I Want to Tell You

I Want to Tell You is a song written and recorded for the Beatles' Revolver album in 1966. George Harrison composed the song and sings the vocal leads. It was his third song on the Revolver album. I Want to Tell You has a catchy melody, somewhat in the style of Harrison's If I Needed Someone. A guitar riff signals the beginning of the verses and the outro. Paul and John support the effort with close harmonies. Recording took place on June 2, 1966. The bass was overdubbed the next day. The success of overdubbing the bass on the rhythm track led the group to adopt this approach much more often after recording this song. Unlike almost all other pop songs except Eight Days a Week, this song starts with a fade-in. George Harrison said that the lyrics were about the "avalanche of thoughts that are so hard to write down or say or transmit." This frustration is reflected in the music -- the insistent piano chord and the dichotomy between George's quiet lead and the active descants of his two partners. In his autobiography, Harrison "corrected" a statement made in the bridge: But if I seem to act unkind, it's only me, it's not my mind, that is confusing things." He said that it was in fact his mind, but not him, who had the confusion.