Can't Buy Me Love

Album: A Hard Day's Night

Year: 1964

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

Written in a hotel room while The Beatles were playing in Paris, France, Can't Buy Me Love was released as their sixth British single, and it went straight to #1. At the time that this song was written and recorded, The Beatles were exploding as a worldwide phenomenon. They were going to America for the first time, to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show–where a record 73 million viewers watched them–and a tour that would take them to eight countries was planned for later in the year. They were also getting ready to work on their first film, A Hard Day's Night.

Can't Buy Me Love was written to be included in the film. In this scene, The Beatles are shown escaping from a studio where they will be taping a television appearance. Bored by being locked up inside all day in "a car and a room and a room and a room," they run outside to frolic and have some silly fun, until chased away by a grumpy caretaker. "Sorry we hurt your field, mister," is George's famous response as The Beatles head back to the studio.

Paul sings the lead vocal, and George plays two different guitars: his newly-acquired 12-string Rickenbacker and one of his several Gretsch models.