There is this claim that The Beatles would refuse to release singles off of their albums. It was a policy they adhered to on the following: With the Beatles, Beatles for Sale, Rubber Soul, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beatles (aka The White Album). You will note that I did not list every Beatles' album since it was a rule they always followed except for when they didn't. LPs such as Please Please Me, A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Revolver and Abbey Road did indeed include singles. Way to stick to your principles, lads. (In fairness, it was only ever one or two singles per album; though they probably could have gotten away with it, they never came close to the obnoxious eighties' practice of six or seven 45's from one LP favoured by Michael Jackson)
Things were different over in North America where many more albums were released and where the group's influence over record company decisions didn't carry much weight. Included on Beatles for Sale in the UK at the end of 1964, "Eight Days a Week" was held off companion release Beatles '65 but its obvious commercial potential made it an easy choice for a single. (Though they probably could've chosen something better than the downbeat and relatively forgettable "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" as its B side) Not wishing to leave it at that, it was then included on the imaginatively titled Beatles VI, released that June. Back in the UK, it would eventually join the likes of "All My Loving", "Norwegian Wood" and "Here Comes the Sun" as one of the great Fab Four singles that never were.
Taken as an album cut, "Eight Days a Week" stands out as a rare bit of levity on what is a pretty dour listening experience, especially if the six cover versions are disregarded (as indeed they should be for the most part since "Rock and Roll Music" is the only one that's any good). Beatles for Sale opens with the trio of "No Reply", "I'm a Loser" and "Baby's in Black" and we're in stunningly bleak territory, particularly coming from the Fab Four at the tail end of their biggest year. "I'll Follow the Sun" is lovely but its sorrow becomes apparent when you learn that a teenage Paul McCartney composed it following the death of his mother. "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" is in effect tacit acknowledgement that the fun times were nearing an end. "What You're Doing" presents a relationship on the verge of collapse. "Every Little Thing" is fairly tame by comparison even if Ringo's drum part lends it a tinge of menace.
Whereas "Eight Days a Week" "capture[s] the soaring sunshine optimism of the mid-Sixties" (and this quotation is from Ian MacDonald, a music critic I love but one who was never shy of sucking the fun out of a good old-fashioned pop song). And, sure, there aren't many other songs that can put a spring in the step of even the most cynical individuals. Yet, there is another side to it. McCartney has told and retold the story of how he had a driver take him to John Lennon's place for a writing session and the cabby told him he been working "eight days a week" which instantly put a tune in Macca's head. If anyone could identify with an overworked driver it was an overworked Beatle. While little evidence of exhaustion made its way into the recording (Lennon's wail at the minute-and-a-half mark being the one exception), the underlying impression is of a group who were on the verge of burnout. Loving someone eight days a week may be bordering on obsessive while working a similar schedule is positively back-breaking.
While The Beatles had an agenda packed full of concerts, TV spots, film commitments, interviews, appearances and recording sessions, it possible that Lennon and McCartney had very little time to devote to songwriting at around this time. Another way of looking at it was that they had allowed their compositional skills to slacken. Either way, this was their second consecutive number one smash to be lyrically bland. (Lennon was said to have described the song as "lousy" probably because of the banality of the words; that said, it's likely his lifelong love of nonsense and wordplay made him appreciate the title) The Beatles being The Beatles, this was something they could overcome with their peerless melodies and overall command of pop but it couldn't go on much longer. The more lyrically adept Lennon would lead them from a band who sounded extremely good to one that also had something of substance to say.
Score: 8
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