The song shows the influence of the American singer Bob Dylan. The song "is just basically John doing Dylan", McCartney later said. Lennon seems to mimic Dylan's gruff vocal style: the song is in a folkish strophic form and uses a Dylanesque acoustic guitar figure in compound time, chiefly acoustic accompaniment, no backing voices and light percussion from brushed snare, tambourine and maraca. The lyrics of Dylan's 1964 song "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Have Never Met)" open with a strikingly similar image: "I can't understand, she let go of my hand, and left me here facing the wall", as compared with Lennon's "Here I stand head in hand, turn my face to the wall".
"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" was the first Beatles song to feature an outside musician (apart from "Love Me Do", the group's first EMI recording, in which producer George Martin had engaged a session drummer to substitute for the then-untried Ringo Starr). The basic rhythm track was recorded first, followed by Harrison's guitar and some extra percussion. John Scott recorded a tenor flute in the spaces in Lennon's vocal track and an additional alto flute part, in harmony with the first, on the last available track of the four-track machine.
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
The Beatles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Turn my face to the wall
If she's gone I can't go on
Feeling two foot small
Everywhere people stare
Each and every day
I can see them laugh at me
And I hear them say
Hey, you've got to hide your love away
Hey, you've got to hide your love away
How can I even try?
I can never win
Hearing them, seeing them
In the state I'm in
How could she say to me
"Love will find a way?"
Gather round all you clowns
Let me hear you say
Hey you've got to hide your love away
Hey you've got to hide your love away
The Beatles’s “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” is a song about unrequited love and feeling isolated. The lyrics express the feeling of inadequacy and vulnerability that comes with loving someone who does not reciprocate the feelings. The persona of the song is a man who is unable to move on from his past relationship, and as a result, the people around him mock him. The line ‘Here I stand head in hand/Turn my face to the wall’ illustrates the persona’s physical state of despair and hopelessness. The line ‘If she’s gone I can’t go on/Feeling two foot small’ communicates his emotional state of feeling diminished and humiliated. Everywhere he goes, he feels scrutinized and belittled by other people who find his inability to move on ridiculous.
The chorus of the song ‘Hey you've got to hide your love away’ is a recurring message that points to the idea that love is something that should be kept concealed. It implies that love is dangerous and inevitably leads to hurt and disappointment. The persona of the song feels trapped in his feelings with no way of expressing them. He is continually reminded of his inability to win the love of the woman he desires, and it seems as though no one is on his side. The song is a relatable expression of the struggles that people go through in relationships that do not work out.
Line by Line Meaning
Here I stand head in hand
I am standing here with my head in my hands feeling lost and hopeless.
Turn my face to the wall
I'm ashamed and embarrassed and want to hide myself away from everyone.
If she's gone I can't go on
Without the one I love, life seems unbearable and impossible to continue.
Feeling two foot small
I feel insignificant and small compared to everyone else around me without her.
Everywhere people stare
I feel like everyone is watching and judging me because they know I'm in love with someone who doesn't feel the same.
Each and every day
This is a constant feeling that I can't escape from no matter how hard I try.
I can see them laugh at me
I feel like people are mocking me and not taking my feelings seriously.
And I hear them say
Their laughter and comments are making me feel even more isolated and alone.
Hey, you've got to hide your love away
I'm being told that I need to keep my feelings hidden and not express them openly because it's not accepted or respected by others.
How can I even try?
It feels impossible for me to move on and find someone else when I have such strong feelings for this person.
I can never win
No matter what I do, it seems like I'll always lose in this situation.
Hearing them, seeing them
The constant reminders of my unrequited love make it even harder for me to cope with the pain.
In the state I'm in
My emotional state is fragile and I feel like I'm barely holding it together.
How could she say to me
It's hard to understand how the person I love could give me false hope by saying things like 'love will find a way' when it's not true for us.
Gather round all you clowns
I feel like I'm being mocked and taunted by the people around me who don't understand or care about my feelings.
Let me hear you say
Their laughter and insults are enough to make me doubt myself even more and question whether my feelings are valid.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Philip Kassabian
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A really great Beatles song.
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A very tuneful Beatles song.
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An excellent Beatles song.
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A fantastic Beatles song and absolutely beautiful.