The Beatles were a many-splendored project. In addition to the core writing duo of Paul McCartney and John Lennon – one of the most successful partnerships in pop history – the group boasted the inventive drumming of Ringo Starr, and the artistry of George Harrison.
While the initially taciturn guitarist would later embrace spirituality, perhaps his greatest development was as a songwriter – while his initial work was done “as an exercise”, George Harrison quickly gained confidence. Indeed, his song ‘Here Comes The Sun’ is actually the most-streamed Beatles classic on Spotify.
Yet it wasn’t always like that. When The Beatles crafted the soundtrack for their film A Hard Day’s Night, they spotted that George Harrison perhaps needed a little more focus.
Lennon & McCartney went into action, and the song ‘I’m Happy Just To Dance With You’ came into being.
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“We wrote ‘I’m Happy Just To Dance With You’ for George in the film. It was a bit of a formula song,” McCartney told biographer Barry Miles. “We knew that in E if you went to an A flat minor, you could always make a song with those chords; that change pretty much always excited you. This is one of these. Certainly ‘Do You Want To Know A Secret’ was.”
“This one, anyway, was a straight co-written song for George,” McCartney shared, showing just how professional he and Lennon had become since their early days writing for fun. “We wouldn’t have actually wanted to sing it because it was a bit. The ones that pandered to the fans, in truth were our least favourite songs, but they were good. They were good for the time. The nice thing about it was to actually pull a song off on a slim little premise like that. A simple little idea. It was songwriting practice.”
Paul McCartney’s recollection was supported by John Lennon, who explained in one of his final interviews how he felt the song was a little beneath him. “That was written for George to give him a piece of the action.” Adding: “I’d never have sung it myself…”
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Related: The Beatles Classic George Harrison Called “A Perfect Song”
