The Beatles: Note By Note

John Lennon’s “If I Fell” may sound like a tender ballad, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find a song loaded with ambiguity and emotional risk. In this lecture, Kenyon explores the idea that it’s n...

9 Aug 202553min

Before Help! and long before Norwegian Wood, there was I Should Have Known Better—John Lennon’s first brush with Bob Dylan-style introspection. In this episode, Kenyon and Peter explore the song’s piv...

2 Aug 20251h 18min

At first glance, “I Should Have Known Better” seems like a standard early Beatles love song. But in this lecture, we uncover a deeper emotional arc beneath its simple title. Is John Lennon reflecting ...

2 Aug 202543min

In this packed episode of The Beatles: Note by Note, Kenyon, Peter, and Justin dive deep into the song “A Hard Day’s Night.” They unravel the song's hectic creation on April 13, 1964, when Lennon famo...

26 Jul 20251h 51min

John Lennon had a problem: how do you write a love song called “A Hard Day’s Night”? In this lecture, we analyze how he solved it—lyrically and harmonically—using idioms, tonal ambiguity, and jazzy fo...

26 Jul 202552min

A Hard Day’s Night wasn’t just the Beatles’ first film—it was a cinematic reset button for the music movie. In this episode, Peter, Kenyon and special guest Stephen explore how Richard Lester’s direct...

19 Jul 20252h 18min

Originally a Carl Perkins B-side, Matchbox became a showcase for Ringo Starr during the Beatles’ whirlwind studio sessions of mid-1964. In this episode, we explore why Ringo was chosen to sing this ro...

12 Jul 20251h 11min

“Slow Down” might be credited to The Beatles, but this cover of a Larry Williams B-side reveals more about the band’s limitations than their strengths. In this episode, we take a close listen to John ...

5 Jul 20251h 3min