205. Little Child

A classic early-period vocal from John rescues a thoroughly mediocre song

A lyrical disaster, with one single verse (“Little child, little child, little child won’t you dance with me, I’m so sad and lonely, baby take a chance with me”) which literally gets repeated four times in song that barely clears 100 seconds. And a pretty regrettable harmonica solo provides one of the only deviations from that refrain.

The saving grace here, though, is John’s vocal performance. It’s hardly his best work, but he was just in such incredible form during this period that even his throwaway tracks still crackle and shine. Just listen to the way he bends the notes in the “come on, come on, come on” at the end of the bridge.

The other interesting thing about this song is that, structurally, it’s actually very hard to parse. I described the section with the “come on”s as a bridge, and I think technically that’s what it is. Except it recurs twice (on either side of the harmonica solo), and the lyrics are different each time. Which…is not what a bridge is supposed to do.

Again, like with many of the songs down here at the bottom, this really isn’t a bad song.

On the perennial question—could this song be someone’s favorite Beatles song?—I think the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes.’ It’s bright and joyful, and if you don’t try to take it too seriously, I’m certain that you could enjoy the vibes, swoon over John’s double-tracked vocals, and have a perfectly lovely time.

I can certainly imagine someone in 1963 falling in love with it. Maybe a young woman who listened faithfully to each Beatles broadcast on the BBC, who had a friend that owned Please Please Me who she visited regularly just to hear it, who saved up her pennies every week to be able to afford With the Beatles when it was released. She races home, puts it on, and is utterly disarmed by the sound. Would it be so surprising if she focused in on Little Child—such an immediate, personal, intense song? She’d probably love all the songs, and would love many more in the years to come. But this simple, silly little song might just be the one that sticks with her forever, always reminding her of a shining moment when her love was achingly pure.

So come on, come on, come on!