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Can't Buy Me Love

{{About|the song}}

{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Can't Buy Me Love

| cover = Can't_Buy_Me_Love_-_The_Beatles_(1964_US_release).jpg

| border = yes

| alt =

| caption = US picture sleeve

| type = single

| artist = the Beatles

| album = A Hard Day's Night

| B-side = You Can't Do That

| released = *{{Start date|1964|03|16|df=y}} (US)

  • 20 March 1964 (UK)

| recorded = 29 January, 25 February 1964

| studio = *Pathé Marconi, Paris

| genre = Rock and roll,{{cite web|date=27 May 2020|title=Paul McCartney's bluegrass The Beatles' 'Can't Buy Me Love'|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/paul-mccartney-beatles-cant-buy-me-love-bluegrass/|access-date=2 March 2021|website=Far Out Magazine}} pop rock,{{sfn|Blake|1999|p=22}} R&B{{cite book|title=1,000 UK Number One Hits|first1=Jon|last1=Kutner|first2=Spencer|last2=Leigh|date=2010|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=9780857123602}}

| length = 2:11

| label = Parlophone (UK), Capitol (US)

| writer = Lennon–McCartney

| producer = George Martin

| chronology = The Beatles UK

| prev_title = I Want to Hold Your Hand

| prev_year = 1963

| next_title = Ain't She Sweet

| next_year = 1964

| misc = {{Extra chronology

| artist = The Beatles US

| type = single

| prev_title = Twist and Shout

| prev_year = 1964

| title = Can't Buy Me Love

| year = 1964

| next_title = Do You Want to Know a Secret

| next_year = 1964

}}

}}

"Can't Buy Me Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in March 1964 as the A-side of their sixth single. It was written by Paul McCartney{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=105}} and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was included on the group's album A Hard Day's Night and was featured in a scene in Richard Lester's film of the same title. The single topped charts in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the Netherlands, France and Sweden. In the UK, it was the fourth highest selling single of the 1960s.{{cite web|title=Ken Dodd 'third best-selling artist of 1960s'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10201932|publisher=BBC News|date=1 June 2010|access-date=7 September 2020}}

Composition

{{Listen

| type = music

| filename = beatles cant buy me love.ogg

| title = "Can't Buy Me Love" sample

}}

While in Paris, the Beatles stayed at the five-star George V hotel and had an upright piano moved into one of their suites so that songwriting could continue.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=161}} It was here that McCartney wrote "Can't Buy Me Love". The song was written under the pressure of the success achieved by "I Want to Hold Your Hand", which had just reached number one in America. When producer George Martin first heard "Can't Buy Me Love", he felt that the song needed changing: "I thought that we really needed a tag for the song's ending, and a tag for the beginning; a kind of intro. So I took the first two lines of the chorus and changed the ending, and said 'Let's just have these lines, and by altering the second phrase we can get back into the verse pretty quickly.{{'"}} And they said: "That's not a bad idea, we'll do it that way".{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=114}} The song's verse is a twelve-bar blues in structure, a formula that the Beatles seldom applied to their own material.{{sfn|Martin|Pearson|1994|p=40}}

When pressed by American journalists in 1966 to reveal the song's "true" meaning, McCartney stated: "I think you can put any interpretation you want on anything, but when someone suggests that 'Can't Buy Me Love' is about a prostitute, I draw the line." He went on to say: "The idea behind it was that all these material possessions are all very well, but they won't buy me what I really want."{{sfn|Badman|2000|p=97}} However, he was to comment later: "It should have been {{'}}Can Buy Me Love{{'"}} when reflecting on the perks that money and fame had brought him.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=162}}

Recording

"Can't Buy Me Love" was recorded on 29 January 1964 at EMI's Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris, France,{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=138}} where the Beatles were performing 18 days of concerts at the Olympia Theatre. At this time, EMI's West Germany branch, Odeon, insisted that the Beatles would not sell records in any significant numbers in Germany unless they were actually sung in the German language{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=112}} and the Beatles reluctantly agreed to re-record the vocals to "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" prior to them being released in Germany. George Martin travelled to Paris with a newly mastered rhythm track for what was to be "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand". "Sie Liebt Dich" required the Beatles to record a new rhythm track as the original two-track recording had been scrapped.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=138}} EMI sent a translator to be present for this recording session which had been hurriedly arranged to tie in with the Beatles' Paris commitments. This was accomplished well within the allotted studio time, allowing the Beatles an opportunity to record the backing track, with a guide vocal, to the recently composed "Can't Buy Me Love".{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=112}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|1988|p=138}} At this stage the song included background vocal harmonies, but after listening to the first take, the band concluded that the song did not need them. Therefore, "Can't Buy Me Love" became the first single the Beatles released without their characteristic background harmonies.

McCartney's final vocal was overdubbed at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London, on 25 February.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=162}} Also re-recorded on this day at EMI Studios was George Harrison's modified guitar solo, although his original solo can still just be heard in the background. Harrison said: "What happened was, we recorded first in Paris and re-recorded in England. Obviously they'd tried to overdub it, but in those days they only had two tracks, so you can hear the version we put on in London, and in the background you can hear a quieter one."{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|pp=112–114}} Helen Shapiro, a friend of the Beatles and present at this overdub session, says that Ringo Starr also added extra cymbals "over the top" and that "apparently this was something he did quite often on their records".{{sfn|Southall|1982|p=96}} "Can't Buy Me Love" is also the only English-language track that the Beatles recorded in a studio outside the UK, although the instrumentation of the band's 1968 B-side "The Inner Light" was recorded in India by Harrison and some Indian classical musicians.

Release

"Can't Buy Me Love" was released as a single, backed by John Lennon's song "You Can't Do That". The release took place on 16 March 1964 in the United States and four days later in the United Kingdom. In the US, "Can't Buy Me Love" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five weeks. With the success of the song, the Beatles established four records on the Hot 100:

  1. Until Billboard began using SoundScan for their charts in 1991, the song had the biggest jump to the top position: number 27 to number 1.
  2. It gave the Beatles three consecutive chart-topping singles, since "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was replaced at number 1 by "She Loves You", which was in turn replaced by "Can't Buy Me Love". The three songs spent a combined total of 14 consecutive weeks at number 1. This is the only time an artist had three number 1 singles in a row.Bronson, F. (2003) The Billboard book of number one hits, Billboard Books, p. 145
  3. When "Can't Buy Me Love" reached number 1, on 4 April 1964, the Beatles held the entire top five on the Hot 100, the next positions being filled by "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me", respectively. No other act had held the top five spots simultaneously, a record not broken until 2022.
  4. During its second week at number 1, the Beatles had fourteen songs on the Hot 100 at the same time.

In the UK, "Can't Buy Me Love" became the Beatles' fourth number 1 and their third single to sell over a million copies. By November 2012, it had sold 1.53 million copies there.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/nov/04/uk-million-selling-singles-full-list |title=UK's million-selling singles: the full list |first= Ami|last= Sedghi |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 November 2012 |access-date=4 November 2012 }} As of December 2018, it was the 35th best-selling single of all time in the UK – one of six Beatles songs included on the top sales rankings published by the Official Charts Company.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-best-selling-singles-of-all-time-on-the-official-uk-chart__21298/|first=Justin|last=Myers|title=The best-selling singles of all time on the Official UK Chart|publisher=Official Charts Company|date=14 December 2018|access-date=26 January 2019}}

"Can't Buy Me Love" was included on the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night album in June 1964 and the US soundtrack album of the same name, released on United Artists Records. For its sequence in the film A Hard Day's Night, director Richard Lester used crane shots to capture the four band members running and leaping in a sports field.{{sfn|Austerlitz|2007|pp=17–18}} In his book on the history of music videos, Money for Nothing, author Saul Austerlitz places "Can't Buy Me Love" at number 33 on the "Top 100 Videos List".{{sfn|Austerlitz|2007|p=226}}

Subsequent album appearances for the song include the compilations A Collection of Beatles Oldies (1966) and Hey Jude (1970; also known as The Beatles Again), the 1973 double-disc collection 1962–1966, the 1982 release Reel Music, which features songs from the Beatles' feature films; the 1982 compilation 20 Greatest Hits and the 2000 greatest hits album 1; a composite of takes one and two of "Can't Buy Me Love" was included on the Anthology 1 compilation in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked "Can't Buy Me Love" at number 295 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010.{{cite magazine |title=Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/the-beatles-cant-buy-me-love-20110526 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=7 April 2011 |access-date=3 November 2015}}

In September 2015, the Beatles donated the use of their recording of the song to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for a television commercial.{{cite news|last1=Kretzer|first1=Michelle|title=Beatles Donate Use of 'Can't Buy Me Love' to PETA for Adoption Campaign|url=http://www.peta.org/blog/see-the-video-beatles-give-peta-cant-buy-me-love-for-adoption-campaign/|access-date=30 September 2015|publisher=PETA|date=29 September 2015}}

McCartney opened his 2022 "Got Back" Tour gigs with the song.

Cover versions

Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song for her 1964 album Hello, Dolly. This version was also released as a single, peaking at number 34 in the UK in June 1964, spending five weeks on the chart.{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/can't-buy-me-love/ |title=Can't Buy Me Love |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=9 May 2022}} Alex Petridis of The Guardian cites Fitzgerald as an example of how several artists, responding to the composition's swing-like rhythmic quality, issued "parent-friendly jazz covers" of "Can't Buy Me Love", and how the song was "key to establishing the Beatles' cross-generational appeal".{{cite news|first=Alex|last=Petridis|title=The Beatles' Singles – Ranked!|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/26/the-beatles-singles-ranked|newspaper=The Guardian|date=26 September 2019|access-date=18 August 2020}}

R&B group Blackstreet recorded a slower-tempo cover of the song for their 1996 album Another Level.{{cite magazine|editor-last=Flick|editor-first=Larry|date=4 October 1997|title=Singles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA90|magazine=Billboard|volume=109|issue=40|page=90|issn=0006-2510|access-date=24 August 2023}}{{cite magazine|last=Reynolds|first=J. R.|date=17 August 1996|title=Blackstreet Shifts Musical Route|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA18|magazine=Billboard|volume=108|issue=33|page=18|issn=0006-2510|access-date=24 August 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2001129/the-number-ones-the-beatles-cant-buy-me-love/columns/the-number-ones/|title=The Number Ones: The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love"|last=Breihan|first=Tom|date=13 June 2018|website=Stereogum|access-date=24 August 2023}}

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald:{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=104}}

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable"
Chart (1964)

!Peak
position

Australian (Kent Music Report){{cite book | title=Australian Chart Book (1940–1969) | author=Kent, David | publisher=Australian Chart Book | location=Turramurra | year=2005 | isbn=0-646-44439-5}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

{{singlechart|Belgium (Flanders)|5|artist=The Beatles|song=Can't Buy Me Love|access-date=16 May 2016}}
Denmark (Salgshitlisterne Top 20){{Cite web|title=The Beatles – Salgshitlisterne Top 20|url=http://danskehitlister.dk/?artist_id=26|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104013806/http://danskehitlister.dk/?artist_id=26|archive-date=2013-11-04|access-date=2022-08-02|website=Danske Hitlister}}

| style="text-align:center;" |1

{{singlechart|Ireland2|1|artist=The Beatles|song=Can't Buy Me Love|access-date=16 May 2016}}
Finland (The Official Finnish Charts){{Cite web |date=12 August 2015 |title=Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit SAR – SEM |url=http://suomenlistalevyt.blogspot.com/2015/08/bat-bif.html |access-date=2022-03-26 |website=Sisältää hitin}}

| style="text-align:center;"|3

{{singlechart|Dutch100|1|artist=The Beatles|song=Can't Buy Me Love|access-date=16 May 2016}}
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade){{Cite web |url=http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20lever&qartistid=8#n_view_location |title=Flavour of New Zealand, 14 May 1964 |access-date=26 August 2018 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019150229/http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20lever#n_view_location |url-status=dead }}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

{{singlechart|Norway|3|artist=The Beatles|song=Can't Buy Me Love|access-date=16 May 2016}}
Sweden (Kvällstoppen){{Cite book|last=Hallberg|first=Eric|title=Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 – 19. 8. 1975|publisher=Drift Musik|year=1993|pages=130|isbn=9163021404}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

Sweden (Tio i Topp){{Cite book |last1=Hallberg |first1=Eric |title=Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 – 74 |last2=Henningsson |first2=Ulf |publisher=Premium Publishing |year=1998 |isbn=919727125X |pages=53}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

{{singlechart|UK|1|date=1964-04-08|access-date=16 May 2016}}
{{singlechart|Billboardhot100|1|artist=The Beatles|access-date=16 May 2016}}
US Cash Box Top 100{{cite book| first=Frank| last=Hoffmann| year=1983| title=The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981| publisher=The Scarecrow Press, Inc| location=Metuchen, NJ & London| pages= 32–34}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

West German Media Control Singles Chart{{cite web|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts|title=Offizielle Deutsche Charts|format=Enter "Beatles" in the search box|publisher=GfK Entertainment charts|language=de|access-date=16 May 2016}}

|align=center|24

class="wikitable"
scope="col"|Chart (2015)

! scope="col"|Peak
position

Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan){{Cite web|url=https://www.sverigetopplistan.se/chart/215?dspy=2015&dspp=53|title=Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 53, 2015|language=sv|publisher=Sverigetopplistan|access-date=2 May 2021}}

| style="text-align:center;"|16

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable"
align="left"|Chart (1964)

! style="text-align:center;"|Rank

UK Singles (Official Charts Company){{cite web|first=Dan |last=Lane |title=The biggest selling singles of every year revealed! (1952–2011) |publisher=Official Charts Company |date=18 November 2012 |access-date=28 August 2014 |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-biggest-selling-singles-of-every-year-revealed-1952-2011-1720/}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

US Billboard Hot 100{{cite web|url=http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1964.htm |title=Top 100 Hits of 1964/Top 100 Songs of 1964 |website=Musicoutfitters.com |access-date=27 September 2016}}

| style="text-align:center;"|52

US Cash Box{{cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/1964YESP.html |title=Top 100 Year End Charts: 1964 |website=Cashbox Magazine |access-date=17 June 2016}}

| style="text-align:center;"|68

{{col-end}}

Certifications and sales

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for Can't Buy Me Love}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=The Beatles|title=Can't Buy Me Love|award=Silver|relyear=1954|certyear=2022|id=18404-1786-1|access-date=6 October 2022|salesamount=1,547,454|salesref={{cite news|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-uks-official-chart-millionaires-revealed__20459/|title=The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=19 September 2017|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=11 September 2022}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=The Beatles|title=Can't Buy Me Love|award=Gold|certyear=1964|type=single|salesamount=2,100,000|salesref={{cite book|title=Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s : an illustrated directory|url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL120558W/Million_selling_records_from_the_1900s_to_the_1980s|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1985 |publisher=Arco Pub.|quote=This disc golds the record to date for the biggest advance sale of any single – 2,100,000 in the U.S.A., on the Capitol label, and over one million in Britain … it topped the charts all over the globe. World sales have been estimate at between five and six million|isbn=0668064595|page=453}}}}

{{Certification Table Summary}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Worldwide|artist=The Beatles|title=Can't Buy Me Love|nocert=true|salesamount=6,000,000|salesref=}}

{{table end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Sources

{{Refbegin|30em}}

  • {{cite book|last=Austerlitz|first=Saul|title=Money for Nothing: A History of the Music Video from the Beatles to the White Stripes|year=2007|publisher=Continuum|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-8264-1818-0}}
  • {{cite book |last=Badman |first=Keith |title=The Beatles Off The Record |year=2000 }}
  • {{cite book |author=The Beatles |year=2000 |author-link=The Beatles |title=The Beatles Anthology |publisher=Chronicle Books |location=San Francisco, CA |isbn=0-8118-2684-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/beatlesanthology0000unse }}
  • {{cite book |last=Blake|first=Andrew|title=Living through pop|year=1999 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Lewisohn |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Lewisohn |title=The Beatles Recording Sessions |year=1988 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |isbn=0-517-57066-1 }}
  • {{cite book |last=MacDonald |first=Ian |author-link=Ian MacDonald |title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties |year=2005 |edition=Second Revised |publisher=Pimlico (Rand) |location=London |isbn=1-84413-828-3 }}
  • {{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=George |author-link=George Martin |last2=Pearson |first2=William |title=Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt Pepper |year=1994 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |isbn=0-333-60398-2 }}
  • {{cite book |last=Miles |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Miles |title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now |year=1997 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York |isbn=0-8050-5249-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/paulmccartneyman00mile }}
  • {{cite certification|region=United States|type=single|artist=Beatles, The|title=Can_t Buy Me Love|certyear=1964|access-date=20 July 2009}}
  • {{cite book |last=Southall |first=Brian |year=1982 |title= Abbey Road. The Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studios |publisher=Patrick Stephens |location=London |isbn=0-85059-810-9 }}
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/cant-buy-me-love/|title=Can't Buy Me Love – The Beatles Bible |date=15 March 2008 |access-date=11 April 2012}}

{{Refend}}

External links

{{Wikiquote|A Hard Day's Night (album)}}

  • {{Notes on|http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/cbml.shtml}}
  • [http://covertogether.com/song/cant-buy-me-love CoverTogether: Can't Buy Me Love]
  • {{YouTube|h3WJiqc_bEs|Beatles – Can't Buy Me Love}}

{{A Hard Day's Night}}

{{The Beatles singles}}

{{UK best-selling singles (by year) 1952–1969}}

{{authority control}}

Category:1964 singles

Category:The Beatles songs

Category:Parlophone singles

Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles

Category:Cashbox number-one singles

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles

Category:UK singles chart number-one singles

Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles

Category:Songs written by Lennon–McCartney

Category:Song recordings produced by George Martin

Category:Ella Fitzgerald songs

Category:Chet Atkins songs

Category:Capitol Records singles

Category:Songs published by Northern Songs

Category:1964 songs

Category:British pop rock songs

Category:British rock-and-roll songs