She Said She Said- Paul McCartney

Hi all
If you're familiar with the Revolver sessions you will know that Paul left the studio during the recording sessions for She Said She Said supposedly because of an argument with John and George either about it's lyrical content or disagreements about the recording itself. ABC news Australia recently uploaded an interview with Paul in 1980 talking about his recent album McCartney II. At about the 4:00 minute mark the interviewer asks Paul if he any of his work stands out above the rest with Paul giving the standard answers of Sgt Peppers and Yesterday however, he also mentions She Said She Said as a deeper cut that can be his favourite depending on the day. Quite interesting considering the urban myth that has been built around it so I thought I'd share it

 

I've heard John and George were giving him crap because it was an LSD song and he hadn't taken LSD so were basically shutting him out. But in any case it doesn't preclude him liking the song itself.

Or, if you're one of those sorts , this was before John died, maybe he was sending some sort of secret message to John by mentioning a song that had caused friction between them. LOL

 

It's quite interesting that the popular perception was that Paul held out on trying LSD until 67 but if you read this article from Rolling Stone:
Remembering the Doomed Socialite Behind Beatles' 'A Day in the Life'

"In mid-December 1965, the Browne home became the scene of McCartney's first LSD trip." It goes in detail how Paul had his first trip at the end of 65 with Tara Browne and others using some reliable sources some directly from Paul. I believe (could be wrong) that the annoyance to John and George was that Paul didn't take it with them throughout 65 and avoided sharing the experience with them until the Getting Better sessions when John came round to Cavendish tripping hard. I speculate that Paul recognised how closely linked John and George had become with their mutual love of the drug that he felt a bit like an outsider (they would have been an intense pair to be around).

 

The fairly recent book about Beatles 1966 has lots of good McCartney scholarship. It's been awhile since I read it so please correct me if I'm wrong.
The author writes that McCartney took LSD earlier than thought. And Got to Get You Into My Life was about LSD, and not pot.

And some of you guys gave me trouble for talking about McCartney Scholars.

 

Have always thought GTGYIML was about Paul taking LSD and not pot. Paul had been on pot for years at that stage.

 

Indeed, and as the Beatles 1966 book mentions , lyric wise LSD makes more sense than pot.

 

Another road where maybe I could see another kind of mind there...

 

Far and away my favorite Beatles song, to me it was the best thing they ever did. I'm glad McCartney came around. (though he may have liked it all along...)

 

I don't think he ever said he didn't like the song, they had some type of fight and he left the session.

 

I didn't think he held out until '67 and I knew he took it with Tara Browne. Didn't remember the date. And most likely he wouldn't have taken it with the other Beatles at that point because they were not very understanding about not taking it in the first place. Plus in the infamous, I think June, 1967 interview I believe he said he'd taken it about 4 times, at that point(which was a little over 18 months later). So he wasn't exactly a fiend about it. And IMO it's pretty understandable why he took it with Tara as opposed to the others. They were not nice about him not taking it in the first place, it's pretty clear that Tara was quite laid back about it. Plus he stayed straight in case Paul had a bad trip, something Paul said was why he was hesitant to take it to begin with, he was worried about having a bad trip. IMO he didn't take with the rest of them because he didn't really feel it was a safe space to take it due to how they'd taken his initial hesitance. Not feeling emotionally safe can cause a bad trip.

I would actually question if the others knew Paul had taken it at that point. It's been quite a while since I read MYFM. It's possible he didn't tell them until much later and considering he barely took it again after that until the trip with John in early 1967(and even after if he'd only taken it about 4 times by mid 1967), he may not have wanted to again at that point in time, or simply may not have wanted to feel pressured to.

That said I don't believe GTGYIML was about LSD, because Paul did pot all the time for years right up until early 2000's(and who knows maybe occasionally sneaks it but probably would be worried about nutty ex Heather having spies), whereas even after taking it with Tara he barely did LSD until long after GTGYIML was written and recorded. GTGYIML is about something he loves and enjoys doing which obviously wasn't LSD if he only did it 4 times in 18 months.

 

Great song, and you’re entitled to your opinion, but man, that’s a wild one to hold.

 

The song is Got To Get You Into My Life - as in something he had yet to try. If it were about pot it would be Glad I Got You Into My Life

 

Sorry it's always been said to be about pot, I have no reason NOT to believe it's about Pot just because some guy in a book decided it wasn't about pot. No one else has ever said it wasn't about pot.

Plus that's a misinterpretation of the lyrics - it's clearly something he's done and frequently "Ooh then I suddenly see you, ooh did I tell I need you, every single day of my life" - that's something he's done before, and he loves and wants every single day of his life. Sounds like me and chocolate. LOL(and that is something I have very regularly - I suddenly see it, sitting there in a candy bowl or vending machine, I need it and I want it every day of my life ) It starts out he's discovering it, once he discovers it, he wants it all the time.

Because he wouldn't know he needed it every single day of his life if he hadn't done it before. Of course Paul had done LSD by this time BUT he obviously wasn't so incredibly keen on doing it very much because in 18 months, by June of 1967, he'd only done around 4 times. And again, no reason to not believe Paul there, he was saying he did it, so no particular reason to say only 4 times, and I'm pretty sure if Paul had been a regular LSD user by that time, the others wouldn't have been so annoyed, they wouldn't still kind of hold "holding out" against him(not in a like a big way but in a gee but you've barely even done it way) which was clearly one of the reason George and Ringo at least were annoyed he mentioned it.

If he'd held out for a few months, but then when he took it, became a very regular user, well they probably wouldn't have been that annoyed by that part of it because "well sure he held out a bit but now he's like doing it at least twice a week for the last year so..." but no he'd only done it a few times. Like they'd probably be annoyed if he'd announced he was doing cocaine too, because it would be a hassle for all of them, but he did that pretty regularly at that time so they probably wouldn't have been like "what aw come on" because he did do cocaine on the regular(at that particular point in time).

 

I don't have too much of a skin in the game, I'm not much of a beatle fan, but if it helps your argument, you really can't do LSD every single day of your life.

 

LOL Thanks. Exactly, though John Lennon certainly tried, according to him he used to eat it all the time, probably at least a couple hundred trips. During the same period that Paul did around 4.

 

Yeah John was full time tripping. Thankfully he didn't end up like Barrett. Wonder how often George took it? I'd say much more than Paul and likely less than John

 

What I mean is, if you take 500 mcg, the next day you have to take 1400 mcg to get the same effects. This high tolerance diminishes with time, you have to take a few days off. But only someone who'd never tried to take LSD two days in row would sing 'every single day of my life' if it was about LSD. So maybe that doesn't help the argument since McCartney only tried it 4 times in a year.

 

yeah and John thought he was Jesus for a spell and ended up on heroin as a result

 

It's actually not uncommon for artists to prefer works they've had the least to do with. They're not second guessing how their contributions could be improved.

Art Carney's favourite episode of the Honeymoons is the one episode in which he doesn't appear. (Don't ask me which one that is. One of the lost episodes.)

On the other hand, McCartney calls it 'daft' in the video above. Granted that probably referred to his potential response rather than the song, but I'm not convinced he's giving any love to the song in the interview.

 

You really think a "guy in a book decided" it was not about pot, or maybe he actually did some research. People often do that when they write books 'n such.

 

Perhaps if he'd said "Don't Pass Me By". "She Said She Said" would be high up on most fans favourite songs list.

 

Paul with all his talent, work ethic and musical drive, may have been bewildered when this lazy tripping Lennon shows up with great material, near effortlessly. Paul may be better in every measurable category, but Lennon had an it factor that was beyond reach. I don't think this was/is lost on Paul. Two guys in a band, never complimented each other so well. Think contrasting parts in "We can work it out", or the amazing backup counter vocal John does on "She's leaving home". On and on in the Beatles catalog. With all the millions of hours evaluating bass, guitar, creative drum beats/fills,tones, the meat of the Beatles are the John and Paul songs sang together or individually.
John and George may have been hanging out and doing acid for a while, but did any writing partnership come out of it? Not much. Paul and John were pragmatic choices for each other because of their talent, and they for quite a while could "Get on". George may have helped work out a couple things, but the material had to pass muster with Paul too. Maybe publishing/contractual issues made any other partnership than Lennon/McCartney impossible. "She said, She said" is a monumentally great track, Paul's taste would be extremely suspect to not like it. Fate may have played a role in their "Barney", leading Paul to walk out. George sure did a good job on Bass for the track!
I don't always get John's criticisms of some of Paul's tunes. Than other times John's praise is strong, like "Here there and everywhere".
I'm rambling.......Sorry

 

Got To Get You Into My Life is definitely about Mary Jane. That's is confirmed by Paul himself. In his biography he claims it's an "ode to pot."

 

That's my take on the "She Said She Said" situation as well. I think Paul associated the song with that L.A. acid trip he was not a part of and it sort of coloured his opinion of the song. We'll never know exactly what the "barney" was about that compelled Paul to say f--k you and walk out of the session. I bet even Mark Lewisohn would be guessing at this point.

 

Easily in my Top Two favorite Beatles songs. Seven out of eight days a week, I'd say it was their pinnacle. Wonder if anyone's ever covered it. I bet Los Lobos could do a good one.