#109: She Said She Said

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Released: August 5, 1966
Appears on: Revolver
Lead vocal: John

"She Said She Said" is definitely the first obvious drug song by The Beatles. Prior to this, they'd been able to hide it with incredible wordplay, but what else could this song have been influenced by? 
The lyrics tell the tale of a boy who is mystified by a girl who believes that "I know what it's like to feel dead, I know what it is to be sad." The trouble is that he doesn't understand her at all. Oh, he thinks he does (Even though you know what you know, I know that I'm ready to leave), but she can see that he doesn't. That's why he wants to leave. What he's hearing is insanity (Things that make me feel that I'm mad), but to her it makes sense. This relationship goes nowhere - she can't stop him and he can't understand her beliefs. 
What gets me about this song is Ringo's drumming. Probably at no other point of the Beatles' career had his drumming sounded this good. From his work on "Rain" to the insane, 'circular' motions on this track, 1966 was one hell of a year for the drummer. This is the only Beatles song with three Beatles on it and none of them being Paul. The goody-two-shoes Beatle sat the session out, with George taking his place. George plays bass and contributes heavily to the backing vocals (you can hear him mostly during the fade-out) with John playing all the guitars and organ. 
"She Said She Said", which closed out the first side of Revolver, was hardly a commercial track, despite the fact that it hardly lacks in the awesomeness department. Capitol left it on Revolver and the song has never appeared anywhere outside of the album.  
It is definitely a highlight of the album for me.