Michelle ( song ) - wikipedia Michelle ( song ) `` Michelle '' The Norwegian single release of the song, backed with `` Girl '' Song by the Beatles from the album Rubber Soul Released 3 December 1965 Recorded 3 November 1965 EMI Studios, London Genre Pop Length 2 : 40 Label Parlophone Songwriter ( s ) Lennon -- McCartney Producer ( s ) George Martin `` Michelle '' The Beatles 's `` Michelle '' from Rubber Soul Problems playing this file ? See media help. `` Michelle '' is a love ballad by the Beatles, composed principally by Paul McCartney, with the middle eight co-written with John Lennon. It is featured on their Rubber Soul album, released in December 1965. The song is unusual among Beatles recordings in that some of its lead vocals are in French, although `` Paperback Writer '' contains the backing vocals `` Frère Jacques ''. `` Michelle '' won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1967 and has since become one of the best known and most often recorded of all Beatles songs. Contents 1 Composition 2 Musical structure 3 Personnel 4 Awards and recognition 5 Chart performance 5.1 Weekly charts 5.2 Year - end charts 6 Cover versions 7 Live performance history 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links Composition The instrumental music of `` Michelle '' originated separately from the lyrical concept :... ' Michelle ' was a tune that I 'd written in Chet Atkins ' finger - picking style. There is a song he did called ' Trambone ' with a repetitive top line, and he played a bass line while playing a melody. This was an innovation for us ; even though classical guitarists had played it, no rock'n'roll guitarists had played it. The first person we knew to use finger - picking style was Chet Atkins... I never learned it. But based on Atkins ' `` Trambone '', I wanted to write something with a melody and a bass line in it, so I did. I just had it as an instrumental in C. -- Paul McCartney The words and style of `` Michelle '' have their origins in the popularity of French Left Bank culture during McCartney 's Liverpool days. McCartney had gone to a party of art students where a student with a goatee and a striped T - shirt was singing a French song. He soon wrote a farcical imitation to entertain his friends that involved French - sounding groaning instead of real words. The song remained a party piece until 1965, when John Lennon suggested he rework it into a proper song for inclusion on Rubber Soul.... we 'd tag along to these parties, and it was at the time of people like Juliette Greco, the French bohemian thing... So I used to pretend to be French, and I had this song that turned out later to be ' Michelle '. It was just an instrumental, but years later John said : ' You remember that thing you wrote about the French ? ' I said : ' Yeah. ' He said : ' That was n't a bad song, that. You should do that, y'know. ' -- Paul McCartney McCartney asked Jan Vaughan, a French teacher and the wife of his old friend Ivan Vaughan, to come up with a French name and a phrase that rhymed with it. `` It was because I 'd always thought that the song sounded French that I stuck with it. I ca n't speak French properly so that 's why I needed help in sorting out the actual words '', McCartney said. Vaughan came up with `` Michelle, ma belle '', and a few days later McCartney asked for a translation of `` these are words that go together well '' -- sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble. When McCartney played the song for Lennon, Lennon suggested the `` I love you '' bridge. Lennon was inspired by a song he heard the previous evening, Nina Simone 's version of `` I Put a Spell on You '', which used the same phrase but with the emphasis on the last word, `` I love you ''. : Each version of this song has a different length. The UK mono is 2 : 33 but the stereo version is 2 : 40 due to an extra guitar solo. The US mono was the longest of all, at 2 : 43, until The Beatles : Rock Band version was released, running at 2 : 50. Musical structure The song was initially composed in C, but was played in F on Rubber Soul ( with a capo on the fifth fret ). The verse opens with an F major chord ( `` Michelle '' -- melody note C ) then the second chord ( on `` ma belle '' -- melody note D ♭ ) is a B ♭ ( on the original demo in C, the second chord is a F ). McCartney called this second chord a `` great ham - fisted jazz chord '' that was taught to them by Jim Gretty who worked at Hessey 's music shop in Whitechapel, central Liverpool and which George Harrison uses ( as a G ♭ 7 # 9 ) ( see Dominant seventh sharp ninth chord ) as the penultimate chord of his solo on `` Till There Was You ''. After the E ♭ ( of `` these are words '' ) there follows an ascent involving different inversions of the D dim chord. These progress from A ♭ dim on `` go '' -- melody note F, bass note D ; to Bdim ( C ♭ dim ) on `` to '' -- melody note A ♭, bass note D ; to Ddim on `` ge... '' -- melody note B ( C ♭ ) bass note B ; to Bdim on... ' ther... '' -- melody note A ♭ bass note B, till the dominant ( V ) chord ( C major ) is reached on `` well '' -- melody note G bass note C. Personnel Paul McCartney -- lead vocal, bass, acoustic guitar John Lennon -- backing vocal, classical acoustic guitar George Harrison -- backing vocal, 12 - string acoustic guitar, lead guitar Ringo Starr -- drums Personnel per Ian MacDonald MacDonald wrote that `` Michelle '' was made in nine hours and seems to have been played mostly, if not entirely, by McCartney using overdubs. '' He speculated that McCartney might even have sung the backing vocals and played the drums. Awards and recognition `` Michelle '' won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1967. The song 's win over `` Born Free '', `` The Impossible Dream '', `` Somewhere My Love '' and `` Strangers in the Night '' was seen as something of a triumph for The Beatles, who had in 1966 been nominated, but were unsuccessful, in nine categories. In 1999, BMI named `` Michelle '' as the 42nd most performed song of the 20th century. Chart performance Weekly charts Year - end charts Billy Vaughn Chart ( 1965 - 66 ) Peak position Canada RPM Adult Contemporary 18 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 77 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 17 Bud Shank Chart ( 1966 ) Peak position U.S. Billboard Hot 100 65 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 12 Spokesmen Chart ( 1966 ) Peak position U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 106 David & Jonathan Chart ( 1966 ) Peak position Australia ( Kent Music Report ) 42 Canada RPM Top Singles Canada RPM Adult Contemporary UK Singles Chart 11 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 18 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Beatles Chart ( 1966 ) Peak position Austria ( Ö3 Austria Top 40 ) Belgium ( Ultratop 50 Flanders ) French EP charts Germany ( Official German Charts ) 6 Netherlands ( Single Top 100 ) New Zealand Norway ( VG - lista ) Overlanders Chart ( 1966 ) Peak position Australia ( Kent Music Report ) Norway UK Singles Chart Chart ( 1966 ) Rank Australia 22 Cover versions The song was a UK hit in 1966 by The Overlanders, hitting number one on the Record Retailer chart. It also reached number two in Australia. The Overlanders released their version after the Beatles declined to release it as a single themselves in the United Kingdom and United States ( although the original version was released in some other European countries, including Norway, where both versions went to number one ). `` Michelle '' was also covered by David and Jonathan, whose version went to # 1 in Canada and was otherwise a Top 20 hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1966. ( U.S. Pop # 18, AC # 3 ) Italian singer Mango did an a cappella cover of the song on the album Disincanto ( 2002 ). The band Rubblebucket released a trip hop version of the song on their 2010 Triangular Daisies EP. Andy Williams did a cover of the song on his 1966 album, The Shadow of your Smile. Beatallica did a cover of the song incorporating the music For Whom the Bell Tolls of Metallica in their 2013 album, Abbey Load Matt Monro covered the song in 1976 with a String Quartet. `` Michelle '' was also covered by American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan. It features as one of Louis Andriessen 's 1966 `` Satirical Arrangements '' of Beatles songs for singer Cathy Berberian. Live performance history McCartney singing `` Michelle '' to Michelle Obama `` Michelle '' was performed by McCartney throughout his 1993 world tour. He has rarely performed the song since, but did include it in a 2009 performance in Washington, DC, in honour of Michelle Obama, the American First Lady, and he would play it on most ( if not all ) of his performances in France or other francophone countries. On 2 June 2010, after being awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House, McCartney performed the song for Michelle Obama, who sang along from her seat. McCartney quipped, `` I could be the first guy ever to be punched out by a president. '' Michelle Obama reportedly later told others that she could never have imagined, growing up an African - American girl on the South Side of Chicago, that someday a Beatle would sing `` Michelle '' to her as First Lady of the United States. Notes Jump up ^ Hamelman, Steven L. ( 2004 ). But is it Garbage ? : On Rock and Trash. University of Georgia Press. pp. 10 --. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8203 - 2587 - 3. ^ Jump up to : Turner 2010, pp. 94. ^ Jump up to : Sheff 2000, p. 137. Jump up ^ Miles 1997, p. 273. Jump up ^ The Guardian 2007. Jump up ^ Pedler, Dominic. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. pp. 435 - 437 Jump up ^ Pedler, Dominic. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. pp. 412 - 413 ^ Jump up to : MacDonald 2005, pp. 174 -- 175. Jump up ^ infoplease 2007. Jump up ^ Broadcast Music, Inc. 1999. Jump up ^ `` Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada ''. Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1966 - 01 - 24. Retrieved 2018 - 05 - 29. Jump up ^ Joel Whitburn 's Top Pop Singles 1955 - 1990 - ISBN 0 - 89820 - 089 - X Jump up ^ Joel Whitburn 's Top Pop Singles 1955 - 1990 - ISBN 0 - 89820 - 089 - X Jump up ^ ( Joel Whitburn 's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959 - 2004 ) Jump up ^ `` Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada ''. Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1966 - 02 - 21. Missing or empty url = ( help ) ; access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Joel Whitburn 's Top Pop Singles 1955 - 1990 - ISBN 0 - 89820 - 089 - X Jump up ^ `` Austriancharts.at -- The Beatles -- Michelle '' ( in German ). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 20 May 2016. Jump up ^ `` Ultratop.be -- The Beatles -- Michelle '' ( in Dutch ). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 20 May 2016. Jump up ^ It was issued as an EP in France Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2015. Jump up ^ `` Offiziellecharts.de -- The Beatles -- Michelle ''. GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 20 May 2016. Jump up ^ `` Dutchcharts.nl -- The Beatles -- Michelle '' ( in Dutch ). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 May 2016. Jump up ^ `` NZ listener charts ''. flavourofnz.co.nz. 6 May 1966. Retrieved 20 May 2016. Jump up ^ `` Norwegiancharts.com -- The Beatles -- Michelle ''. VG - lista. Retrieved 20 May 2016. Jump up ^ Harry 2000, pp. 768 -- 769. Jump up ^ Unterberger 2007. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 1993 ). Top Adult Contemporary : 1961 -- 1993. Record Research. p. 65. Jump up ^ `` Mango -- Disincanto ''. allmusic.com. Retrieved 6 February 2015. Jump up ^ 50 Greatest Beatles Covers of All Time ( 1 ), Paste Magazine, 2010, accessed June 30, 2011. Jump up ^ Madinger & Easter 2000. Jump up ^ Gavin 2009. Jump up ^ `` McCartney rocks White House, croons ' Michelle ' ''. Denver Post. 3 June 2010. Jump up ^ Miller, Sunlen ( 3 June 2010 ). `` ABC News television news report ''. World News Now. Jump up ^ Caption by White House photographer Pete Souza in the official White House photostream on Flickr. Photo uploaded 30 December 2010. Accessed 12 January 2011. References `` 1966 Grammy Awards ''. infoplease. 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007. `` BMI Announces Top 100 Songs of the Century ''. Broadcast Music, Inc. 13 December 1999. Retrieved 2 September 2007. Gavin, Patrick ( 2 August 2009 ). `` Paul McCartney dedicates Beatles ' classic ' Michelle ' to first lady Michelle Obama ''. politico.com. Retrieved 9 April 2010. Harry, Bill ( 2000 ). The Beatles Encyclopedia : Revised and Updated. London : Virgin Publishing. ISBN 0 - 7535 - 0481 - 2. MacDonald, Ian ( 2005 ). Revolution in the Head : The Beatles ' Records and the Sixties ( Second Revised ed. ). London : Pimlico ( Rand ). ISBN 1 - 84413 - 828 - 3. Madinger, Chip ; Easter, Mark ( 2000 ). Eight Arms To Hold You : The Solo Beatles Compendium. Chesterfield, MO : 44.1 Productions. ISBN 0 - 615 - 11724 - 4. Miles, Barry ( 1997 ). Many Years From Now. New York : Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0 - 8050 - 5249 - 6. `` Pete Doherty meets Paul McCartney ''. The Guardian. 14 October 2007. Sheff, David ( 2000 ). All We Are Saying : The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York : St. Martin 's Press. ISBN 0 - 312 - 25464 - 4. Turner, Steve ( 2010 ). A Hard Day 's Write : The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song. New York : Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 0 - 06 - 084409 - 4. Unterberger, Richie ( 2007 ). `` Biography of David and Jonathan ''. Allmusic. Retrieved 4 October 2007. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Rubber Soul Alan W. Pollack 's Notes on `` Michelle '' CoverTogether : Michelle Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics The Beatles version Preceded by `` These Boots Are Made for Walkin ' '' by Nancy Sinatra New Zealand Singles Chart number - one single 22 April 1966 -- 28 April 1966 Succeeded by `` Homeward Bound '' by Simon & Garfunkel The Overlanders version Preceded by `` Keep On Running '' by Spencer Davis Group UK Singles Chart number - one single 27 January 1966 -- 16 February 1966 ( 3 weeks ) Succeeded by `` These Boots Are Made for Walkin ' '' by Nancy Sinatra David and Jonathan version Preceded by `` Lightnin ' Strikes '' by Lou Christie Canadian RPM number - one single 28 February 1966 ( 1 week ) Succeeded by `` These Boots Are Made for Walkin ' '' by Nancy Sinatra Rubber Soul Songs Side one `` Drive My Car '' `` Norwegian Wood ( This Bird Has Flown ) '' `` You Wo n't See Me '' `` Nowhere Man '' `` Think for Yourself '' `` The Word '' `` Michelle '' Side two `` What Goes On '' `` Girl '' `` I 'm Looking Through You '' `` In My Life '' `` Wait '' `` If I Needed Someone '' `` Run for Your Life '' Non-album single `` We Can Work It Out '' `` Day Tripper '' Outtake `` 12 - Bar Original '' Related articles The Beatles discography The Beatles ' 1965 UK tour Yesterday and Today This Bird Has Flown -- A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles ' Rubber Soul Please Please Me With the Beatles A Hard Day 's Night Beatles for Sale Help ! Rubber Soul Revolver Sgt. Pepper 's Lonely Hearts Club Band Magical Mystery Tour The Beatles ( White Album ) Yellow Submarine Abbey Road Let It Be Past Masters Grammy Award for Song of the Year 1959 − 1980 `` Volare '' -- Domenico Modugno ( songwriter ) ( 1959 ) `` The Battle of New Orleans '' -- Jimmy Driftwood ( songwriter ) ( 1960 ) `` Theme from Exodus '' -- Ernest Gold ( songwriter ) ( 1961 ) `` Moon River '' -- Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini ( songwriters ) ( 1962 ) `` What Kind of Fool Am I ? '' -- Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley ( songwriters ) ( 1963 ) `` Days of Wine and Roses '' -- Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini ( songwriters ) ( 1964 ) `` Hello, Dolly ! '' -- Jerry Herman ( songwriter ) ( 1965 ) `` The Shadow of Your Smile '' -- Paul Francis Webster & Johnny Mandel ( songwriters ) ( 1966 ) `` Michelle '' -- John Lennon & Paul McCartney ( songwriters ) ( 1967 ) `` Up, Up, and Away '' -- Jimmy Webb ( songwriter ) ( 1968 ) `` Little Green Apples '' -- Bobby Russell ( songwriter ) ( 1969 ) `` Games People Play '' -- Joe South ( songwriter ) ( 1970 ) `` Bridge over Troubled Water '' -- Paul Simon ( songwriter ) ( 1971 ) `` You 've Got a Friend '' -- Carole King ( songwriter ) ( 1972 ) `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' -- Ewan MacColl ( songwriter ) ( 1973 ) `` Killing Me Softly with His Song '' -- Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox ( songwriters ) ( 1974 ) `` The Way We Were '' -- Alan and Marilyn Bergman & Marvin Hamlisch ( songwriters ) ( 1975 ) `` Send In the Clowns '' -- Stephen Sondheim ( songwriter ) ( 1976 ) `` I Write the Songs '' -- Bruce Johnston ( songwriter ) ( 1977 ) `` Evergreen ( Love Theme from A Star Is Born ) '' -- Barbra Streisand & Paul Williams ( songwriters ) / `` You Light Up My Life '' -- Joe Brooks ( songwriter ) ( 1978 ) `` Just the Way You Are '' -- Billy Joel ( songwriter ) ( 1979 ) `` What a Fool Believes '' -- Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald ( songwriters ) ( 1980 ) 1981 − 2000 `` Sailing '' -- Christopher Cross ( songwriter ) ( 1981 ) `` Bette Davis Eyes '' -- Donna Weiss & Jackie DeShannon ( songwriters ) ( 1982 ) `` Always on My Mind '' -- Johnny Christopher, Mark James & Wayne Carson ( songwriters ) ( 1983 ) `` Every Breath You Take '' -- Sting ( songwriter ) ( 1984 ) `` What 's Love Got to Do with It '' -- Graham Lyle & Terry Britten ( songwriters ) ( 1985 ) `` We Are the World '' -- Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie ( songwriters ) ( 1986 ) `` That 's What Friends Are For '' -- Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager ( songwriters ) ( 1987 ) `` Somewhere Out There '' -- James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil ( songwriters ) ( 1988 ) `` Do n't Worry, Be Happy '' -- Bobby McFerrin ( songwriter ) ( 1989 ) `` Wind Beneath My Wings '' -- Larry Henley & Jeff Silbar ( songwriters ) ( 1990 ) `` From a Distance '' -- Julie Gold ( songwriter ) ( 1991 ) `` Unforgettable '' -- Irving Gordon ( songwriter ) ( 1992 ) `` Tears in Heaven '' -- Eric Clapton & Will Jennings ( songwriters ) ( 1993 ) `` A Whole New World '' -- Alan Menken & Tim Rice ( songwriters ) ( 1994 ) `` Streets of Philadelphia '' -- Bruce Springsteen ( songwriter ) ( 1995 ) `` Kiss from a Rose '' -- Seal ( songwriter ) ( 1996 ) `` Change the World '' -- Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick & Tommy Sims ( songwriters ) ( 1997 ) `` Sunny Came Home '' -- Shawn Colvin & John Leventhal ( songwriters ) ( 1998 ) `` My Heart Will Go On '' -- James Horner & Will Jennings ( songwriters ) ( 1999 ) `` Smooth '' -- Itaal Shur & Rob Thomas ( songwriters ) ( 2000 ) 2001 − present `` Beautiful Day '' -- Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson ( songwriters ) ( 2001 ) `` Fallin ' '' -- Alicia Keys ( songwriter ) ( 2002 ) `` Do n't Know Why '' -- Jesse Harris ( songwriter ) ( 2003 ) `` Dance with My Father '' -- Richard Marx & Luther Vandross ( songwriters ) ( 2004 ) `` Daughters '' -- John Mayer ( songwriter ) ( 2005 ) `` Sometimes You Ca n't Make It on Your Own '' -- Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson ( songwriters ) ( 2006 ) `` Not Ready to Make Nice '' -- Emily Burns Erwin, Martha Maguire, Natalie Maines Pasdar & Dan Wilson ( songwriters ) ( 2007 ) `` Rehab '' -- Amy Winehouse ( songwriter ) ( 2008 ) `` Viva la Vida '' -- Guy Berryman, Jonathan Buckland, William Champion & Christopher Martin ( songwriters ) ( 2009 ) `` Single Ladies ( Put a Ring on It ) '' -- Thaddis `` Kuk '' Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart ( songwriters ) ( 2010 ) `` Need You Now '' -- Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott ( songwriters ) ( 2011 ) `` Rolling in the Deep '' -- Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth ( songwriters ) ( 2012 ) `` We Are Young '' -- Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess ( songwriters ) ( 2013 ) `` Royals '' -- Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor ( songwriters ) ( 2014 ) `` Stay with Me '' ( Darkchild version ) -- James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith ( songwriters ) ( 2015 ) `` Thinking Out Loud '' -- Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge ( songwriters ) ( 2016 ) `` Hello '' -- Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin ( songwriters ) ( 2017 ) `` That 's What I Like '' -- Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip ( songwriters ) ( 2018 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michelle_(song)&oldid=843434957 '' Categories : 1960s ballads 1965 songs 1966 singles Songs written by Lennon -- McCartney The Beatles songs Chet Atkins songs Jan and Dean songs Andy Williams songs Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs published by Northern Songs UK Singles Chart number - one singles RPM Top Singles number - one singles Number - one singles in Norway Grammy Award for Song of the Year Pop ballads Multilingual songs Songs about women Hidden categories : Pages using web citations with no URL Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL Use dmy dates from June 2011 Use British English from August 2010 Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April 2008 Singlechart usages for Austria Singlechart usages for Belgium ( Flanders ) Singlechart usages for Germany2 Singlechart usages for Dutch100 Singlechart usages for Norway Talk Contents About Wikipedia Brezhoneg Deutsch Español Euskara فارسی Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano ქართული Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Português Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska Tiếng Việt 10 more Edit links This page was last edited on 29 May 2018, at 04 : 10. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when did the beatles song michelle come out
Answer: in December 1965