"Wait" is a song by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

from their 1965 album ''

Rubber Soul ''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "We Can Work It Ou ...

''. The song is credited to the

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney is the songwriting partnership between the English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is widely considered one of the greatest, best known and most successful musical collabo ...

partnership. In the 1997 book ''

Many Years from Now Many (/ˈmɛni/) may refer to: * grammatically plural in number *an English quantifier used with count nouns indicating a large but indefinite number of; at any rate, more than a few ;Place names * Many, Moselle, a commune of the Moselle depart ...

'',

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

recalls it as entirely his work. In a 1970 interview with

Ray Connolly Ray Connolly (born 4 December 1940) is a British writer. He is best known for his journalism and for writing the screenplays for the films '' That'll Be the Day'' and its sequel '' Stardust'', for which he won a Writers' Guild of Great Britain ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

could not remember writing it, saying, "That must be one of Paul's."

Origin and recording

The song was originally recorded for ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...

'' in June 1965, but was rejected for inclusion on the album. When ''Rubber Soul'' fell one song short for a Christmas release, the Beatles revisited "Wait". Overdubs were added to the initial recording so it would blend in better with the more recent songs on ''Rubber Soul''. In the view of authors Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin, the lyrics "probably reflected his cCartney'scomplex relationship with

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)''The International Who's Who of Women'', 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her associatio ...

: 'I am often away, but if you really love me, wait for me'". The vocals on the verse are shared between Lennon and McCartney, and McCartney sings the two

middle eight The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. Th ...

sections. For his guitar part,

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

uses a volume pedal, which he earlier employed on " I Need You" and "

Yes It Is "Yes It Is" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney), it was first released in 1965 as the B-side to " Ticket to Ride". It features some of the Beatles' most complex and dissonant t ...

Reception

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

writes that the song, while not one of the best on ''Rubber Soul'', still fits in with the album comfortably enough. He compliments the song's "sorrowful melodies", calling them one of the most sorrowful of the Lennon–McCartney library, and notes that it's one of the few Beatles songs to be in a minor key. In his review for the 50th anniversary of ''Rubber Soul'', Jacob Albano of ''Classic Rock Review'' writes: "'Wait' features great choruses and a decent bridge by McCartney along with a creative percussive ensemble and pedal-effected guitars", but concludes by calling it an otherwise weak song for its parent album.

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald: *

– double tracked vocals, rhythm guitar *

– double tracked vocals, bass guitar *

– lead guitar *

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

– drums,

maracas A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

, tambourine

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Authority control The Beatles songs Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs written by Lennon–McCartney Songs published by Northern Songs 1965 songs