Les Beatles* – You've Got To Hide Your Love Away ( Du Film "Help!" )

Following on the heels of Rubber Soul [June of 1965], Help [August of 1965] introduced the world to “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” ... a song that was withheld from Rubber Soul [depending on who you believe], and with its inclusion, this B-Side would have made Rubber Soul the most staggering Beatles’ releases of all time.

If you track the timeline as laid out by Larry Kane [the only reporter to accompany The Beatles on both tours] in his book “Ticket To Ride,” you’ll come to understand that even while touring, and in the midst of making a movie, The Fab Four managed to spirit themselves away in the back of the tour plane to flesh out songs. Of “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” Lennon would remark, “That’s me in my Dylan period.” And while that certainly may be true, it is much much more than Mr. Dylan could have ever hoped to write, so great, that Brian Wilson insisted that it be included on the Beach Boys’ album Beach Boy’s Party.”

Rumors have circulated from the beginning that suggest that the song was written for their manager Brian Epstein, a homosexual. Although denied by the pair, The Beatles biographer Hunter Davies claims that the song came out of a holiday Epstein and Lennon spent together in Barcelona, Spain, and that Lennon did it to the affair, yet goes on to suggest that Lennon was not actually a homosexual, just open minded enough to try anything once. The other side of the coin leaves open the possibility that the song revolved around a woman Lennon was living with at the time.

Recorded in February of ’65 in nine takes, with only two being complete, this was only the second time The Beatles had used a session musician. The 5th version of the song can be heard on Anthology 2, and is quite remarkable to hear. Regardless of the backstories, “You’ve Got To Hide You Love Away,” ushered in a new sound and attitude for the The Beatles, as if within a year they had gone from mop-tops, to the most serious musicians of the day, displaying a depth of character and a quality of emotional structure that caused, and still does, people to stop what they’re doing and quietly listen; as if waiting for some cosmic secret will be imparted. There’s a sweetness to the song that creates a centered peace of mind, very hummable, with a set of lyrics that were dynamically encoming and impossible to ignore. Though having said that, the song was very spiteful, suggesting deep emotional angst, and a situation where Lennon had an inability to both grasp and understand what was transpiring. , this is John Lennon we’re talking about, a man who could have any woman he wished, and certainly by this time in his life, would have been in control of such situations. So, when you consider the nature and emotion of the song, I find it impossible not to believe that it was written for Brian Epstein.

Whatever the genesis of “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” the world would be a much smaller place without it.

Review by Jenell Kesler