The Beatles "Yes It Is"
1,754 views · Published 23 January 2015 · 1:25 · Indexed 25 September 2026
Channel: Free Music Teacher · 2015 · Education
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"Yes It Is" is a song by the Beatles, released in 1965. Written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) it was first released as the B-side to "Ticket to Ride". It features some of the Beatles' most complex and dissonant three-part vocal harmonies and showcases George Harrison's early use of volume pedal guitar.
In his 1980 interview with Playboy, John Lennon described it as an attempt to rewrite "This Boy" (the style of the song) that "didn't quite work". Paul McCartney on the other hand described it as "a very fine song of John's", and said he was present when Lennon finished writing it.
The song is in the key of E and begins (on "If you wear red tonight ...") with a I–IV-ii7-V7 chord progression (E-A-F#m7-B7) in which the word "tonight" (B melody note) appears as a "delicately haunting" 4th above the F#m7. The melodic pitches of this first two bar phrase are repeated (with initial repetition of the G# melody note) on "remember what I said tonight," except that the B melody note on the second "tonight" is now backed by a ♭VII (D) chord that shapes the B melody note into a more "luscious" 6th.[5] The chorus ("Yes it is, it's true. Yes it is, it's true") involves a I (E chord)- III (G# chord)- IV (A chord)- I (E chord) progression in which the major III (G#) chord appears for the first time in the Song to propel the Plagal drop from IV (A) to the tonic I (E) chord.
Over the course of a five-hour recording session, the Beatles attempted 14 takes of the basic track before perfecting it, more than any other song they recorded in 1965.[citation needed] It was recorded on 16 February, the same day that they completed Harrison's "I Need You". After completing the rhythm track, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison recorded their vocal harmonies in three hours, singing live together.
"Yes It Is" was released as the B-side of "Ticket to Ride" in both the UK and the US. American pressings of the single erroneously show "Yes It Is" as being from the film Eight Arms to Hold You (the original title for the film, Help!), in which it did not appear.
The song was included on Beatles VI in the US, and on subsequent compilation albums including Love Songs, the British version of the Rarities album, Past Masters, Volume One (on which it made its first true stereo appearance), and also on Anthology 2 in an alternate version that combines the second and fourteenth takes. The original mono single mix appears on the Mono Masters CD as part of The Beatles in Mono box set.
