"It Won't Be Long" is the opening track on With The Beatles, The Beatles' second UK album, and was the first original song recorded for it. Although credited to Lennon--McCartney, it was primarily a John Lennon composition, with Paul McCartney assisting with the lyrics and arrangement The chorus is a play on the words "be long" and "belong". The song features early Beatles' trademarks such as call-and-response yeah-yeahs and scaling guitar riffs. Typical also of this phase of Beatles' song writing is the melodramatic ending (similar to "She Loves You", which had just been recorded and was about to be released) where the music stops, allowing Lennon a brief solo vocal improvisation before the song finishes on a major seventh chord ("She Loves You" ends on a major sixth). There is an unusual middle eightâ€"for what is, essentially, a rock and roll songâ€"that uses chromatically descending chords. Copyright Disclaimer:All copyrighted material is used under the guidelines of "Fa! ir Use" in Title 17 & 107 of The United States Code, and under Articles 29 & 29.1 of The Canadian Copyright Act. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. I do not own any audio; it is only used for criticism, comment, teaching, research and educational purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
