19 December 1965
I find the ‘Day Tripper’ riff useful for tuning a guitar. Otherwise, I’ve never really warmed to this particular Beatles hit. The clunky chorus pay-off of “To find out / And I found out!” has the same this’ll-do anti-energy as their other occasional hits-to-order, like ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ and ‘Help!’. Snazzy and practical that riff may be, but the vibe here feels like a ’50s rock n’ roll holdover at a time when The Beatles and others were pushing beyond all that. Also, it’s more of Lennon being snide about a woman, and that’s been wearying me for a while now. I’d be curious if someone’s favourite Beatles track were ‘Day Tripper’, since it’s not even the better Beatles track on this double-A-side single.
I can be cold towards ‘Day Tripper’ because ‘We Can Work It Out’ is so outstandingly good. As with the best of their ’64-’65 songs, it has a bruised world-weariness that floats on the rolling chords, nostalgic accordion and featherlight melody. It also plays into our romanticism of the Lennon and McCartney partnership: Paul’s hopeful, wistful verses and chorus; John’s chafing, realistic mid-section; the delicious crackle of electricity between the two. Perhaps machismo and bravado, or the realpolitik of throwing an upbeat bopper to the chart-hordes, was why ‘Day Tripper’ got front billing over the subtler, more sincere charms of ‘We Can Work It Out’ on this release. (Later releases in other territories would rectify this.) The latter alone would get a higher number from me, perhaps even in gold, but as half a twofer the former trips it up.
