Help! (2:53)

“Help!” is a song by The Beatles that served as the title song for both the album Help! and the film Help!. It was also released as a single, and was #1 for three weeks in both the UK and USA. “Help!” was written primarily by John Lennon, but credited (as all Beatles song written by either person) to Lennon/McCartney. Paul McCartney reports that he had a hand in writing the song as well, being called in “to complete it” in a two-hour joint writing session at Lennon’s house. In 2004, “Help!” was ranked number 29 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Cover versions:
- In 1968, Deep Purple recorded a cover version (greatly slowed-down) of the song on their album Shades of Deep Purple. Consistent with Lennon’s other remark’s about the song, he said that this version was ‘the way the Beatles’ should have done it’.
- In 1970, the Carpenters did a cover version for release on their album, “Close to You”. It was not released as a single.
- In 1976, Henry Gross covered it for the ephemeral musical documentary All This and World War II. John Lennon once stated that this was his favourite version of the song. George and Paul do backing vocals.
- In 1976, The Damned covered the song for the B-side of “New Rose”.
- In 1980, Australian vocalist John Farnham released the song as a piano-based ballad recorded at a much slower tempo.
- In 1985, Ford Motor Company reportedly paid $100,000 for the use of the song in commercials promoting their Lincoln-Mercury product line. This was the first time a Beatles song was used for a national commercial campaign.