A story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. A good plot and established characters are vital elements. The perspective of the story is just as important. Is it happening at the current time? Is the person telling the story a character? Is it from an onlooker? Conflict and resolution are often included.
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Many songs are stories set to music and utilize the same components. John Lennon and Paul McCartney formed a songwriting partnership widely considered one of the greatest, most successful collaborations of all time. The duo started Northern Songs Ltd and published approximately 180 songs between 1962 and 1970, with the vast majority recorded by The Beatles.
John Lennon’s early writing was nonsensical, but he became known for his increasing innovation through the years. At the height of Beatlemania, he wrote a song that got the attention of music publisher Dick James. He called it the first “complete” song Lennon had ever written. It had a beginning and an end. Let’s take a look at the story behind “No Reply” by The Beatles.
This happened once before
When I came to your door
No reply
They said it wasn’t you
But I saw you peep through
Your window
I saw the light
I saw the light
I know that you saw me
‘Cause I looked up to see
Your face
Tommy Quickly
Beatles manager Brian Epstein also oversaw the careers of Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Big Three, and Tommy Quickly. Those acts had a connection to get Lennon and McCartney material. Black’s first release was “Love of the Loved,” Kramer hit it big with “Do You Want to Know a Secret,” “Bad to Me,” “I’ll Keep You Satisfied,” and “From a Window.” Tommy Quickly’s first release was “Tip of My Tongue” but it failed to chart. It was the rare instance of a Lennon and McCartney song not having chart success.
“No Reply” was written for Quickly, but when he failed to release it The Beatles recorded it themselves and included it on their album Beatles for Sale and their North American variant Beatles ’65. Most of The Beatles recorded a demo for Quickly on June 3, 1964, as Ringo Starr had tonsillitis and pharyngitis. Jimmie Nicol may have filled in on the drums as he was filling in on the upcoming tour. The recording was later misfiled. It didn’t resurface until 1993. It was released on The Beatles Anthology 1.
I tried to telephone
They said you were not home
That’s a lie
‘Cause I know where you’ve been
And I saw you walk in
Your door
I nearly died
I nearly died
‘Cause you walked hand in hand
With another man
In my place
“Silhouettes”
In 1957, The Rays, an R&B group from New York City, released “Silhouettes,” written by Bob Crewe and Frank Slay. The Diamonds, Herman’s Hermits, and Cliff Richard also recorded versions of the song. The song’s opening lines have a similar setup to “No Reply.” In 1980, Lennon told author David Sheff in the book All We Are Saying: “Dick James, the publisher, said, ‘That’s the first complete song you’ve written where it resolves itself.’ You know, with a complete story. It was my version of ‘Silhouettes’: I had that image of walking down the street and seeing her silhouetted in the window and not answering the phone, although I never called a girl on the phone in my life. Because phones weren’t part of the English child’s life.”
If I were you, I’d realize that I
Love you more than any other guy
And I’ll forgive the lies that I
Heard before, when you gave me no reply
McCartney’s Help
The Beatles recorded it properly on September 30, 1964, in eight takes with producer George Martin on piano. In November 1964, McCartney told Disc magazine, “John sings this one, and I do the vocal harmony. We tried to give it different moods, starting off quietly with a sort of vaguely bossa nova tempo, building up to a straight-beat crescendo in the middle, and then tailing off quietly again.”
In 1997, McCartney told author Barry Miles in the book Many Years from Now, “We wrote ‘No Reply’ together but from a strong original idea of [Lennon’s]. I think he pretty much had that one, but as usual, if he didn’t have the third verse and the middle eight, then he’d play it to me pretty much formed, then we would shove a bit in the middle, or I’d throw in an idea.”
I tried to telephone
They said you were not home
That’s a lie
‘Cause I know where you’ve been
And I saw you walk in
Your door
I nearly died
I nearly died
‘Cause you walked hand in hand
With another man
In my place
No reply
No reply
An earlier take was also included on The Beatles Anthology 1 with the messed-up lyric You walked hand in hand with another plank in my place. They also repeated the first verse toward the end of the song in place of the last one we all know now.
Musician Rosanne Cash told AARP magazine she had listened to the song since she was 10. The song mirrored her own relationship with her parents, “The subtext of my own life was the same as the one in ‘No Reply;’ I knocked on my parents’ door, and no one answered. My mother and father were not at home. Just like the song: When I came to your door / No reply.
“I’ve returned to ‘No Reply’ in every stage of my life. … I love the girl who cheated. I love the boy who had his heart broken. I love myself as I was on both sides of the door. The sequence of events is switched, however: I nearly died, then I saw the light. But I’m still reaching for ‘No Reply.’”
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Photo by Leslie Lee/Express Newspapers/Getty Images
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