Beatles — Day Tripper

«Day Tripper» remains a controversial pop/rock song in terms of the lyrics that have multiple connotations attached to it. The legend goes that the song was written and composed under pressure from the record company that needed a new single to cash in during the Christmas time. Lennon wrote most of the lyrics and the famous Day Tripper guitar riff, while McCartney helped doing the verses. «Day Tripper» was a typical fooling around with the words by John Lennon who described, «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?» No clear-cut meaning here about the song but it has also been associated with Paul’s reluctance to experiment with LSD, which John and George had been using since the summer of 1965. John even admitted in August of 1965 that he «just ate it all the time.»

Apparently, the song Day Tripper is about a girl who turns the singer on and she does not want to commit to a relationship. The line recorded as «she’s a big teaser» was originally written, as «she’s a prick teaser.» Perhaps to confuse the issue, in an interview in 2005, Paul McCartney admitted that «Day Tripper» was about drugs. If that is correct, John Lennon’s lyrics were his first explicit reference to LSD in a Beatles song. The Beatles were always considered to be squeaky clean before coming to America; and they quickly discovered the pleasures of marijuana. According to the most popular rumors about this initiation, Bob Dylan’s name has been mentioned as the man who introduced it to the Beatles.

Day Tripper reached #1 in U.K. singles chart and enjoyed #5 spot in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, produced by George Martin and recorded at the Abbey Road Studios in mid October 1965; Day Tripper was released by The Beatles as a single with «We Can Work It Out» on the flip side in early December of the same year. The record itself was a point of discussion as to which of the two songs was the main song and which one was the flip side. The song was later released in the Beatles album «Yesterday..and Today». The world wide popularity of Day Tripper is reflected by the fact that the song has been covered by some of the celebrated artists, which include Otis Redding, Cheap Trick (on their Found All the Parts 10» EP), Sham 69, Daniel Ash (on his album Coming Down), Bad Brains, Ian Hunter, Jimi Hendrix, Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 (on the Herb Alpert presents Sergio Mendes & Brazil ’66 album), Nancy Sinatra, James Taylor, Type O Negative, Electric Light Orchestra (on their 1974 live «Long Beach» album), and Yellow Magic Orchestra. In addition, the famous Day Tripper guitar lead has also been re-used by many other well-known bands. The Beatles were and still are without a doubt, the greatest band of all times.