This week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is promoting worker mental health with Safe + Sound Week. The annual event involves thousands of worksites that will promote the benefits of safety and health programs that include management leadership, worker participation, and a systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards. To that end, the EHSDA Song of the Week is harking back to 1965 for a classic from the Beatles, “Help!”
The song was the title track from the band’s 1965 film and its soundtrack album. It went to #1 on the U.S. and U.K. singles charts and stayed there for three weeks. It was the fourth of six consecutive #1 hits for the Beatles on the American charts.
John Lennon said he wrote the song as a response to feeling stress after the Beatles meteoric rise to fame. Although the music is uptempo, Lennon sings, “Help me if you can, I’m feeling down/And I do appreciate you being ’round/Help me get my feet back on the ground/Won’t you please, please help me.”
Critics point out that it’s one of the first Lennon songs to reveal more about himself, which he went on to do in greater detail as a solo artist.