Help! (song)

"Help!"
Song
B-side	"I'm Down"

"Help!"
Song

"Help!" is a song by The Beatles that served as the title song for both the album Help! and the film Help!. It was also released as a single, and was #1 for three weeks in both the UK and USA. "Help!" was written primarily by John Lennon, but credited as usual to Lennon/McCartney. Paul McCartney reports that he had a hand in writing the song as well, being called in "to complete it" in a two-hour joint writing session at Lennon's house. In 2004, "Help!" was ranked number 29 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Inspiration

As revealed in the miniseries The Beatles Anthology, Lennon wrote the lyrics of the song to express his stress coming from the quick rise to a massive level of success for The Beatles after years of obscurity. The rest of the band felt somehow surprised learning this, but they considered it normal. Since Lennon's feelings of insecurity were incongruous with the band's image of confidence, Lennon felt it was nearly impossible for the fans to understand the origin of the song. "I was fat and depressed and I was crying out for 'Help'," Lennon told Playboy.

In the 1970 Rolling Stone "Lennon Remembers" interviews, Lennon said that because of its honesty it was one of his favorites among the Beatles songs he wrote, but he wished they had recorded it at a slower tempo. In these interviews, Lennon said he felt that "Help!" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were his most genuine Beatles songs and not just songs written to order.

Releases

The single and album versions of the song have slightly different lyrics. The American version begins with a James Bond-style instrumental.

The song appears on the Help! LP, the USA Help! soundtrack, 1962-1966, the Imagine soundtrack, 1, Love, and The Capitol Albums, Vol. 2. The single version appeared on the Beatles' Rarities LP.

Cover versions

• In 1968, Deep Purple recorded a cover version (greatly slowed-down) of the song on their album Shades of Deep Purple. Consistent with Lennon's other remark's about the song, he said that this version was 'the way the Beatles' should have done it'.
• In 1970, the Carpenters did a cover version for release on their album, "Close to You". It was not released as a single.
• In 1976, Henry Gross covered it for the ephemeral musical documentary All This and World War II. John Lennon once stated that this was his favourite version of the song. George and Paul do backing vocals.
• In 1976, The Damned covered the song for the B-side of "New Rose".
• In 1980, Australian vocalist John Farnham released the song as a piano-based ballad recorded at a much slower tempo.
• In 1985, Tina Turner released a cover version of the song on her album Private Dancer, peaked 40 in R&B US.
• U2 played it often during their 1986 A Conspiracy of Hope Tour and 1987 Joshua Tree Tour at a slower tempo.
• Noel Gallagher performed it at certain Oasis concerts at a slower tempo.
• Paul McCartney also slowed it down a bit when he played it during his 1990 concert tour as part of a tribute to Lennon.
• "Help!" has also been covered by The Carpenters, Michael Stanley, dc Talk, Bananarama with British comediennes French & Saunders and Kathy Burke as Lananeeneenoonoo (as featured in The Jolly Boys' Outing, an episode of the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses), Dolly Parton, Alma Cogan, Rick Wakeman, Howie Day, McFly, Roxette and Fountains of Wayne.
• In 1991, the Finnish metal band Waltari covered Help! on their debut album, Monk Punk.
• In 2007, Rapper, Lil' Wayne, sampled the song for his new leaked mixtape entitled, The Leak

Cultural references

• Featured in Cutting it Close, an episode of Full House, when Jesse Katsopolis breaks both of his arms in a motorcycle accident and has to adjust to a life where he always needs assistance.
• Mentioned in the film Yellow Submarine; when Young Fred is knocking on the Beatles' door, he says "Won't you please, please help me?" in reference to the song's lyrics.
• In the Powerpuff Girls episode "Meet the Beat-Alls", a military sergeant said "Help, we need somebody, help, not just anybody, help, we need the Powerpuff Girls." The sergeant himself may be a reference to Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.