Besides being one of my favorite movies, I also think this song is great. It was released as the B-side of "Love Me Do" and featured Andy White on drums. The Beatles' producer George Martin had brought White in to replace former drummer Pete Best, not realizing Best had already been replaced by our pal Ringo. This game of literal musical chairs happened pretty often in the early days, before Starr's membership in the band had really solidified, and he was often demoted to playing tamborine or, in this case, maracas.
Paul was the author of this song; he said that it was "a theme song based on a letter... It was pretty much mine. I don't think John had much of a hand in it. There are certain themes that are easier than others to hang a song on, and a letter is one of them... It's not based in reality, nor did I write it to my girlfriend from Hamburg, which some people think." [my emphasis] That's a really interesting point--choosing a good theme seems to be a vital aspect of songwriting and an important fact that The Beatles didn't ignore when creating their own music.
Like I said at the beginning, I really enjoyed this song. It reminds me of a happier version of the idea behind "Please Mr. Postman"--the same idea Paul mentioned, writing (and/or sending) a letter. (A song we'll talk about later, "All My Loving", will in turn remind me of this one, I'm sure.)
And, in support of Ringo... I loved the maracas.
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