Two of Us (The Beatles song)
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| “Two of Us” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles | |||||
| Album | Let It Be | ||||
| Released | 8 May 1970 | ||||
| Recorded | Apple Studios: 31 January 1969 |
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| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 3:33 | ||||
| Label | Apple, EMI | ||||
| Writer | Lennon/McCartney | ||||
| Producer | George Martin | ||||
| Let It Be track listing | |||||
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| Music sample | |||||
- For other uses, see Two of Us.
"Two of Us" is a 1969 song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney,[citation needed] although, in his 1980 Playboy interview, John Lennon claimed to have written it.[1] Lennon and McCartney sang the song as a duet. It was written for Linda Eastman, McCartney's soon to be wife, though it sounds at times as if it is addressing Lennon, whose relationship with McCartney was tense at that time.
"Two of Us" was originally released on Let It Be and was later released on Anthology 3 and Let It Be… Naked.
Contents |
[edit] Production
[edit] Overview
"Two of Us" originally began as a rocker with a strong "Peggy Sue" drum beat. In the Let It Be film, McCartney and Lennon sing the song "rocker" style into the same mic. The song lost its rock leanings as Paul worked out the composition over January 1969, and it became a more introspective song. The Beatles performed a finished version of the song live at Apple Studios on 31 January 1969; this performance was included in both the Let it Be film and album.
[edit] Instrumentation
Acoustic guitars are the primary instruments in the song, though it also features a bass line played by George Harrison on his rosewood Telecaster with the tone 'rolled up'. Ringo Starr added a lighter drum beat, with a bass drum shot on each beat and snare linking the verses to the bridge.
[edit] Intro
At the beginning of the recording Lennon shouts,
"'I Dig a Pygmy', by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids... Phase One, in which Doris gets her oats!"
The shout was mixed in by Phil Spector for the Let It Be album and also appeared in the Let It Be film, both released in 1970. "The deaf aids" was the nickname given to The Beatles' Vox amplifiers.[citation needed]
[edit] Writing credit
In his 1980 interview with Playboy, Lennon claimed he wrote the song,[1] but he may have been distracted at the time by a previous question about "Don't Let Me Down."
- Playboy: "Don't Let Me Down"?
- Lennon: That's me, singing about Yoko.
- Playboy: "Two of Us"?
- Lennon: Mine. By the way, Rod Stewart turned "Don't Let Me Down" into [sings] 'Maggie don't go-o-o.' That's one the publishers never noticed...[1]
[edit] Credits
- John Lennon: harmony vocal, acoustic guitar and whistling.
- Paul McCartney: lead vocal, acoustic guitar and whistling.
- George Harrison: electric guitar.
- Ringo Starr: drums
[edit] Covers and cultural references
- Two of Us is the title of a 2000 VH1 television drama which offers a fictionalized account of 24 April 1976, (six years after the break-up of The Beatles) the day Lorne Michaels made a statement on Saturday Night Live in which he offered The Beatles $3000.00 to appear on his program. The story is told through a series of conversations between John Lennon (Jared Harris) and Paul McCartney (Aidan Quinn).
- The disco-group Boney M. covered the song on their UK chart-topper album Oceans of Fantasy in 1979.
- Aimee Mann and Michael Penn covered "Two of Us" as part of the soundtrack for the 2001 film, I Am Sam. On some releases of this soundtrack "Two Of Us" appeared also in a version of Neil Finn, in a duet with his son Liam Finn.
- Guster covered "Two of Us" on their Satellite EP.
- The Punkles did a Punk cover of this song on their "Pistol" album.
- Jack Johnson and Matt Costa included "Two of Us" into their setlist on tour in 2005
- During the 2007 All Things Digital conference, Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs quoted the lyric "You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead" in reference to his relationship with co-panelist Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
- An episode of Darcy's Wild Life is entitled "Two of Us Riding Nowhere," which is one of the verse to this song.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press, 204. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
