I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better

Album: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)
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Songfacts®:

  • Gene Clark, an original member of The Byrds, wrote and sang this. Clark left the band shortly afterward and spent many years as a solo artist, but never wrote another hit song. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Andy - Arlington, VA

Comments: 19

  • Anne from Cambridge MdNo mistaking the jangle of that 12-string Rickenbacker: it’s gotta be Jim Mcguinn.
  • Rik from FloridaSome interesting comments on here. My recollection is that the Byrds didn’t actually play on the first album, it was the wrecking crew that did all the instruments and McGuinn just came in and played his 12 string. I’ve seen interviews with Roger/Jim, met him a few times, and my understanding is that they compressed the hell out of his guitar in the studio to make it stand out from the band. He liked the sound so much that he went out and had a compressor built into the Rick. I think that’s the case, Of course I could be wrong. But it doesn’t matter, they’re one of the best bands in the world and always were.
  • AnonymousNever let this one go!
  • Mavis from Upper Great LakesOf course the Beatles and Byrds sound alike to contemporary listeners. We Boomers knew the difference because we listened to this music every day, we grew up with it. We picked up on the nuances. Do not expect younger generations to know our music that intimately. We don’t know theirs. Chill, my friends! :)
  • Matildamother from Lynhurst, NjI think the Beatles version of "Words Of Love" sounds like the Byrds but this was recorded months before this song.

    Some will say it was the Beatles who started the trend of folk-rock.

    David Crosby - Goldmine 1995

    They (The Beatles) were our heroes. They were absolutely what we thought we wanted to do. We listened to every note they played, and savored it, and rubbed it on our foreheads, and were duly affected by it. I was in Chicago, living with a British guy named Clem Floyd on Well Street, right in the middle of it all.
    I was singing at Old Town North and Mother Blues. I was trying to quit smoking, and the way I figured to quit was to buy a quarter-pound of pot, which I rolled and smoked every time I wanted a cigarette. I'm not saying to try this at home, kids - but it worked. So I was in a high old state of affairs, and Clem walked in one afternoon with that first Beatles album, Meet the Beatles. He put it on, and I just didn't know what to think. It absolutely floored me- "Those are folk-music changes, but it's got rock and roll backbeat. You can't do that, but they did! Holy yikes"
  • Sean from Chicago, Il"Clark left the band shortly afterward and spent many years as a solo artist, but never wrote another hit song."....uhmmm....WHA???!! What about "Eight Miles High"??
  • Keith from Westward Ho!, United KingdomSorry to sound like a pedant Sean but Words of Love was written by Buddy Holly while The Beatles were still doing their 'O levels' and their version is a poor copy of the original.
  • Mike from Stevenson Ranch, Cagreat song great singer one of my favorites
  • Niles from Belpre, OhI hate to reveal my age, but I bought these albums when they were new, I still have some.
  • Powerpopfan from Bronx, Ny Let's give credit to George Harrison of the Beatles first. It was after listening to "A Hard Day's Night", is when Roger McGuinn got the idea of that jangle sound. Crucially, it was this guitar that Harrison played in the movie, A Hard Day's Night. Musicians both professional and aspiring, saw and heard the Rickenbacker twelve string and lusted after it. Roger McGuinn of The Byrds saw Harrison playing his Ricky in a darkened movie theatre, went out and bought one and soon made musical history.

    The Beatles 12 string jangly sound could be heard on "A Hard Days Night", the very Byrds like "What You're Doing" that is before the Byrds. I think "Words of Love" the Beatles version sounds like "All I Really Want To Do". They both influenced each other.

  • Oldpink from New Castle, InI love this song, and I must confess the first time I heard it was on my copy of Tom Petty's excellent "Full Moon Fever" album.
    I then heard the original Byrd's version, which I immediately recognized as from Roger, Dave, Gene, and co., and realized where it came from.
    I have always loved the sardonic lyrics.
    The shortened title does not tell the whole story, until you actually listen to it, then you get a completely different meaning.
    I'll probably feel a whole lot better WHEN YOU'RE GONE.
    Such a pretty song, but with a major flip off to someone who treats him poorly.
    It reminds me a bit of the Eagles' "Already Gone."
  • Alan from Sault Ste. Marie, OnSorry with due respect I fail to hear how the Byrds sound like the Beatles. I could never confuse a Byrds song with a Beatles song. Actually if the Byrds had any strong influences it would be from their folkie background. Folk music was huge in the late 50's and early 60's and Roger McGuinn had a folk music background. In large part a majority of Byrds song were essentially electric folk music borrowing strongly on Bob Dylan covers.
  • Sean from Manchester, United KingdomI have to say I love the Byrds. This song actually sounds like The Beatles cover of "Words of Love" which was before the Byrds. The Beatles "Words Of Love" was the blueprint for the future Byrds jangle sound. Anyhow what a great band and song.
  • Bon from Boston, United StatesA great, classic song written by Gene Clark, the real Mr. Tambourine Man. Get some old pictures of the original Byrds in Performance, that's Gene up there playing the tambourine and singling like an angel. Gene Clark is one of the great secrets of the Byrds, like Clarence White. Check Gene out on records like "The Dillard & Clark Expedition", (first album), "White Light", "No Other" and other records he made with and without other Byrd members. This guys was great. Dead now but living on in the music he wrote and recorded. Sadly, Gene had seriously substance abuse issues and it was the cover of this song by Tom Petty that finished him off by providing money from royalties that Gene used to go back on drugs and alcohol. I read somewhere that when he died he didn't have much of a stomach left.
  • Fred from Laurel, MdWow, what a difference a generation makes! When these songs were new, nobody had any trouble distinguishing the Byrds from the Beatles (it was sometimes said that in place of the classical 3-B composers--Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms--we had, in the 60's, Beatles, Byrds, and Beach Boys). Nobody thought they sounded alike--but when you're immersed in the music of a particular era, you get more attuned to the differences than when you look back from another era with its own styles. In my generation, the music of our parents--Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, etc.--all sounded alike to us, but our folks knew the difference! BTW, if you want to hear something from the Beatles era that REALLY sounded (even to us teens/twenties of the 60's) like the Beatles, catch a listen to "Lies" or "One Track Mind" by The Knickerbockers (try comparing these to "Run for Your Life" from the Rubber Soul album). But Stef - I've got to agree with you about that George H. song - thanx for pointing that out, I hadn't noticed it before. And actually, anne, note that this Byrds song preceded that Beatles song. Oh, and rest assured that the Byrds were VERY far from underappreciated in the 60's! And that there were a number of circular influences among the likes of The Beatles, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, etc. 'Tis ever thus in the arts! The top people see/hear what's good out there, and bring their own unique creativity to the mix.
  • Tomas from Buenos Aires, AustraliaAnother good cover of this song,is performed by the great charly garcia,who sung it in spanish.
  • Anne from York , EnglandThis sounds a lot like the Beatles but the Byrd's were heavily influenced by the Beatles, the Byrd's are very underated.
  • Stefanie from Rock Hill, ScGood song!! To me, it sounds very similar to "If I Needed Someone" by the Beatles.
  • Hugh from Kansas City, MoExcellent original song. A good cover of this can also be found on Petty's Full Moon Fever album....right after the halfway mark of the "album" ("Hello CD listeners...").
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