Eight Days A Week

CHART ACTION
UNITED STATES: Also released as a single, February 15, 1965. It entered the Top 40 February 27 and stayed at No. 1 for two weeks. It spent nine weeks in the Top 40. The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles and Billboard
This song was originally one of those on the album being considered for release as a single in the United Kingdom before Lennon composed "I Feel Fine." The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles

AUTHORSHIP McCartney (.6) and Lennon (.4)
Sometimes Paul would be chauffeured out to Kenwood. On one occasion this provided the impetus for a song. The driver was not one of the regulars that Paul knew, but as they were turning into John's driveway Paul casually asked him if he had been busy. 'Busy?' he said. 'I've been working eight days a week.' Paul went into John's house and told him, 'Well, I've got the title: "Eight Days A Week".'
McCARTNEY: "Neither of us had heard that expression before so we had that chauffeur to credit for that. It was like a little blessing from the gods. I didn't have any idea for it other than the title, and we just knocked it off together, just filling in from the title. So that one came quickly." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

McCARTNEY: "I showed up at John's house one day. I had driven out from London and, because I had lost my licence because of a speeding offence, I was being driven out there and we were pulling up in John's drive and I was talking to the driver and asked him, 'What kind of a week have you had? Have you been working hard?' He then said to me, 'I've been working eight days a week, Paul!' After hearing that, I literally fell into John's place, thinking, 'That's good!' " The Beatles Off the Record: Outrageous Opinions & Unrehearsed Interviews

A decade earlier, Paul stated the title came from something Ringo said.
McCARTNEY: "He said it as though he were an overworked chauffeur: [Heavy accent] 'Eight days a week.' When we heard it, we said, 'Really? Bing! Got it!' " Playboy (December 1984)

LENNON: "Both of us [wrote this]. I think we wrote this when we were trying to write the title song for Help! because there was at one time the thought of calling the film Eight Arms To Hold You . . ." Hit Parader (April 1972)

LENNON: "It was Paul's effort at getting a single for the movie. That luckily turned into 'Help!' which I wrote, bam! bam! like that and got the single." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

RECORDED
October 6, 1964, at Abbey Road, with an outro edit piece taped October 18

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, lead vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, lead vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar
STARR: drums

MISCELLANEOUS
This song may be the first to begin with a fade-in. The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles

COMMENTS BY BEATLES
LENNON: " 'Eight Days A Week' was never a good song. We struggled to record it and struggled to make it into a song. It was [Paul's] initial effort, but I think we both worked on it. I'm not sure. But it was lousy anyway." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono