I Feel Fine

Album

1+

Label

Capitol Records

Genre

Pop rock

Composer(s)

John Lennon;Paul Mccartney

Entered Chart

Dec 5, 1964

Peak Date

Dec 26, 1964

Released

23 November 1964

Recorded

18 October 1964 Studio EMI, London[1]

Catalog #

Capitol 5327

B-Side

She's A Woman*

The first note of this song marked the first time feedback was used on a major release. It was created when John Lennon leaned his electric guitar against an amplifier and Paul McCartney played a note on his bass, creating a strangely appealing feedback loop. The band thought it sounded great, but in this pre-Hendrix era, feedback was considered a technical malfunction and not an artistic enhancement. Fortunately, their producer George Martin was always open to new ideas and agreed to insert it at the beginning of the song. "He'd let us experiment like nutty professors," McCartney said of Martin. An early Beatles track, "I Feel Fine" lyrically is a simple love song about a guy who is crazy about his girl. It's not Shakespeare, but it's effective: She's so glad, she's telling all the world That her baby buys her things, you know He buys her diamond rings, you know John Lennon wrote the majority of this song, which borrows from the "Watch Your Step" by the American blues musician Bobby Parker. In 2008, Parker told the Forgotten Hits newsletter: "I've been in litigation for close to 55 years about some of this material that was stolen from me. They had 'Watch Your Step' on John Lennon's Jukebox and then that went out all over the country on PBS Television and people heard about it. John Lennon said how he had 'borrowed' that guitar part for HIS record, and pretty soon everybody knew about 'Watch Your Step.' I go over to England now and that's all they wanna hear, they don't even care about the new stuff I'm doin'. I'm out there playin' with Buddy Guy and Robert Gray, and they just wanna hear 'Watch Your Step' from John Lennon's Jukebox!" The refrain is typical of Lennon's songwriting, with the three long notes: "I'm so glad." The sudden explosive refrain in harmonies is similar to Giovanni Gabrieli's grand concerto "In ecclesiis," an early baroque-music-piece. >> There is a very faint sound at the end of the song that was rumored to be barking dogs. It's actually just McCartney goofing around. The Beatles included this in their setlist when they toured the US in August 1965. Prior to their famous Shea Stadium appearance on August 15, they taped a performance of this song and five others for an Ed Sullivan Show episode that aired September 12. The group made two music videos for this song as part of a one-day shoot where they banged out takes for four others as well. These were not high-concept films: just the band having some fun while lip-synching the tracks. The first "I Feel Fine" video got pretty goofy, with Ringo riding a stationary bike. For the second, the band simply sits down and eats lunch. This later version wasn't released until 2015 when it was included on the 1+ collection. The Ventures incorporated the riff into their surf rock instrumental version of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" on their 1965 Christmas album. In America, this knocked "Come See About Me" by The Supremes from the top spot. "I Feel Fine" stayed for three weeks, at which point "Come See About Me" returned to bump it off.

Baby's good to me, you know
She's happy as can be
You know, she said so
I'm in love with her
And I feel fine

Baby says she's mine, you know
She tells me all the time
You know, she said so
I'm in love with her
And I feel fine

I'm so glad that
She's my little girl
She's so glad, she's
Telling all the world
That her baby buys
Her things, you know
He buys her diamond rings
You know, she said so
She's in love with me
And I feel fine

Baby says she's mine, you know
She tells me all the time
You know, she said so
I'm in love with her
And I feel fine

I'm so glad that
She's my little girl
She's so glad, she's
Telling all the world
That her baby buys
Her things, you know
He buys her diamond rings
You know, she said so

She's in love with me
And I feel fine
She's in love with me
And I feel fine