Two Nickels
That Means A Lot - The Beatles (Blast from the Past Tuesday)
If I had a nickel for every time an unreleased song was my true favorite from a band, I’d have about two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice. Even more interesting is that both of these bands are Beatles-related, with one being the Fab Four themselves and the other being George Harrison’s The Traveling Wilburys and their total smash of a song “Maxine”. But hey, that’s not what I’m here to talk about. Today I’ll be highlighting the Beatles song that is number one in my heart, the terrific Paul-led number that is “That Means a Lot”.
This song is like the flip-side of “She Loves You”, a tune that, if I may take the leap to relate the two, seems to display the inner insecurities of the person who the narrator in “She Loves You” is lecturing. The “can’t you see” in this one simplifies the “you know that can’t be bad/you know you should be glad” of the previous song, a detail that I find to be particularly cool. The lyrics of this one are more reflective; as opposed to a real-time conversation like “She Loves You”, “That Means a Lot” is like the constant replay of a meaningful conversation.
While the lyrics & parallels of “That Means a Lot” are incredibly interesting, the sound of the song is what captured my heart the first time I listened to it. I usually am able to isolate a Beatles song to its album, or at least the era of the band that it seems to fit in. “That Means a Lot” is really tough to do that for. Though it was part of the sessions for Help, it has a deeper, more close sound than I associate that album with. To be honest, I feel like it could’ve fit on Beatles for Sale, probably right between “Eight Days a Week” and “Words of Love”. However, even there I feel like it would stick out too much. This song is just so different, vulnerable in a way that many of their releases alluded to yet never quite reached.
The effects on the tune have a dreamlike effect, a heavy reverb that makes this one really feel like it came straight out of the archives. There’s a lot of small details within it, but one of my favorites is the piano that takes over the bass line, a subtle addition that elevates it well. The roll on the snare to keep the beat is a cool punctuation to the flowing vocals, while also keeping parallel with the quick twangs of the guitar chords. And of course, what would a old-school Paul song be without a screaming “wahhhow” at the end?
I wrestle with whether or not I’m happy that “That Means a Lot” was not officially released until Anthology 2. Since it’s stuck within the hundreds of other tracks on the Anthology collection it can feel hidden, so much so that I feel like I’ve struck gold by even just coming across it. It's a shame that it doesn’t live on one of their more classic albums, but this way it can live a life of its own, where it sure means a lot to the people like me who go back to it time and time again.
Wanna hear me talk about a few of my favorite officially released Beatles songs? Tune into Sirius XM’s The Beatles Channel (Channel 18 or on the app) this week to hear My Fab Four picks! You’ll hear my segement Thursday 5/9 at 1am EST or Saturday 5/11 at 10pm EST :)
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Great post. It's been a while since I heard this one