The Night Before

Tuesday is my bar trivia night-- not every single Tuesday, mind you, but several Tuesdays, I head out to South Boston and compete for trivia glory. Last night was a trivia night, and it was rough. My team came in third, which is a good two steps behind where we usually place. Much beer was consumed as we progressed toward our non-win.

So here I am, on a Wednesday morning, having slogged through an ice storm on my way to work, and, to put it mildly, I have felt better. Today I'm listening to "The Night Before" for no reason other than my own feeling of overindulgence last night. Blech-o.

I don't remember much about this song, other than that Paul wrote it for inclusion in Help!. It's got a pleasant shuffling sound thanks to John's turn on the electric piano, while Paul sings earnestly about a girl who's changed her mind about him. It's not one of those history-making songs, but it's really fun to listen to. Plus, in the scene from Help! that features this song, the Beatles are singing this in a field as their evil pursuers rig up explosives, and the song ends in fire and pillage, and it's all sort of exciting.

It's easy to write off these minor Beatles' songs, but even songs like "The Night Before" are performed and produced so tightly that they're interesting. I do love all the vocal performances here, as well as George's pleasant smirking guitar solo. Listen to "The Night Before" when you need a pleasantly jaunty tune to get in your head. It doesn't exactly cure a hangover, but it can distract you from it for a while.

"The Night Before," released in U.K. on Help!, side A track 2, August 6, 1965; in U.S. on Help! motion picture soundtrack, side A track 2, August 13, 1965.

I am indebted for all discography information to the tremendous Beatles-Discography.com.