You've got to hide your love away

It is believed that the song was written by J. Lennon under the significant influence of Bob Dylan . This fact is supported by the similarity of the lyrics of the song “You've Got to Hide Your Love Away” with the lyrics of Dylan’s song “I Don't Believe You [She Acts Like We Have Never Met]” (Lennon at the beginning: “Here I stand head in hand turn my face to the wall ”; by Dylan:“ I can't understand, she let go of my hand, and left me here facing the wall ”); In addition, Lennon imitates Dylan’s hoarse vocal style and uses in this song an acoustic arrangement with a minimum of percussion (which is also characteristic of Dylan). According to P. McCartney, “the whole song is, in principle, John making Dylan” ^[1] . According to Lennon himself, the work of Bob Dylan during the creation of this song "helped him to express what he feels inside himself."

The song was recorded on February 18, 1965 . A total of 9 takes were made, of which only two came out complete. The Beatles Anthology presents another complete double: in it, right before the song, you can hear John perform the starting count, then slightly adjust the guitar, then the sound of a broken glass and the phrase Lennon that McCartney broke the glass are heard.

The song “You've Got to Hide Your Love Away” became the Beatles' second song (after “Love Me Do”), which was recorded by a session musician: flutist John Scott first recorded a tenor flute along with other musicians, and then to the main The record also added a part of the alto flute, recorded separately.

The song sounds in a purely acoustic musical presentation (except for the Höfner bass of Paul McCartney); structurally consists of an introduction, two complete verses, two choruses and an instrumental code . For a melody, the beginning of each musical phrase with a strong beat is characteristic. The melody of the verse is quite restrained and fits into a very narrow range, while at the beginning of the refrain there is a jump by an entire octave (from top to bottom); thus, the melody of the verse and the chorus are opposed to each other. Harmoniously, the song is quite simple and does not contain modulations; in addition to the main chord (the song sounds in G major ), it contains dominant (D major), subdominant (C major) and a rather non-classical major triad of the lowered seventh step (F major). The use of this chord, however, is quite typical for the Beatles (it was first heard in several compositions of their very first studio album Please Please Me ).

The text of the song conveys the feelings of a young man rejected by the girl, and his feelings about how others relate to this.

(fragment of lyrics) Here I stand, holding my head,
Turning his face to the wall.
She left - and I can’t handle it,
I feel small, two feet tall.

People stare from everywhere -
And so it is day by day.
I see them laughing at me
And I hear them say:

Hey, you have to hide your love!
Hey, you have to hide your love!

Original text

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

- text fragment (non-literary translation)

Despite the fact that the text clearly speaks of a girl, some believed that the lyrics contained a reference to the band’s manager Brian Epstein , who was homosexual (which was a criminal offense in the UK ) ^{[2] [3]} . Epstein and Lennon spent some time in Barcelona in April 1963, which generated numerous rumors after their return. On the other hand, many thought the song was about Lennon's relationship with his girlfriend at that time.

• John Lennon - vocals, twelve-string guitar
• Paul McCartney - bass, acoustic guitar
• George Harrison - Acoustic Guitar
• Ringo Starr - Tambourine, Maracas
• John Scott - Tenor and Alt Flutes

The song has been repeatedly sung by many performers, including:

• The Beach Boys on Beach Boys' Party!
• Joe Cocker
• Chris Cornell
• Elvis Costello
• Oasis band
• Tim rose
• band The Subways
• Travis group
• band pearl jam
• Keane group

• When recording, Lennon sang “two foot small” instead of the planned “two foot tall”, but it was decided not to rewrite. At the same time, Lennon, according to eyewitnesses, said: “Let it stay, the imagination will like it” ^[3] .

• Lyrics (English) (Retrieved July 16, 2017)
• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on You've Got to Hide Your Love Away (Retrieved February 5, 2014)
• The Beatles Bible - You've Got to Hide Your Love Away (Retrieved February 5, 2014)