I Should Have Known Better

Today's song, "I Should Have Known Better", appeared in the film A Hard Day's Night (as do all the songs from the first side of this album, so I won't mention it every time). There's a clip on YouTube of that part of the movie, which is pretty fun to watch even if you don't know what the plot of the movie actually is. :) 

This song was written by John, and credited to him and Paul as usual. The influence Lennon cited for this particular tune was none other than Bob Dylan. A quote from the song's wiki page explains:

In January 1964, during a three-week engagement at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, the Beatles first became aware of American singer and songwriter Bob Dylan and, when having acquired a copy of his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, began playing it continuously. American journalist Al Aronowitz introduced them to Dylan when the Beatles visited New York in February 1964, and Dylan subsequently became a big influence on the group, especially Lennon, who even started wearing a copycat Huckleberry Finn cap. One consequence of this “infatuation” (as Ian MacDonald later described it) was the song "I Should Have Known Better". Paul McCartney said Dylan's songs were "great lyrically", and Lennon credited Dylan with inspiring him to write more meaningful lyrics.

So, the inspiration was mutual--we know Dylan was fond of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and it's clear the two groups respected one another.

From the title, I was kind of expecting a different story during the song--I assumed it was a more bitter breakup song. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised when instead I heard a sweet love song. I liked this song, and my enjoyment of it was definitely increased by watching the video clip from the movie. It's so interesting to watch the guys performing, whether for a live performance or one of their films. :)

That's it for today... Later everybody!

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Heard It Tally: 4

Songs Completed: 39