Day Tripper
Producer
Got a good reason
For taking the easy way out
Got a good reason
For taking the easy way out, now
[Chorus: Paul McCartney & John Lennon]
She was a day tripper
A one way ticket, yeah
It took me so long
To find out, and I found out
[Verse 2: Paul McCartney & John Lennon]
She's a big teaser
She took me half the way there
She's a big teaser
She took me half the way there, now
[Chorus: Paul McCartney & John Lennon]
She was a day tripper
A one way ticket, yeah
It took me so long
To find out, and I found out
[Guitar Solo: John Lennon]
Tried to please her
She only played one-night stands
Tried to please her
She only played one-night stands, now
[Chorus: Paul McCartney & John Lennon]
She was a day tripper
A Sunday driver, yeah
It took me so long
To find out, and I found out
[Outro: Paul McCartney & John Lennon]
Day tripper
Day tripper, yeah
Day tripper
Day tripper, yeah
Day tripper
About
A non-album single written by Lennon and McCartney in October 1965, “Day Tripper” is a bluesy sibling of sorts to “Drive My Car”, which was recorded a few days before. Fresh from a US tour (including Shea Stadium) and with Help! topping the charts, Lennon and McCartney had gone straight into writing new singles and working on Rubber Soul (which would be released in December).
“Day Tripper” was slated to be the Beatles' next single, but when they recorded “We Can Work It Out” Lennon wanted that to be the new release. Eventually, they compromised and released them both as the first “double A-side” on the same day as Rubber Soul.
The Beatles Bible’s writeup is here.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Indeed it is. In the 1997 book Many Years From Now, Paul McCartney says:
“Day Tripper” was to do with tripping. Acid was coming in on the scene, and often we’d do these songs about ‘the girl who thought she was it’… But this was just a tongue-in-cheek song about someone who was a day tripper, a Sunday painter, Sunday driver, somebody who was committed only in part to the idea. Whereas we saw ourselves as full-time trippers, fully committed drivers, she was just a day tripper.
In his 1980 interview with Playboy, John said:
Day trippers are people who go on a day trip, right. Usually on a ferry boat or something. But it was kind of- you know, you’re a weekend hippie. Get it?"
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