; PCS 7009; US: Capitol (S)T 2576; Parlophone CDP 7 46441 2)
History:

• Not all English summers are warm and balmy, the way they usually are in the US, but the summer of 1966 was reportedly a particularly beautiful one, a bucolic season which led to several sunshine-themed hits in the summer before the Summer of Love. Paul was a big fan of the recent Lovin' Spoonful hit "Daydream," admiring the skiffle-like guilelessness of the tune and its ode to chucking everything for a summer stroll. While at John's house in Weybridge, waiting for him to wake up and start writing with him, McCartney came up with the basic structure for a song called "A Good Day's Sunshine." John helped him flesh it out somewhat (the line "She feels good, she knows she's looking fine" seems to hearken back to "Girl"), and the duo immediately brought it in for the Revolver sessions.
• The recording of what was now called "Good Day Sunshine" was a simple one. Paul laid down the basic track on June 8, 1966, with himself on piano and Ringo on drums, nailing the basic track in one take. Paul added lead vocals and bass, and George and John contributed backing vocals. The next day, Paul added a jangly honky-tonk style piano in the verses and producer George Martin added an unprecedented third piano track, a jaunty two-bar solo sped up slightly to give it the proper feel, much like the "harpsichord" he'd played on "In My Life." George and John helped Paul with some more harmonies, Ringo contributed some nice extra touches, including the cymbal washes that accentuate the song, the whole band clapped hands to augment the rhythm in places, and "Good Day Sunshine" was complete.
• "Good Day Sunshine" was one of several Beatles songs thought to refer to drugs, but it was retroactive in this case -- the famed LSD tabs known as "Orange Sunshine," developed by underground chemist Stanley Owsley, didn't become available until 1969. John and Paul were both always adamant that this track was as innocent as it seemed. However, Owsley did provide tabs to the band during the filming of "Magical Mystery Tour."

Trivia:

• This song jarringly ends in a different home key, just like "A Hard Day's Night." It's also got an open-ended finish that would be used often in the band's "middle period" -- for example, George's cascading vocal harmonies on "I Want To Tell You." The Beatles had only modulated up a half-step once before, however, on Paul's "And I Love Her."
• John answers Paul at 1:26 of the original recording with what sounds like a repeat of the line "She feels good." Paul himself has replicated this in concert.
• The original US mono mix leaves a bass drum hit and some snare fills in after the ending vocals begin cascading; this was "fixed" in the stereo versions.
• Paul has performed this song live on his 1990 "Get Back" tour, and also in 2005 to wake up the crew of the US space shuttle! It was also re-recorded for his 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street.
• Conductor Leonard Bernstein was one of the Beatles' main champions in the classical world, and often pointed to this song as proof of their structural brilliance. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys has also listed this as one of his favorite Beatles songs.
• The Seattle Mariners baseball team has been known to play this song over the loudspeakers when retracting Safeco Field's mechanized dome to let in the sun.

Covered by: Lulu, The Tremeloes, Lou Rawls, The Bangles, Judy Collins, Marmalade, Jimmy James, Gloria Loring, Don and the Goodtimes, Claudine Longet, The Eyes, Eddie Murphy