Another Girl

Another Girl is a song by the the Beatles released in 1965 on the album Help! and included in the film of the same name. The song was written by Paul McCartney but credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Composition and recording
McCartney wrote the song while holidaying in Hammamet, a resort in Tunisia. With an up-tempo swing-beat that the writer favoured ("Can't Buy Me Love", "She's A Woman") the song opens with a short refrain, powered by block vocal harmonies, that segues straight into the verse, which is constructed on the blues-mode chord changes the group currently favoured. The bridge theme makes a sudden key change up a minor third from A to C (a harmonic strategy also used on the record's next track "You're Going to Lose That Girl") and features more close three-part harmonies as the aggressively sung verse's apparent threat to a jealous girl turns into a sweet tribute to the "other" girl who "will always be my friend".

The Beatles recorded the song on 15 February 1965, having also worked on "Ticket To Ride" and "I Need You". The backing track was quickly recorded in a single take. George Harrison added a guitar "flourish" at the end which was omitted from the final mix: McCartney added lead guitar the next day. This is one of several Beatles songs recorded at the time on which McCartney played lead guitar in addition to his usual bass. Four-track recording allowed the group to refine songs' arrangements in the studio and McCartney often had clear ideas about the guitar lines he wanted. He also contributed lead guitar to "Ticket to Ride" and played an electric guitar duet with Harrison on "The Night Before". The song was mixed down on 18 February and again on 23 February.

McCartney said of this song and other album tracks, "It's a bit much to call them fillers because I think they were a bit more than that, and each one of them made it past the Beatles test. We all had to like it."

In the film Help
In the film Help!, McCartney lip-syncs "Another Girl" while standing on a coral reef on Balmoral Island in the Bahamas, and plays a girl in a bikini as if she is a guitar.

Personnel

 * Paul McCartney – lead bass guitar, lead vocal
 * John Lennon – rhythm guitar, harmony vocal
 * George Harrison – electric guitar, harmony vocal
 * Ringo Starr – drums
 * Personnel per Ian MacDonald