Two of Us (song)

"Two of Us" is a 1969 song written by Paul McCartney[1][2] and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was recorded by the Beatles on 31 January 1969.

This article is about the Beatles song. For other songs with similar titles, see Two of Us (disambiguation).

"Two of Us"
Cover of the song's sheet music
Song by the Beatles
from the album Let It Be
Released8 May 1970 (1970-05-08)
Recorded31 January 1969
StudioApple, London
GenreFolk rock
Length3:33
LabelApple
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)Phil Spector
Audio sample
"Two of Us"
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"Two of Us" was originally released as the opening track on Let It Be (1970) and a remix of that recording was later included on Let It Be... Naked (2003). An outtake of the song, recorded on 24 January 1969, was released on Anthology 3 (1996).[3]

The song's title was used for the 2000 TV movie Two of Us, which depicts a fictionalized version of a 1976 reunion between McCartney and Lennon.[4]

History

The song was originally titled "On Our Way Home". Ian MacDonald claimed the lyrics (e.g.: "you and I have memories/longer than the road that stretches out ahead" or "you and me chasing paper/getting nowhere") sounded like McCartney was probably addressing Lennon and contractual troubles.[5] "You Never Give Me Your Money", a different composition by McCartney from the previously released album, but recorded after Let It Be, Abbey Road, also refers to The Beatles' contract with Allen Klein as "funny paper".

An early performance of the song, in a guitar-driven rock style, can be seen in the Let It Be film. Unsatisfied with this style, which McCartney described as "chunky", the band reworked the song around acoustic guitars. The Beatles performed a finished version of the song live at Apple Studios on 31 January 1969; this performance was included in both the Let It Be film and album. The clip was also broadcast on The Ed Sullivan Show on 1 March 1970 as the final appearance by the Beatles on the program.

In between several takes of the song on 24 January 1969, the band spontaneously started playing a hammed-up version of traditional Liverpudlian song "Maggie Mae".[6] The 38-second song would also end up on the Let It Be album, but is omitted in Let It Be... Naked. A version of Two of Us on the same day is released on Anthology 3.

In May 1969, McCartney produced a recording of the song using this title by the group Mortimer, a New York City trio that briefly recorded for Apple, but this recording was never released.[7]

On the Let It Be album, producer Phil Spector added, as a spoken introduction to the song, a remark by Lennon, who says: "'I Dig A Pygmy' by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf-Aids! Phase one, in which Doris gets her oats!"[8] This intro was removed in the Let It Be... Naked version.

Personnel

Covers
  • Two of Us is the title of a 2000 VH1 television drama which offers a fictionalised account of 24 April 1976, the day Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live offered the Beatles $3,000 to appear on the program, when by coincidence McCartney was visiting Lennon at his New York apartment and watching the program.
  • The song was part of the soundtrack for the 2011 film Restless by Gus Van Sant.
  • At D5 Conference in 2007, Steve Jobs got emotional with Bill Gates about their friendship. He described their friendship with the song: "You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead."[10]

Notes
  1. MacDonald 2003, p. 335.
  2. "Lennon-McCartney: Who Wrote What?". Beatlefan.Net. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  3. Winn, John C. (2009). That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966-1970. New York: Three Rivers Press. pp. 252–253. ISBN 978-0-307-45239-9.
  4. Erickson 2010.
  5. MacDonald 2003, p. 335; he quotes the actual lines from the lyrics..
  6. Lewisohn, Mark (1992). The Complete Beatles Chronicle. New York: Harmony. p. 310. ISBN 0-517-58100-0.
  7. Dowdling 1989, p. 257.
  8. Winn, John C. (2009). That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966-1970. New York: Three Rivers Press. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-307-45239-9.
  9. ""Two Of Us" song by The Beatles. The in-depth story behind the songs of The Beatles. Recording History. Songwriting History. Song Structure and Style". www.beatlesebooks.com. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  10. "TRANSCRIPT–Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at D5". AllThingsD.com. Retrieved 13 October 2016.

References
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