IN A HURRY
One of Paul’s story or character songs? I’ve never heard him comment on the inspiration. To me, it has a feel of London 1963, London Theatreland and life with The Ashers of Wimpole Street.
It begins with a description of the hectic life of the song’s subject:
“She was always in a hurry, never took the time to look around. She was always one to worry and fret, staring at the ground..Every minute, she'd be rushing, someone always breathing down her neck. Felt like everyone was pushing her down, keeping her in check”
Sound familiar? In The Lyrics, discussing his impressions when he moved in with the Ashers, he says:
“There was not a second that wasn’t accounted for. Jane would go off to her agent, then read for a play, then meet someone for lunch, then have a vocal coach teaching her a Norwich accent for her next thing.”
The third verse gives us:
How could she leave? She's gotta stay, somebody has to sit and wait. Deep in a dream, she hears a voice "It's not too late to celebrate"
Given the frequency with which the chorus and outro feature the phrase “Never Too Late” (41 times, not that I’m counting), you might have expected that to be the song’s title, rather than ‘In A Hurry’. Perhaps that would have drawn a bit too much attention to a particular incident. In December 1963 (16 December according to Dafydd Rees in his book ‘The Beatles 1963: A Year In The Life), Paul and Jane’s relationship became public knowledge when they were photographed together attending Sumner Arthur Long’s play ‘Never Too Late’ at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London.
“We had decided not to go to the bar, so we were just going to sit it out..I really was not used to the personal burdens imposed by fame, so we were just talking in our seats, and suddenly ten paparazzi came scampering in with those cameras going flash, flash, flash like La Dolca Vita, and then, just as quickly, they all just scampered out again”
“They were like the Keystone Cops. But oh my God, we were shocked.”
‘In A Hurry, was released as a single along with ‘Home Tonight’, and featured artwork based on the parlour game ‘Exquisite Corpse’.
‘Exquisite Corpse’ can be played as a drawing game, as in the cover art, or as a word game. I wonder if it was one of the ones played at the dining table at 57 Wimpole Street that Paul recalled to Barry Miles in ‘Many Years From Now’.
