I Want to Hold Your Hand

Song meaning of I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles

The Beatles issued themselves an ultimatum in 1963: Paul McCartney said, "We're not going to America until we have a Number One record." So he and John Lennon went to Jane Asher's parents' house, where they penned "I Want to Hold Your Hand," an irresistibly sensual come-on disguised as a chaste, timid request.

Their teamwork had a lightning-bolt effect that permeated the band's performance. "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which was released the day after Christmas in America, peaked at Number One in the country in February 1964. During a three-week tour stop in Paris, the bandmates celebrated all night when they learned the news.

The group's first million-seller "She Loves You," their previous UK single, which was experiencing a resurgence in popularity as a result of extensive media coverage of the group, prevented "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from reaching the top of the British record charts on its day of release (29 November 1963), despite having advance orders exceeding one million copies. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" took two weeks to overtake its predecessor, peaked at number one for five weeks, and spent a total of 21 weeks in the UK top 50.

In September 1980, Lennon told Playboy magazine:

'We wrote a lot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' I remember when we got the chord that made the song. We were in Jane Asher's house, downstairs in the cellar playing on the piano at the same time. And we had, 'Oh you-u-u/ got that something ...' And Paul hits this chord and I turn to him and say, 'That's it!' I said, 'Do that again!' In those days, we really used to absolutely write like that—both playing into each other's noses.'

Lyrics of I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles

Oh yeah, I'll tell you something

I think you'll understand

When I say that something

I wanna hold your hand

I wanna hold your hand

I wanna hold your hand

Oh please, say to me

You'll let me be your man

And please, say to me

You'll let me hold your hand

You'll let me hold your hand

I wanna hold your hand

And when I touch you I feel happy

Inside

It's such a feeling that my love

I can't hide

I can't hide

I can't hide

Yeah, you got that something

I think you'll understand

When I say that something

I wanna hold your hand

I wanna hold your hand

I wanna hold your hand

And when I touch you I feel happy

Inside

It's such a feeling that my love

I can't hide

I can't hide

I can't hide

Yeah, you got that something

I think you'll understand

When I feel that something

I wanna hold your hand

I wanna hold your hand

I wanna hold your hand

I wanna hold your hand