Friday Song: “One After 909”
One of Lennon's first songs became one of the Beatles' last — and it remains a fun little number
Written in 1959, this was one of John Lennon’s first compositions. A regular in the Beatles’ live shows for most of the early years, it was not recorded and released until their last album, Let It Be. According to Paul McCartney, the band hated the lyrics by that stage, but put it on the album to fill it out.
The song is about a woman who tells her boyfriend she’s leaving on the train after train #909. He begs her not to leave, but when she does anyway, he packs his bags and rushes after her, only to discover that she is not on “the one after 909.” He goes home depressed, but goes into the wrong house.
I remember learning this song in a hurry when a band I was in decided the day before a show to throw it on the setlist. Luckily, the keyboard part is easy, distinctive, and repetitive. The song went over like gangbusters, and we kept it in the repertoire from then on.
A different version was cobbled together from 1963 takes during a failed recording session, and released on the Anthology boxed set.
It just goes to show that even the songs the Beatles tossed off and recorded reluctantly still had that magic.
Enjoy!