Bad To Me

Album

Little Children

Label

Imperial records

Genre

Merseybeat

Media Type

45s

Duration

2:22

Composer(s)

John Lennon;Paul McCartney

Entered Chart

May 30, 1964

Peak Date

Jun 27, 1964

Released

26 July 1963 (UK)May 1964 (US)

Recorded

26 June 1963

Catalog #

Imperial 66027

B-Side

"I Call Your Name"

John Lennon wrote "Bad To Me" in 1963 when he was in Spain. Along with "I Call Your Name," he wrote it for Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, whom Brian Epstein had signed along with The Beatles. Released with "I Call Your Name" as the B-side, it was a huge hit in the UK, going to #1 to follow their first hit, a cover of The Beatles' "Do You Want To Know A Secret." The Swedish singer and composer Peter Lemarc said 30 years after the song's release that he heard the melody sung by Lennon in a demo from may 1963. "To hear Lennon sing it to an acoustic guitar, gave me shudders in the backbone" said Lemarc. This song is often overlooked in Beatles history. Although it's listed as a "Lennon-McCartney" song, Ian MacDonald didn't mention it in his 1995 book Revolution In The Head, nor did McCartney in his 1997 memoir Many Years From Now. >> Billy J. Kramer recalled to the Daily Mail in December 2014: "John came to me on my 20th birthday when I was on tour with them and told me he'd written a song for me." "The next time I was recording at Abbey Road, he came and played it for me and we recorded it there and then. That was Bad to Me."

If you ever leave me
I'll be sad and blue
Don't you ever leave me
I'm so in love with you

The birds in the sky would be sad and lonely
If they knew that I'd lost my one and only
They'd be sad
If you're bad to me

The leaves on the trees would be softly sighin'
If they heard from the breeze that you left me cryin'
They'd be sad
Don't be bad to me

But I know you won't leave me 'cause you told me so
And I've no intention of lettin' you go
Just as long as you let me know
You won't be bad to me

So the birds in the sky won't be sad and lonely
'Cause they know that I got my one and only
They'll be glad
You're not bad to me

But I know you won't leave me 'cause you told me so
And I've no intention of lettin' you go
Just as long as you let me know
You won't be bad to me

So the birds in the sky won't be sad and lonely
'Cause they know that I got my one and only
They'll be glad
You're not bad to me
They'll be glad
You're not bad to me
To me
To me