Beatles Countdown #92 – Got To Get You Into My Life

Mar 02

Doug1960s paul mccartney, the beatles No Comments

Paul McCartney makes yet another appearance here with a metaphor-laced song from Revolver: “Got To Get You Into My Life!”

I love this song and the reason is simply because it is just fun. That’s it! Whether it comes on randomly on my iPod or it follows the closing of “I Want To Tell You,” the opening brass fanfare always gets me in a good mood bouncing around singing those first words: “I was alone, I took a ride, I didn’t know where it was goinnnnnnnnnnngggggg!” It definitely stands out on the album as a Motown-influenced piece, but also has just a jubilant feel that stands out even with other fun tracks. Sure, “Yellow Submarine” makes an appearance here and everyone loves to sing to that, but that’s more of a childish, nonsensical fun. These are lyrics that you can actually belt out like you would in real life. This is a rhythm that gets you really moving, not just swaying from side to side. It’s just non-stop fun from the brass fanfare (first time Beatles had a brass section) to the fade-out of Paul McCartney repeating the opening verse, perhaps trapping himself in a never-ending loop of amazing music. John Lennon would later share his love of the song too as he said it was one of Paul’s best songs. Even critics such as Thomas Ward have said this is an overlooked gem perhaps showcasing his singing better than normal. It’s just a fantastic song with a great feel to it.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that what Paul wanted to get into his life was marijuana. Well, he could have been singing about worse things right? It’s funny how there are so many famous songs that are “drug references” that really aren’t there and this one completely flies over people’s heads. It sure as hell did for me! While John thought the lyrics pointed to LSD, it was actually written after Paul McCartney first tried pot and enjoyed how it made him feel. He literally had to get pot into his life. He would later say pot was uplifting which is exactly what the song is to me. Maybe a form of musical marijuana? Or maybe Paul McCartney and the rest of the Fab Four could just literally let their ideals slide from time to time and just make fun music that excited people? Who cares – the song is awesome!

Song: Got To Get You Into My Life
Album: Revolver
Year: 1966

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