“Don’t Bother Me” was the first song written by George Harrison alone. He had received co-writing credit for two earlier Beatles songs, “In Spite of All the Danger” (Paul McCartney/George Harrison) and “Cry for a Shadow” (George Harrison/John Lennon).
George wrote “Don’t Bother Me” while he was sick in bed at a hotel room in Bournemouth, England. The Beatles were playing some shows in the town during the summer of 1963. Harrison wasn’t too fond of the song, as he had stated, “‘It was a fairly crappy song. I forgot all about it completely once it was on the album.” He would later say, in effect, that John and Paul had started honing their writing skills years before him and that they had already gone through their “bad” songs period earlier. George was essentially saying he would have to write a few “clunkers” first to catch up as a skilled songwriter.
“Don’t Bother Me” originally appeared on the albums ‘With the Beatles’ (UK, 1963), and ‘Meet the Beatles!’ (U.S., 1964). The song also plays during a scene in ‘A Hard’s Day’s Night’, where The Beatles dance at a nightclub.
