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| {{Infobox song
| | If I Fell is a song originaly by [[The Beatles]] written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. [[Weezer]] covered it in an early show of theirs before they were signed to Geffen Records. |
| | Name = If I Fell
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| | Artist = [[The Beatles]]
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| | Album = "[[A Hard Day's Night (album)|A Hard Day's Night]]"
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| | Released = 10 July 1964
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| | track_no = 3
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| | Recorded = 27 February 1964<br/>[[Abbey Road Studios]]
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| | Genre = [[Rock and Roll]], [[Beat music|Merseybeat]]
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| | Length = 2:22
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| | Writer = [[Lennon/McCartney]]
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| | Label = [[Parlophone]]
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| | Producer = [[George Martin]]
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| | Tracks = {{A Hard Day's Night tracks}}
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| }}
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| {{Infobox single
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| | Name = If I Fell
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| | Cover = 04 And I Love Her.jpg
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| | A-side = "[[And I Love Her]]"
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| | Artist = [[The Beatles]]
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| | Released = 20 July 1964 (US)
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| | Label = [[Capitol Records|Capitol]]
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| }}
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| "'''If I Fell'''" is a song by [[The Beatles]] which first appeared on the 1964 UK album ''[[A Hard Day's Night (album)|A Hard Day's Night]]'' and the US album ''[[Something New (album)|Something New]]''. It was written primarily by [[John Lennon]], with help from [[Paul McCartney]].{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=162–163}}
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| ==Structure==
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| The song is notable for its unusual structure, which includes an unrepeated introductory section (introduced as an afterthought as of take 11) followed by sequential verse sections, each having a slightly expanded form, but with no obvious chorus or bridge section. [The Demo version (John and acoustic guitar) from early 1964 does include the introduction, as well as an alternate ending.] The song also features a two-part harmony, sung by Lennon and McCartney together into a single microphone at their suggestion, and intricate chord changes. The key changes from D flat major to D major between the introduction (a series of descending [[barre chord]]s) and the main song, which uses mainly open chords, including an unusual D ninth.
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| ==Recording and performance==
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| There is an alternate take of the song in which McCartney's voice strains and cracks at the end of a line, which first appeared on the ''[[Love Songs (The Beatles album)|Love Songs]]'' compilation double-LP, by an archivist's error when returning to the master tapes in Capitol's vault. Since then, this version has appeared in many places and is often heard on oldies stations in some markets. This version is the stereo version now found in ''The Capitol Albums'' box set. In the mono version, McCartney's voice strains, but does not crack.
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| The stereo mix of the song (found on the ''Hard Day's Night'' LP and ''Something New'') features a double-tracked opening by Lennon.
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| "If I Fell" was a part of The Beatles repertoire during The Beatles' US and Canadian tour in 1964. The group typically performed the song faster than the studio version, and Lennon and McCartney often sang it with barely suppressed laughter. On more than one occasion it was introduced as "If I Fell Over".{{sfn|The Beatles Bible|2008}}
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| ==Single releases==
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| * UK: In the UK it was released on 4 December 1964 as [[A-side and B-side|A-side]] (b/w "[[Tell Me Why (The Beatles song)|Tell Me Why]]") on Parlophone DP 562{{sfn|Calkin|2002}}
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| * US: It was also the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] of the US single "[[And I Love Her]]" on [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] 5235.
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| * Norway: The song was released as a single in [[Norway]], where it hit number one.{{sfn|VG-lista|2009}}
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| ==Personnel==
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| * [[John Lennon]] – [[Lead vocalist|vocal]], [[Acoustic guitar|acoustic]] [[rhythm guitar]]
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| * [[Paul McCartney]] – vocal, [[Bass guitar|bass]]
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| * [[George Harrison]] – [[lead guitar]]
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| * [[Ringo Starr]] – [[Drum kit|drums]]
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| :Personnel per [[Ian MacDonald]]{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=111}}
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| ==Cover versions==
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| According to Robert Fontenont of [[About.com]], this was [[Kurt Cobain]]'s favourite Beatles song, and was played by [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] whenever there were technical problems at their concerts.{{sfn|Fontenont|2008}}
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| * [[Maroon 5]] performed an acoustic version of the song on their ''[[1.22.03.Acoustic]]'' album.
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| * [[Evan Rachel Wood]] sang the song in the ''[[Across the Universe (film)|Across the Universe]]'' film.
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| * [[Sammy Kershaw]] performed a cover on the album ''[[Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles]]'', which appeared later on his album ''[[Covers the Hits]]''.
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| * [[Rita Lee]] performed a version of the song as a bonus track to her Beatles cover album ''Aqui, Ali, em Qualquer Lugar''.
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| * [[Adrian Belew]] performed an acoustic version on his 1993 album ''[[The Acoustic Adrian Belew]]''.
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| * [[The Rutles]]' song "With a Girl Like You" is based on this song.
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| * [[Peters and Lee]] performed a cover of this song on their album ''[[Favourites]]''
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| * [[Weezer]] performed it in an early show before they where signed to a record company.
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| ==Notes==
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| {{Reflist|colwidth=22em}}
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| ==References==
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| {{Refbegin|2}}
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| * {{cite web
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| | last=Calkin
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| | first=Graham
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| | year=2002
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| | title=The Beatles - If I Fell
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| | work=JPGR
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| | url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/dp562.html
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| | ref=harv
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| }}
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| * {{cite web
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| | last=Fontenont
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| | first=Robert
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| | year=2008
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| | title=If I Fell
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| | woprk=About.com
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| | url=http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/ififell.htm
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| | accessdate=14 August 2008
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| | ref=harv
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| }}
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| * {{cite web
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| | work=The Beatles Bible
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| | year=2008
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| | title=If I Fell
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| | url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/if-i-fell/
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| | accessdate=19 October 2008
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| | ref={{SfnRef|The Beatles Bible|2008}}
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| }}
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| * {{cite book
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| | last=MacDonald
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| | first=Ian
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| | year=2005
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| | authorlink=Ian MacDonald
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| | title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties
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| | publisher=Pimlico (Rand)
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| | location=London
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| | edition=Second Revised
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| | isbn=1-844-13828-3
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| | ref=harv
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| }}
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| * {{cite book
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| | last=Miles
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| | first=Barry
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| | year=1997
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| | authorlink=Barry Miles
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| | title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now
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| | publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]]
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| | location=New York
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| | isbn=0-8050-5249-6
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| | ref=harv
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| }}
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| * {{cite web
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| | work=VG-lista
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| | year=2009
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| | title=TOPP 20 SINGLE UKE 49, 1964
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| | url=http://lista.vg.no/show_list.php?ListsOp=showWeek&week=49&year=1964&listID=1
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| | accessdate=11 December 2009
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| | ref={{SfnRef|VG-lista|2009}}
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| }}
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| {{Refend}}
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| {{The Beatles Singles}}
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| {{The Beatles}}
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| [[Category:The Beatles songs]]
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| [[Category:Songs produced by George Martin]]
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| [[Category:Number-one singles in Norway]]
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| [[Category:Songs written by Lennon/McCartney]]
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| [[Category:Maroon 5 songs]]
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| [[Category:Chet Atkins songs]]
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| [[es:If I Fell]]
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| [[fr:If I Fell]]
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| [[he:If I Fell]]
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| [[nl:If I Fell]]
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| [[ja:恋におちたら (ビートルズ)]]
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| [[no:If I Fell]]
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| [[nn:If I Fell]]
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| [[ru:If I Fell]]
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| [[sv:If I Fell]]
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