I was watching an interview with Paul where he said:
'The song 'I Saw Her Standing There' had this lyrics:
'Well, she was just seventeen
She was never a beauty queen...'
But the lyrics somehow didn't fit. So we (John & Paul) deliberately put '...you know what I mean' as a second line - just to make people wonder what DO we mean.'
Yes, the guys were producing hits - but they were also finding new ways to improve - both musically and, as we see, lyrically.
Let's go back to the seventeen-year old girl which Paul saw standing there:
Well, she was just seventeen,
You know what I mean,
And the way she looked was way beyond compare...
You could say: Well, it is obvious what they meant - the way she looked was way beyond compare.
That would be the case if those lyrics would be written in a simple pattern.
BUT - there is one thing:
And the way she looked was way beyond compare...
This 'and' just breaks the pattern and 'sticks out'. Compare it when it would be written without it:
Well, she was just seventeen,
You know what I mean:
The way she looked was way beyond compare...
In this case, the second line is explained in the third: Well, you KNOW what I mean: Man, the way that girl looked was waaay beyond to compare!
This 'and' makes a totally different thing - it makes a 'cut' and the thing 'what they mean' is not answered. Actually, the second line completes the first (and not the third!)
We can only guess what it means. But, that's just precisely what the guys wanted: keep us guessing and wandering!
It could be: she was just seventeen /you know what I mean/: just the right age for love.
Then, I went thru some other lyrics and found out that guys used it more than one occasion. Quite a few times actually.
But when I get home to you
I find the things that you do
Will make me feel alright.
Well, it is not said what
things EXACTLY a girl does to his hard day's night guy. Just a hint. We can only imagine.
Next.
If I fell in love with you
Would you promise to be true?
And help me understand
'Cause I've been in love before
And I've found that love was more
Than just holding hands.
Nice lyrics - and again, what was that MORE than just holding hands - kissing? mutual understanding? lovemaking? - is not answered.
The Beatles covered song 'Money' - but, they were also very aware that money can't buy love:
Say you don't need no diamond ring,
And I'll be satisfied,
Tell me that you want those kind of things,
That money just can't buy,
For I don't care too much for money,
For money can't buy me love.
Can't buy me love, love,
Can't buy me love.
Of course, there are a lot of things that $$ can't buy but here is a hint (of sexual nature?): ...
those kind of things that money just can't buy.
More.
Oh, you could find better things to do
That to break my heart again,
This time I will try to show that I'm
Not trying to pretend.
A message to a girl who is breaking his heart. 'Better things to do' are obvious the things opposite of what's she's doing to him right now.
Ev'ry little thing she does,
She does for me, yeah.
And you know the things she does,
She does for me, yeah.
Actually, we
don't know the thing she does - but we suspect the guy enjoys it.
Why she had to go, I don't know, she wouldn't say.
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday.
Beautiful
Yesterday. Paul suspects he said 'something wrong', but he's not sure why she left him. The reasons are not clear.
Michelle:
I love you, I love you, I love you,
That's all I want to say,
Until I find a way
I will say the only words I know
That you'll understand.
I need to, I need to, I need to,
I need to make you see
Oh what you mean to me,
Until I do I'm hoping you will know
What I mean.
I love you.
I want you, I want you, I want you,
I think you know by now,
I'll get to you somehow
Until I do I'm telling you
So you'll understand.
Hints - I'll get you
somehow (but it isn't said how)... you know what I mean, until I do... or until I find a way...
Then, the song 'What Goes On' raises some questions which are not answered:
What goes on in your heart?Eleanor Rigby. The song is full of unanswered questions:
Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church
Where a wedding has been,
Lives in a dream,
Waits at the window, wearing the face
That she keeps in a jar by the door,
Who is it for?
And the refrain:
All the lonely people, where do they all come from?
All the lonely people, where do they all belong?
Thruout the whole song there is some mistery feeling - questions raised, but unanswered. I must say: great stylistic choice!