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The Beatles — She's Leaving Home
Album: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Avg rating:
7.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 862









Released: 1967
Length: 3:33
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Wednesday morning at five o'clock
As the day begins
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She goes downstairs to the kitchen
Clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the back door key
Stepping outside she is free

She (We gave her most of our lives)
Is leaving (Sacrificed most of our lives)
Home (We gave her everything money could buy)
She's leaving home after living alone (Bye bye)
For so many years

Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that's lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
"Daddy, our baby's gone"
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly?
How could she do this to me?

She (We never thought of ourselves)
Is leaving (Never a thought for ourselves)
Home (We struggled hard all our lives to get by)
She's leaving home after living alone (Bye bye)
For so many years

Friday morning at nine o'clock
She is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Meeting a man from the motor trade

She (What did we do that was wrong?)
Is having (We didn't know it was wrong)
Fun (Fun is the one thing that money can't buy)
Something inside that was always denied (Bye bye)
For so many years

She's leaving home
Bye bye
Comments (63)add comment
 latrippa wrote:
Brexit song?
 
How's that working out?   Are you "free" yet ?

National self harm ... not yet like Donald the Insane 

LMAO
Heartbreaking, and heartrending.  The fab 4 had depths of sensitivity that they were not afraid to expose.
Long Live                                                       Radio Paradise
My rating:                                                                  8      Down to    8
 Stefen wrote:

This is not a good forum for a highly charged personal matter.  Both you and your daughter may benefit if you seek professional advice.
 
says who?


are you always so insensitive or was this a special performance for us? 
 1wolfy wrote:
..my daughter recently left home..this song came to my mind as I searched my heart and questioned my fathering   {#Cry}  and what I had done wrong

 
This is not a good forum for a highly charged personal matter.  Both you and your daughter may benefit if you seek professional advice.
 divisionlane wrote:
Can sure hear the Brian Wilson influence in this song.

 
Agreed.

Paul is the lead vocalist and John provides the background chorus.  Did I get that right?

As for the Brexit theme.....  maybe we need to squeeze in a few words about EU labour mobility and the thousands that flooded into Great Britain with their own unique social norms and conventions.  Of course elites living in nice neighbourhoods need not worry.  Though it would be nice if they tried to understand on occasion. 
 NickDanger wrote:

Same with me - I tried to get my older sister to give me hers. My mom tried to convince her to do so. Instead, she bought me a copy. That worked out - I got the cutouts that came with it. Still have the album and cutouts.

 
Same with me. I was so insistent that my mom gave my sister money to buy it for me. I, too, still have the sheet with the cutouts.
Along with the Mothers "We're only in it for the money."
50 years ago....  just hard to realize it has been that long since my whole outlook on music changed.
 latrippa wrote:
Brexit song?

 
{#Lol}
...to be followed by "Life On Mars?" by David Bowie?

[re:Lyrics]
 LPCity wrote:
Loved this song when it first came out.  I think this was the first album that I bought instead of my older brother and sister.  They were driving by then and probably needed every penny for gas and dates.

As others have mentioned, hearing it now as a father in my mid fifties with two daughters (one who just got married!) the lyrics are even more touching and heartfelt than ever before.  EXCEPT...

"fun is the one thing that money can't buy"

I beg to differ. 

 
Same with me - I tried to get my older sister to give me hers. My mom tried to convince her to do so. Instead, she bought me a copy. That worked out - I got the cutouts that came with it. Still have the album and cutouts.
Reminds me a lot of someone I knew, a girl aged 14, who disappeared in the middle of the night as well, never to be seen again! That was 40 years ago, and still hits home.
Can sure hear the Brian Wilson influence in this song.
 (What did we do that was wrong?)
Brexit song?
They don't make 'em like this anymore
Great!  
Timeless!
Loved this song when it first came out.  I think this was the first album that I bought instead of my older brother and sister.  They were driving by then and probably needed every penny for gas and dates.

As others have mentioned, hearing it now as a father in my mid fifties with two daughters (one who just got married!) the lyrics are even more touching and heartfelt than ever before.  EXCEPT...

"fun is the one thing that money can't buy"

I beg to differ. 
This solemn story-song touched me deeply as a young lad...still love it today.  A masterpiece 
Nearly fifty years on.
Chills.
Never ages.
How did the lads do it?
(Based on a true story.)
Listening to this know as as a 50 yr old father of two girls brings a whole new perspective.
My rating was originally 4, the more I listen to it, the more I find the song annoying... it's now only a 2, next step is PSD ;)
 lawfitzg wrote:

The Monkees will probably dance on both of our graves. 

 
Not Davy Jones.
 boober wrote:

I hope you can hit those high notes!

 
Go for it!
 Clarentine wrote:
Don't care that I'm at work, in my office with no walls; I'm gonna sing along with this one.  My officemates will understand.  {#Roflol}

 
I hope you can hit those high notes!
 lawfitzg wrote:

The Monkees will probably dance on both of our graves. 

 
I believe! (or something like that!)
 gjr wrote:
...is it tyranny when everyone on the planet (except maybe one or two odd fellows)  listeners, musicians, writers, professors, etc etc etc agree that they were the single most influential (and important) rock group ever? 
 
It's highly likely that the majority of the 7 billion+ people on the planet know very little of The Beatles, much less "agree" on their importance and influence - not just "one or two odd fellows".   Anyhow, great tune.
Don't care that I'm at work, in my office with no walls; I'm gonna sing along with this one.  My officemates will understand.  {#Roflol}
remarkably gifted songwriting genius this
Magic!
Remarkable when you think about it... just a few short years from "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" to Sg. Pepper. 
I didn't know the Beatles did the soundtrack for Alice in Wonderland....


always loved the "bye bye".
not a big beatlesfan but this song I like alot.like to hear it alone so i can sing it out loud without damaging other peoples ears.

lazarus,i doubt beatles will be almost the only ones from the pop history
who will be remembered 100 years from now.let us first see what has become of our world by then{#Eek}
Faul.
 gjr wrote:



i doubt that they will just disappear when everyone born before 1970 dies.  All of my nieces and nephews listen to and LOVE their music.  So much for a generational "mass-hypnosis"
My bet here is: (and you are cordially invited to come look me up in a hundred years) that the only music(ians) still being listened to in 100 years time from the list you mentioned are the Beatles, Louis, gershwin, Bach and Mozart.  The stones and dylan are already fading, cash is classic he'll out-live those two, dolly parton? please - i wont even acknowledge that statement as musically credible,  

true Mozart has already out-lived everyone on that list by about 300 years, but im jus sayin'

is it tyranny when everyone on the planet (except maybe one or two odd fellows)  listeners, musicians, writers, professors, etc etc etc agree that they were the single most influential (and important) rock group ever?   jus sayin'


how could tyranny ever be of such disparate free spirits, hearts and minds???   jus' sayin'

 
The Monkees will probably dance on both of our graves. 
 lawfitzg wrote:
Ah, the tyranny of The Beatles. Everyone in the dorm room listening to Sgt Peppers in silence and awe. Again...and...again. Give me the hard rockin' Stones (and Beggar's Banquet), early Johnny Cash (and At Folsom Prison), Early Louis Armstrong (what a revelation!), Dolly Parton, Flatt & Scruggs, Gershwin, Rodrigo, Bach, Woody Guthrie, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Pete Seeger, Peter Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan. On and on... And yeah, I liked The Beatles...I just didn't drink the Kool-Aid. When all of us that lived through that era are dead and gone, The Beatles will be only a musical curiosity, like Rudy Vallee and his megaphone or Al Jolson in blackface. Yeah, I know, not a popular sentiment...then or now. Just sayin'.

 


i doubt that they will just disappear when everyone born before 1970 dies.  All of my nieces and nephews listen to and LOVE their music.  So much for a generational "mass-hypnosis"
My bet here is: (and you are cordially invited to come look me up in a hundred years) that the only music(ians) still being listened to in 100 years time from the list you mentioned are the Beatles, Louis, gershwin, Bach and Mozart.  The stones and dylan are already fading, cash is classic he'll out-live those two, dolly parton? please - i wont even acknowledge that statement as musically credible,  

true Mozart has already out-lived everyone on that list by about 300 years, but im jus sayin'

is it tyranny when everyone on the planet (except maybe one or two odd fellows)  listeners, musicians, writers, professors, etc etc etc agree that they were the single most influential (and important) rock group ever?   jus sayin'


how could tyranny ever be of such disparate free spirits, hearts and minds???   jus' sayin'
Ah, the tyranny of The Beatles. Everyone in the dorm room listening to Sgt Peppers in silence and awe. Again...and...again. Give me the hard rockin' Stones (and Beggar's Banquet), early Johnny Cash (and At Folsom Prison), Early Louis Armstrong (what a revelation!), Dolly Parton, Flatt & Scruggs, Gershwin, Rodrigo, Bach, Woody Guthrie, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Pete Seeger, Peter Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan. On and on... And yeah, I liked The Beatles...I just didn't drink the Kool-Aid. When all of us that lived through that era are dead and gone, The Beatles will be only a musical curiosity, like Rudy Vallee and his megaphone or Al Jolson in blackface. Yeah, I know, not a popular sentiment...then or now. Just sayin'.
 medoras wrote:
One would have to assume that those who rated this musical work of art as a 1 to 3 are, for the most part, listening to "music" that will be forgotten within a year never mind appreciated nearly half a century after it was recorded.

 
Isn't it tricky to assume anything about anybody based on a song rating?
Interesting, how they wrote such stuff when they were all still so young. Clearly they were at the top of their game, and it is good indeed that they were able to get such an incredible lot of musical poetry down for posterity. The ones that rock really rock, and ones like this really show their writing and pop sensibility were among the very best, not to mention the singing, the harmonies -MAGICAL!
One would have to assume that those who rated this musical work of art as a 1 to 3 are, for the most part, listening to "music" that will be forgotten within a year never mind appreciated nearly half a century after it was recorded.
 WonderLizard wrote:
For all that we've said about Sir Paul and the spotty quality of his post-Beatles oeuvre, this lyric is genius. One wonders who wrote Lennon's counterpoint vocal.

 
I'll bet Lennon did. May have also done a little adlibbing as on other Beatles tunes.


This is a brilliant song from the greatest album of all time...  this is one of the songs on the first side of the album, which George Harrison refers to on the first song on the second side of the album when Harrison says, "We were talking about the space between us all..."

be yourself...

love this song; love this album...

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.  —Friedrich Nietzsche 
A breath of fresh air for me.....play on....wish I could return to this time....
Masterpiece of sounds - {#Jump}
Some of their best work on this song!

I don't know, I will always associate this song with the time The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour did a spoof (mockery?) of it. Nancy Sinatra was the one leaving home and The Brothers as were the parents-Dick was the mother with his mustache.I was too young to figure out what they really wanted to say about the song. I've always had a negative feel about the song because of this.
Reminds me of how I left home when I was 19.
For all that we've said about Sir Paul and the spotty quality of his post-Beatles oeuvre, this lyric is genius. One wonders who wrote Lennon's counterpoint vocal.
A great song with a great story.
Wow, how times have changed... now how many parents would LOVE for their grown children to get out and get a job!
{#Eh}
 sandpebble wrote:
I kinnda feel sorry for those that rated this a1.
 
A bunch of nogoodfernuthin PUNKS!
Genius. In a year of Light My Fire and a zillion other rockers, this is sooooooooo unlike any other song of its time. Strings!  No drums!  What a story and mood. 
Funny, I've never thought about this until now....I used to listen to this from the kid's viewpoint....FREEDOM AT LAST....now that I've cut three children loose I see it from the parents' perspective....just a funny thought.
I kinnda feel sorry for those that rated this a1.
A very beautiful song with a great lyrical message.
palexis wrote:
A perfect opportunity to rate it and say that I think it's one of the Beatles' finest.
Agreed!
palexis wrote:
I just heard this on FM radio, not RP so I checked it out on here. It's in the catalog but does not seem to have been played. A perfect opportunity to rate it and say that I think it's one of the Beatles' finest. The music, lyrics, arrangement - I cannot think of how it could be improved.
no argument here
I just heard this on FM radio, not RP so I checked it out on here. It\'s in the catalog but does not seem to have been played. A perfect opportunity to rate it and say that I think it\'s one of the Beatles\' finest. The music, lyrics, arrangement - I cannot think of how it could be improved.