Get Back

[Guest CattalieChan]

I just heard Get Back by the beatles, and something stuck out. The line about Loretta Martin, "sweet loretta martin thought she was a woman but she was another man"

What does this mean? Is it a trans reference? Who was loretta martin?

Amber

[Guest Donna Jean]

Who the heck knows what Lennon & McCartney were thinking when they wrote....LOL

There's been all kinds of speculation on that over the years....I don't think that I ever heard anything definitive...

HUGGS!

Donna Jean

[Guest Elizabeth K]

My opinion? One of the people they knew within the confinds of their music machine was probably gender dysphoric. I am pretty sure it wasn't John, Paul, George or Ringo - or even Billy Preson who was actually involved with this song.

But Wikipedia says it was probably just something that evolved. I quote here:

"Get Back" is unusual in The Beatles' canon in that almost every moment of the song's evolution has been extensively documented, from its beginning as an offhand riff to its final mixing. Much of this documentation is in the form of illegal (but widely available) bootleg recordings, and is recounted in the book Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle of The Beatles' Let It Be Disaster by Doug Sulpy and Ray Schweighardt.[3]

The song's melody grew out of some unstructured jamming on 7 January 1969 during rehearsal sessions on the sound stage at Twickenham Studios.[3] Over the next few minutes McCartney introduced some of the lyrics, reworking "Get back to the place you should be" from fellow Beatle George Harrison's "Sour Milk Sea" into "Get back to where you once belonged."[4] (McCartney had played bass on Jackie Lomax's recording of the song a few months earlier.) On 9 January Paul introduced "Get Back" to the group, with the "Sweet Loretta" verse very near to its finished version. For the press release to promote the "Get Back" single McCartney wrote, "We were sitting in the studio and we made it up out of thin air... we started to write words there and then...when we finished it, we recorded it at Apple Studios and made it into a song to roller-coast by."[5]

The released version of the song is composed of two verses, with an intro, outro, and several refrains. The first verse tells the story of a man named Jojo, who leaves his home in Tucson, Arizona, for some 'California grass'. (Paul's soon-to-be wife Linda had attended the University of Arizona in Tucson, where the couple later owned a spacious ranch.) The second verse is about a sexually ambiguous character "Loretta Martin" who "thought she was a woman, but she was another man." The single version includes a coda urging Loretta to "get back" where she belongs.

The Beatles often played around with their lyrics during recording sessions, as evidenced by Lennon's introduction on the Let It Be album: "Sweet Loretta Fart, she thought she was a cleaner, but she was a frying pan". The album version of the song famously ends with John Lennon quipping "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition". (Originally John said that at the end of the rooftop concert, but Phil Spector edited it into the "Get Back" song on the Let It Be album.)

So who can ever tell?

Lizzy

[Guest NatashaJade]

In their song "Oh bla di", they have these lyrics:

Happy ever after in the market place,

Molly lets the children lend a hand,

Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face,

And in the evening she's a singer with the band.

luv

Gin

[Guest Elizabeth K]

In their song "Oh bla di", they have these lyrics:

luv

Gin

Yes - they toyed with gender reversal. All their lyrics were from ideas that probably just naturally flowed out of their heads. That is why I suggest they knew of geneder dysphoria - or at least female impersonation.

However

The site Fun Triva says:

The light-hearted lyrics tell and retell the story of a couple named Desmond and Molly; the simple, upbeat lyrics are often punctuated by laughter, shouts, and sounds that accompany the lyrics in the background. The second time that the story is retold, the names are switched around in certain places. McCartney described the switch as a slip of the tongue; he decided to keep it in because none of the other Beatles wanted to run through the song again. Longtime Beatles associate Pete Shotton, who was present at the session, confirmed Paul's statement that the switch-up was accidental in his memoir The Beatles, Lennon and Me.

Lizzy

[Guest Donna Jean]

See?

I tole ya!

Donna Jean

[Guest Jessie05]

I believe it was a typo in Ob-li-di Ob-li-da that Paul decided to keep instead of changing. On Get Back about Loretta Martin I truly have no idea about it.

[Guest Hoslers_wife]

I dunno about all that but I saw the Beatles show with cirque du soleil at the mirage a couple months ago and I've never been the same. I really didn't care one way or the other about the beatles until then. I <3 them now.

BTW if you ever have a chance to see cirque du soleil DO IT!

[Guest NatashaJade]

I dunno about all that but I saw the Beatles show with cirque du soleil at the mirage a couple months ago and I've never been the same. I really didn't care one way or the other about the beatles until then. I <3 them now.

BTW if you ever have a chance to see cirque du soleil DO IT!

My parents saw that show and bought me the Beatles Remastered Catalog because of it. I'd love to get a chance to see it sometime.

luv

Gin

[Guest Hoslers_wife]

When we bought the tickets at the mirage they came with a drink (all alcoholic of course, its vegas lol) I got a hellogoodbye which is pretty much straight tequila and lemonaid. Anyways it was an awesome cup and after the show was over everybody left their cups there. I ran around that theater like a nut and grab a million. I flew home with 20+ Beatles cups lol. I figured it was make a cool craft idea and they're still sittin gin storage lol.

My parents saw that show and bought me the Beatles Remastered Catalog because of it. I'd love to get a chance to see it sometime.

luv

Gin