Oh! Darling

'''Oh! Darling''' is a song of The Beatles composed by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and appearing as the fourth song on the Abbey Road album in 1969. Its working title was "Oh! Darling (I'll Never Do You No Harm)".

McCartney later said of recording the track, "When we were recording 'Oh! Darling' I came into the studios early every day for a week to sing it by myself because at first my voice was too clear. I wanted it to sound as though I'd been performing it on stage all week." He would only try the song once each day, if it was not right he would wait until the next day. In order to make sure he got every precious first take right, McCartney would practice the song in the bathtub. He once lamented that "five years ago I could have done this in one take".

In a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, John Lennon said, "'Oh! Darling' was a great one of Paul's that he didn't sing too well. I always thought I could have done it better—it was more my style than his. He wrote it, so what the hell, he's going to sing it."

George Harrison described the song as "a typical 1950s-'60s-period song because of its chord structure."

After an early attempt at this song on 27 January 1969 during the Let It Be sessions, Lennon announced, "Just heard that Yoko's divorce has just gone through", after which he and the band burst into an improvised version of the song, substituting "I'm free at last" for a part of the lyric. The song and the following improvisation are included on The Beatles Anthology 3 CD.

The basic track was recorded on 20 April 1969, but there were many overdub sessions, including multiple attempts at the lead vocal by McCartney (as described above). According to Ian MacDonald, the backing vocals were "exquisite", but "sadly underplayed in the mix." John Lennon played the piano and Paul the bass. George Harrison and Ringo Starr resumed their usual roles.

Rumors say, Paul wrote the song about John Lennon and himself, expressing Paul´s feelings after John decided, he was leaving the group. "If You Leave Me, I Will Never Make It Alone ..." means nothing else than "Let us keep the group going on". And "When You Told Me, You Didn´t Need Me Anymore !" it was Paul´s "Breakdown", who later told, he was very sick, (catatonic-)depressed during his time on his farm at campletown, and deeply sad about the Beatles-split-up.

Lyrics
Oh! Darling, please believe me I'll never do you no harm Believe me when I tell you I'll never do you no harm

Oh! Darling, if you leave me I'll never make it alone Believe me when I beg you Don't ever leave me alone

When you told me you didn't need me anymore Well you know I nearly broke down and cried When you told me you didn't need me anymore Well you know I nearly broke down and died

Oh! Darling, if you leave me I'll never make it alone Believe me when I tell you I'll never do you no harm

When you told me you didn't need me anymore Well you know I nearly broke down and cried When you told me you didn't need me anymore Well you know I nearly broke down and died

Oh! Darling, please believe me I'll never let you down Believe me when I tell you I'll never do you no harm

Personnel

 * John Lennon - Backing vocals
 * Paul McCartney - Lead Vocals, Piano, Bass Guitar (1963 Hofner 500/1)
 * George Harrison - Backing Vocals, Electric Guitar (1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard)
 * Ringo Starr - Drums