Released 17 April 1970 Genre Rock Label Apple | Recorded 22 February 1970 Length 2:30 Writer(s) Paul McCartney | |
"Every Night" is a song written by Paul McCartney while he was on holiday in Greece, and first released on his McCartney album on April 17, 1970. McCartney first performed this live, in Liverpool, on 23 November 1979.
Contents
Lyrics and music
The lyrics of "Every Night" reflect the difficult situation McCartney was dealing with at the time the song was written in light of the imminent breakup of the Beatles, but also reflect optimism for the future. According to James McGrath, the last line of the song, "But tonight I just wanna stay in / And be with you," is the key to the song, in that it "quietly challenges the uneasy relationship between rock and domesticity." McGrath notes that Bob Dylan's song from the previous year, "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You," ended on a similar note.
Recording
McCartney premiered it during The Beatles' Get Back/Let It Be Sessions. The group messed around with the song on 21 and 24 January 1969 (a brief run through and John Lennon on slide guitar; respectively).
McCartney sings and plays acoustic guitar, bass and drums on this recording, while Linda sang the "Woo Woos" on the Chorus, with Paul ad-libbing ("Believe me mama")
Later release
"Every Night" is also included on:
Personnel
Cover versions
Billy Joe Royal released a cover of this song in 1970 as a single. It went to #113 on the U.S. Pop charts. The song was covered by Odetta (on her 1970 album Odetta Sings), Claudine Longet (on her 1972 album Let's Spend the Night Together), Phoebe Snow (as a single and on her 1978 album Against the Grain), Richie Havens (on his 1980 album Connections), The 5th Dimension on their 1970 album Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes and Carry The Zero (on the 2009 McCartney tribute album Looking for Change). In 2014 Jamie Cullum covered the song on The Art of McCartney covers album.