It's Only Love

It's Only Love is a song written mostly by John Lennon, and credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It was first released by The Beatles in 1965, on the Help! album in the UK, and on the Rubber Soul album in the US.

Background and composition
"It's Only Love" was composed with the working title "That's A Nice Hat". Lennon had the original idea for the song, and completed it with McCartney at his home in Weybridge.

In 1980 Lennon told Playboy journalist David Sheff: "I always thought it was a lousy song. The lyrics were abysmal. I always hated that song."

In his 1994 biography Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, McCartney said of the song: "Sometimes we didn't fight it if the lyric came out rather bland on some of those filler songs like 'It's Only Love'. If a lyric was really bad we'd edit it, but we weren't that fussy about it, because it's only a rock 'n' roll song. I mean, this is not literature."

Recording
The Beatles recorded "It's Only Love" on 15 June 1965. They recorded six takes of the rhythm track, although two of these were incomplete. Lennon overdubbed his vocals onto the final take, and George Harrison recorded a guitar part through a rotating Leslie speaker.

Take two of "It's Only Love" was included on Anthology 2 in 1996, along with the incomplete third attempt.

Personnel

 * John Lennon – acoustic guitar (1964 Framus Hootenanny 5/024), lead vocals
 * Paul McCartney - bass guitar (1963 Hofner 500/1)
 * George Harrison - lead guitar (1961 Fender Stratocaster)
 * Ringo Starr - drums, tambourine

Cover versions
"It's Only Love" was recorded by Bryan Ferry on his 1976 album Let's Stick Together, by Gary U.S. Bonds on his 1981 album Dedication and by Peter Cetera on his 2001 album Another Perfect World.