Getting Better
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"Getting Better" is a song attributed to John Lennon and Paul McCartney and thought to be largely composed by McCartney. It was recorded by The Beatles for the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song's music suggests optimism yet the lyric, strongly influenced by Lennon, alludes to more sinister themes. In this sense, it exaggerates the contrasting personas of the two most active songwriters in the group. John wrote the answers in the chorus ("it can't get no worse") and the verses: "Me used to be angry young man ..." and: "I used to be cruel to my woman...", the rest is Paul's.
The initial idea for the song's title came from a phrase often spoken by the group's stand-in drummer, Jimmy Nicol, for the Australian leg of a 1964 tour.
The song, musically reminiscent of the hit single "Penny Lane", moves forward by way of regular on-beat piano and guitar chords. These heavily accented and repetitive lines cause the song to sound as if it is based on a drone. Lead guitarist George Harrison adds an Indian tambura part to the final verse, which further accentuates this impact.
The song was performed live for the first time by McCartney during his 2002 and 2003 US and World Tours.
"Getting Better" was covered by Gomez in 2000 on their album Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline, and this version was also used as a theme song for one of Philips' television ad campaigns in 2001. The surviving Beatles' permission was not required for this to occur (because the rights to most of the Beatles songs are currently owned by Michael Jackson), and it became something of a sticking point among them.
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| The Beatles |
|---|
| John Lennon | Paul McCartney | George Harrison | Ringo Starr Pete Best | Stuart Sutcliffe |
| Management |
| Brian Epstein | Allen Klein | Apple Records |
| Production |
| George Martin | Geoff Emerick | Norman Smith | 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 (1967) | The Beatles (1968) | Yellow Submarine (1969) | Abbey Road (1969) | Let It Be (1970) |
| Films |
| A Hard Day's Night (1964) | Help! (1965) | Magical Mystery Tour (1967) | Yellow Submarine (1968) | Let it Be (1970) |
| Related Articles |
| History | Discography | Bootlegs | Long-term influence | Beatlemania | Beatlesque | Fifth Beatle | Paul Is Dead | British Invasion | Yoko Ono | 1960s | Apple Corps |