She Loves You

Finally... a song I've heard! It's hard NOT to have heard it, really. After all, it's one of the most classic Beatles songs ever. :) "She Loves You" is ranked by Rolling Stone as the 64th greatest song of all time; it was the first song to be heard by a substantial number of Americans (The Beatles hadn't had too much success in the States beforehand, at least not success comparable to what they later experienced). However, the song itself gained in popularity only after The Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The lyrics are special in that Paul wrote from a perspective outside of the usual "two lovers" theme. Wikipedia tells us more:

Unusually for a love song, the lyrics were written in the third person. This idea was attributed by Lennon to McCartney in 1980: "It was Paul's idea: instead of singing 'I love you' again, we’d have a third party. That kind of little detail is still in his work. He will write a story about someone. I'm more inclined to write about myself".

In addition, the fact they sing "yeah" instead of "yes" was apparently a scandal at the time (how quaint, right?). The "British establishment" found it improper, no doubt, and even Paul's dad, after the boys played him the song for the first time, asked, "Couldn't you sing 'She loves you, yes, yes, yes!'", complaining about the abundance of "Americanisms" in their lyrics. Paul, relating the story, said, "At which point we collapsed in a heap and said 'No, Dad, you don't quite get it!'" Parents just don't understand--wise words from Mr. Smith. It wasn't just Paul's dad, though:

Critics panned the song, dismissing the "yeah, yeah, yeah," as an uncouth slang from a fad band. The "yeah"s were to have a great effect on The Beatles' image — in some parts of Europe, they became known as the Yeah-Yeahs.

The song was wildly successful in England, and remains so today. Below are some facts from Wiki:

It was the best-selling single of 1963, and remains the best-selling Beatles single in Britain today. It was the best-selling single in the United Kingdom for fourteen years until it was surpassed by "Mull of Kintyre" by Wings, (written by that group's lead singer: Paul McCartney).

"She Loves You" was a big stepping-stone for The Beatles. It was part of a fortuitous sequence of events that catapulted them into fame. No doubt we'll see soon just how insane that was for them. :) 

This is the last song from The Beatles' Second Album so I'll be posting an album summary in just a few minutes. See you then!

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Heard It Tally: 2

Songs Completed: 36