Deciphering The Beatles..................Eighteen......You’ve Got To Hide Your Love A

[gryphon]

Deciphering The Beatles..................Eighteen......You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away


Lyrics


Here I stand head in hand
Turn my face to the wall
If she's gone I can't go on
Feelin' two-foot small

Everywhere people stare
Each and every day
I can see them laugh at me
And I hear them say

Hey you've got to hide your love away
Hey you've got to hide your love away

How can I even try
I can never win
Hearing them, seeing them
In the state I'm in

How could she say to me
Love will find a way
Gather round all you clowns
Let me hear you say

Hey you've got to hide your love away
Hey you've got to hide your love away


In 1965 the Beatles had met Bob Dylan and his advice had been to write songs which were much more personal .....................John, in particular had taken this to heart and this was one of his first completed songs in that direction.

The lyrics look to convey quite a simple meaning about a hidden love ..............but, as usual with John, there was more to this than meets the eye.

The story here is easy to unpick but, it is what might have influenced John which is most interesting.


There are four main factors playing in this lyric.

1.

1. J John is writing about himself and his experiences: It is credible to say that he might also have taken some of the people around him into consideration too. John would have looked at his own marriage and maybe those of his parents and friends........IT might have been that John was feeling that in his (and others) circumstances that love was too painful a thing to reveal completely and that it needed to be hidden from another’s view. His own marriage was not great success and there are many documented stories that John was having affairs of one kind or another at this time. Maybe, he realised that this would hurt Cynthia and he really wanted to be with her but, the pressures of being a Beatle made this impossible.
   

It is also possible that John was considering his own family’s marriages in the background,

Julia had had a difficult first and second marriage.

1. 2. Another possible idea behind the song was that of Brian Epstein’s homosexuality. In England in the 60s homosexuality was illegal. Brain was not to be gay by the Beatles and his lifestyle had lead him into many difficult and scandalous situations. Therefore one could interpret John’s lyrics as having this as their theme and thus the song makes sense in this context too. To hide the context John has changed the sex of the person he refers to and moved the theme to the first person to keep people guessing.
   

1. 3. The third source for the lyric maybe a background issue but has been raised in several books. Julia’s second marriage involved John gaining a half sister Julia Baird. Julia has been quote as saying that she was a secrete that was keep out of the public eye and that she was referred to in Beatle songs..............When pressed she revealed that she was part of the inspiration behind “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”
   

1. 4. John might be using a metaphor for his feelings about being a Beatle and all the attention that brought. In the song are references to hiding away and how this constant attention might feel. It is possible that he might have used this tension as an inspiration for parts of the song.
   

[SteveO]

What an intriguing story...thanks again for this Gryph !!!...looking forward to more deciphers !!!!

Deciphering The Beatles..................Eighteen......You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away


Lyrics


Here I stand head in hand
Turn my face to the wall
If she's gone I can't go on
Feelin' two-foot small

Everywhere people stare
Each and every day
I can see them laugh at me
And I hear them say

Hey you've got to hide your love away
Hey you've got to hide your love away

How can I even try
I can never win
Hearing them, seeing them
In the state I'm in

How could she say to me
Love will find a way
Gather round all you clowns
Let me hear you say

Hey you've got to hide your love away
Hey you've got to hide your love away


In 1965 the Beatles had met Bob Dylan and his advice had been to write songs which were much more personal .....................John, in particular had taken this to heart and this was one of his first completed songs in that direction.

The lyrics look to convey quite a simple meaning about a hidden love ..............but, as usual with John, there was more to this than meets the eye.

The story here is easy to unpick but, it is what might have influenced John which is most interesting.


There are four main factors playing in this lyric.

1.

1. J John is writing about himself and his experiences: It is credible to say that he might also have taken some of the people around him into consideration too. John would have looked at his own marriage and maybe those of his parents and friends........IT might have been that John was feeling that in his (and others) circumstances that love was too painful a thing to reveal completely and that it needed to be hidden from another’s view. His own marriage was not great success and there are many documented stories that John was having affairs of one kind or another at this time. Maybe, he realised that this would hurt Cynthia and he really wanted to be with her but, the pressures of being a Beatle made this impossible.
   

It is also possible that John was considering his own family’s marriages in the background,

Julia had had a difficult first and second marriage.

1. 2. Another possible idea behind the song was that of Brian Epstein’s homosexuality. In England in the 60s homosexuality was illegal. Brain was not to be gay by the Beatles and his lifestyle had lead him into many difficult and scandalous situations. Therefore one could interpret John’s lyrics as having this as their theme and thus the song makes sense in this context too. To hide the context John has changed the sex of the person he refers to and moved the theme to the first person to keep people guessing.
   

1. 3. The third source for the lyric maybe a background issue but has been raised in several books. Julia’s second marriage involved John gaining a half sister Julia Baird. Julia has been quote as saying that she was a secrete that was keep out of the public eye and that she was referred to in Beatle songs..............When pressed she revealed that she was part of the inspiration behind “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”
   

1. 4. John might be using a metaphor for his feelings about being a Beatle and all the attention that brought. In the song are references to hiding away and how this constant attention might feel. It is possible that he might have used this tension as an inspiration for parts of the song.