Got to Get You Into My Life

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“Got to Get You into My Life” is a song by the Beatles, first released in 1966 on the album Revolver. It was written by Paul McCartney, though officially credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is a homage to the Motown Sound, with colourful brass instrumentation, and lyrics that suggest a psychedelic experience. “It’s actually an ode to pot,” McCartney explained. A cover version by Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers peaked at number six in 1966 in the UK. The song was issued in the United States as a single from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Music compilation album in 1976, six years after the Beatles disbanded. It reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the Beatles’ last top ten US hit until their 1995 release “Free as a Bird“.

Composition and recording

Though officially credited to Lennon–McCartney, McCartney was primarily responsible for the writing of the song, to which he also contributed lead vocals. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios between 7 April and 17 June 1966 and evolved considerably between the first takes and the final version released on album. The song seems to have been hard to arrange until the soul-style horns, strongly reminiscent of the Stax’ Memphis soul and Motown sound, were introduced. The brass was close-miked in the bells of the instruments then put through a limiter. The percussion instrument most predominant is the overdubbed tambourine.

The song starts with a blaring brass fanfare, McCartney’s vocals entering at 0:07. The chorus of the song appears at 1:04, with the song’s title sung. The song then switches between a verse and the refrain. A short electric guitar solo that is reminiscent of the riff from “Paperback Writer” appears at 1:53 and at 2:10 the horn fanfare re-enters. The song closes with fading vocals of McCartney, much akin to the soul records of the time. The mono and stereo mixes of the recording feature different ad libs in the fade-out – the presence of a second vocal track is also more subtle for most of the mono version. Backing vocals were recorded early but later eliminated.

In Barry Miles’ 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, McCartney disclosed that the song was about marijuana. “‘Got to Get You into My Life’ was one I wrote when I had first been introduced to pot … So [it’s] really a song about that, it’s not to a person.” Many lyrics from the song suggest this: “I took a ride, I didn’t know what I would find there / Another road where maybe I could see some other kind of mind there.“,’“What can I do? What can I be? When I’m with you, I want to stay there / If I am true, I will never leave and if I do, I’ll know the way there.” “It’s actually an ode to pot,” McCartney explained, “like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret.“

Reception

Thomas Ward of Allmusic said, “McCartney’s always been a great vocalist, and this is perhaps the best example of his singing on Revolver. One of the overlooked gems on the album.” When asked about the song in his 1980 Playboy interview, John Lennon said, “Paul’s again. I think that was one of his best songs, too.” […]

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

• [a] mono 17,20 Jun 1966.
  UK: Parlophone PMC 7009 Revolver 1966.
  US: Capitol T 2576 Revolver 1966.
• [b] stereo 22 Jun 1966.
  UK: Parlophone PCS 7009 Revolver 1966.
  US: Capitol ST 2576 Revolver 1966.
  CD: EMI CDP 7 46441 2 Revolver 1987.

Mono [a] has a noticeably longer fade (8 seconds) that helps, and louder bass and percussion. The brass sound on mono [a] was augmented on June 20 by lifting brass sound from the master and overdubbing onto the mix done on June 17. This overdub, being on the mix tape, was not done in stereo [b]. [a] and [b] have different vocals at the fade, the line “every single day of my life”, which may be the use of different vocal tracks of the doubletracking.

What we had to get into our lives, it seemed, was marijuana. Until we happened upon marijuana, we’d been drinking men. We were introduced to grass when we were in the US, and it blew our tiny little minds.

What happened is that we were in a hotel suite, maybe in New York around the summer of 1964, and Bob Dylan turned up with his roadie. He’d just released Another Side of Bob Dylan. We were just drinking, as usual, having a little party. We’d ordered drinks from room service — scotch and Coke and French wine were our thing back then — and Bob had disappeared into a back room. We thought maybe he’d gone to the toilet, but then Ringo came out of that back room, looking a bit strange. He said, “I’ve just been with Bob, and he’s got some pot,” or whatever you called it then. And we said, “Oh, what’s it like?” and he said, “Well, the ceiling is kind of moving; it’s sort of coming down.” And that was enough.

After Ringo said that, the other three of us all leapt into the back room where Dylan was, and he gave us a puff on the joint. And you know how a lot of people take a puff and think it’s not working? We expected something instantaneous, so we kept puffing away and saying, “It’s not working, is it?” And suddenly it was working. And we were giggling, laughing at each other. I remember George trying to get away, and I was sort of running after him. It was hilarious, like a cartoon chase. We thought, “Wow, this is pretty amazing, this stuff.” And so it became part of our repertoire from then on. How did we get our pot? To tell you the truth, it just showed up. There were certain people you could get it from. You just had to know who had some.

Paul McCartney – From Paul McCartney reveals the stories behind his greatest hits | The Sunday Times Magazine | The Sunday Times (thetimes.co.uk) – From “The Lyrics” book, 2021

Last updated on October 19, 2021

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