143. This Boy

The Beatles imitate Smokey Robinson, and deliver some of their most intricate harmonies

For me, This Boy is defined by three very different videos. The first is their performance on Ed Sullivan (the second show). It starts at about 3:15:

The defining element here is John, Paul, and George all standing close singing into the same mic. The visual reminder of just how beautifully they are all harmonizing is such a defining moment.

The thing about The Beatles that makes them so unfathomable is that they could seemingly master anything if they wanted to. They weren’t a ‘harmonies band’ like the Beach Boys, but if they really wanted to do it, they can produce something like this. They weren’t a sloppy bar band, but if they wanted to sound that way, they could. They weren’t a folk band, but…

In any case, This Boy isn’t an all-time classic. There’s not a whole lot here apart from the harmonies, John’s starring vocal in the bridge, and the triplet guitars. But that’s fine. The energy of the moment is enough to sustain it.

The second video is the section from A Hard Days Night that features the song. Or to be more precise, which features George Martin’s instrumental remake:

This version lacks the central element that makes the actual version of the song great: the gorgeous three-part harmony. But it’s perfect for the scene, which is one of my favorites from the movie. And what a wonderful decision, to release a feature film whose sole purpose is to sell more records and to spend fully three minutes of its 87 minute runtime on a song that isn’t even the Beatles version.

But it works! Really well. That’s partly due to George Martin’s impeccable direction, which produces a take that’s worthy of the original. The quiet lounge vibe, the tasteful bassoons,¹ the gently plucked guitar ‘singing’ the melody. Much like the rest of the film itself, it manages to efficiently spoof the very concept of the thing its imitating while also being a gloriously beautiful version of the thing. And it has no right to be anything close to as good as it is.

The final video is from a decade later. It’s George Harrison watching back and re-discovering this little tune:

In real-time, you can see him experiencing the song both as memory in the Proustian sense but also as a standalone object that’s wholly removed from his role in its creation. He sings along at one point, seemingly unable to help himself being drawn back into the moment. But the distance is great enough (both literally in time but also in his self-conception) that he can experience the song just…as the song. Probably not in the same way that a fan might, but at least as something which is external from himself. An object to be appreciated, as well as memories to be piqued.

“Good song, though” he says at one point. And he’s right.

1. Okay, it’s probably just a saxophone. But to my mind’s ear they have always been bassoons, so bassoons they will stay.