Jump to content

Day Tripper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 131.109.19.19 (talk) at 18:18, 3 February 2011 (→Personnel). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the recreational activity, see Day-tripper.

"Day Tripper"
Song
A-side"We Can Work It Out"

"Day Tripper" is a song by The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it was released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out".[1] Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album. The single topped the UK Singles Chart[2] and the song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.[1]

Composition

Main Guitar Riff

Under the pressure of needing a new single for the Christmas market,[3] Lennon wrote most of the lyrics and the famous guitar hook, while McCartney worked on the verses. "Day Tripper" was a typical play on words by Lennon: "Day trippers are people who go on a day trip, right? Usually on a ferryboat or something. But [the song] was kind of . . . you're just a weekend hippie. Get it?"[4] In the same interview Lennon said, "That's mine. Including the lick, the guitar break and the whole bit."[4] In his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, however, he used "Day Tripper" as one example of their collaboration, where one partner had the main idea but the other took up the cause and completed it.[5] For his part, McCartney claimed it was very much a collaboration based on Lennon's original idea.[6]

In Many Years From Now, McCartney said that "Day Tripper" was about drugs, and "a tongue-in-cheek song about someone who was ... committed only in part to the idea."[6] The line recorded as "she's a big teaser" was originally written as "she's a prick teaser."[6]

According to music critic Ian MacDonald, the song "starts as a twelve-bar blues in E, which makes a feint at turning into a twelve-bar in the relative minor (i.e. the chorus) before doubling back to the expected B—another joke from a group which had clearly decided that wit was to be their new gimmick."[7] Indeed, in 1966 McCartney said in Melody Maker that "Day Tripper" and "Drive My Car" (recorded three days prior) were "funny songs, songs with jokes in." McCartney provides the lead vocal for the verses and Lennon the harmony, in contrast to the Beatles' usual practice of a song's principal composer singing lead, although Lennon sings lead in the chorus, with McCartney on harmony.

Recording

The song was recorded on 16 October 1965. The Beatles recorded the basic rhythm track for "If I Needed Someone" after completing "Day Tripper".[3]

The released master contains one of the most noticeable mistakes of any Beatles song, a drop out at 1:58 (1:49 in the version on 1962–1966) in which the rhythm guitar part momentarily disappears;[8]. Bootleg releases of an early mix (which present an extended breakdown as opposed to a polished fadeout) feature a technical glitch on the session tape itself, with characteristics of an accidental recording over the original take as the recorder comes up to speed. This was later fixed on the 2000 compilation 1 and on the remastered Past Masters. Though not released on any album in the United Kingdom (until A Collection of Beatles Oldies, in 1966, and later on 1962–1966, aka the Red Album, released in 1973), it was released in the US on the album Yesterday and Today.

Personnel

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[7] and Mark Lewisohn.[3]

Cover versions

The song is playable in the music video game The Beatles: Rock Band.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Wallgren 1982, p. 45.
  2. ^ The Official UK Charts Company 2009.
  3. ^ a b c Lewisohn 1988, p. 64.
  4. ^ a b Sheff 2000, p. 177.
  5. ^ Wenner 2000.
  6. ^ a b c Miles 1997, pp. 209–210.
  7. ^ a b MacDonald 2005, pp. 167–168.
  8. ^ What Goes On 2007.
  9. ^ Flanagan 2009.
  10. ^ Eder 2009.

References

  • Eder, Bruce (2009). "Review of Fever Tree". Allmusic. Retrieved 26 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Flanagan, Rob (2009). "Review of Love Loves to Love Lulu". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 November 2009. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised Edition ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-844-13828-3. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • "Beatles - Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out". The Official UK Charts Company. 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009. [dead link‍]
  • Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Wallgren, Mark (1982). The Beatles on Record. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-45682-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Wenner, Jann S. (2000). Lennon Remembers (Full interview from Lennon's 1970 interview in Rolling Stone magazine). London: Verso. ISBN 1-85984-600-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • "Day Tripper". What Goes On. 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
Preceded by UK number one single
16 December 1965 (five weeks) 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Day_Tripper&oldid=411821329"