The One Beatles Song Directly Inspired by Motown: \u201cIt Says the Usual Lennon Things\u201d<\/p>\n
When people talk about The Beatles\u2019 influences, they often jump straight to Chuck Berry, Little Richard, or Buddy Holly. But quietly, deeply, and perhaps just as powerfully, Motown shaped the band\u2019s early sound \u2014 especially John Lennon\u2019s songwriting. And there is one Beatles song that stands out as the clearest, most direct love letter to Motown soul.<\/p>\n
That song is \u201cAll I\u2019ve Got to Do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Released in 1963 on With The Beatles, the track doesn\u2019t roar or swagger. Instead, it leans into restraint \u2014 a hallmark of Motown ballads, particularly those written and performed by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, whom Lennon openly adored.<\/p>\n
Lennon, Motown, and Smokey Robinson<\/p>\n
John Lennon was especially drawn to Motown\u2019s emotional honesty. He admired how singers like Smokey Robinson could sound vulnerable without sounding weak \u2014 how longing, devotion, and uncertainty could be delivered with calm confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I\u2019ve Got to Do\u201d follows that exact template. It\u2019s built on a gentle, pulsing rhythm rather than a driving beat. Lennon\u2019s vocal is intimate, almost conversational, as if he\u2019s singing directly to one person in a quiet room. The lyrics are simple, repetitive, and emotionally direct:<\/p>\n
Whenever I want you around
\nAll I\u2019ve got to do
\nIs call you on the phone\u2026<\/p>\n
This kind of lyrical minimalism \u2014 letting feeling do the work rather than clever wordplay \u2014 was pure Motown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt Says the Usual Lennon Things\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul McCartney later described the song rather casually, saying it \u201csays the usual Lennon things.\u201d But that understatement misses what makes the track special. Those \u201cusual Lennon things\u201d \u2014 emotional dependency, honesty about need, the desire for reassurance \u2014 are precisely what connect the song to Motown\u2019s tradition of soul confession.<\/p>\n
Lennon wasn\u2019t trying to disguise the influence. He was channeling it.<\/p>\n
Unlike their more upbeat R&B covers, this was The Beatles writing their own Motown-style original, not just borrowing the sound, but absorbing the emotional approach.<\/p>\n
A Turning Point in Beatles Songwriting<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I\u2019ve Got to Do\u201d matters because it shows The Beatles transitioning from imitators to interpreters. Instead of copying American records outright, they were learning how to feel like them \u2014 and then translating that feeling through their own voices and accents.<\/p>\n
The song also foreshadows Lennon\u2019s later writing style: emotionally exposed, rhythmically restrained, and focused on inner states rather than external action. You can draw a line from this track to later songs like \u201cIf I Fell,\u201d \u201cGirl,\u201d and even \u201cJulia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Motown\u2019s Quiet Imprint on The Beatles<\/p>\n
While The Beatles would go on to explore psychedelia, folk, and avant-garde experimentation, Motown never fully left their DNA. It taught them that simplicity could be powerful, that tenderness could sit at the center of pop music, and that a song didn\u2019t need to shout to be unforgettable.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I\u2019ve Got to Do\u201d may not be the flashiest Beatles track \u2014 but it\u2019s one of the most revealing. It\u2019s the moment John Lennon sat with Motown, listened closely, and answered back in his own voice.<\/p>\n
And sometimes, that\u2019s where real influence lives \u2014 not in volume, but in feeling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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