And Your Bird Can Sing

And Your Bird Can Sing is a track originally released on the Beatles' Revolver album. John Lennon composed the song with input from Paul in the bridge and harmonies. The lyrics have caused a great deal of speculation and discussion because they seem autobiographical, but the situation is unclear: the narrator is criticizing a friend for his (or her) air of superiority. One theory is that the song is about Mick Jagger and his girlfriend ("bird"), Marianne Faithfull, who was becoming well-known as a pop singer in her own right. Another speculation is that it is about Paul. In 1965 Frank Sinatra was nominated for a Grammy, and in his press release made a jab at the Beatles ("kid singers wearing mops of hair"). He included the line, "and your bird can swing . . . but you can't hear me."

For his part, Lennon considered this a "work song," cranked out to fill the album. Nevertheless, recording took a lot of time, starting on April 20, 1966 and then starting over from scratch on April 26. Though written in D, the band recorded it in E, using capos. Take 10 was the keeper.

Another notable feature of this song is the guitar solo, played in duet by George and Paul on identical instruments (Epiphone Casinos).

The Anthology 2 compilation features take 2 of the recording sessions for this song, which was aborted by silly laughter from Paul and John, probably a consequence of weed.