It Was 50 Years Ago Today: “Day Tripper”/“We Can Work It Out” by the Beatles
January 12, 1966
“Day Tripper”/“We Can Work It Out” by the Beatles
#1 on the Record Retailer Singles Chart (UK), December 16, 1965 – January 19, 1966
In the early days of the Beatles, the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team was a true partnership of equals, plugging together “eyeball to eyeball” (as Lennon famously said) on songs like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.” It didn’t take long, however, for the two to splinter into their own individual songwriting personas: Paul McCartney as the sentimental romantic with a knack for a catchy melody (think “Can’t Buy Me Love” or “Yesterday”), John Lennon as the brooding cynic with a raw nerve (“Ticket to Ride,” “Help!”). This apparent divergence culminated in late 1965, when the pair’s variance in style — as well as their equal strength of artistic will — invented a brand-new record format.
Since at least the ‘50s, the inclusion of airplay and jukebox data in charts like Billboard had led to a number of B-sides growing popular in their own right, sometimes equaling or even out-performing the promoted side: most famously, Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel” b/w “Hound Dog” in 1956. But the Beatles’ release of “Day Tripper”/“We Can Work It Out” marked the official birth of the double A-side single, in which both sides of the record were promoted equally. The band got the benefit of proving its artistic versatility (as well as salving the egos of its two primary songwriters), while Beatles fans were treated to two of the band’s best hits yet for the price of one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4qYVaQDsrk
But while it may have seen like Lennon and McCartney were battling it out, in fact there was far more crossover between the duo’s singles than apparent at first glance. Lennon lobbied for the harder-edged “Day Tripper” to be the upcoming single, built around his undeniable guitar riff and reflecting his sardonic view of relationships. The title and chorus of the song tap into Lennon’s love of wordplay, with the double-entendre of the title referencing (in his words) “a weekend hippie. Get it?” Yet it’s McCartney who largely composed the verses, as well as sang lead on them, and his boyish persona helped mellow Lennon’s spiked pill into something that reads more tongue-in-cheek than mean spirited.
As terrific as “Day Tripper” is, however, McCartney’s poppy, hopeful “We Can Work It Out” is the obvious chart favorite. Much has been made of Lennon’s contribution to the middle eight (“Life is very short and there’s no time / for fussing and fighting my friend”) as the shadow creeping over McCartney’s sunny optimism. In fact, Lennon is merely bringing out the latent passive-aggression hidden beneath the song’s chirpy melody, where McCartney’s encouragement masks a man with little patience for not getting what he wants (“try to see it my way / do I have to keep on talking till I can’t go on?”). Lennon also adds a vital part to the sound of “We Can Work It Out” with his use of the melodium, giving the song a melancholy romantic feel of an old-fashioned, perhaps European, pop song, while also foreshadowing the band’s use of unusual instruments in its more experimental phase.
In the US, where Billboard factors in multiple variables to measure a single’s success, the double A-sided record was split in two, with only “We Can Work It Out” topping the chart. (“Day Tripper” peaked at a respectable, if un-Beatlesy, #5, probably because the simultaneous release split the record-buying vote.) The UK singles chart, however, which based its rankings strictly on sales, couldn’t help but send the pair of songs to share the #1 spot. The dual success of “Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It Out” inspired other acts to get in on the double A-side action, including the Rolling Stones (“Let’s Spend the Night Together”/”Ruby Tuesday,” 1967), Carole King (“It’s Too Late”/”I Feel the Earth Move,” 1971), and Queen (“Fat Bottomed Girls”/”Bicycle Race,” 1978), as well as the record holder for the biggest-selling single of all time, Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997”/”Something About the Way You Look Tonight.”
The Beatles themselves would go on to release three more double A-sides, each designed to juxtapose wildly different sides of the group: “Yellow Submarine”/“Eleanor Rigby” (1966), “Strawberry Fields Forever”/“Penny Lane” (1967), and “Come Together”/“Something” (1969). In retrospect, it seems natural that the Beatles pioneered the double A-sided single; they had the massive popularity to ensure radio programmers would promote both sides, as well as the ability to overrule a label that might want them to spread the wealth over two singles. More importantly, however, the phenomenon of the double A-sides is deeply tied to who the Beatles were as a band at the time, as evidence of their prolific hot-streak, their driving ambition, and their multifaceted creativity.
It Was 50 Years Ago Today examines a song, album, movie, or book that was #1 on the charts exactly half a century ago.
