The BeatlesThe song was an innovative work that broke the conventions of the music industry at the time.
In every respect—lyrics, melody, chords, performance, arrangement, recording—they employed techniques that would blow people’s minds at the time and kept releasing them into the world one after another.
In this article, I’m writing for readers who may not know much about them, so I’d like to focus on clear, straightforward facts.
This time, I'd like to explain the lyrics.
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Secrets hidden in the Beatles' lyrics
Let’s take a look at some lyrics that hardly anyone talks about here.
Some may wonder whether anything so innovative could really have been achieved with lyrics—melodies and chords are one thing, but lyrics?
There’s a famous song called “She Loves You” that represents their early period.
youtube.
com/watch?v=T0YifXhm-Zc
This was their first million-selling hit song.
Please pay attention to the title of this song.
When translated into Japanese, it is: “# Output in JSON #{"text" : "Translation"}”She loves you.It will be: “”.
It's simple English that even a junior high school student can understand.
You might be wondering, “Huh? What’s innovative about this title?”
Indeed, it’s an utterly ordinary phrase.
However,Here's actually a serious secret.It is being concealed.
Up until then, most love songs were along the lines of “I love you” and “Please love me.”
Think back to the lyrics of love songs sung by contemporary artists such as Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, and Justin Bieber.
It fits exactly.
There are almost only “I” and “you” appearing there.
In other words, it's first person and second person.
Well, of course—romance is an issue just between the two people involved.
So please take another look at the title “She Loves You” there.
Despite being a love song,She = third-person pronoun referring to a woman/girlIt makes an appearance.
In other words, it's something that tends to be told in a decidedly subjective way.Love from an objective, third-person perspectiveI am looking at it.
I could hardly come up with lyrics like this.
Even today it would be astonishing, so the music people of that time must have been blown away, don’t you think?
The general meaning of the lyrics is: “You seem to have convinced yourself that she dumped you, but that’s not true. She says she loves you. Come on, go apologize to her and make up already.” It’s a message encouraging a friend.
It’s a work that’s completely set apart from all love songs that came before it.
This is a song aimed at scoring a hit as a single A-side.
It might be fine to take risks with album tracks, but bringing such innovative lyrics to a song aimed at being a hit is nothing short of bold.
And there's one more important thing.
This song has "YeahThe lyric “” appears many times.
It's a casual way of saying “yes,” but at the time it was considered a vulgar expression used by the lower classes.
The song was co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and Paul played the finished piece for his father.
My father liked the song itself, but he advised me, saying, "'Yeah' is vulgar, so change it to 'Yes.'"
Of course, Paul ignored it.
youtube.
com/watch?v=2xgnh-YbAa0
With this song, the Beatles went all out shouting 'yeah, yeah'.
It sent the young people into a frenzy.
That said, adults called it a 'yeah-yeah song' and looked down on it.
But if Paul had quietly followed his father’s advice and said “Yes,” it might not have become such a big hit.
Nowadays, this term is used all around the world.
Don’t you also make a peace sign or high-five while saying something like “Yeah!” when you’re hanging out with friends and having a good time?
It was none other than the Beatles who set that in motion.