I Want to Hold Your Hand (single) 1963

1. I Want to Hold Your Hand
- The last Beatles release of 1963, this stand-alone single was released four days after With the Beatles.
- Written by Lennon and McCartney after their manager, Brian Epstein, told them to aim a single at the American market. The song is an even collaboration between the two, and was written on the piano.
- The song's structure is remniscent of the pre-vinyl era (1885 to 1930) populist music of New York city, a style sometimes known as Tin Pan Alley.
- Lennon and McCartney sing in harmony for the majority of the song - the vocal melody is not clearly defined enough to the extent that it can be sung successfully by just one singer.
- The first Beatles single to get the #1 spot on the American Billboard Top 100 chart. Capitol Records weren't confident the single would sell though and Brian Epstein convinced them to spend a then-whopping $40 000 on pre-promotion. The single sold out so quickly that Capitol Records were forced to enlist the help of rival labels to press more copies.
- The first Beatles song to have an advance order from fans that exceeded 1 million copies.
- The first Beatles song to be recorded on a four-track rather than a two-track.
- Recorded with German lyrics for the German market as Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand.
- Shot to #1 in the UK when it was released, knocking the previous Beatles single She Loves You down to #2. This is the first instance of an artist knocking themselves out of the #1 spot in British music history.
- Bob Dylan was very impressed when he first heard this song. He thought the line "I can't hide" was actually "I get high", and was surprised upon meeting the Beatles that none of them had smoked pot (yet).
- All four band members provide handclaps for the recording.
- Runs for just under two and a half minutes, and only took 4 takes to record.
- The 20th anniversary re-release of this single by Capitol Records airbrushed out a cigarette held by McCartney in the sleeve photo.
- The U.S. version of the single features I Saw Her Standing There as the B-side.

2. This Boy
- The B-side to the UK release of I Want to Hold Your Hand.
- Written completely by Lennon. He wrote this as another Motown/Smokey Robinson-styled tune. More specifically, it's a 'do-whop' song.
- The middle-eight section/bridge was originally meant to be a guitar solo, but this was dropped during recording.
- Lennon sings the main vocals, with harmonising from McCartney and Harrison.
- The lyrics are rumoured to be about Lennon's mother, Julia, who was often beaten by her partner John Dykins.
- An instrumental version of this song was arranged for use in the film A Hard Day's Night, and was re-titled Ringo's Theme (This Boy). This version was released as a single on it's own in 1964, but it failed to make any impact.
- I love this song, Lennon's vocals rule in it.

U.S. single cover

Japan single cover.