You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” is a song by English rock band the Beatles. It was written and sung by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and released on the album Help! in August 1965.

Composition and recording

Lennon’s vocal style was inspired by the American singer Bob Dylan. Lennon wrote the song at home during what he called his “Dylan period“, wanting another song for the film Help!. The song “is just basically John doing Dylan“, Paul McCartney confirmed.

The song is in a folkish strophic form and uses a Dylanesque acoustic guitar figure in compound time, chiefly acoustic accompaniment, no backing voices and light percussion from brushed snare, tambourine and maraca.

The basic rhythm track was recorded first, followed by George Harrison’s guitar and some extra percussion. John Scott recorded a tenor flute in the spaces in Lennon’s vocal track and an additional alto flute part, an octave higher than the first, on the last available track of the four-track machine.

Performance in the film

In the film Help!, at the opening of the song, the head of the cult, Clang (Leo McKern), appears from underneath a manhole cover in the middle of Ailsa Avenue, London, where parts of the film were shot. He stays there for the whole song, which the Beatles play in Lennon’s quarter of the Beatles’ shared flat. The flute part of the song is performed by George’s in-house gardener (who also trims his grass carpet with chattery teeth). They are watched by Ahme (Eleanor Bron), and at the end of the song, Harrison passes out after Ahme produces a giant needle for Starr, who is wearing the ring the cult is seeking.

Other studio tracks

There is a montage of the first two takes (both broken down), followed by a completed alternative version (Take 5), included on Anthology 2. Lennon counts off the song then stops to readjust his guitar pickup (“I’m just going to raise this so that it’s nearer to the bass strings than the top string“). This is followed by the sound of a glass shattering on the floor, prompting John to teasingly sing: “Paul’s broken a glass, broken a glass. Paul’s broken a glass. A glass, a glass he’s broke today” (In the background, Ringo plays the snare drum with wire brush drum sticks keeping in time with John’s cadence). John also addresses Paul as “Macca“, a nickname in England for someone who is of Irish descent or has “Mc” in their last name. “Oh, you ready, Macca?“

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

• [a] mono 20 Feb 1965.
  UK: Parlophone PMC 1255 Help! 1965.
• [b] stereo 23 Feb 1965.
  UK: Parlophone PCS 3071 Help! 1965, Apple PCSP 717 The Beatles 1962-1966 1973.
  US: Capitol SMAS 2386 Help! 1965, Apple SKBO-3403 The Beatles 1962-1966 1973.
• [b1] mono made from [b] 1965, by Capitol.
  US: Capitol MAS 2386 Help! 1965.
• [c] stereo 1987.
  CD: EMI CDP 7 46439 2 Help! 1987, EMI CDP 7 97036 2 The Beatles 1962-1966 1993.

Last updated on March 16, 2016

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