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26/03/1964: 8-1-1-1-2-4-7-13-15-22-25-30-38-44-0-47 (UK)
26/03/1964: 8-1-1-1-2-4-7-13-15-22-25-30-38-44-0-47 (UK)

28/03/1964: 27-1-1-1-1-1-5-11-23-42 (US)
31/03/1984 53-68 (UK)
31/03/1984 53-68 (UK)

Revision as of 17:11, 17 December 2007

For other uses, see Can't Buy Me Love (disambiguation).
"Can't Buy Me Love"
Song
B-side"You Can't Do That"

"Can't Buy Me Love" is the title of a song composed by Paul McCartney[1] (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and released by The Beatles on the A side of their sixth British single, "Can't Buy Me Love/You Can't Do That."

History

Writing

While in Paris, The Beatles stayed at the five star George V hotel and had an upright piano moved into one of their suites so that song writing could continue.[2] It was here that McCartney wrote "Can't Buy Me Love." The song was written under the pressure of the success achieved by "I Want to Hold Your Hand" which had just reached number one in America. When producer George Martin first heard "Can't Buy Me Love" he felt the song needed what he called "tagging front and back". He suggested dropping the lyric "everybody tells me so" from the opening chorus, and instead, just repeating "love, oh" from the first two bars. And then by repeating this over the last two bars of the chorus, you were quickly into the song's verse.[3] This is also how the song closes. The song's verse is a twelve bar blues in structure, (i.e. CCCC FFCC GFFC) a formula the Beatles seldom applied to their own material.[4] It was one of the first Beatles songs not to include any other singers besides the lead vocalist (in this case, McCartney).

Recording

"Can't Buy Me Love" was recorded on 29 January 1964 at EMI's Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris, France,[5] where the Beatles were performing 18 days of concerts at the Olympia Theatre. EMI's West Germany branch, Odeon, insisted that the Beatles would not sell records in any significant numbers in Germany unless they were actually sung in the German language, and sent a translator to be present for a recording session hurriedly arranged to tie in with their Paris commitments. The Beatles reluctantly agreed to re-record the vocals to "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and George Martin travelled to Paris with a newly mastered rhythm track for what was to be “Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand”. “Sie Liebt Dich” (She Loves You) however, required the Beatles to record a new rhythm track as the original two track recording had been scrapped[5]. This, though, was accomplished well within the allotted studio time, allowing them the opportunity to record the backing track (with just an English guide vocal) to the recently composed "Can't Buy Me Love".[6][5] McCartney's final vocal was overdubbed at Abbey Road Studios, London, on 25 February.[7] Also re-recorded on this day at Abbey Road was Harrison's modified guitar solo, although his original solo can still just be heard in the background as it had bled onto the basic backing track via the group microphones. It was also the only occasion that a Beatles song was recorded in a foreign studio.

Song meaning

When pressed by American journalists in 1966 to reveal the song's "true" meaning, McCartney denied that "Can't Buy Me Love" was about prostitution, stating that, although it was open to interpretation, that suggestion was going too far, saying: "The idea behind it was that all these material possessions are all very well, but they won't buy me what I really want."[3] Although he was to later comment: "It should have been "Can Buy Me Love" when reflecting on the perks that money and fame had brought him.[7]

Music charts

U.S. music charts

The Beatles established four records on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Can't Buy Me Love" at number one:

  1. Until Billboard began using SoundScan for their charts, it had the biggest jump to number one: (number twenty-seven to number one; no other single ever did this).
  2. It gave the Beatles three consecutive number-one songs ("I Want to Hold Your Hand" was replaced at number one by "She Loves You" which was in turn replaced by "Can't Buy Me Love").
  3. When "Can't Buy Me Love" went to number one (4 April 1964), the entire top five of the Hot 100 was by The Beatles, the next positions being filled by "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me," respectively. No other act has ever even held the top five spots simultaneously.
  4. During its second week at number one (11 April 1964), the Beatles had fourteen songs on the Hot 100 at the same time.

Rolling Stone ranked "Can't Buy Me Love" at #289 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

U.K. music charts

Can't Buy Me Love became The Beatles fourth UK number-one single and their third single to sell over a million copies in the UK.

Chart Run

26/03/1964: 8-1-1-1-2-4-7-13-15-22-25-30-38-44-0-47 (UK)

28/03/1964: 27-1-1-1-1-1-5-11-23-42 (US)

31/03/1984 53-68 (UK)

Cover versions

Notes

  1. ^ MacDonald, Ian (1998). Revolution in the Head. London: Pimlico. p. 93. ISBN 0-7126-6697-4.
  2. ^ Miles, Barry (1992). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. p. 161.
  3. ^ a b Badman, Keith (2000). The Beatles Off The Record. London: Omnibus. p. 97. ISBN 0-7119-7985-5. Cite error: The named reference "badman" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ Martin, George (1994). Summer Of Love. The Making Of Sgt Pepper. London: Macmillan. p. 40. ISBN 0-333-60398-2.
  5. ^ a b c Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. London: Hamlyn. p. 38. ISBN 0-600-55798-7. Cite error: The named reference "lewisohn" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. London: Cassell& Co. p. 112. ISBN 0-304-35605-0.
  7. ^ a b Miles, Barry (1998). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. London: Vintage. p. 162. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4. Cite error: The named reference "miles162" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

References

  • Bronson, Fred. The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. New York: Billboard Books, 2003. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6
  • Turner, Steve. A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles' Song, Harper, New York: 1994, ISBN 0-06-095065-X
Preceded by UK number one single
"Can't Buy Me Love" by The Beatles
April 2, 1964 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number one single
April 4, 1964 		Succeeded by
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