Things We Said Today

"Things We Said Today" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released in July 1964 as the B-side to the single "A Hard Day's Night" and on their album of the same name, except in North America, where it appeared on the album Something New. The band recorded the song twice for BBC Radio and regularly performed an abbreviated version during their 1964 North American tour. [Wikipedia]

Things We Said Today is a song by The Beatles, written by McCartney and led on vocal by Paul McCartney. Future-nostalgia: 'Someday when we're dreaming…' Within the catalogue, its minor thread connects it to Don't Bother Me, Baby's in Black, Girl; its acoustic thread connects it to I'll Follow the Sun, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, I've Just Seen a Face. This McCartney composition crystallizes 'future-nostalgia' motif—'Someday when we're dreaming'—recorded 2 June 1964 with sparse instrumentation reflecting minimalist aesthetic. The minor-key acoustic arrangement presages introspective Rubber Soul approach. Paul's emerging harmonic sophistication demonstrates compositional growth beyond early Beatlemania pop sensibilities (Lewisohn 1988, p. 45). McCartney's contribution features an up-tempo, tuneful composition projecting a love affair so solid and long-lasting that participants will eventually view the present through nostalgic haze (Kozinn 1995, p. 100).

The session work falls within the band's Beatlemania (1962–1964) period, recorded 2 Jun 1964 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. George Martin produced; Norman Smith engineered. For session-by-session detail, see Mark Lewisohn's account on p.44 of The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (excerpt below). Take three provided the master, emerging from streamlined 2 June Beatles for Sale session prioritizing vocal clarity and minimal percussion. Acoustic rhythm guitar and bass foundation allowed McCartney's melody and lyrical imagery to dominate. The straightforward approach demonstrates confidence in the composition's inherent quality (Lewisohn 1988, p. 45).

Emerick marveled at the maturity in Lennon and McCartney's songwriting during these sessions, noting the in-depth meaningfulness of tracks like 'Things We Said Today' and praising Norman Smith's superior acoustic guitar recording work (Emerick 2006, p. 235). Recorded with exciting contributions from Starr, the song projects enduring romantic sentiment within film soundtrack requirements (MacDonald 1994, p. 53).

In the canonical discography it appears on the LP A Hard Day's Night; on the EP Extracts from the album A Hard Day's Night; on the single A Hard Day's Night. Mono and stereo histories vary by era — see the dedicated section below. At 2:33 duration (50th percentile) in minor key, the track ranks among Paul's most introspective 1964 compositions—a preview of Rubber Soul's tonal range. Its lew_rank of 31 indicates George Martin's production awareness of artistic significance. The song bridges Beatlemania accessibility and art-song sophistication (Lewisohn 1988, p. 45). Recorded 2 and 3 June 1964; the Capitol stereo version includes unusually large echo amounts, later corrected to match the UK version on black-label reissues.

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

• All My Loving (score 11)
• And I Love Her (score 11)
• Can't Buy Me Love (score 11)
• I'll Follow the Sun (score 11)
• She's a Woman (score 11)
• What You're Doing (score 11)
• You Never Give Me Your Money (score 9)
• Your Mother Should Know (score 9)