This composition was not released as a single in the UK, but in the US it was released on the back of I Want to Hold Your Hand, with which The Beatles won the hearts of American music lovers. Against the background of the success of that hit, the achievements of I Saw Her Standing There seemed not so impressive, but this song also rose high in the charts and became one of the most famous works of the Beatles. Subsequently, it was performed by dozens of popular artists, including Elton John, The Who and Led Zeppelin.
The history of the song I Saw Her Standing There
The idea for the composition came from Paul McCartney on his way back from a concert in Southport. At first he called her Seventeen (“Seventeen”). Paul sketched out the first verse and a rough cut of the chorus. Then he called John Lennon and the two finished the song
McCartney spoke about the history of the track in many interviews:
I Saw Her Standing There was my idea. I started it and came up with the first verse, which then gave me the melody, tempo and key. It gives you a subject to discuss, a lot of information, and then you have to refine everything. We wrote it together… and finished that day.
Many Years From Now Barry Miles
I had “she was just seventeen” and “never been a beauty queen”. When I showed them to John, he laughed and said, “You’re joking about that line, right?”
The Beatles Off the Record
I wrote it with John in the living room of my house at 20 Forthlin Road, Allerton. We got out of school and composed it on guitars and a small part on the piano that I had there.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions
We have mastered the art. Sometimes John liked some of my lines, but not others. Basically, he liked what I did, but sometimes the phrases caused irritation, as in the case of “She was just seventeen, she’d never been a beauty queen”. John thought, “Beauty queen? Ugh!” … We came up with “You know what I mean”.
Anthology
The lyrics of the song were originally written down in a notebook from the University of Liverpool.
In Mike McCartney’s book Remember, there is a photograph of Paul and John composing the song while playing guitars.
Macartney admitted that he borrowed the bass from Chuck Berry:
Here’s an example of a snippet someone stole: I used the bass riff from Chuck Berry’s Talkin’ About You on I Saw Her Standing There. I played exactly the same notes as him, and they fit perfectly into our number. Even now, when I tell people about it, it turns out that only a few believe me. Therefore, I am of the opinion that the bass riff may not be original.
Many Years From Now Barry Miles
Recording and release
I Saw Her Standing There was first recorded in late 1962 at the Cavern Club. This slower live version of the song is found on bootlegs. It features John Lennon playing the harmonica instead of the guitar.
The studio version of the composition was completed on February 11, 1963. The musicians performed it nine times, but only three doubles were complete. Of these, they chose the best option and later added claps to it.
On the album version, the song I Saw Her Standing There begins with a countdown performed by McCartney: “One, two, three, four!”. George Martin decided to keep it to create the effect of a live performance. He took this passage from the ninth take. When the track was first released in the US, the score was cut, but the word “four” was still distinguishable.
Although the song opens the Please Please Me album, it was not released as a single in the UK. In the US, the song was released on the back of I Want to Hold Your Hand, which won the hearts of Americans.
I Saw Her Standing There peaked at number fourteen on the US Billboard Hot 100 but topped the chart in New Zealand.
Anthology 1 (1995) included a live recording of the song, made on October 24, 1963 during The Beatles’ tour of Sweden.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked I Saw Her Standing There at number 139 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Clip I Saw Her Standing There – The Beatles
Check out the music video for I Saw Her Standing There from the Beatles’ live performance.
Cover versions
I Saw Her Standing There was the last song that John Lennon performed at a paid concert. On November 28, 1974, he sang it as a duet with Elton John on the Madison Square Garden stage.
Lennon presented the song this way:
We were trying to figure out what number to end with so I could get out of here and get sick more, and we decided that we should play the song of my old ex-fiance named Paul.
Elton later released this version on the back of the Philadelphia Freedom single. It was his only collaboration with Lennon.
In 1987, singer Tiffany recorded the song for her debut album. She was then only fifteen years old. In her version, the song is called I Saw Him Standing There. The track peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart and number seven on the US Singles Chart.
The Who members performed I Saw Her Standing There for a documentary about their career, but the track was not included in the film. Later, they often played it in concert.
In 2004, a group of famous musicians played I Saw Her Standing There at the Grammy Awards.
In 2006, I Saw Her Standing There was performed by Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. Their version was featured on Lewis’ Last Man Standing album.
On September 4, 1970, Led Zeppelin played the song I Saw Her Standing There. This track is included on the Live on Blueberry Hill bootleg.
Interesting Facts
- In Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman’s character sings I Saw Her Standing There to Tom Cruise’s character.
- The composition is mentioned in the television series “11.22.63”, based on the novel by Stephen King.
I Saw Her Standing There Lyrics
well she was just seventeen
You know what I mean
And the way she looked
was way beyond compare
So how could I dance with another
Oh, when I saw her standing there
well she looked at me
And I, I could see
That before too long
I’d fall in love with her
She wouldn’t dance with another
Oh, when I saw her standing there
well my heart went boom
When I crossed that room
And I held her hand in mine
Oh we danced through the night
And we held each other tight
And before too long
I fell in love with her
Now I’ll never dance with another
Oh, when I saw her standing there
well my heart went boom
When I crossed that room
And I held her hand in mine
Oh we danced through the night
And we held each other tight
And before too long
I fell in love with her
Now I’ll never dance with another
Oh, when I saw her standing there
Oh, since I saw her standing there
Yeah, well since I saw her standing there
Lyrics: JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY
Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
I Saw Her Standing There Lyrics
She was only seventeen
Do you know what I mean.
And she looked
It’s just incomparable.
How could I dance with someone else
When I saw her standing there.
She looked at me
And I knew right away
What is very soon
I will fall in love with her.
She wouldn’t dance with another
When I saw her standing there.
My heart was beating wildly
As I walked through the hall
And held her hand
We danced all night
And they held each other tightly.
And very soon
I fell in love with her.
I will never dance with another again
When I saw her standing there.
My heart was beating wildly
As I walked through the hall
And held her hand
We danced all night
And they held each other tightly.
And very soon
I fell in love with her.
I will never dance with another again
When I saw her standing there,
Ever since I saw her standing there
Yes, since I saw her standing there.
Song Quotes
This is Paul at his usual job of producing what George Martin called “hack”. I helped write a couple of lines.
John Lennon, All We Are Saying, David Sheff
For many people, The Beatles are so sacred that you are really playing with fire if you go on stage and it is not well received. But I think we recorded a great version. The idea was to introduce The Beatles to my age group in a different way.
Tiffany, Songfacts.com
