To the Beatles

In honor of Paul McCartney’s 64th birthday, here is the first verse and chorus of Lennon and McCartney’s “It’s Only Love,” the first song on the second side on the Beatles’ 1965 album Rubber Soul (American edition, which has a very different mix of songs from the UK edition). The first time I listened to this song, and to the album, which someone had given me as a gift along with a couple of the Beatles’ earlier albums, and which was the first Beatles album I had ever sat and listened to (as a classical music fan and piano student I was years behind my peers in getting into pop music), I was transfixed by the uniqueness and beauty of its sound, its “texture” and mood. The way the words, melody, voices, harmonies, instruments all worked together, every part and detail perfect in itself, and the parts all fitting perfectly in the whole, charmed and enchanted me, and I remained so ever after.

I get high when I see you go by
My oh my
When you sigh my mind inside just flies
Butterfly
Why am I so shy when I’m beside you?

It’s only love, and that is all
Why should I feel the way I do?
It’s only love, and that is all
But it’s so hard, loving you.

If any reader thinks it odd that a self-described traditionalist conservative is lauding the Beatles, I’ll simply repeat the immortal words of Sonny Bono: “The Sixties were great, but only musically.”
Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 18, 2006 10:14 PM | Send