You Won't See Me
Written by: Paul McCartney (100%)(credited as Lennon-McCartney)
Recorded: November 11, 1965 (Studio 2, Abbey Road Studios, London, England)
Mixed: November 15, 1965
Length: 3:19
Takes: 2
Musicians:
John Lennon: harmony vocal, tambourine
Paul McCartney: lead vocal (double-tracked), bass guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1), piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills")
George Harrison: harmony vocal, rhythm guitar (1961 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster)
Ringo Starr: drums (Ludwig)
Mal Evans: organ (Hammond B-3)
Available on: (CDs in bold)
Rubber Soul (UK: Parlophone PMC 1267; PCS 3075; US: Capitol (S)T 2442; Parlophone CDP 7 46440 2)
Nowhere Man (EP) (UK: Parlophone GEP 8952)
History:
- Another song written by Paul about his deteriorating relationship with girlfriend Jane Asher, "You Won't See Me," from its title on down, indicated that the love affair had perhaps reached a point of no return. Asher, currently performing in an adaptation of "Great Expectations" at the Royal Theatre in Bristol, refused to answer the Cute One's phone calls encouraging her to give up her career and settle into a "proper" role with him. In response, Paul wrote this little warning while staying at her family's Wimpole Street home in London.
- Paul has described "You Won't See Me" as having been written around a descending scale (a motif which occurs in both parts of the song), but when it came time to record the song, he incorporated a new rhythm to it built around the Motown sound, specifically the Four Tops' hit "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)." The song was completed in two takes, to which a simple arrangement was added: George's ska-like rhythm guitar, bass, drums, backing vocals (the "ooh la-la-la" passages, "no I wouldn't" echoes, and repetition of the title phrase in the choruses) and a organ track played by road manager Mal Evans.
- This song was recorded during a marathon session, the 15th and very last for Rubber Soul, which lasted from 4 pm to 7 am the next day. It also produced John's ballad "Girl," recorded immediately after this one, found the band putting finishing touches on two earlier tracks: "I'm Looking Through You," another Asher song, which had been remade twice already, and "Wait," a number mostly finished during the Help! sessions but left on the shelf.
- Mal Evans' organ contribution is simply one solitary note in A, held throughout the last verse, creating a harmonic drone that would come to signify the band's "middle" period and point the way to later psychedelia.
- "You Won't See Me" is unique among Beatles songs in that it changes tempo slightly but noticeably, moving from 119 to 113 bpm over the course of the track. Since Ringo was known for his near-metronome sense of timing, it has often been theorized that Ringo was merely following Paul's rather complex piano, laid down at the same time, and that he was forced to slow down as Paul did.
- The original mono LP version of this track has a longer fade than the original stereo mix; additionally, the Love Songs mix made by George Martin in 1976 for inclusion on that album moves the vocals from center right to center.
- Believe it or not, at 3 minutes 23 seconds this was the Beatles' longest track to that point.
