Wiki
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Length
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And Your Bird Can Sing" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on their 1966 album Revolver, apart from in the United States and Canada, where it instead appeared on Yesterday and Today. The song was written mainly by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The recording features an extended dual-guitar melody, played by George Harrison and Paul McCartney, which anticipated the harmonised guitar arrangements commonly used by Southern rock, hard rock and heavy metal bands.
Lennon was later dismissive of "And Your Bird Can Sing", referring to it as "another of my throwaways … fancy paper around an empty box". The song's working title was "You Don't Get Me". Its oblique lyrics, and Lennon's failure to reveal their meaning, have encouraged several interpretations. One popular theory is that Lennon was addressing Frank Sinatra in response to a hagiographic article on the singer in Esquire magazine; another contends that the song was directed at Mick Jagger with reference to Marianne Faithfull.
The Beatles first recorded the track in the style of the Byrds. This discarded version was released on the 1996 outtakes compilation Anthology 2 and includes the sound of Lennon and McCartney laughing their way through a vocal overdub and unable to sing. This version of the song was included (without the laughing overdub) on the second disc of the 2022 Super Deluxe Edition of Revolver.
Released
5 August 1966 (UK: Revolver)
20 June 1966 (US: Yesterday and Today)
Recorded 26 April 1966
Studio EMI, London
Genre Psychedelia, psychedelic pop, power pop
Length 2:01
Label Parlophone
Songwriter(s) Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s) George Martin
Background and Inspiration
Aside from dismissing it as a substandard work, John Lennon never discussed "And Your Bird Can Sing". His first wife Cynthia recalled that the song was inspired by her presenting Lennon with a clockwork bird inside a gilded cage, wrapped in gift paper, apart from the wind-up mechanism. She wound up the bird as she handed the present to Lennon so that it sang, leaving him with "an expression of sheer disbelief on his face" as he removed the wrapping paper. According to author Kenneth Womack, Lennon viewed the caged imitation bird as a metaphor for his marriage and a reflection of Cynthia's inability to understand him. The song's working title was "You Don't Get Me".
The lack of an explanation from Lennon himself has led others to speculate on its meaning; music journalist Robert Fontenot states that the lyrics are among "the most speculated-upon of any Beatles track". In his 2007 book Can't Buy Me Love, Jonathan Gould says that Lennon wrote "And Your Bird Can Sing" about Frank Sinatra after reading a hagiographic article on the singer in Esquire magazine. Written by Gay Talese, the article detailed Sinatra's wealth and power, describing him as "the fully emancipated male … the man who can have anything he wants", and repeatedly mentioned his use of the word "bird" to mean a penis. Talese quoted a press release for Sinatra's upcoming TV special, which stated it was a show for those who were "tired of kid singers wearing mops of hair thick enough to hide a crate of melons", and he said Sinatra aimed to "communicate his talent to some rock-and-rollers – in a sense, he was battling The Beatles". Gould adds that while Lennon would have been amused to read about Sinatra having an assistant dedicated to maintaining his 60 "remarkably convincing" hairpieces, Lennon was piqued at the recognition afforded Sinatra, at the Beatles' expense, in the recent 1966 Grammy Awards.
Personnel
According to Ian MacDonald:
John Lennon – lead vocal, rhythm guitar, handclaps
Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass, lead guitar, handclaps
George Harrison – harmony vocal, lead guitar, handclaps
Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine, handclaps
More including Recording, Release, Reception & Legacy, etc. at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Your_Bird_Can_Sing
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