And Your Bird Can Sing

John Lennon, over time, didn't give much importance to this piece, referring to it as something superficial, like "fancy wrapping paper around an empty box." The working title was "You Don't Get Me." The somewhat enigmatic lyrics have given rise to various theories about their meaning. One of them suggests that Lennon was addressing Frank Sinatra, in response to a very flattering article about the singer he had read in Esquire magazine. Another hypothesis points to Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull. A personal story that is told is that the inspiration may have come from a gift from his then-wife, Cynthia. She gave him a mechanical bird in a golden cage. When she wound it up to sing, Lennon was left with an expression of astonishment. Some interpret that this caged bird became a metaphor for his marriage and for Cynthia's difficulty in understanding him. The band experimented with the recording of the song, even having an initial version with a style reminiscent of The Byrds. That discarded take, where Lennon and McCartney could be heard laughing while trying to record a vocal part, ended up being released in 1996 on the compilation Anthology 2.