Talk:With a Little Help from My Friends

Infobox
An infobox was requested for Joe Cocker's 1968 recording of "With a Little Help from My Friends" at WikiProject_Missing_encyclopedic_articles/List_of_notable_songs/14.

Urban legend
Isn't paragraph two somewhat of an urban legend? The group had pretty much written off live performances by then, and I doubt Ringo was thinking ahead years into the future to when he might perform the song on one of his solo tours. The earliest, and simplest, explanation I have heard for the lyric change is that Ringo simply thought the line "silly" and wanted it changed. Occam's Razor.


 * Watch the video about the making of Sgt. Pepper, and Ringo states his distaste for the line. You can watch the video here:

Meaning
Is it bad form to mention that the song is probably about masturbation? the iceman 04:44, 14 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I think it is more likely to be about illegal drug use; friends = drugs. The line "I get high with a little help from my friends" strongly suggests that. It could be about masturbation, but that is less likely; few people would say / consider that they get 'high' by masturbating. Nietzsche 2 (talk) 01:01, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

The performance of this song in the film Across the Universe suggests both interpretations (at least as far as I remember, i was sort of stoned at the time). I seem to recall that the lines 'what do you see when you turn out the lights/ I can't tell you but I know its mine' were the most suggestive of masturbation as they were played alongside visuals of one of the characters playing with his pool cue. i wouldn't go so far as to say that is all that is the song is about though, as the the verses explore many topics such as love, loneliness, and the comforts of friendship. Like most things, what you see is what you're prepared to see, though I don't think anybody can deny though that the chorus pivots heavily on the drug reference (well, surely people do deny this, but people who aren't on cannabis are so fond of denying the obvious). Anyways, I'm going to add this to the category of 'drug-related songs', and if there is a similar category for masturbation related songs (and i hope that there isn't) i'll consider putting it there as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.52.182.53 (talk) 06:11, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

Rewrote the origins slightly
I've changed the introduction to the Origins as it seemed to start off after the song had been written. I've added a link to Hunter Davies's biography as that describes the song's composition in some detail. I've also added the date the song was recorded - taken from Mark Lewisohn's complete recording sessions - but I don't yet know how to add citations!

Apepper 22:08, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

Another version by Sergio Mendes?
In an album I recently got - "Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66" I found this same song, with a very different tune. Anyone know though of when did Sergio rewrite this or was it his original by chance? Abhishekbh 08:01, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

edit: I just found out some info, I'm adding it on. Apparently it's not the same song.

Ban in 1967?
I read that Spiro Agnew tried to get the song banned from radio play when Sgt. Pepper first came out. Nothing on this? Pele Merengue 02:06, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:With A Little Help From My Friends.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 03:13, 12 February 2008 (UTC)'''

Jelly Babies?
"(In the early days, after George Harrison made a passing comment that he liked jelly babies, the group was pelted with them at all of their live performances.)[2]"

I find it hard to believe that this happened at EVERY show, especially if it was just a passing comment and not even a lyric. I don't have the book that is sourced so I guess I can't check. If it honestly says that in the book, then please disregard this comment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.224.208.60 (talk) 16:47, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I do have the book sourced, and I looked on page 242, but it couldn't verify this information. This fact is also in the Jelly baby article, but in the article, it is tagged with Citation needed, and even then it only says that fans showered them with jelly babies "at live concerts". Bulldog edit my talk page da contribs review me 17:55, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

O.A.R. cover
since the beginning of their newest tour, the band O.A.R. (Of A Revolution...) have covered the song at almost every concert. 

just thought it would be something to note.

Who wrote the song?
Ringo Starr or Lennon & McCartney? The text says:

''"With a Little Help from My Friends" (originally titled A Little Help from My Friends) is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, released on The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. The song was written for and sung by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr''

I'm not sure, but I'd say Lennon & McCartney wrote 'Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band' while 'With a little help from my friends' was written by Ringo Starr. Saki Amamiya (talk) 11:58, 10 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Lennon and McCartney wrote "With a Little Help from My Friends". As the article says, they wrote the song for Starr. &mdash; John Cardinal (talk) 18:38, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

This is one of the few songs which we have an independent witness taking notes; Hunter Davies, who wrote the official Beatles biography, was present when the song was being written. John and Paul were both working on the song. From what Davies says, Paul did lead the effort.

19:07, 28 March 2021 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Apepper (talk • contribs)

Joe Cocker and Steve Winwood
Joe Cocker recorded "With a Little Help from My Friends" and also an album by the same name. Steve Winwood appeared on two of the album's tracks, but it seems he did not play on the title track although he is often credited as doing so (presumably because of confusion over the album's name). This is just a little note to prevent that mistake from being made here as well (unless someone has a good reference to prove he was on this song too?? ) --82.25.111.182 (talk) 02:31, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

WHO WROTE THE SONG?

there is no accurate cite (or truth to the notion) that Lennon wrote the song's melody. All reliable sources say that Lennon and McCartney wrote the melody together or if anything, McCartney was the song's primary author as illustrated by Lennon's remark in his nineteen eighty Playboy interview. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gray77 (talk • contribs) 07:53, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

Timing of single
The timing is shown as 4:46 which is misleading. The single has two songs on the A side, which total 4:46 - the timing of this song should be 2:44, ie same as album version (they are, after all, identical). -- Red rose64 (talk) 21:21, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Dates
It currently says the Beatles release is 1978? Can't be right. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.190.53.189 (talk) 06:40, 10 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Many Beatles songs were released (or re-released) as singles were released since they broke up in 1970. GoingBatty (talk) 02:59, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

Song title
I thought the song was originally named With a Little Help from my friends, hence, the label and album cover reprints...I own a 1967 copy that has A little Help from my Friends on the album and Album cover, LATER they did reprint to have the title be With a Little Help from My Friends...Do we have a source that states that A little help from my friends was the original title..??Coal town guy (talk) 16:51, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I have both the mono and stereo first pressings, and the title on both is "A Little Help from my Friends". I doubt if this is notable, and I doubt that this is the correct title.  R ad io pa th y  •talk•  00:12, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I agree, so why do we have the song title in the article intro, AND in parenthesis, originally called A Little Help from my Friends, when I have not yet found a documented source that states, oh yes, it was originally called x?? ESPECIALLY since BOTH Capitol and Parlaophone reprinted their albums and album sleeves with the corrected titles????, Good on you for having the mono mix, I prefer it..Coal town guy (talk) 02:20, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * [HERE] and [HERE]is a Capitol records site and a UK release site, stating that the title was "corrected" to WITH a Little Help from My Friends...Coal town guy (talk) 02:31, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Did this song hit #1 in the UK a full 3 separate times?
Reading the page, I suddenly realized that - if the data are correct - this song hit #1 in the UK with 3 separate covers.

Joe Cocker, Wet Wet Wet, and Sam & Mark all hit #1 in the UK with their cover versions.

What other song has ever achieved that? Especially since the original Beatles version did not hit #1 anywhere. 2603:3024:264:A100:7D58:E13E:D33B:9A73 (talk) 06:02, 26 September 2023 (UTC)