Today’s song is “I Saw Her Standing There,” a feel-good rock hit written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. 

Fun Facts: 

• The line “She was just 17, you know what I mean” was originally “She was just 17, she’d never been a beauty queen”. It was replaced because the band didn’t want to imply that the woman was not beautiful.
• The writing of this song was what established the songwriting duo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
• The Beatles played this song during both of their first appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, a major factor in them becoming household names.
• In the United States, “I Saw Her Standing There” was released as the other side of the Vinyl print for “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
• At only 2 minutes 50 seconds, the song still manages to tell a complete narrative arch: Paul McCartney sees a girl at a dance who wins his heart. They dance with each other throughout the night and fall in love.
• The Beatles wrote 10 entire songs that day, and this was the first song on the tracklist.
• This was the last song that John Lennon performed for a paid audience.
• Paul McCartney played “I Saw Her Standing There” at the 2008 Grammy Awards, featuring Dave Grohl on the drums.
• This is one of the most covered and played songs in history, most famously covered by the pop singer Tiffany on her debut album (with the gender flipped to “I saw him standing there”).
• The bass line of this song is largely carried over from Chuck Berry’s “I’m Talking About You.”

Lyrics:

(Genius)

One, two, three, four!

Well, she was just seventeen and 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 (Woah)

When I saw her standing there

Well, my heart went “boom” when I crossed that room

And I held her hand in mine

Well, 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 (Woah)

Since 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)

Since I saw her standing there

Oh, since I saw her standing there

Yeah, well, since I saw her standing there