The Beatles cited many musicians who influenced their songwriting. However, in the mid-1960s, one singer/songwriter was a primary source of inspiration for John Lennon. Bob Dylan’s folk songs had a direct way of communicating with listeners that Lennon found intriguing. The Beatles recorded Lennon’s most Dylan-Esque-inspired song in under two hours and nine takes as part of the soundtrack to the feature film, Help!
John Lennon first heard Bob Dylan’s music in 1964
In The Beatles Anthology, Lennon revealed the first time he heard Bob Dylan’s music was in 1964. He said, “In Paris in 1964 was the first time I ever heard Dylan. Paul [McCartney] got the record [The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan] from a French DJ. For three weeks in Paris, we didn’t stop playing it. We all went potty about Dylan.”
However, after hearing Freewheelin’, Lennon was inspired to move away from the romantic pop tunes that were a hallmark of The Beatles’ early days. Dylan’s influence pushed Lennon to write more mature, narrative-driven folk songs.
The Beatles recorded this Bob Dylan-inspired Beatles tune in under two hours and just nine takeshttps://youtu.be/V8nLraecPRY
In 1965, Lennon recorded “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” for The Beatles’ fifth studio album, Help! Dylan’s acoustic guitar-driven work subsequently influenced the song’s melody and lyrics.
In Anthology, Lennon reminisced about the track. He said: “It’s one that you sing a bit sadly to yourself. ‘Here I stand, head in hand…’ I’d started thinking about my own emotions.”
He subsequently added, “I don’t know when exactly it started, [songs] like ‘I’m A Loser’ or ‘Hide Your Love Away.’ Those kinds of things. Instead of projecting myself into a situation, I would try to express what I felt about myself, which I’d done in my books [A Spaniard in the Works and In His Own Write].”
Lennon continued: “I think it was Dylan who helped me realize that not by any discussion or anything, but by hearing his work.”
The Beatles recorded You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away in just nine takes in Feb. 1965 for Help! reported The Beatles Bible. But of the nine, only two were recorded from beginning to end.
Anthology 2 featured take five, the only other full version recorded of the tune. The Beatles, Lennon, McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr recorded all the takes in under two hours. Musician Johnnie Scott was added to record tenor and alto flute parts for the song, only the second time the group used an outside musician on a recording.
Lennon’s happy accident gave the song its signature mistake
A happy accident while recording “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” gave the song its signature slip-up. Rolling Stone reported that the original lyrics didn’t match what Lennon recorded during the sessions.
Lennon’s original lyrics were: “If she’s gone, I can’t go on/Feeling two foot tall.” But when he accidentally sang “two-foot small” while showing the song to McCartney, they both realized the second play on words sounded best.
The song was the first Beatles recording to feature all acoustic instruments. Rolling Stone also noted that the song was the first time Lennon’s lead vocals were not double-tracked.
