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Although the Beatles had already taken Britain's Number 1 spot twice in 1963, it was 'She Loves You' which took them to the 'toppermost of the poppermost' as they mockingly used to call it. Its sales outstripped anything they'd done before and it went on to be the country's best-selling single of the decade, entering the Top 20 in August 1963 and staying put until February 1964. (In America, it only became a hit after the success of 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'.) It wasn't simply a commercial triumph. In just over two minutes of vinyl, the Beatles distilled the essence of everything that made them fresh and exciting. There was the driving beat, the fine harmonizing, the girlish 'wooo' sounds which had gone down so well on 'From Me To You', as well as the bursting enthusiasm of its pace. And on top of this, the distinctive 'Yeah, yeah, yeah' tag which became a gift to headline writers. The rapid expansion of Batlemania from regional to national phenomenon can be put down to the Beatles' appearance on Sunday Night at The London Palladium, a television show broadcast live from the heart of London on October 13, 1963. Witnessed by a national TV audience on 15 million, screaming fans mobbed the theatre and many of those who packed the streets outside found themselves on the front page of next day's Fleet Street newspapers. Not only had the Beatles transformed popular music but they had become a phenomenon of post-war Britain. Suddenly they found their photos plastered all over the national papers, not just Melody Maker, New Musical Express and Boyfriend. The single that just happened to be in the centre of this storm was 'She Loves You'. The song was written by John and Paul in Newcastle after playing the Majestic Ballroom on June 26, 1963. They had a very rare day off before continuing the tour to Leeds on the 28, and Paul remembered being with John at the Turk's Hotel, sitting on separate beds, playing their accoustic guitars. Their first three singles had been declarations of love with the word 'me' in the title. This time, it was Paul's idea to switch the approach by removing themselves and writing about a love between two other people - 'she' and 'you'. At first sight, this is a song about reconciliation. The writer is offering to patch up a broken relationship by passing on messages ('she told me what to say') and offering counsel ('apologize to her'). However American rock critic Dave Marsh, detected 'darker nuances' in the text. In The Heart of Rock and Roll, he wrote: "What Lennon sings boils down to a warning to his friend: You'd better appreciate this woman's friendship, because if you don't, I will." The song remains ambiguous because whether this is really being said as confidential advice to a friend, or through gritted teeth to a rival, largely depends on how you interpret the tone of voice. The 'Yeah, yeah, yeah' chorus proved to be a perfect catch phrase for an optimistic era. If Paul's father had had his way though. Things would have been different. On hearing the song for the first time, he suggested that they might revise it to 'Yes, yes, yes'; the Queen's English maybe, but not exactly rock'n'roll. The Beatles were not the first group to use 'yeah, yeah'. It was frecuently used as an aside in Fifties skiffle music, as well as by Elvis Presley in 'Good Luck Charm' (1962) and 'All Shook Up' (1957). The sixth chord which ends the song was unusual in pop music, although the Glen Miller Orchestra had used it often on their recordings in the Forties. "George Martin laughed when we first played it to him like that," said Paul. " He thought we were joking. But it didn't work without it so we kept it in and eventually George was convinced." |
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