I'll Cry Instead
“I've got a chip on my shoulder that's bigger than my feet”
Lennon's country-tinged confession of a jilted man retreating to tears, written for A Hard Day's Night but dropped from the film proper and later added to the 'breaking out' montage. Issued as a US-only Capitol single, where it topped the Cash Box chart for a week.
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The Revolution motif first appears in the Beatles catalogue on 'I'll Cry Instead' (1964).
Songwriter(s)LennonCredited as Lennon–McCartney
RecordedJune 1, 1964
ReleasedJuly 10, 1964
Song familyFragile LennonShy, hiding, would lock himself up
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Text285 tags
Word cloud
Recurring words
biggerearthgirlsheartsinsteadmadmeetpeoplereasonroundshouldershowsomehowstarestarttheirand showback againbut i'llcan docause i'vecould seedo youearth togonna breaki couldi geti've justif ilost themake youman canmy feeton earthpeople thatround thesee youshow youshy whenso i'llstart totalk tothe onlythere's peoplewanna crywhen there'swhen theyyes i'myou sadyou whatall the girlsand when ii could seeif i couldthe only girlto make youtry to makeyes i'm gonna
Cover-shared words
allawaybackbetterbreakcausecomecryemeveryfeetgetgirlgotheyhidelostlovingmakemanmymyselfnowsadseesomedaytalktheretheytodaytrytwountilwayworldyouyourall theand whenbut icause i'mcome backget mygirl igot ai can'ti doi hadi'll comei'm gonnai've gotin twolocked upmy wayon mythat ithe worldthen i'llto beto maketry towhen iyou betteryou nowyour lovingbut i can'ti'll come backi've got ayour loving man
Lyric shape
[ADJ] the[ADJ] when[ADV] again[NOUN] can[VERB] their[WORD] thenagain [WORD]could [VERB]only [NOUN]that's [WORD]their [WORD]there's [NOUN][ADJ] the [NOUN][NOUN] can do[NOUN] i had[NOUN] that's [WORD][NOUN] to be[VERB] [ADV] again[VERB] their [WORD][VERB] to [NOUN][VERB] up [ADV][VERB] you what[WORD] in [WORD]and [VERB] youbut i'll [VERB]i could [VERB]i've [VERB] [WORD]i've just [VERB]just [VERB] theso i'll [VERB]the only [NOUN]their [WORD] [WORD]there's [NOUN] [ADV]to be [ADJ]when they [VERB]you [ADJ] [WORD][NOUN] i'm gonna [VERB][NOUN] that i [VERB][NOUN] to be [ADJ][VERB] [NOUN] can do[VERB] you [ADJ] [WORD]i [VERB] [ADJ] wheni've [VERB] a [NOUN]if i could [VERB]when there's [NOUN] [ADV][VERB] the only [NOUN] i[VERB] to [VERB] you [ADJ]i could [VERB] my [NOUN]
Cover-shared shape
[NOUN] i[NOUN] i'm[NOUN] i've[NOUN] on[NOUN] that[NOUN] that's[NOUN] to[VERB] a[VERB] my[VERB] myself[VERB] the[VERB] to[VERB] up[VERB] when[VERB] you[WORD] in[WORD] than[WORD] thea [NOUN]and [VERB]be [ADJ]can't [VERB]gonna [VERB]i [VERB]i'd [VERB]i'll [VERB]i've [VERB]in [WORD]just [VERB]my [NOUN]on [NOUN]the [NOUN]the [WORD]they [VERB]to [NOUN]to [VERB]wanna [VERB]you [ADJ]you [ADV]your [VERB][NOUN] on my[VERB] [WORD] in[VERB] [WORD] the[VERB] a [NOUN][VERB] my [NOUN][VERB] to [VERB][VERB] you [ADJ][VERB] you [ADV][WORD] the [WORD]a [NOUN] oni [VERB] [ADJ]i can't [VERB]i'd [VERB] toi'll [VERB] [ADV]i'll [VERB] [WORD]i'm gonna [VERB]i've [VERB] aon my [NOUN]that i [VERB]then i'll [VERB]to [VERB] youyou [ADJ] [VERB]your [VERB] [NOUN][VERB] [WORD] the [WORD][VERB] a [NOUN] on[VERB] to [VERB] youi'd [VERB] to [VERB]i'm gonna [VERB] [WORD]they [VERB] to [VERB]to [VERB] you [ADJ]i'd [VERB] to [VERB] you
Distinctive word
chip
Music115 tags
Studio10 tags
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People11 tags
Info21 tags
Sources & references
Tags on this page are original analysis, transcribed and cross-checked against the fine work of others: Alan W. Pollack's “Notes on…” series, the Beatles Complete Scores (Hal Leonard), Mark Lewisohn's session histories, Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head, Dave Rybaczewski's Beatles Music History and Andy Babiuk's Beatles Gear for the instruments and studio equipment, and others besides – then verified by ear against the recordings. Full bibliography: Sources & thanks.
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