Things We Said Today

Paul wrote this song to his girlfriend, Jane Asher, with whom he was vacationing in St. Thomas, on May 3, 1964. Paul is imagining an older couple in the future, nostalgically remembering the pleasures of the here and now. Set in a minor key, the song is more of a meditation than a the up-tempo, "love you" rock songs he had written up to this point. Having concluded the recording for the movie, A Hard Day's Night, Paul wrote Things We Said Today to fill the second part of the soundtrack album. John plays piano in the bridges and acoustic guitar. (The piano was later taken out of the mix.) George played electric rhythm guitar. Overdubs include Ringo's tambourine and Paul's double-track vocals. Ringo went into hospital after recording, Jimmy Nicol took his place on their subsequent world tour. He probably contributed to one of the overdubs of percussion. The song is a simple verse/verse/bridge/verse arrangement, with a repeat of the bridge-verse segment and a short intro and outro. The bridge has a more anxious and uncertain feel to it, contrasting well with the more contented mood of the verses.