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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

June 26: Personal Pronoun Day

On this date in 1963, John Lennon and Paul McCartney began composing the song "She Loves You."  They began on their tour bus, continued work in their hotel room in Newcastle, and finished the following day at the home of Paul's father in Liverpool.

When they finished the song, John and Paul played it for Paul's father Jim McCartney.  His response was:  "That's very nice son, but there's enough of these Americanisms around. Couldn't you sing 'She loves you, yes, yes, yes!'?"  (1).

In his biography of Paul McCartney entitled Many Years From Now, Barry Miles quotes Paul, discussing the song's grammar:

"It was again a she, you, me, I, personal preposition song. I suppose the most interesting thing about it was that it was a message song, it was someone bringing a message. It wasn't us any more, it was moving off the 'I love you, girl' or 'Love me do', it was a third person, which was a shift away. 'I saw her, and she said to me, to tell you, that she loves you, so there's a little distance we managed to put in it which was quite interesting."

Of course, Paul should have said personal pronoun, not preposition.

For more on the Beatles and Pronouns, check out the following article:  I Me Mine:  The Beatles and Their Pronouns.

When it comes to rock songs and pronouns, who can forget the Grammar Rock Pronoun song?  It tells just about everything you need to know about pronouns and why we use them:


 
Today's Challenge:  The Beatles Pronoun Challenge
Can you name twenty titles of Beatles songs that contain at least one pronoun?  For extra-credit include some that have more than one.  True Beatles fans should be able to identify one song title consisting entirely of pronouns.

Quote of the Day:  I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.  --Lyrics from I Am the Walrus

Sources:
1 - http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/she-loves-you/

Sample Titles:  I Me Mine, From Me to You, I Saw Her Standing There, I Want to Hold Your Hand

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