Talk:Girl (Beatles song)

Removal of lyrics
Hi,

I have removed the lyrics added to this page. Without permission from the copyright holder it is an infringement of these rights to publish the lyrics in any form.

Please do not add complete reproductions of lyrical material that are still in copyright. As interesting as they are to read it is not permissible. The only way to deviate this is to add a link to another page where the lyrics have been reproduced. Although the link page will also be a breach of the copyright it will at least be someone else who is infringing this and not Wikipedia.

Pepperstool 08:51, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Who are you, exactly? You sound like a fed, employing an obscure, rarely headed law like that. I know you're doing it for the benifit of Wikipedia, but this is ridiculous. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.229.233.34 (talk) 22:25, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Moved from article
"Lennon stated that he used "Girl" to indirectly slam the Catholic church. By referring to "pain [leading] to pleasure", he expressed his conflicting views with the religion."

Contradicts this and this, where Lennon is quoted as saying that it was about a dream girl that hadn't come yet, possibly Yoko Ono.--194.145.161.227 23:08, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Co-written(again)
According to McCartney, this song was composed during one of Paul and John's writing sessions out at Kenwood(Lennon's place).(I'm quoting 'Many Years From Now' yet again) Paul: It was John's original idea, but it was very much co-written. I remember writing 'the pain and pleasure' and 'a man must break his back', it was all very working-on-the-chain-gang. (...) So I credit that as being towards John but I put quite a bit in. It wasn't one of those that he came in with fully finished at all.--84.208.240.143 00:26, 2 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Ummm.... So edit the article and change it to something that reflects the evidence you've found. Make sure it is cited properly. John Cardinal 15:21, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

"According to McCartney, he wrote the lines "Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure" and "That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure."[4] But in a 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, Lennon claimed this was his own early dig at the Catholic Church."

John may indeed have regarded the lyrics of this song to be his own early dig at the Catholic Church, but that doesn't exclude the possibility of Paul coming up with those exact lines. (Although, in his book, Paul only takes credit for 'pain and pleasure' and 'a man must break his back'; NOT the complete sentences, as someone has stated in the article.) I mean, don't the remaining lines of this song(and there are a few) contain any attacks at all? Or are all the attacks on the Catholic Church guaranteed to be limited to those two lines?

Surely not.

I don't find that John's 1970 interview contradicts what Paul has got to say about the matter at all[BUT in a 1970 interview...], unless someone manages to convince me that 'pain would lead to pleasure' and 'a man must break his back...' are HUGE attacks, while the remaining lines are just sweet nothings. --84.208.224.234 (talk) 02:20, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Intake of breath
This signifies "a chorus of disapproval", doesn't it? Where in wikipedia would the sound and its meaning be discussed? --Tsinfandel (talk) 03:57, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Does anybody know anything about the notorious breathing in this song? It's one of the things that really stand out.--200.14.108.1 (talk) 16:31, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

Tin Pan Alley
In the quote referencing "Tin Pan Alley", would they not be referring to the Tin Pan Alley in London (Denmark Street)? U47 (talk) 22:35, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Not necessarily, since the Beatles were exposed to music cultures around the world. We may never know since Lennon is not here to explain, but if you can find more specific information that is well sourced I'm sure everyone would love to see it. Sundayclose (talk) 22:39, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

"Smutty backing vocals"
Reading this review of the new book by George Martin today, I was struck by this quote "He may have been hoodwinked by the smutty backing vocals in “Girl”, ". I wasn't aware there were any smutty vocals, background or otherwise, but assuming it is this "Girl", this sounds like something rather more than reflections on the breathing noises. Anyone know more? Mighty Antar (talk) 00:20, 13 March 2018 (UTC)

Greek?
"And I love Her" and "Michelle" are Greek-like? What? I think that statement should be removed. --Daveler16 (talk) 05:08, 12 August 2018 (UTC)

ALL Lennon & McCartney SONGS in WIKI - Writing Credits!
Ok, there has been a long-standing issue RE: almost ALL Lennon & McCartney compositions in Wiki. Most people who are knowledgeable about the Beatles would agree, it’s time for it to STOP.

Almost EVERY Lennon & McCartney Wiki entry states: “[title] is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney.” OR vice versa.

While it’s true that some songs, especially in the latter years, were wholly composed by one or the other, these BLANKET statements that a given song was written by the lead singer are long overdue for correction.

I don’t care what the sources are, no such claim can be substantiated with irrefutable proof.

Even if a song was primarily written by one, they would almost always run it past the other, and the other would often suggest a tweak here and there. This is well documented.

Yes, I’m aware that there are numerous stories, including quotes or excerpts from interviews or authorized biographies by Lennon or McCartney themselves, e.g. “Oh that was Paul’s song” in circulation - but even statements made by either writer were made long after the fact. They’ve both ALSO admitted, many times, that they don’t recall the exact details of many compositions. And most importantly, even their own accounts differ in certain cases.

Furthermore, observers who were present have repeatedly discussed how other members, including Harrison, Ringo and even 3rd party hangers on, like Donovan, would occasionally suggest a line or a word for a song.

Even in songs that one or the other ABHORRED, there was STILL often contribution from the other. A perfect example is "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". Lennon admittedly hated that song. Still, he wrote and played the piano intro in a moment of frustration.

So except in the rare cases for which there is absolute certainty, just STOP. Ok? Stop.

Simply add the word “PRIMARILY” and it will SOLVE the problem.

E.g. ”primarily written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney” OR vice versa.

And please do this for EVERY Lennon & McCartney composition in Wiki.

Yes, EVEN songs like “Hey Jude”. Without Lennon’s input, the line, “the movement you need is on your shoulder” would likely have been changed to something else.

We all know that they wrote a lot of songs mostly on their own, still, they were a songwriting TEAM.

NONE of us were present to observe precisely who wrote what, to the letter, so let’s put an end this nonsense, shall we?

Good.

They broke up, then one was shot and killed. For God’s sake, stop separating them further.

Thank you kindly. WB (talk) 04:22, 10 November 2019 (UTC)