About the Song

Track: Don’t Let Me Down

Length: 3:35

Album: Get It Back / Don’t Let Me Down (1969)

Artist: The Beatles

Songwriter: John Lennon / Paul McCartney

Favorite line:

“Don’t let me down, don’t let me down”

Favorite verse:

“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”

℗ © Apple Corps Ltd

Here’s Why I Love It

There are many Beatles songs I could have shared with you (too many), but it’s rare you have a song with one line so powerful that no other line even matters. For me, that’s what you have with Don’t Let Me Down. The title itself cuts straight to the heart. It’s as visceral as one line can get. It wakes you up to one of life’s harshest realities: people will let you down. And when they do, there’s probably no more disappointing a feeling. Something I know I’ve painfully endured on both a professional and personal level many times.

In my eyes, it’s not really a song about love. It’s more nuanced. It’s a song about that point right past when you fully submit to your trust in someone. It’s about surrender. That point when you find yourself standing there with no walls around your heart and scared of what’s to come. Honestly, how can you not be? You’re totally vulnerable and completely naked. All you’re left with is that bone-chilling plea, “Don’t let me down.” Something this song stings you with each time you hear John Lennon plead that one line. It melts me to the core every time I hear it. And for what it’s worth, Lennon does the same thing (one line so powerful and pleading) with I Want You (She’s So Heavy) which was also recorded during the same time period.

Don’t Let Me Down was recorded during the Let It Be sessions (but never made it to the album.) It was a time when the Beatles were quite likely letting each other down. They would soon break up. It’s credited to both Lennon and Paul McCartney, but is said to be written by Lennon to Yoko Ono. This makes sense, given the state of their relationship. In a sense, Lennon was moving on from the Beatles (as an artist and activist) and was deeply in love with Ono. This backstory alone represents a decision many will be tasked to make or have made at some point in life. Is it time to move on? Is it time to surrender?

Listen to song and read the lyrics for full effect.

You can now listen to the Lyrics I Love playlist on Spotify. A new song is added with each edition!

*This article is part of the ongoing Lyrics I Love series: short interpretations of the meaning and story behind one song with lyrics that move me.