Paul McCartney fumes 'that's going too far' as fans suggest meaning behind Beatles hit
When I Want to Hold Your Hand topped the U.S. charts, Paul McCartney and John Lennon felt the pressure to write another hit song.
The Beatles had already won the hearts of fans in the U.K. and Europe, but soaring to the number one spot on the American charts in February 1964 took their fame to even greater heights. The band's song I Want To Hold Your Hand climbed swiftly to the number one spot in America just days before they landed in New York for their debut U.S. performance.
Dominating the top spot for seven weeks, the song triggered Beatlemania across the States. Amid this frenzy, and while touring in Paris, news of their chart-topping success reached The Beatles, leaving Paul to head straight to their hotel piano to write their next hit.
Paul ended up writing Can't Buy Me Love. Discussing the song, Paul said, "Can't Buy Me Love is my attempt to write a bluesy mode."
He further explained, "The idea behind it was that all these material possessions are all very well but they won't buy me what I really want. It was a very hooky song. Ella Fitzgerald later did a version of it which I was very honored by."
While John openly acknowledged the song was mostly Paul's, he claimed to have contributed to the chorus. Recounting in a 1980 interview, John commented, "That's Paul's completely. Maybe I had something to do with the chorus, but I don't know. I always considered it his song."
Source: themirror.com/Dan Haygarth
