Not a Second Time

"Not a Second Time" is a song by English rock band the Beatles. It was written by John Lennon, though credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It was first released on the Beatles second British album, With the Beatles, and their second American album Meet the Beatles!. [Wikipedia]

Not a Second Time is a song by The Beatles, written by Lennon–McCartney and led on vocal by John Lennon. William Mann famously cited its 'Aeolian cadence' in The Times. Within the catalogue, its piano thread connects it to You Like Me Too Much, Good Day Sunshine, Martha My Dear. An original John Lennon composition recorded for With the Beatles on 11 September 1963, 'Not a Second Time' features Lennon's lead vocal over a sophisticated harmonic structure. The song's key-change bridge and minor-inflected melody demonstrate Lennon's growing compositional ambition beyond simple pop structures. The track's refined arrangement contrasts with the energetic rockers dominating the album (Lewisohn 1988, p.31). Classical music critic William Mann highlighted Mahleresque Aeolian cadences at the end of this song, comparing its harmonic sophistication to the conclusion of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and elevating Beatles composition to serious musical discourse (Kozinn 1995, pp. 14, 76).

The session work falls within the band's Beatlemania (1962–1964) period, recorded 11 Sep 1963 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. George Martin produced; Norman Smith engineered. For session-by-session detail, see Mark Lewisohn's account on p.37 of The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (excerpt below). Take 4 was selected for the final version, with George Martin's production emphasizing the song's harmonic sophistication through careful vocal balancing and instrumental arrangement. The use of strings or keyboard to support the vocal line represents emerging orchestral ambition within the beat-group format. Four-track recording allowed for layered string or keyboard overdubs (Lewisohn 1988, p.31). Lennon's double-tracked vocal and acoustic guitar arrangement, with George Martin providing a graceful single-line piano part that broke conventions for the group's early work (MacDonald 1994, p. 45).

In the canonical discography it appears on the LP With the Beatles. Mono and stereo histories vary by era — see the dedicated section below. John Lennon lead vocals appear in 73 canon songs (26 in Beatlemania), making this representative of his introspective work. As an original Lennon composition with sophisticated harmonic structure, the track foreshadowed later introspective material and demonstrated his willingness to challenge pop-song conventions within the commercially successful Beatlemania format (Lewisohn 1988, p.31). Recorded 11 September 1963 as a twin-track second-generation master with no additional recording sessions; the song appears on multiple Beatles compilation releases across territories.

• R. Stevie Moore covered the song in 1978 on his album The North .
• The Pretenders covered the song in 1990 as a bonus track on the Sense of Purpose single.
• The Smithereens on their 2007 album Meet The Smithereens! .
• Rosanne Cash included the song on some international versions of her 1979 Columbia debut Right or Wrong .

Cover-version mentions extracted from the Wikipedia article. For comprehensive cover catalogs see SecondHandSongs.

Other recordings sharing era, vocalist, writer, key, studio, or producer with this one. Higher scores indicate stronger overlap on documented attributes.

• All I've Got to Do (score 11)
• Any Time at All (score 11)
• Ask Me Why (score 11)
• Every Little Thing (score 11)
• I Call Your Name (score 11)
• I Don't Want to Spoil the Party (score 11)
• I Feel Fine (score 11)
• I Should Have Known Better (score 11)