#1 for weeks of March 21 and 28th, 1964.
For the second time in a row, a Beatles song was #1 on the American charts. Actually, "She Loves You" was the band's fourth single and came just before "I Want To Hold Your Hand". When the single was first released on America's Swan Records in 1963, it didn't do a thing on the charts. Flash forward to March 1964, smack dab in the midst of Beatlemania - The song is re-released, both as a single and also on their US only LP, "The Beatles Second Album". The song managed to replace "I Want To Hold Your Hand" at #1 and gave the American market another classic Beatles song. How does this song compare to their first American #1?
Well, we must first remember that "She Loves You" comes chronologically before "I Want To Hold Your Hand". The former song was recorded on July 1st, 1963, 17 days before work even began on their second British album "With The Beatles". Clearly, this song was meant strictly as a single. The actual master tapes of both this song and its B-Side "I'll Get You" were erased sometime in 1963. All copies we hear today are from backup tapes and as a result, all subsequent releases are mono only and the fidelity is a bit compromised.
"She Loves You" is often used as exhibit "A" when cynics dismiss early Beatles records as pop fluff. What these people seems to forget though is John and Paul wrote the song together literally eye to eye just a few days before they were due to record it. Most bands would take months to write a song of this caliber. Also, "She Loves You" features a talented quartet of musicians playing the song themselves. Many bands during this time period would have been augmented by session players or had the song written by an outside writer. Not The Beatles.
Musically and lyrically, the song is certainly not as complex as some of the later Beatles tunes. Regardless, every instrument stands out in this song and there are still many hooks such as the "With A Love Like That" coda. What propels this song to a higher degree of pop is the vocal arrangement. In particular, that Major 6th chord, which John George And Paul hold out at the end, might as well be re-named the Beatle chord as The Fab Four made it their own in this song.
When you compare "She Loves You" to their next single "I Want To Hold Your Hand", the latter is musically and lyrically superior, but this only makes my argument on The Beatles genius more convincing. You have a band that strived to progress musically/lyrically and wanted to evolve their sound with every new single they released. Already by the latter months of 1964, "She Loves You" would be permanently taken out of their setlist.
By 1966, the band, especially John, seemed not to care for the song anymore. Most of this cynicism was due to the band wanting to break away from their moptop image completely. While I of course am glad that the group evolved beyond "She Loves You", I can't share John's views on the song. It's a perfectly crafted beat-pop tune that hundreds of bands from the time period would have built their whole careers on had they been the composers.
Final Verdict - Taken for what it's worth, "She Loves You" remains an A1 example of the early Beatles sound. Great music and vocal harmonies make this song a classic that remains an enjoyable listen to this very day.
Coming Up Next - "Can't Buy Me Love" by The Beatles.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.
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