Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 21 June 1966
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Released: 5 August 1966 (UK), 8 August 1966 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, rhythm guitar, Hammond organ
George Harrison: backing vocals, lead guitar, bass guitar
Ringo Starr: drums, shaker
Available on:
Revolver
The final track recorded for Revolver, She Said She Said was inspired by an LSD-influenced conversation between John Lennon and actor Peter Fonda.
During The Beatles' US tour in the summer of 1965, they rented a house in Los Angeles' Mulholland Drive. On 24 August they played host to Roger McGuinn and David Crosby of The Byrds, and the two parties, apart from Paul McCartney, spent the day tripping on LSD.
The actor Peter Fonda arrived at the house, also on acid. He attempted to comfort Harrison, who thought he was dying.
I told him there was nothing to be afraid of and that all he needed to do was relax. I said that I knew what it was like to be dead because when I was 10 years old I'd accidentally shot myself in the stomach and my heart stopped beating three times while I was on the operating table because I'd lost so much blood.John was passing at the time and heard me saying 'I know what it's like to be dead'. He looked at me and said, 'You're making me feel like I've never been born. Who put all that shit in your head?'
Lennon recounted the incident in one of his final interviews in 1980, speaking to a journalist from Playboy magazine.
It's an interesting track. The guitars are great on it. That was written after an acid trip in LA during a break in The Beatles' tour where we were having fun with The Byrds and lots of girls. Some from Playboy, I believe. Peter Fonda came in when we were on acid and he kept coming up to me and sitting next to me and whispering, 'I know what it's like to be dead.'He was describing an acid trip he'd been on. We didn't want to hear about that! We were on an acid trip and the sun was shining and the girls were dancing and the whole thing was beautiful and Sixties, and this guy – who I really didn't know; he hadn't made Easy Rider or anything – kept coming over, wearing shades, saying, 'I know what it's like to be dead,' and we kept leaving him because he was so boring! And I used it for the song, but I changed it to 'she' instead of 'he'. It was scary. You know, a guy… when you're flying high and [whispers] 'I know what it's like to be dead, man.' I remembered the incident. Don't tell me about it! I don't want to know what it's like to be dead!
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
Switching between 4/4 and 3/4 time signatures, She Said She Said was written by Lennon with some help from Harrison.
I was at his house one day – this is the mid-Sixties – and he was struggling with some tunes. He had loads of bits, maybe three songs, that were unfinished, and I made suggestions and helped him to work them together so that they became one finished song, She Said She Said. The middle part of that record is a different song.
In the studio
She Said She Said was recorded when The Beatles realised they were one song short for the Revolver album. In a hectic nine hour session on 21 June 1966, during which the majority of the album's mono and stereo mixes were also done, they rehearsed the song more than 25 times and then recorded three takes of the rhythm track.
To the last of these were added John Lennon's lead vocals, and backing vocals from John and George. Extra guitar and Lennon's Hammond organ track were then overdubbed, and She Said She Said was complete.
Unusually, Paul McCartney most likely did not play on the track.
John brought it in pretty much finished, I think. I'm not sure but I think it was one of the only Beatle records I never played on. I think we'd had a barney or something and I said, 'Oh, fuck you!' and they said, 'Well, we'll do it.' I think George played bass.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
This is The One, I say…
Well,…
ahem,
the best rocksong ever!
(Yes, people, I dare state. PLAY IT LOUD! NOOO… LOUDER!)
Just because,
Its vibes bounce and circle round your head, through your ears, sometimes even right in front of your eyes, but you never totally get it, do you…
And it just changes every time you listen to it! (Try it! LOUDER…)
Do you believe in magic?
This is one of my favorite Beatles songs. Listen to Ringo’s drums! I DARE anyone to say that Ringo is not a good drummer after hearing this song! I didn’t know that Paul was not on this track until I read it on this site. The guitars are even heavier than the Jefferson Airplane at that time, and Hendrix hadn’t become a star yet. AWESOME!!!!
Well said. My favorite Ringo track too
I always suspected that Paul didn’t like this song at all – couldn’t hear his voice, and his bass part lacked the usual meticulous melodiousness, as if he couldn’t be bothered. But it never occurred to me that it might not even be him on bass! This was my absolute favourite Beatles track for a long time and I still like it a lot. Outrageous time signature, wild guitars & drums
Is it possible the ‘barney’ Paul refers to and which excluded him from the recording was about taking LSD which Paul had resisted at the time?
The bass in this song while there, seems almost nonexistent as far as it’s presence… sounds a little washed out. Now discovering that Paul admittedly didn’t even play bass on “She Said, She Said”, it all makes snese.
I have to disagree about the bass part being sub-par. While it’s not quite up to McCartney’s usually manic brilliance, it suits the song remarkably well and offsets the guitars along with the drums and vocals superbly. George acquitted himself exceptionally well in one of his few Fabs appearances on the instrument. And George’s counter vocals are a nice relief from the usual Macca-nificence! This is probably my second favorite Lennon song after Strawberry Fields (there are probably actually a whole slew tied for 2nd place if I’m honest).
This may also be one case where I prefer the CD listening experience to the album because going straight from She Said into Good Day Sunshine is jarring in a perfect way!
Obviously George is not Paul on bass.
Who is?
But the playing by George is workmanlike.
His suggestions also helped John put several pieces together producing one great song.
Let’s hear it for George!
Better bass players than Paul!
1. Lee Dorman-Iron Butterfly
2. Jack Bruce-Cream
3. Jack Cassidy- Hot Tuna
These are just a few who played in the same time frame as Paul and IMO better.
Lee Dorman played a lead bass in almost every song by IB.
IMHO this is a matter of styles as opposed to technical proficiency. I LOVE Jack, Jack & Lee, but they are NOT BETTER than Paul. Each has their own style. Let’s go over to the “Rain” site! Please join me.
As a bass player for over forty years, Paul is most defiantly one of the best bass players ever. The funny thing is, he played bass out of necessity not desire. The reason Paul is one of the best is, he was a pioneer, yeah listen to Rain if that is not unique I do not know what is. Of course, there are more technical bass players out there, and real bass players play with there fingers, but for someone who it up out of necessity and did what he did? The man is most serious he the reason many others and I play today
I never heard anbody single out Lee Dorman for praise before! I always thought his bass was fairly notable, but the Butterfly in general have never really gotten much recognition from anybody.
Yeah, considering that the three of them did the entire song in a single day, overdubs and all, there’s no way you can fault George for not spending as much time crafting an elaborate bass line as Paul would’ve.
Yeah, this is really a guitar song, and George’s guitar and bass if thats him on bass stay fairly close to the vocal melody. Ringo’s drumming on this song is strong enough to carry the rhythm section and demonstrates that he was(or still is) a very good rock drummer indeed.
we all have to realize the bass part isnt as good as pauls work or even georges when hes on it because of one really good reason nobody thinks of…all the basses available to George were LEFTY!
All the basses which George played were right-handed.
Wrong. George obviously wouldve used a right handed one. Possibly owned by the studio itself (alot of their equipment was owned by the studio, why not a bass?). and keep in mind that the song was brought in, rehearsed, and recorded in a single day. Not enough time to come up with an intricate bass line, right?
George had a 1964 Burns Nu-Sonic bass in the studio while they were making Revolver.
Whatever happened to that bass?
Hey, that’s a good question LR! Let’s see…when did the Beatles get the Fender VI right handed bass? According to Andy Babiuk (The Beatles Gear) the Fender VI didn’t arrive on the scene until the White Album sessions.
So either George used one of Paul’s basses upside down or merely borrowed one from another group recording at Abbey Road during that time.
i read that george used a nusonic bass for she said she said. its a british made guitar and they still make them today. when john played bass he used a fender bass vi.also paul used a fender jazz bass almost exclusively on the white album sessions. and john actually plays a bass vi on rocky raccoon. believe it or not.
There are pictures of George playing a ‘Dean Bass’ in the studio, close to this time frame.
Pal, Dean basses and guitars didnt come around till 1976..
Everett’s take:
We have drums on the left; bass, John’s sped-up lead vocal and backing vocals from John and George centre; John’s rhythm guitar, George’s distorted lead guitar and harmonium on the right.
Paul recalls that an argument led to George playing bass on this track. Paul did not participate.
Does anyone know what Paul’s argument with them was about that it caused him not to play on the song? And did he have a fight with all three of them or just one ot two of them? This kind of arguments didn’t happen until two and three years later during The White Album and Abbey Road albums when they couldn’t stand to be in the same room together!
If anyone knows and can answer me I really would appreciate it.
Thanks
They had lots of arguments over the years before The White Album. And engineer Ken Scott recalls that The White Albums sessions were mostly harmonious, contrary to myth that built up as one book about the Beatles copied from another. The recording in separate studios was largely so they could get a double album together; they wanted it to be a double album for business reasons.
Possibly about the subject matter LSD which Paul had resisted for a time. Maybe the group reminissing about the event alluded to in the song made Paul feel out of place and a row started due the pressure he may have felt about it.
It’s worth pointing out that whatever he recalls now, Paul almost certainly played bass on the song, if we are to trust studio documentation. John Barrett’s EMI tape log indicates that 3 takes of the rhythm track were comprised of drums, bass, and 2 guitars. Unless there was another guitarist visiting the studio that day, Paul must have filled one of those spots, and the most likely one is obviously going to be bass. His notes say that Paul’s absence occurs after those takes are in the can.
Who knows why Paul thinks he did not contribute? Perhaps at the time he was resentful about being excluded from John and George’s work on the composition, perhaps he felt left out from the acid experience shared by the other three, who knows, but if his part is not up to his usual standard, I think it’s more likely that his heart was not in it. It’s also worth remembering that “Many Years From Now,” enjoyable though it is, is rife with inaccuracy, so anything from that book should be taken with the odd grain of salt.
“Rife with inaccuracy.” Apparently, Paul has difficulty with details from before September of ’66.
No problem remembering details of Sgt. P thru Abbey. This supports PID theory.
‘Apparently’? And you know this how exactly?
I don’t think that studio log indicates that they were all playing at the same time – didn’t Paul overdub his bass lines after the rhythm tracks were completed in those days? And whatever Paul’s memory lapses, it’s not like him to give himself LESS credit! I think he’d remember something as significant as his walking out on a session.
Though, it would be perfectly in character for Paul to dodge credit for work he didn’t feel was up to snuff. Poor George, always the whipping boy. Paul still calls him his ‘little brother,’ privileging himself above George in the pecking order.
For example, he tried to share blame for the ill advised idea to go the bus tour the Beatles went on for Magical Mystery Tour. John confirmed it was all Paul’s idea saying “…I thought it was a terrible idea.”
The studio log indicates that the bass was on the same track as drums (track 1), so it it coudn’t be overdubbed; it was necessarily live with the rest of the band (two guitars on track 2). Probably Paul did actually walk out of the session, but after he played the bass in the early takes.
What guitar(s) were used here? Anyone know?
I’m pretty sure George used a Les Paul on this track, which was a EC gift. He had bought an array of new guitars to give diversity to the joyful ulutations of the Beatles, according to Guitarist magazine. But I have a photo of George sporting an SG around this time–it sounds like the heavy Gibson sound, so those two are my best guesses.
I was thinking his SG or the Stratocaster.
Since Harrison helped with the writing, Lennon-McCartney isn’t the right credibility. Lennon-Harrison is more accurate.
George didn’t help with the writing, he helped with the editing.
John gave some lines for Taxman and he didn’t get any credit.
As an author of two books who has faced deadlines, rewrites, proofreading, editorial comments and suggestions, I know what I am talking about.
Anyways, there’s no such animal as a “Lennon-Harrison” song, of course, as far as writing credits are concerned.
Actually, Cry For A Shadow is a Lennon-Harrison arrangement.
Ooh, right! Forgot about that one.
My point was just that, after the formation of Northern Songs, the Lennon-McCartney names were inseparable, regardless of which one actually wrote the song. (But we all knew that anyways.)
So still, it should be a Lennon-Harrison composition even though it was just a few one liners. To me this was their biggest collaboration.
Editing is far different from composing, or is it? I guess it depends on whether one is merely subtracting things or whether one is actually changing and adding things. Ultimately, we all know what determines writing credit: power. Lennon had it and Harrison didn’t.
I find it interesting that Harrison’s contributions to John and Paul’s work are considered “merely riffs,” yet Lennon and McCartney get writing credit for songs they had little or nothing to do with, based on ….. That’s right, a legal agreement.
Lennon owed a debt to Harrison, much more than McCartney, but Harrison’s contributions to many of these songs were well beyond that of a session lead guitarist. The way I see it, if you write part of a song or a riff or what have you, you deserve credit.
One reason U2 has lasted longer than pretty much any other group is that they decided to share credit on all songs. It seems to have worked fairly well for them and I think that had the Beatles done something similar for all three composers, they might have stayed together a lot longer.
There’s nothing terribly interesting about the credit agreements and the collaboration per se that is not already known. They are quite well documented as is the group dynamic. It’s doubtful the band would have remained together under a different legal or practical crediting system in my opinion. Ultimately at least two if not three of them, having been together for quite a long time, each desired to go in their own way musically. A different contract or credit-sharing arrangement would not have changed that. I would also dispute the extent of input and what the threshold would be for a songwriting credit under a gentlemen’s agreement or even more formally. The fact that Paul and John shared credit on works to which neither collaborated was simply a convention they adopted and formalized. That’s hardly odd or novel.
Editing is not merely a subtractive process. I’m a writer and an editor so have experience in both disciplines. They are both highly collaborative and editing can be an additive process too – but not against the author’s/creator’s wishes; the idea is to present suggestions for the author to adopt and implement.
Cry For a Shadow was a Lennon-Harrison composition.
Yes, right, I forgot again already! 😉
The issue of writing credits is interesting. Ringo says he only contributed one line to “What Goes On”, but received credit. Ringo contributed one line to “Badge” by Cream, but received no credit. Did Paul’s driver get any reward for giving Paul the title for “Eight Days A Week”? How about Mal Evans who conceived of the lyrics for the Sgt. Pepper’s reprise?
Also interesting are Lennon’s lyrical contributions to Piggies and Taxman! Sort of makes up for George’s editorial suggestions for She Said She Said.
Speaking strictly from my own experience, a friend of mine once played me two incomplete songs she was working on, one about a breakup with her boyfriend and one about the death of her dad. Out of the blue I said “what would it sound like if you put those two together?” and the result sounded brilliant. I never would have dreamed of asking for a cowriting credit just for doing that.
If it had gone on to become a multi million selling world wide hit you might have 😉
And for ‘Fixing a hole’.
George had a Burns bass at this time. And have also read that he may have haf a 66 Jazz bass by then. There are pics of George playin the Burns bass in rehearsels for Paperback Writer.
Whether or not it was Paul on bass, its a great song, very trippy and if you isolate those guitars, they have a very nostalgic sound. Listen to this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzdFENnnSW0
But if Paul was on bass, he would have done it more melodically that if boosted a little bit more would would noticeably affect the sound of this song. Paul was a brilliant and melodic bass player.
I find the fact George played the bass in this song INCREDIBLY sexy. It’s one of my favourite songs on that Revolver album, which is in my top three favourite albums from the Beatles <3
Alright, I love the bass part, despite the people saying it's not "as brilliant as Paul's bass arrangements" or summat. I also loved the fact that this was practically a Lennon-Harrison song. WIN.
I find this one of the most iconic bass lines from the 60’s. Maybe it’s the naivety of the whole thing, the fact it doesn’t overpower the drums, just carries it along.
Brilliant song.
I have to disagree. The part is brilliant and I’m guessing nobody would have found so much in it to criticize before finding out it was George rather than Paul.
On the other hand, I don’t think editing a couple of John’s songs together qualifies it as a Lennon-Harrison song – arrangement, perhaps?
I love how if it IS George Harrison on Bass Guitar, that fault is found with it because it’s not “this” or “that”. What he does, if it is him, is allow Ringo to jam. He keeps the bass line simple during the verses, because something has to hold it together while Ringo goes off during the multiple fills he does. Did Entwistle go crazy when Moon was flying around everywhere? No. He held the song together and gave it ground. He had to. And that’s what George is doing, giving you something to hold on to while the drums and guitar take prominence.
But what he does on the “Everything was right” section is pretty cool. And he does some interesting stuff in the intro. He’s a good bass player.
I have since time immemorial played this song in B, rather than the Bb we hear. The guitars being played in B could be accounted for by slowing down the tape after they have been recorded. As a guitarist It allows me to play the Bass line as open A & E strings to fit the respective chords, making it easy to play around the Myxolydian mode the song is built of. That frees the fingers to play the various chords & lines that were played on the two, sometimes identical sounding guitars. Actually, it’s pretty tricky, if I say so myself, but it works, on my ES 335.
It’s an unbelievable song, a one-off from a guy, John, who has made tons of on-offs. This particular one is original in every way: I love the fabulous dense mix, and the explosive drums, among Ringo’s best. It speaks for itself.
Damn this song is oh so sweet! Been playing bass 2 years now so these days I pay real close attention to it… and Paul’s bass on this record rocks!!! Gotta be some of his best bass – ever.
It’s George.
I think this is one of the best Beatle songs they ever recorded. I loved how during the Revolver sessions it began to really showcase Ringo and George’s talents as a drummer and guitarist.
Paul had a spat with the others and they recorded it without him. I agree that Paul is one of the greatest bassists ever, but George’s playing was quite nice indeed. It may have been workmanship for most of the song, but listen closely to the opening bass notes he is playing from the very beginning of the song up until Lennon starts singing the first verse.
On top of that, this is my favorite song of the Beatles with the sound of their guitars. Especially George’s guitar. I’m still in awe of it everytime I hear it. Very biting, distorted, and clean at the same time. This is also my favorite song of Ringo playing drums. Rain has to take a close second and I mean very close second because he is awesome on Rain. The thing that makes Ringo’s drumming slightly better is his time signatures he plays during the song and his loud cymbals at the end of the versus. I also like John’s singing on this song and nice to hear the Hammond organ at the end of each verse.
This is an incredible track. All of the guitars are superb. George laid down an excellent lead part and John’s rhythm part really helps drive the song. The bass is one of the best on the album; I was surprised to see that George played that bit. Further, I think this track features one of Ringo’s best moments as a drummer. They sound absolutely huge.
In response to William’comments of June 4th, For me, the editor and lead guitarist only flesh out the writer’s vision.
I can only say, as an published author, it has been my experience that editors have their job to perform and are complemented for their contribution.
As for music, your logic would mean that Scotty Moore, James Burton, the Motown guitarists, Glen Campbell, Eric Clapton, Steve Cropper, etc should all be receive co-writing credit for supplying riffs for songs.
In conclusion, your one example of U2 hasn’t really spread to other bigtime groups and U2 has survived all this time because they only make an album
every four years.
The Beatles did not have that luxury.
I see works of art as an integrated whole in which all the contributors deserve credit. I understand the realities, but the idea that Mean Mr. Mustard was some sort of work of genius, without more, seems obviously untrue to me. The only reason anyone remembers Mean Mr. Mustard is because Paul and George Martin included it in a medley, in which it was almost certainly, the weakest part.
In the same way, one can certainly ask whether Come Together would have been in anyway remarkable without the contributions of Harrison. Aerosmith did a version that was pretty good, but then again so was Chuck Berry’s. Harrison’s guitar makes this something different and extraordinary.
Maybe what we are talking about, really, is whether the legal aspects of songwriting are not detailed enough. Perhaps lawyers need to actually discern all the inputs of the songs and pay the contributors based upon their reasonable contribution. Ask anyone who works in a large corporation like EMI how credit is divided up for various corporate products and I think you will a similar dynamic.
In an economic sense, Harrison was the underpaid Beatle, and I think we all know that instinctively.
Leave the lawyers and beancounters out of this. Of course that would be applicable in other industries. Like television, for instance. Cameramen and directors and other underpaid contributors should share in the actor’s monies based upon their contribution.
That bass part is played by an experienced bassplayer. George, despite being already a skilled guitarist, could not have created those lines in 1966. The tempo, the octave leaps, are typical Macca fingerprints.
Look in the LIB movie, from some 3 years later, how George struggles in playing a simple bass part like Maxwell’s Silver Hammer on the Fender VI….
I thought John played the lead guitar. Or it was a mixture of John and George playing lead. I was wrong lol.
I often feel guilty that this is my favorite Beatles song. It’s weird and full of self doubt and introspection, but at the same time the band is just so rock solid. Ringo’s drum performance is one of the best by any drummer ever…the tones are snarling and gritty but so languid.
_
Why do I feel guilty? Because I could never tell Paul. I’ll tell him my favorite Paul song is “Hold Me Tight”, my favorite John is “Nowhere Man” (shh), my favorite George is “While My Guitar..” & Ringo’s “Goodnight…” is perfection. I’ll have to be a good soldier and hide the truth: “She Said, She Said” is the Best Beatle Track of All.
It’s odd that Geoff Emerick doesn’t mention that Paul didn’t play on this song when he discusses it in “Here, There, and Everywhere”, since the whole book is practically a love letter to him.
George definitely had a Burns bass since 65.
Great song, great singing, Great drumming. John Lennon, The Beatles, what can I say?
It’s quite possibly the most influential Beatles song of all time, it’s the quintessential guitar pop song, if McCartney isn’t on it i bet he regrets he isn’t. I believe this is Lennon’s finest moment, everybody who formed a band would’ve loved this song. Without She Said, She Said you really have no Oasis, no Blur not much at all really. It’s a ground breaking dual guitar blitz that has left it’s mark for almost 50 years!
I always thought that George is a good bass player & confirmed it until I read here that he really played bass on this song(She Said, She Said).
I recently saw & heard again ‘Two Of Us'(on Let It Be album & video) and realized that was a bass line played by George on a Telecaster guitar & it’s really pretty good part by George.
Great point. I’ve seen that ‘Two Of Us’ in-studio clip many times and have also marveled at how good George’s bass line is in that, as he plays it on the Telecaster.
Here. See for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwl1unFvM9A
This should silence the doubters. George nails it.
Has anyone noticed that Ringo’s fill goes backwards at 1:22?
I’d like to point out the fact that we are assuming that McCartney did not play the bass only on the basis of an uncertain memory of Paul himself, whereas there are documents that suggest that he actually did play it. As already stated by Sivana four years ago in this comment thread, EMI tape log indicates that the bass was played live, in the same track as drums (track1), and along with two guitars (track 2). Accordingly to that, the first takes of this recording must have been performed by a four member line-up. In the impressive book Recording The Beatles you can find confirmation of what I’m saying. It is likely that Paul doesn’t recall anything of this session but the fact that, at a certain point, he had an argument with his mates and left the studio. But when exactly? During the rehearsals or after the first recordings? Documents suggest the second option.
So I believe that there is no point in leaving him out of the credits to this song. A suggest a more cautious formula, like for example using a question mark. Paul McCartney: bass (?)
What if there really was a death and replacement of Paul? Wouldn’t that help explain why Faul can’t remember some details of Paul’s life and work? I appreciate both artists for their amazing contributions.
Interesting to try to pin down George’s contribution to this song. I remember reading way back somewhere that George suggested “When I was a boy/everything was right”. He seems to hint at being responsible for a bit more with the “that middle is a completely different song” comment referenced above. There’s a bootleg demo I heard which fits George’s description of “a bunch of different song bits.” Towards the end the song has taken on virtually it’s final form. John’s got the melody and words of the verses and of the middle all the way up to “She said you don’t understand what I said/I said no, no, no IT’s wrong.” But missing is that sublime “When I was a boy…” part. So maybe George did contribute that.
That’s Paul on bass.
It’s just buried in the mix because it’s buried in the reduction track because it was played live; most other Beatles tunes of the Era (and later) had Paul o/d’ing his bass on an open track after all other instruments had been recorded, bounced, edited and reduced, resulted in a much puncher bass tone…
But make no mistake – that is Paul on bass. Promise.
Well, Once and for all. To settle the Paul disscussions . John called Paul a great musician who plays the bass kike few people could. Paul is on more Beatles songs than the others. Sometimes helping out another band member such as in Don,t Pass Me By Paul is the only other Beatle on that song. Same goes for the ballad of John and Yoko. The Beatles were an atmosphere they all contribudet to each other that is the unique element of these four men. Wihout Paul there would not have been many songs and severol albums. Give this wonderful man his due! It does not take anything from the other memebers. As Ringo said of Maca regarding Yesterday WHAT A GUY!
I never liked this song. The lead vocal seemed whiny and precious and the melody, predictable and numbingly repetitive. Ringo’s drums on the track were the one element that I have always enjoyed and the sole reason I listen to the first verse of the song before hitting skip. If I can find something nice to say about the song it would be that it’s one of the few remaining Beatles tracks that aren’t spoiled by over-exposer, so it remains a relatively fresh track.
Regarding the Harrison/McCartney bass contribution dilemma: I always thought this was among Paul’s weakest efforts on bass, his playing dragging Ringo’s drums, and the song in general, down into drudgery. If Harrison was put in the position of having to improvise something last minute I can forgive this failing of the song. But unfortunately, I have to agree with the documented evidence that McCartney was most likely there for the recording of the basic rhythm track and left afterwards.
Just my two cents. Not meant to disparage anyone else’s opinion.
I love the lyrics / guitar (it’s not George’s infatuation with eastern music….or slide guitar). What still confuses me is the mixing of genders: she said “when I was a BOY”…is this the first transgendered anthem? LOL
Long live the Beatles their music / their magic.
MO
Not quite, because the line before “When I was a boy” is “I said ‘no, no, no, you’re wrong…” – i.e. it’s Lennon singing about his childhood.
I am apt to ascribe quite a few of John’s lyrics of this period (i.e. at least Rubber Soul and Revolver) referencing women and in this case boyhood to something to do with his feelings about Julia coming out more and more explicitly in his music. And it could well be, either consciously or subconsciously. On the other hand, have knock out some lyrics and songs myself, very often the words or the motive just kind of come along in response to one or the other and away you go without there being anything personal to it, although it may seem so to others. So who really knows, not any of us.
Interesting again, to my ears it doesn’t sound like mccartney on bass and much more likely to be harrison. I think george played the bass on ‘old brown shoe’ as well and it feels a bit similar in style to me. To suggest george wasn’t technically able to play the line on ‘she said’ is a nonsense.
macca said it himself ‘it’s one of the few beatles tracks i don’t play on’ …. He would remember something like that so i will go with him on this.
It’s only John and George singing the chorus and it sounds so strange 2 beatles that’s gone to heaven singing “I know what is lioke to be dead”….
I hesitate to make this suggestion as it may bring in some of the ‘Paul Is Dead’ idiots again but with Paul’s story of ‘having a barney’ and taaking off to let them finish it, it’s always occurred to me that this is the ‘incident’ that the PIDiots have turned into ‘Paul went off after an argument and crashed his car’. The fact that THEY have never picked up on it (especially given the song title!) is what truly marks them as PIDiots.
I might suspect that Paul initiated the whole PID thing from here in response to whatever went on in the argument (Paul storming out is very uncharacteristic so it must have been some argument!) and I could probably run that up as a theory.
But here’s my real theory. I think Paul DOES play bass on this. Perhaps overdubbed later.
what makes it so impossible the band recorded a song without maccartney?the beatles had other recordings where all the band members did not participate.it happens.
George’s bass here is far better than Paul’s on similar songs like “Doctor Robert”. On “Doctor Robert”, we have the feeling that Paul hadn’t rehearsed and he recorded his part in one take. But on this, it’s more complex. There’s melodic invention in George’s playing in the chorus, etc.
My favorite Beatle song with the drumming and the guitars. Ringo’s time signatures are superb! To me, it seems like Keith Moon took notice three years later with his drumming on Go To The Mirror! from the Who’s Tommy. Ringo gets (or use to) get a bad rap for not being the greatest drummer. He may not be, but he is damn good and think he’s finally getting his due as one of the greats. Just check out the Beatles live in Washington D.C. concert in 1964 when they first came to the U.S. He is the best musician on the stage.
Another thing I like about this song is the guitars. The greatest riff of any Beatle song and blows me away every time I hear it. Paul is very melodic and one of the greatest bassist, but he had a disagreement with the others and left the studio and the other three finished the song.
George played the bass on this song. Which is quite nice. I’ve seen comments on here that George wasn’t as melodic as Paul, that may be true, but George did play bass on a few tracks with one being Old Brown Shoe which sounds like something Paul played. George gave an interview that he did play bass on Old Brown Shoe and it’s freakin awesome. George always gave Paul where credit was due(i.e. the guitar solo on Taxman and the guitar riff of Paperback Writer so I would think he was telling the truth.
John’s rhythm guitar is also great on this song and it’s probably the closest thing to a Lennon/Harrison song(except for Cry For A Shadow) that the Beatles recorded.
Completely agree with you about Ringo. To be honest I used to think he was good but I didnt class him as a great drummer until I saw his live work in the movie Eight Days a Week. He was sensational in those concerts. He gave the band their sound.
The Revolver album in general has a lot of subtle and not-so-subtle references to things going around, revolving, spinning, turning, repeating. This song’s title is one of the subtle ones, with the phrase “She Said” repeating like a broken record.
One of my favorite songs on “Revolver”. Written by John Lennon, with significant input from George Harrison. Comes out of the famous LSD fueled incident with Peter Fonda and members of the Byrds. I never knew till now that McCartney hadn’t played on this song. Great lyrics and lead guitar work.
Can someone please say why Paul had an argument with the other Beatles,and was the argument with all three of them? Because they weren’t fighting like this until two and three years later starting during The white album sessions. They were all still getting along well in 1966.
If anyone can let me know,I really would appreciate it.
Thanks
When I was a kid and first started exploring my parents’ record collection, I remember my mom telling me she and her friends figured this song was about John’s mother. I always just assumed that was the case, since it does make sense, what with Julia being bipolar and their relationship being so complicated. I’m both amused and a bit disappointed to know we couldn’t have been more off-base.
Heard this song a few years ago for the first time and didn’t listen to to it much since then. It’s probably been at least two years since I heard it. Anyways, I dropped some acid the other day and the first verse kept recurring in my head along with that weird quacking sound from Tomorrow Never Knows. And now Revolver is by far my favorite album and those are my two absolute favorite songs off the album. Incredible.