It Won't Be Long

It Won't Be Long is the first song on the Beatles' second album, With The Beatles. It was also the first song recorded for the album. John Lennon wrote It Won't be Long, and Paul McCartney collaborated on lyrics and some of the arrangement. The style is the unmistakable alteration of a phrase with a "yeah-yeah" response. The bridge includes a chromatic chord sequence, unusual for rock at the time. At the end there is a sudden halt, which allows Lennon to improvise a short solo, followed by a final, non-tonic chord, similar, but not identical to the ending of She Loves You. Here, it is a dissonant major seventh. Throughout the song, George Harrison plays rapid scales as riffs on lead guitar. The chorus lyrics are playful with words, also something of a Beatles characteristic. The phrases "won't be long" and "won't belong" are used alternatively. This song was recorded in two sessions, with 17 takes on July 30, 1963. It was mixed on August 21, and the album came out on November 22.