Ask Me Why

Ask Me Why was originally the B-side of the British release of the single, Please Please Me. It appears on that debut album on side one, track 6. The original song was composed in the main by John Lennon early in 1962, and was a part of the Beatles' performance repertoire before they landed their recording contract. On June 6, 1962 the Beatles performed their audition for Parlophone records at the Abbey Road Studio, and Ask Me Why was one of the songs they sang. John Lennon admired Smoky Robinson (and the Miracles), and imitated their style in this song. The first musical phrase is an allusion to Smoky Robinson's 1961 hit, What's So Good About Goodbye. This song is an early example of the Beatles' creativity and willingness to depart from the predominant clichés of popular music at the time. The verses follow three different patterns instead of just one. Written in E Major with some shifts into C# minor, Ask Me Why includes a string of parallel seventh chords normally heard only in jazz performances.