You're Going to Lose That Girl

You're Going to Lose That Girl is a song by the Beatles from the album and film Help!, written by John Lennon with Paul McCartney. Capitol Records originally titled the song "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" in the United States.

Composition and recording
The last song recorded before breaking off to make the film, the song was composed at Lennon's house in Weybridge. In the lyrics the singer tells his "friend" that, if he does not value his girl, the singer will "make a point of taking her away" from him. To The Beatles' familiar twist beat and using variations of familiar doo-wop chords, Lennon's nagging lead singing is set in a call-and-response with the enthusiastic answering harmonies of McCartney and George Harrison, offering a last glimpse of the early Beatles' musical home turf.

The song's bridge has a key change similar to that of the record's previous track "Another Girl", moving up a minor third to G major, the relative major of the tonic minor. In this case the bridge emerges a measure early, diving a semitone down to meet the verse.

To fatten the sound McCartney overdubbed a background piano (a job that once would have been done by producer George Martin "live" on the backing track) and Ringo Starr added bongos, the addition of Latin-American percussion being another way The Beatles often exploited their new-found access to four-track recording.

In the film Help
In the film, the group appears singing this song in the recording studio. (In addition to the group's familiar guitar-and-drum setup, there is also footage of Paul McCartney at a piano and Ringo Starr playing the bongos, both miming instruments they had overdubbed onto the recording.)

Release, pastiche and parody
The song was released in 1965 on the Help album. In November 1977, Capitol Records scheduled the release of "Girl" backed with "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" as a single (Capitol 4506) to accompany the release of Love Songs, a compilation album which contained both songs. However, the single was cancelled before it was issued.

The Ramones performed a song titled "You're Gonna Kill That Girl" which may have been intended as a parody of the Beatles song.

Personnel

 * John Lennon — acoustic rhythm guitar (1962 Gibson J-160E), lead vocals
 * Paul McCartney — piano, bass guitar (1963 Hofner 500/1), backing vocals
 * George Harrison — lead guitar (1961 Fender Stratocaster), backing vocals
 * Ringo Starr — drums, bongos