1. Help
- Title track and pre-single for the band's forthcoming album of the same name, and also the name of their forthcoming second film.
- Released in July 1965.
- Written mostly by Lennon, with McCartney helping with a few odds and ends.
- The lyrics reflect Lennon's difficulty with coping with the success of the band and his own general insecurities.
- One of Lennon's favourite Beatles tracks that he wrote, mainly because he felt it came more from the heart than a lot of others he had written. He also liked it because it wasn't written for any purpose other than as an outlet for his feelings.
- In later years Lennon said he regretted not recording it at a slower tempo. He tried to record it at a slower tempo at the time but George Martin and the rest of the band felt it needed to be faster since it was slated as the next single.
- The single version and the album version have slightly different lyrics, and the American version starts with an instrumental intro.
- Lennon plays a 12-string acoustic guitar on the recording and does the lead vocals. McCartney and Harrison provide backing vocals, and Ringo plays a tambourine track as well as his usual drum stuff.
- Took 12 takes and runs for two and a half minutes.
2. I'm Down
- B-side to Help!
- Written by McCartney.
- One of the more energetic Beatles song, very much influenced by 50s R+B artists like Little Richard.
- An alternate take exists where the song is played at a slower tempo and without the backing vocals.
- The lyrics are very much a tongue-in-cheek swipe at Lennon's lyrics for Help! from McCartney. It's somewhat fitting that they should appear on the same single together.
- The band often closed their live set with this song throughout 1965, and McCartney purposely wrote this song for such a purpose (they had previously often closed their set with Long Tall Sally, which has a similar structure/feel).
- McCartney sings the lead vocals, with Lennon and Harrison providing the backing vocals. Lennon also plays the organ on the recording (the first time he would do so), and Ringo plays some bongos.
- Took 7 takes and runs for two and a half minutes.
