Don't Pass Me By

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"Don't Pass Me By"
Song by The Beatles
from the album The Beatles
Released	22 November 1968
Recorded	5 June 1968
Genre	Rock
Length	3:50
Label	Apple Records
Writer(s)	Ringo Starr
Producer(s)	George Martin
The Beatles track listing
Rocky Raccoon (13 of disc 1)	"Don't Pass Me By" (14 of disc 1)	Why Don't We Do It in the Road? (15 of disc 1)

"Don't Pass Me By" is a song by The Beatles from the double-disc album The Beatles (also known as the White Album). It was Ringo Starr's first solo composition and he sang lead. It became a number one hit in Sweden.

Its earliest mention seems to be in a BBC chatter session introducing "And I Love Her" on the Top Gear program in 1964. In the conversation, Starr is asked if he wrote a song and Paul McCartney proceeded to mock it soon after, but the song is unmistakably "Don't Pass Me By" with very slightly different lyrics. The song has a very predictable 3-chord blues structure, apparently leading McCartney to mock it.^{[citation needed]}

The song was recorded in three separate sessions in 1968: June 5 and 6, and July 12. Despite the references to the song in 1964 as "Don't Pass Me By", it was called "Ringo's Tune (Untitled)" on the June 5 session tape label and "This Is Some Friendly" on the June 6 label. By July 12, the title was restored.^[1]

During a lead vocal track recorded on June 6th, Starr audibly counted out 8 bars,^[1] and it can be heard in the released song starting at 2:30 of the 1987 CD version.

The song was said to have originally opened with an orchestral interlude arranged by George Martin, which was later used as a cue for The Beatles animated film Yellow Submarine.^{[citation needed]} In 1996, this piece of music was released as the track "A Beginning" on The Beatles Anthology 3 CD.

The line "I'm sorry that I doubted you I was so unfair, You were in car crash and you lost your hair" is cited by proponents of the Paul is Dead urban legend as a clue to Paul's fate; the line "you lost your hair" is claimed to be a reference to "When I'm Sixty-Four", which was written by Paul McCartney.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, p. 137, 142, 144

[edit] External links

• Song lyrics

v • d • e The Beatles
John Lennon • Paul McCartney • George Harrison • Ringo Starr Pete Best • Stuart Sutcliffe
Management
Allan Williams • Brian Epstein • Allen Klein • Lee Eastman • Neil Aspinall • Mal Evans • Alistair Taylor • Apple Records
Production
George Martin • Geoff Emerick • Norman Smith • Phil Spector • Jeff Lynne • Abbey Road Studios
Official studio albums
Please Please Me (1963) • With the Beatles (1963) • A Hard Day's Night (1964) • Beatles for Sale (1964) • Help! (1965) • Rubber Soul (1965) • Revolver (1966) • Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) • Magical Mystery Tour (U.S.-1967/UK-1976) • The Beatles (The White Album) (1968) • Yellow Submarine (1969) • Abbey Road (1969) • Let It Be (1970)
Past Masters compilations
Past Masters, Volume One (1988) • Past Masters, Volume Two (1988)
Filmography
A Hard Day's Night (1964) • Help! (1965) • Magical Mystery Tour (1967) • Yellow Submarine (1968) • Let It Be (1970)
Related articles
Line-ups • Bootlegs • Discography • Love (Cirque du Soleil) • Lennon/McCartney • Anthology • Influence • The Quarrymen • Breakup of the Beatles • London • Beatlemania • Fifth Beatle • Paul is dead • British Invasion • Apple Corps • Northern Songs • Yoko Ono • Billy Preston • Tony Sheridan • Chas Newby • Andy White • Jimmy Nicol • Astrid Kirchherr • Klaus Voormann