Surprise: The Beatles Have a 1965 John Lennon Song That Nobody’s Heard Before
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Rollingstone Logo Click to expand the Mega Menu Click to Expand Search Input Music Politics TV & Movies Culture VIBE Got A Tip? Account Welcome Manage Account Manage Print Account Sign Out Log In Click to expand the Mega Menu Click to Expand Search Input Rollingstone Logo Music Surprise: The Beatles Have a 1965 John Lennon Song That Nobody’s Heard Before Facebook X google-preferred email Got A Tip? Account Welcome Manage Account Manage Print Account Sign Out Log In From the Vault Surprise: The Beatles Have a 1965 John Lennon Song That Nobody’s Heard Before The soon-to-release Special Edition of Rubber Soul has a Lennon demo called “Little Girl” that basically no one knew about By Rob Sheffield
Adding to this, Some good news the world doesn't get every day: There's a brand new John Lennon song from 1965 that nobody knew about until now. It's a home demo called "Little Girl," a previously unheard tune on the soon-to-release Rubber Soul Special Edition , which arrives on October 2. Nobody had any idea this song existed — it's never been bootlegged or even rumored.
Meanwhile, "Little Girl" is a real mystery. How did it stay hidden until now? "Yeah, it was surprising," producer Giles Martin tells Rolling Stone. "It was one of those things that came from the Lennon Estate — I think it was Sean. It was one of those things where they say, ‘Oh, and then there's this .'"
Notably, It's a fragile, gorgeous, bittersweet little tune, just John and his acoustic guitar, sighing in Buddy Holly mode. He sings, "Little girl, I've come to say/That this has been a lovely day/I love you." The song was discovered on a Lennon tape reel; Martin edited two sections together for the 2:17 Rubber Soul version. It's reminiscent of "I'm Only Sleeping," especially when he sings the "I love youuu " hook. It's mind-blowing that this song exists.
As per the latest buzz, It’s strange "Little Girl" didn’t show up earlier, given how deep they’ve gone into the Beatles vaults before. But that always happens whenever the Beatles do an archival project like this. On the Revolver box in 2022, there was a stunning acoustic demo of "Yellow Submarine," with John singing lonesome lyrics about his childhood — it shattered everything we thought we knew about that song. On the White Album 2018 edition , there was the four-part harmony version of "Good Night," with all four Beatles singing together — a devastating beautiful performance, but one that sat unheard in the vaults for fifty years.
In further updates, Giles Martin wasn't even certain of how unknown "Little Girl" was. "Like with all that stuff, I wasn't sure whether people knew about it or not, or whether it was on YouTube,” he says. “Quite often I’ll find something and go, ‘This is amazing.' Then someone goes, ‘Yeah, it’s on YouTube. Everybody knows about that.' I'm always the last person to know." Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century
On top of that, But nobody had any hint of this one. ("If you didn't know it existed, then no one knew," Martin quips.) It's a major surprise. As Martin says, "I listen to that and I go, ‘Yeah, this is really interesting,' apart from, ‘It's another song that would have made the album.' There's an insatiable desire for something more. But I think it's good to see all of the pencil drawings before you see the picture."
Nobody seems to know when the song comes from. You can tell it isn’t any earlier than summer 1965, because John tweaks a hook from Paul’s “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” which was recorded in June and rolled out in August on Help! (He turns "had it been another day" to "if you'd asked me yesterday.")
Source: Rolling Stone