"Eight Days a Week"
Single by The Beatles
B-side	"I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"
Released	15 February 1965 (US only)
Format	7"
Genre	Rock
Label	Capitol 5371 (US)
Certification	Gold (RIAA)[1]
The Beatles singles chronology
"I Feel Fine" (1964) "Eight Days a Week" (US-1965) "Ticket to Ride" (1965)

"Eight Days a Week" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, based on Paul's original idea,^[2] recorded by the Beatles and released on their December 1964 album Beatles for Sale.

Inspiration [edit]

The inspiration of the song has been attributed to at least two different sources by Paul McCartney. In a 1984 interview with Playboy, he credited the title to Ringo Starr, who was noted for his malapropisms, which are credited as the source of other song titles (such as "A Hard Day's Night" and "Tomorrow Never Knows").^[3]

LINDA: Ringo also said, 'Eight days a week.'

PAUL: Yeah, he said it as though he were an overworked chauffeur. (in heavy accent) 'Eight days a week.' (laughter) When we heard it, we said, 'Really? Bing! Got it!'

However, he has also credited the title to an actual chauffeur who once drove him to Lennon's house in Weybridge.

I usually drove myself there, but the chauffeur drove me out that day and I said, 'How've you been?' – 'Oh working hard,' he said, 'working eight days a week.'

Recording [edit]

"Eight Days a Week" is the first song which the Beatles took into the studio unfinished to work on the arrangement during the session, which would later become common.^[4] The song was mainly recorded in two recording sessions on 6 October devoted exclusively to this song, which lasted nearly seven hours with a fifteen-minute break in between.^[4] Lennon and McCartney tried several ideas for the intro and outro of the song. The first take featured a simple acoustic guitar introduction. The second take introduced an "oo"-ing vocal that was experimented with until the sixth take, when it was abandoned in favour of the final guitar intro.^[4] The final outro (along with unused intro takes) was recorded separately on 18 October.^[4] The final version of the song incorporated another Beatles' first and pop music rarity: the song begins with a fade-in, as opposed to the common fade-out ending. The instrumentation includes acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums, bass and overdubbed handclaps. The fade-in and coda both include more guitar overdubs.

Release and acclaim [edit]

The song, along with two others from the album ("Baby's in Black" and "No Reply"), was planned as a single release. In the end, it was released as a single only in the United States on 15 February 1965, becoming a number-one hit (their seventh).^[5] Its B-side was "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party". The single release in the US was the result of DJs playing the song from imported copies of the Beatles for Sale album as an exclusive since it was not included on the album's US counterpart Beatles '65. Later, it made a US album appearance on Beatles VI.

Although it was a huge American hit, the group did not think highly of the song (Lennon called it "lousy"^[6]) and they never performed it live. McCartney only would play it live on his 2013 Out There! Tour.

Personnel [edit]

• John Lennon – lead vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar, handclaps
• Paul McCartney – bass guitar, backing vocals, handclaps
• George Harrison – lead guitar, handclaps
• Ringo Starr – drums, handclaps

Personnel per Ian MacDonald^[7]

Cover versions [edit]

The song has been covered by:

• Alma Cogan in 1965 as a double-A sided single with "Help!"
• The Supremes in 1965
• Procol Harum in 1975 on their album Procol's Ninth
• Billy Preston in 1976 on his album Billy's Bag
• The Runaways in 1978 on their album And Now... the Runaways
• Joan Jett in 1982
• The Wright Brothers in 1984 on their album Easy Street; their version peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart
• Lorrie Morgan in 1989 on her album Leave the Light On
• The Punkles did a punk cover of this song on their first album in 1998.
• The Libertines in 2003
• The Worthless Peons in 2004 in the Scrubs season 3 episode "My Best Friend's Wedding"
• B. E. Taylor in 2006 on his album Love Never Fails
• Debauchery did a death metal cover on their 2007 album Back in Blood (available as a bonus track)
• In 2008, country singer Kristy Lee Cook performed a bluegrass version of this song on American Idol as her selection for the first Beatles-based week.

References [edit]

Notes [edit]

Bibliography [edit]

External links [edit]

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Eight Days a Week"