Beatles ( The ) - With a little help from my friends

First performance: 30/09/1967


Coverinfo

Bruce covered the song 3 times:
 
 
2023-10-29 New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ
Patti Scialfa is honored at the 15th Annual New Jersey Hall of Fame Ceremony, proudly inducted by her husband Bruce Springsteen. She becomes a two-time member of the Hall, since The E Street Band was inducted in 2012. E Street Band members Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, and Max Weinberg have also been inducted individually. To end the festive ceremony Bruce, Patti, Steve, and Tony Orlando participate in a closing jam on "With A Little Help From My Friends", led by Freedom Bremner and Mark Rivera. Springsteen, Scialfa and Van Zandt were not onstage for the start of this song, but soon came out, arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders, and sang along, with Orlando joining them.
 
 
 
  
Media:
With Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band, which includes both Nils Lofgren and Clarence Clemons. Actor John Candy joins in for 'with a lil help from my friends', playing tambourine.
 
 
Bruce covered the song in september 1967 with the Castiles at the band’s second gig in the 'left foot' in Freehold. George Theiss takes the lead vocal on "With A Little Help From My Friends". Only 26 minutes of the band’s 60-minute performance exists on the original master tape. The tape included 'one by one'. Keep in mind that only a small amount of setlists of the early years has surfaced, so it may have been played a lot more. One show, double bill, with The Castiles headlining. This was the band’s second gig at the club (see September 16). The 13-song mentioned setlist represents The Castiles’ complete performance at this show, in the correct song sequence. This was The Castiles’ final appearance at The Left Foot. Although having only opened in September 1967, The Left Foot’s popularity dropped dramatically in March 1968 when the larger, trendier Freehold Hullabaloo club opened nearby. The Left Foot closed for good in April 1968.
 
 
 
 
 

Songinfo

"With a Little Help from My Friends" is a song by the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and intended as the album's featured vocal for drummer Ringo Starr.
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

During the 2012 SXSW Keynote Address

"The Beatles were cool. They were classical, formal, and created the idea of an independent unit where everything could come out of your garage. The "Meet the Beatles" album cover, those four head shots. I remember, I seen 'em at J. J. Newberry's. It was the first thing I saw when you ran down to the five–and–ten cent store. There were no record stores. There weren't enough records, I don't think, in those days. There was a little set by the toys where they sold a few albums. And I remember running in and seeing that album cover with those four headshots. It was like the silent gods of Olympus. Your future was just sort of staring you in the face. I remember thinking, "That's too cool. I'm never gonna get there, man, never." And then in some fanzine I came across a picture of the Beatles in Hamburg. And they had on the leather jackets and the slick–backed pompadours, they had acned faces. I said, hey, "Wait a minute, those are the guys I grew up with, only they were Liverpool wharf rats." So minus their Nehru jackets and the haircuts – so these guys, they're kids. They're a lot cooler than me, but they're still kids. There must be a way to get there from here. "

 

Lyrics

What would you think if I sang out of tune
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm gonna try with a little help from my friends

What do I do when my love is away?
(Does it worry you to be alone?)
How do I feel by the end of the day?
(Are you sad because you're on your own?)
No I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm gonna try with a little help from my friends

(Do you need anybody?)
I need somebody to love
(Could it be anybody?)
I want somebody to love

(Would you believe in a love at first sight?)
Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time
(What do you see when you turn out the light?)
I can't tell you, but I know it's mine
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm I get high with a little help from my friends
Oh I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends

(Do you need anybody?)
I just need someone to love
(Could it be anybody?)
I want somebody to love

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm gonna try with a little help from my friends
Oh I get high with a little help from my friends
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends
With a little help from my friends