You Won't See Me

"You Won't See Me"
Song

"You Won't See Me" is a song by the Beatles, from the album Rubber Soul. Though credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by Paul McCartney. The song is a rare instance of McCartney singing a lower harmony to John Lennon and George Harrison's higher harmonies.

History

The song is about a crisis in McCartney's relationship with his then-girlfriend Jane Asher. She was rejecting him by not returning phone calls and ignoring him — for once, he was in a vulnerable position. The more biting tone of the song marks a change away from his earlier, happier love songs. Musically influenced by the Four Tops' then-current hit "It's the Same Old Song", "You Won't See Me" was recorded during the last session for Rubber Soul on the night of November 11, 1965. The deadline for completing the album was up and the band needed to record three songs that evening to complete. As a result, they cut the song in only two takes. At 3:22, the song was the longest that The Beatles had recorded to that point and marked a trend by Bob Dylan and others at the time to start writing longer songs.

Mal "Organ" Evans (one of The Beatles' roadies throughout their career) is credited on the album sleeve as having played Hammond organ on this track, his contribution consisting solely of an A note quietly held throughout the last part of the song.

Ringo Starr's busy drumming during the verses was a style of playing he would further explore on Rain and A Day in the Life.

"You Won't See Me" was never a part of The Beatles' concert repertoire, but McCartney played the song live during his 2005-06 concert tour.

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – lead vocal, bass, piano
• George Harrison – backing vocal, lead guitar
• John Lennon – backing vocal
• Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine
• Mal Evans – Hammond organ

Personnel per Ian MacDonald

MacDonald commented that Starr added an overdubbed hi-hat part in addition to the hi-hat part played in the basic rhythm track, and that Evans's organ part was a single A note held throughout the final verse and chorus.

Covers

Anne Murray version

"You Won't See Me"
Single by Anne Murray
from the album Love Song
A-side	He Thinks I Still Care
Released	April 1974
Format	7"
Recorded	January 1974
Genre	Pop, country
Length	3:07 (7" version)
Label	Capitol 3867
Writer(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)	Brian Ahren
Anne Murray singles chronology
"A Love Song" (1974) "He Thinks I Still Care"/"You Won't See Me" (1974) "Son of a Rotten Gambler" (1974)

In 1974, "You Won't See Me" became a big hit for Anne Murray, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. Lennon is said to have told Murray that her version of "You Won't See Me" was his favorite Beatles cover ever. Murray would re-record the song as a duet with Shelby Lynne as part of her 2007 Duets: Friends & Legends album. Murray herself is a confessed Beatles fanatic and would cover several other songs of theirs as singles, including "Day Tripper" and "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You".

"You Won't See Me" was a double-sided hit for Murray. The flip side — "He Thinks I Still Care" — reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in July 1974, about the time "You Won't See Me" peaked in popularity on the Hot 100.

Other covers

• The Bee Gees recorded a cover of the song in Australia in 1966. It first appeared on the album "Inception/Nostalgia" in 1970, which was only released in Germany, France, and Japan.
• The song was covered by Bryan Ferry on his 1973 album, These Foolish Things.
• The song was covered in 1967 by The Godz, the New York avant-garde rock group, on their second album.
• Helmut Köllen, the former bassist/vocalist of Triumvirat, six months before dying at 27, recorded an album called "You Won't See Me". It was issued posthumousy and the theme song closes the B-side.
• The song was not performed live by Paul McCartney until his '04 Summer Tour, with McCartney telling the audience that he had not played the song since recording it 39 years earlier.
• The Dave Matthews Band covered the song and played it regularly during the early years of the band in 1993 and 1994.
• In 1974 Anne Renée (fr) covered the Anne Murray version for the Quebec market as "Je veux savoir".
• In 2015 Jennifer Leitham, former bassist for Mel Tormé, covered the song on her tenth album MOOD(S)WINGS.

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1974 (U.S.)

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics