Misery

Misery was the second song in The Beatles début album, Please Please Me. Composed by Lennon and McCartney, Misery was more of a John song more than a Paul song, but it was written together. (If you are a new Beatles fan, and you listen to them long enough, you will notice the difference between a John song and a Paul song).

Helen Shapiro with John Lennon

Misery was also a milestone for the writing duo of Lennon/McCartney in which it was the first song by the Beatles duo to be covered by an outside artist other than The Beatles. This song was initially written for Helen Shapiro, Britain's most successful female singer that time. Shapiro's manager, Norrie Paramor, has suggested to The Beatles to write a song especially for her. The Beatles came up with the idea of writing Misery backstage while being on tour with Shapiro and finished composing the song at McCartney's home in Forthlin Road. However when presented, Paramor found the song unsuitable for Shapiro and so it was taken up by Kenny Lynch, a singer and entertainer who was in the same tour with them. Kenny Lynch recorded it and became the first artist to cover a Lennon/McCartney composition. Sad to say, he failed to enter the chart with the song.

When The Beatles recorded Please Please Me and needed original material to complete the LP, they recorded Misery themselves. It gave the song what it needed, which is a dash of "Beatletude", if I may - a bit of music and lyrics and lots of confidence from a young band.


Hope you enjoy the song below: