Don't Bother Me

"Don't Bother Me" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1963 UK album With the Beatles. It was the first song written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist, to appear on one of their albums. An uptempo rock and roll song, it was originally released in the United States on the 1964 album Meet the Beatles!

This article is about the 1963 song by the Beatles. For the 1964 song by The Tams, see Hey Girl Don't Bother Me.

"Don't Bother Me"
Cover of the song's sheet music
Song by the Beatles
from the album With the Beatles
Released22 November 1963
Recorded11–12 September 1963
StudioEMI, London
Genre
Length2:29
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)George Harrison
Producer(s)George Martin
Audio sample
"Don't Bother Me"
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In 2018, the music staff of Time Out London ranked "Don't Bother Me" at number 47 on their list of the best Beatles songs.[1]

Composition

Harrison wrote the song while ill in bed at a hotel room in Bournemouth, England, where the Beatles were playing some shows during the summer of 1963.[2] He considered it an exercise in whether he could write a song, later saying, "at least it showed me that all I needed to do was keep on writing, and then maybe eventually I would write something good."[3] Harrison received a writing credit for two earlier songs, "In Spite of All the Danger" (McCartney/Harrison) and "Cry for a Shadow" (Harrison/Lennon). Both were recorded by The Beatles but neither was released officially by the band until 1995's Anthology 1 compilation.[4] Because the former was largely a McCartney composition (Harrison received a credit simply for playing the guitar solo) and the latter was an instrumental pastiche of the Shadows, "Don't Bother Me" is considered Harrison's first song by most (including the composer himself). Harrison did not think highly of the song, not mentioning it in an otherwise comprehensive overview of his Beatles compositions in his autobiography I, Me, Mine. The Beatles never performed it live or at any of their BBC sessions. The song is about a man who is depressed because his girlfriend has left him; and, as a result, he does not want to associate with others.

After "Don't Bother Me", it was not until 1965's Help! album that any more Harrison-penned songs (“I Need You” and "You Like Me Too Much") would appear on record. "You Know What to Do" was recorded in 1964, but was not released at the time.

Musical structure

The sullen mood and desolate lyrics—"So go away, leave me alone, don't bother me"—were unusual for the Beatles at the time but would become characteristic for Harrison. The song mostly stays in a minor key (Em), with a i-IV-i Dorian alternation during the chorus: the Em of "since she's been gone" shifting to a v (Bm chord) on "gone" then an iv (Am chord) on "no-one" makes the verse an Aeolian (or natural minor) mode. The chords of the chorus (Em-A-Em) also create the Dorian progression i-IV-i.[5] The song achieves a thick sound through its double-tracked vocal, reverbed guitars, and busy drumming. The elaborate percussion lends the song a Latin rhythm accentuated by its stop-time structure.

On some late-1970s Canadian stereo pressings of Meet the Beatles!, an alternate version of the song with an extra ‘don't’ sung at 2:08 is included in place of the standard stereo version.[6]

Recording

They recorded the song on 11 and 12 September 1963.[7] They were not satisfied with the version recorded on the eleventh which was recorded in seven takes and did a remake on the twelfth in nine takes from 10–19.[7] Just a few days after the recording was completed, Harrison became the first member of the Beatles to travel to the US when he visited his sister in Benton, Illinois.

Appearances

"Don't Bother Me" is one of several songs featured in A Hard Day's Night, during a scene where the Beatles dance at a nightclub while McCartney's grandfather gambles elsewhere. At the end of the film, it is erroneously noted as a Lennon–McCartney composition rather than a Harrison composition.

The song is performed in the 1979 biopic motion picture Birth of the Beatles, showing it was performed in Hamburg but this was not the case.

British actor Gregory Phillips released a version of "Don't Bother Me" as his third single. Though unsuccessful, this was the first cover version of a Harrison composition.[8]

Argentinian musician Luis Alberto Spinetta released a version of "Don't Bother Me" on his live album Obras En Vivo (2002).

British singer/songwriter Kamila Thompson released a version of "Don't Bother Me" as the last track on her debut album Love Lies (2011).

Personnel
Personnel per Ian MacDonald[2]

Notes
  1. Time Out London Music (24 May 2018). "The 50 Best Beatles songs". Time Out London. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  2. MacDonald 2005, p. 98.
  3. The Beatles Interview Database 2010.
  4. Lewisohn 1995, pp. 6, 10–11.
  5. Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. p274
  6. "The Beatles – Don't Bother Me (Canadian Stereo Variation) – YouTube". Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  7. Lewisohn 1988, p. 35–6.
  8. Unterberger 2009.
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References
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