"If I Fell" (Lennon, McCartney; Northern Songs) Recorded 27 February 1964 and released on 26 June (US) and 10 July (UK) 1964. George Martin, producer. Norman Smith, balance engineer. The Beatles: John Lennon (voice & rhythm guitar), Paul McCartney (voice & bass guitar), George Harrison (lead guitar), and Ringo Starr (drums). The Beatles. 1964. A Hard Day's Night [3]. London: EMI Records Ltd. [Parlophone CDP 7 46437 2] McCartney (Miles 1997: 162): People forget that John wrote some pretty nice ballads. People tend to think of him as an acerbic wit and aggressive and abrasive, but he did have a very warm side to him really which he didn't like to show too much in case he got rejected. We wrote "If I Fell" together but with the emphasis on John because he sang it. It was a nice harmony number, very much a ballad. Everett (2001: 229) describes the introduction as the "song's most stunning feature" and notes the similarities between this song and the introduction to "Strawberry Fields Forever," both exhibiting a chromatic descending line.

Lennon (In Playboy, Septermber 1980, quoted in Dowlding 1989:69): That's my first attempt at a ballad proper. That was the precursor to "In My Life." It has the same chord sequences as "In My Life": D and B minor and E minor, those kind of things. And it's semiautobiographical, but not consciously.

	Section	Time	Meas.	Description	Text
i	intro	0:00	8	solo voice; acoustic and electric guitar	a
A	verse	0:	8	double track vocals; harmony > unison	b
	1st end	:	2
A	verse	:	8	as verse above	c
B	chorus	:	7	harmony (overlap of text from verse to bridge)	d
A	verse	:	8	as verses above	e
B	chorus	:	7	as in bridge above	d'
A	verse	:	8	as verses above	e
c	coda	:	5	repeat hook

Text
If I fell in love with you, would you promise to be true, and help me understand; Cause I've been in love before, and I've found that love is more, than just holding hands.	a
If I give my heart to you, I must be sure, from the very start that you, would love me more than her.	b
If I trust in you, oh please, don't run and hide, if I love you too, oh please, don't hurt my pride like	c
Her, cause I couldn't stand the pain, and I would be sad if our new love was in vain.	d
So I hope you see, that I would love to love you, and that she will cry, when she learns we are	e
Two, 'cause I couldn't stand the pain, and I would be sad if our new love was in vain.	f

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Lennon & McCartney	Outline	Bit of Work
	04-Sep-2009