Jane Asher and Paul McCartney (English Version)

YOU WON'T SEE ME

It was 1965 and Paul and Jane's relationship was not going so well.

Christopher Sandford: He and Jane broke up several times that autumn. She packed a bag and went off to stay with a girlfriend, or perform in some provincial theatre, leaving him behind with her mum and dad. Talking to friends like Allan Clarke in the Ad Lib, Paul complained that he wanted his bird at home with him, while Jane insisted she work; that he'd seen his own mother flog herself back in the bad old days, and couldn't understand why a woman would want to do that when she didn't have to. There were times when his unhappiness was also a source of inspiration.

On 12 October, the Beatles began recording their sixth album, among the songs composed by Paul are some dedicated to Jane.

"We Can Work It Out" —

PAUL: The lyrics might have been personal. It is often a good way to talk to someone or to work your own thoughts out. It saves you going to a psychiatrist, you allow yourself to say what you might not say in person.

Try to see it my way,
Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on?
While you see it your way,
Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone
We can work it out,

Think of what you're saying
You can get it wrong and still you think that it's alright
Think of what I'm saying,
We can work it out and get it straight, or say good night
We can work it out,

Try to see it my way,
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
While you see it your way
There's a chance that we may fall apart before too long
We can work it out,

Paul wrote the upbeat verses and chorus, reportedly after a disagreement with Jane, while John Lennon had the idea for the pessimistic "Life is very short" counterpoint.

PAUL: It was 1965. Things were not going so smoothly between Jane Asher and me. Everyone has mild arguments where you think, 'God, I wish they could understand where I'm coming from' or 'I wish they could get it.' They obviously don't; they think I'm some kind of idiot or tyrant or something. It was just normal boyfriend-girlfriend stuff where she'd want it one way, I'd want it another way andI would try to persuade her, or she would try to persuade me. Most of the time we got on really well, but there would be odd moments where one or other of us would get hurt. Time has told me that millions of people go through these little squabbles all the time and will recognise just how common this is, but this particular song was not like that; it was, 'Try to see it my way.' When you're a songwriter, it's a good thing to just go off and get your point of view in a song, and with a Beatles song, if it's going to be heard by millions of people, you can spread a good message: 'We can work it out'. If you wanted to say it in one line, it would be, 'Let's not argue'. If you wanted to say it in two lines: 'Let's not argue/Listen to me'. Obviously that is quite selfish, but then so is the song. I started writing the song to try to figure my way out of feeling bad after an argument. It was really fresh in my mind. You can't write this kind of song two weeks later. You have to do it immediately. Writing a song is a good way to get your thoughts out and to allow yourself to say things that you might not say to the other person.