I'm Happy Just to Dance with You

"I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" was written by Lennon/McCartney and given to Harrison to sing "at a time when he lacked the confidence to compose his own material. Years later, McCartney described it as a 'formula song', and Lennon said, 'I would never have sung it myself.'" It was a song that was meant to please the fans, not a work they were incredibly proud of or that they felt reflected their skills as songwriters and artists. However, George did an admirable job singing it, and the song contains some complicated and "hectic Bo Diddley rhythm and busy banjo style guitar".  

Rybaczewski at BeatlesEBooks.com explains a bit more why Paul and John weren't interested in singing "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" themselves:

McCartney explains why:  "We wouldn't have actually wanted to sing it because it was a bit...The ones that pandered to the fans in truth were our least favorite songs but they were good.  They were good for the time."  Both Lennon and McCartney were progressing passed [sic] lyric writing specifically designed for teenage girl fans as they were before, such as "From Me To You," "Thank You Girl" and "P.S. I Love You."  But for the sake of cranking out another song needed for the movie, and to give George one to sing, they reverted back to this practice sometime in February of 1964 for one of the last times in their career. As for their opinion of the song, McCartney states:  "The nice thing about it was to actually pull a song off on a slim little premise like that.  A simple little idea.  It was songwriting practice."

Today's song was one of only two that Paul and John gave to George to sing; later on he would develop his own completely unique style, one that grew and changed over the years. At the time of the film, however, George was still struggling to find his own rhythm. BeatlesEBooks.com gives us a quote: "In a 1965 interview George confessed this about his songwriting: 'It will probably take me about three months before I finish one song.  I'm so lazy it's ridiculous.'" A sentiment that I can fully relate to. :P

Both Wikipedia and BeatlesEBooks.com mention that "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on a Sunday, the first time the guys had done so in their career, but not the last. Why this is remarkable is beyond me, but then again, I'm not fully entrenched in Beatles trivia (yet). :P 

Well, that's it for today... See you tomorrow!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heard It Tally: 4

Songs Completed: 41