One of the Greatest Songs Ever Recorded: “This Boy” by The Beatles!!!

For my writings on songs by The Beatles, my starting point is that each one is  “One of the Greatest Songs Ever Recorded!” (GSER)

I will try to offer some personal aspects about each song, and not just a rote retelling of it.

My radio show, “Theme Attic,”  is on Wednesdays from 1PM-4PM ET.

The show can be heard on WHFR 89.3 FM in the Dearborn-Detroit area of Michigan, or it can be streamed with this link: https://www.whfr.fm/streamer/!

Here’s a link to have a look at other “The Greatest Songs Ever Recorded”: https://philmaq.com/the-greatest-songs-ever-recorded/! Occasionally, an “awesome song” crosses over to become a “Greatest Song!”

This will be fun, and hopefully you will join me on my journey!

If you like what you see, don’t forget to spread the word by hitting the “like” button on my Facebook page, Phil Maq!

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Right from the three opening acoustic strums, The Beatles,’ “This Boy,” lets the listener know that this musical journey will not be a Mersey beat rocker.

One thing you could definitely say about The Beatles is that they communicated a lot of information in a short amount of time: short intros, choruses, and solos made up the bulk of their catalog.

In the intro to “This Boy,” the group signals that they would not remain stagnant–even when following a slow ballad format.

Ringo Starr taps out the 12/8 time on his hi-hat, something that was rarely done on pop songs!

Paul McCartney introduces a melodic bass line for the first time! His bass lines became a signature sound of his playing that he has been identified with throughout his career!

George Harrison and John Lennon provide some 50’s sounding guitar chords that move the song to the lyrics.

That’s a ton of info for nine seconds!

“This Boy” was somewhat of a conscious effort to replace a staple of their live performances (“To Know Him Is to Love Him” made famous by The Teddy Bears), with an original doo-wop sounding original of their own. That explains the retro approach.

When the vocals begin, it’s the sound of a three part harmony sounding as one voice! It’s a trait that The Beatles would return to over the years.

The song is a pretty straight forward tale of a guy trying to explain to his former love interest that she’s with the wrong guy. However, he let’s her know that he’ll still be there holding that torch for her after he hurts her.

When it gets to the middle eight, Ringo starts to play some accents on the hi-hat before he steers the song into a 4/4 rhythm.

I’ve read that Lennon had thought about having an instrumental middle section.

It is so very fortuitous that his mind was changed because he delivers one of the greatest, sincere and most heartfelt vocals in music history!

“Oh and this boy
Would be happy
Just to love you
But oh my
That boy
Won’t be happy
Till he’s seen you cry.”

“This Boy”
Lennon-McCartney

When the music breaks on “cry” and John’s vocal is out there naked and unaccompanied, the listener can hear his heartache!

I’m guessing that “This Boy” is the first slow song that I heard by The Beatles since it was situated as the third track on the “Meet The Beatles” LP–my first exposure to the band, following “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “I Saw Her Standing There,” the songs that preceded it.

I think that was significant to me because, although I really didn’t know much about The Beatles, the buzz from everybody who was older was that they were rockers. Yet, here was a song that, obviously, was a slow, quieter one. With beautiful harmonies!

Even I could tell at that young age that their strange British harmonies were good!

“This Boy” opened my musical interests to a whole new world of sounds and emotions!

If I have any negative criticism about the “This Boy,” I have to say that the edit that finishes the song after John’s great solo vocal, is sometimes jarring to me, especially the better the recording is.

And I would have gone through the middle eight a second time just hear Lennon’s superb vocal again.

But those are minor flaws.

I’m also happy that the American single for “I Want to Hold Your Hand” had “I Saw Her Standing There” as the B-side as compared to “This Boy” on the UK and Canadian versions.

Personal preference.

One of the Greatest Songs Ever Recorded is “This Boy” by The Beatles!!!

https://youtu.be/VhuU8KDLdO4

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I have plenty of other musical areas to explore:

The Most Awesomest Songs of the Day

Here’s a link for my weekly list of Fave Songs:

https://philmaq.com/phils-lists/phils-faves-songs/

Here’s a link for my weekly Fave Album lists:
philmaq.com/phils-lists/phils-faves-albums

My somewhat unusual Hall of Fame can be explored here: https://philmaq.com/hall-of-fame/!

Lastly, but most importantly, is my Philby Awards link! A Philby is my annual award for outstanding musical achievement! https://philmaq.com/philbys/!

If you like what you see, don’t forget to spread the word by hitting the “like” button on my Facebook page, Phil Maq!

#ThisBoy #TheBeatles #JohnLennon #MeetTheBeatles #BeatleBSides #PastMasters #PhilMaq #OneoftheGreatestSongsEverRecorded #GSER