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From album
The Beatles
The Beatles · 1968 · Track 18
Details
Duración2:43
ÁlbumThe Beatles
Año1968
ISRCGBAYE0601661
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The story behind
The song Birthday, which opens the third side of the double album The Beatles, also known as The White Album, has a rather spontaneous creation story. It was a track that John Lennon and Paul McCartney improvised in the studio one September night in 1968. As McCartney recalls, the idea came from a riff they started developing on the spot, and thus, between him and John, the song's main structure was born. The session extended until 5 in the morning, at which point the final mix was completed. Curiously, during that same night, the band and the recording crew took a break to watch the 1956 rock and roll film The Girl Can't Help It, which was being broadcast for the first time on British television, and upon returning, they resumed the recording of Birthday.
On this occasion, George Martin was not present, and it was his assistant, Chris Thomas, who produced the session. Thomas recalls that Paul arrived first and was already playing the riff for Birthday. When the others joined, Paul had already finished composing the lyrics and music right there in the studio. The song is characterized by its energy, with a repeating guitar and bass riff, a main vocal section where McCartney's voice is heard strongly and a harmony by Lennon, and a drum break that leads into a central part sustained on the dominant. The instrumentation is enriched by the addition of a piano that accompanies the riff and a bridge section before returning to the initial vocal structure. John Lennon, in a 1980 interview, described the song as "garbage" created in the studio, suggesting that Paul was trying to emulate the style of Happy Birthday Baby, a 1950s hit. Despite this self-criticism, the song became a very recognized track on the album, standing out for its catchy riff.