On February 9, 1964, the Beatles played that song and three others for Sullivan and tens of millions of home viewers ... and barbers across America wept. The No. 1s hardly stopped for the Beatles after that point ... with "She Loves You," one of the songs Capitol had passed on and let go to a lesser label, being reissued and becoming their second American chart-topper.
What was it about this song? Some say it could have been any Beatles tune at that moment — that the depression and angst caused by the Kennedy assassination in November had created a vacuum just waiting to be filled up by something euphoric.
But any musicologist would point to how extraordinarily well-crafted the song is — especially for something that went from germ of an idea to completed project in about a day and a half. And then there's that essential mixture of puppy love and not-so-innocence. New York Times critic Allan Kozinn contended in his book on the Fabs, "The song is actually quite subversive. The innocent declaration of the title was exactly the sort of thing that would assure parents that the Beatles were safe and wholesome; yet for anyone listening closely, the music tells a different story."
Bob Dylan thought the lyrics were much more subversive than they were. Like some other listeners, he thought that the repeated "I can't hide" line actually said "I get high," so he assumed the Beatles were extolling pot, only to find, when he met them in '64, that they hadn't even tried it yet.
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