And Your Bird Can Sing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “And Your Bird Can Sing” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles | ||
| Album | Revolver | |
| Released | 5 August 1966 | |
| Recorded | Abbey Road Studios 20 April; 26 April 1966 |
|
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 2:01 | |
| Label | Parlophone | |
| Writer | Lennon/McCartney | |
| Producer | George Martin | |
| Revolver track listing | ||
|
||
"And Your Bird Can Sing" is a song by the The Beatles, released on their 1966 album Revolver in the UK and on Yesterday...and Today in the U.S. The songwriting credit is Lennon/McCartney, though the song was written solely by John Lennon. The working title was "You Don't Get Me". Lennon was later dismissive of the song, referring to it as "another of my throwaways...fancy paper around an empty box"[1].
Contents |
[edit] History
The song, a hard-edged rocker, is memorable for its circular, dual-harmony guitar riff played by George Harrison and John Lennon.
A version of the song featuring a Byrds-like 12-string guitar, especially in the opening riff, was recorded on April 20, 1966, but this was scrapped and the group recorded the album version on April 26.[2] This rejected version is heard on the Anthology 2 album, and features a vocal track in which Lennon and McCartney are giggling hysterically. The Anthology liner notes do not indicate why they are laughing, claiming that the tapes do not indicate the source of the laughter.
A number of incidents have been proposed as inspirations for the song's cryptic lyrics. According to author Jonathan Gould, in his 2007 book, "Can't Buy Me Love," "bird" was a popular term that Frank Sinatra used to describe himself or others, and that Lennon wrote the song in response to an official press release promoting a Sinatra TV special as a show for those who were "tired of kid singers wearing mops of hair thick enough to hide a crate of melons." Lennon was also dismayed that Sinatra won Grammys for Best Album and Best Male Vocalist in 1965 over the Beatles' Rubber Soul, or Bob Dylan and his popular release, Highway 61. Lennon responds in the song, "Tell me that you've heard every sound there is, and your bird can swing. But you can't hear me. You can't hear me."
Another popular belief is that the song is said to be a message from John to Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, in reference to Jagger's pop star girlfriend ("bird" in slang) Marianne Faithfull. Prior to the Revolver sessions, Lennon had received a singing mechanical caged bird as a gift from his first wife Cynthia, which he took as a horrible metaphor of his unhappy marriage. While high on marijuana, McCartney had reportedly jotted down that the secret of life was in "seven levels" ("seven wonders" in the song), which later became a joke with the group. The popular Beatles-influenced band The Jam covered this song as a B-side. The Georgia-based college band Guadalcanal Diary also covered this song, released as a CD bonus track on their 1987 album 2X4. Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs covered it on their 2006 album Under the Covers, Vol. 1. Jack Black used its opening riff for inspiritation in a fight against Satan at each show of the Tenacious D 2006-2007 Tour.
[edit] First Issued
[edit] Notes
- ^ David Sheff, All We Are Saying, p. 180
- ^ Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, p. 22, 24
[edit] References
- Turner, Steve. A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles' Song, Harper, New York: 1994, ISBN 0-06-095065-X
- http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/aybcs.html Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "And Your Bird Can Sing"]
- [1] Guitar Man.
