Don't Let Me Down, by The Beatles: lyrics, translation and song analysis
The song Don't let me down The Beatles has become one of the most important classics of rock music of the 60s.
It was composed by John Lennon, despite being legally attributed to the Lennon / McCarty duo. To make this song, The Beatles had the collaboration of keyboardist Billy Preston.
The song marks an important moment for the band. It was recorded in the framework of the sessions of Let it be, and was included in the repertoire of the famous rooftop concert, which announced the farewell to The Beatles.
Much has been argued about this song, as it was inspired by a crucial moment in Lennon's life. To get closer to its meaning, let's get to know the lyrics, translation and analysis.
Lyrics of the song Don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Nobody ever loved me like she does
Oh, she she does, yeah, she she does
And if somebody loved me like she do me
Oh, she do me, yes, she she does
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down
I'm in love for the first time
Don't you know it's gonna last
It's a love that lasts forever
It's a love that had no past
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down
And from the first time that she really done me
Oh she done me, she done me good
I guess nobody ever really done me
Oh she done me, she done me good
Don't let me down, hey, don't let me down
Heee! Don't let me down
Don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me let me down
Can you dig it? Don't let me down
Translation of the song Don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down
No one has ever loved me like her
Oh she does, yes she does
And if someone loves me like she does
Oh how she does, yeah, she does
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down
I'm in love for the first time
You don't know if it's going to last
It's an everlasting love
It's a love without a past
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down
And from the first time that she really loved me
Oh she did me, she did me good
I think no one has really made me
Oh she did me, she did me good
Don't let me down, hey don't let me down
Heee! Do not disappoint me
Do not disappoint me
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Can you dig? Do not disappoint me.
See also Analysis of the song Let It Be by The Beatles.
Song analysis Don't let me down
Before referring to any event about Lennon's life, it is interesting to approach the lyrics without vitiating our interpretation.
The song begins with a chorus that will be repeated after each verse:
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down
The lyrical subject expresses his message clearly and directly to his emissary at once: "Don't disappoint me!" From the outset, the voice that speaks makes one perceive that the subject feels internally moved by something transcendent, and is afraid of falling from that height.
At the beginning of the first verse, the listener understands that it is about love as a couple. The subject talks about a woman with whom he has a relationship. This woman has fulfilled him and has allowed him to know a different love, never experienced before. He does not speak like this of an archetypal idea of love, but of a love that has materialized in a specific being:
No one has ever loved me like her
Oh she does, yes she does
And if someone loves me like she does
Oh how she does, yeah, she does
After the repetition of the chorus, the lyrical subject returns to his reflections. This time, the subject expresses that for the first time in his life he has really loved, he has fallen in love, and in a simple way he communicates it. In other words, the subject makes a loving declaration, exposing a love that for him has no limits, that knows no past or future, because simply it is.
I'm in love for the first time
You don't know if it's going to last
It's an everlasting love
It's a love without a past
In the third stanza, the subject talks about the beloved and her effect on her life from a historical perspective. That is to say, he evaluates her relationship in comparison with past experiences, without thereby belittling any one in particular. Quite simply, this love experience is so awesome that the past, time, only deserves mention to explain why this is a new and founding experience:
And from the first time that she really loved me
Oh she did me, she did me good
I think no one has really made me
Oh she did me, she did me good
Thus, with more and more anxiety and despair, the lyrical subject grows the intensity of his plea, of his love. The song thus looks like a prayer, where the beloved woman becomes the object of adoration, and in front of which the subject places all his hopes and expectations, stripped of his ego and his will of her.
See also Analysis of the song Imagine by John Lennon.
Song story
According to the sources consulted, the song Don't let me down It was composed in 1969, a moment that represented a transformation in the destiny of The Beatles and, of course, a fundamental change in the life of John Lennon.
Apparently, John Lennon wrote that song in a period of crisis marked by at least three determining factors: his growing obsession with Yoko Ono, her relationship with the other members of the band that faced the possible separation and, finally, the aftermath of her addiction to heroin.
For this reason, Paul McCartney himself considers that this song was a kind of cry for help, in despair of what he was experiencing. The whole world of John Lennon was transformed around him without him knowing exactly what to do.
When John Lennon was finally asked what this song meant, he himself replied, "It's myself singing about Yoko." Indeed, the way the song is conceived shows that the woman to whom it is dedicated, in this case Yoko, has control and dominance over the subject's affections.
Relationship between Lennon and Yoko
John Lennon wanted to meet Yoko after seeing an exhibition of hers at the Indica Gallery in London. In those years, if music had taken an unexpected leap, even more so the plastic arts, which after waves and waves of avant-garde, had given rise to the so-called conceptual art.
Yoko belonged to a movement called Fluxus, whose period of splendor spanned the 1960s and 1970s. Part of her postulates were to show that the art world had been commercialized. Thus, the artistic installations that prevented all commercialization of art began.
Being a new art, and above all conceptual, it was not always understood by the public. Lennon was one of those who allowed himself to be seduced by those proposals, but without understanding much of what was in the background, and that made him need to know the artist behind the work.
They finally met and fell in love. She was seven years older than Lennon, but that didn't matter to her. Each of them had a previous marriage and each of them had a child from that relationship. Thus, his path was controversial from the beginning. They were lovers and then formalized their relationship in 1969.
By then the separation of The Beatles was already cooking, which became official in 1970. However, people did not understand it like that.
Due to the public gestures of Yoko and Lennon that gave them so much notoriety, such as having been portrayed in the privacy of his room to give a message of peace, among other events, the public blamed Yoko for the separation of the band.
However, although Yoko and Lennon were a close couple, it was not true that they had become codependent. Both had a relationship for more than 14 years. From that relationship, his son Sean Lennon would be born.
Together they carried out several projects, among which we can mention:
- Composition of the theme Imagine.
- Composition of the theme Give Peace a Chance.
- Making the disc Double Fantasy.
- Creation of the Plastic Ono Band, which would support their musical productions.
Lennon was killed by five shots in the back in 1980.
Video of Don't let me down
If you want to see a rooftop concert when they sing this song, watch the following video:
