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2.47am
29 April 2015
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I will never understand how Lennon and McCartney rated this song so poorly. The verses are catchy and the chorus is meaningful. The lyrics capture adolescent feelings and mature romance. The melody is wonderful and the chord changes are interesting. The guitar work is merely icing on the cake. I’ve never even heard the song until yesterday and now I wonder what I’ve been doing with myself for all these years of listening to the Beatles and somehow missing this gem. My only gripe is that it’s so short. What do you guys think?
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12.27pm
14 December 2009
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I don’t think it’s a bad song, altho it feels more like a 1964 or 63 Lennon composition. Lyrics are kinda banal but the compulsive clumping together of rhymes is formally somewhat notable. Most interesting thing about the song imo is the tremeloed guitar – the Beatles were really expanding their palette of guitar textures in those days obviously!
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1.09pm
28 March 2014
Offline I like it!
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7.53pm
Moderators
15 February 2015
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I love It’s Only Love ! 
The melody, chords, all that sublime guitar work (there are, like, six guitar tracks 
), John’s lovely vocal — but my favourite part is the kinky coolness of the intersecting rhythms. The rhythm guitar, melody, and riff are all going in three different directions and it is fabulous, so ’tis! 
Eh @sigh butterfly? 
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2.06pm
26 January 2017
Offline There are a ton of Beatles songs that Paul or John dismiss as “junk” or “throwaways.” Typically its with a song that I love, like Its Only Love.
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2.20pm
17 January 2016
Offline This thread made me revisit this song, hadn’t listened to it in a bit. It’s lovely. I’ll concur with SG about the guitar work and melody. Also John’s vocal. Thanks for reminding me about this one!
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2.24pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Always loved this. Is one of those few Beatles’ songs that I found through a cover version. Gary US Bonds released a cover in 1981, and it got a lot of radio play and did pretty well with the shadow of John’s loss still hanging heavy.
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8.48pm
15 March 2017
Offline I like It’s Only Love even though it does have some throwaway lines in the verses but the chorus is wonderful.
It does seem like a bit of a rushed song though so I would say that that might have something to do with John not thinking much of the song years later.
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9.41am
19 January 2017
Offline It’s Only Love is a funny song for me. I really like the chorus and I think the guitars sound great throughout. I don’t think its verses are particularly great though.
The vocal melody is pretty simplistic, as are the lyrics….(my oh my)
They’re just nothing special when you compare them to the likes of You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away .
It’s definetely not the worst song on Help , nor is it up there with the best in my opinion. Therefore I can relate to John describing it as a bit of a throwaway.
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10.05am
1 November 2013
Offline This song invented hashtag rap.
5.28pm
24 March 2014
Offline I prefer this song to “Yesterday “
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8.14pm
11 June 2015
Offline Silly Girl said
I love It’s Only Love !The melody, chords, all that sublime guitar work (there are, like, six guitar tracks
Eh @sigh butterfly?
Absowuttlie @Beatlebug . Here’s the thing about It’s Only Love (and I’m sorry to bring this subject up again but it can’t be helped 
). On the American album this is the first song on side 2. So picture this…Michelle has just ended and “And I will say the only words I know that you’ll understand – My Michelle ” is still echoing around your mind though the room is quiet. You turn the album over, drop the needle and the silence is broken with the sound of musical instruments you can’t quite identify until John sings “I get high…”. I never here those first few notes without thinking of what it felt like turning the record over like I did hundreds of times! But really in my mind the first 4 songs on the second side were kind of a suite and I always think of them together. The first 3 songs describe unsettled relationships with lines like “It’s So Hard loving you”, “She puts you down when friends are there”, & “Your voice is soothing but the words aren’t clear“. Then In My Life comes on and redeems and resolves all of the past relationships leading up to the one 
(I love you more) . It was and is just phenomenal that through song a 13 year old could gain an understanding of love before he’d actually fallen into it
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12.18am
14 June 2016
Offline I used to really love this song, and now that I’m rediscovered it, I’ve fallen back in love with it.
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5.22am
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1 May 2011
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Ever since I heard it on ‘Love Songs’ I’ve adored the song (due to ‘Love Songs’ I heavily associate it to ‘Every Little Thing ‘ and think of them as cousins despite ‘You’re Going To Lose That Girl ‘ splitting the two).
I get why John hated the song; it’s very much rhyming dictionary time (high, by, my, sigh, fly, butterfly-ies; right, fight, night, sight, bright, right) and there is vulnerability in the lyrics which is not a side of John he liked to present very much. You can hear how much he hated the lyrics by the way he sings “bright” before laughing whilst singing “very bright”, a true little nugget of delight hidden deep in the Beatles depths.
However, despite the title it’s not an out-and-out love song as the relationship is very fraught, fighting every night is not good for a couple. It reminds me of ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me ‘. And then I got to realise that on ‘Help !’ the only true happy love song is ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face ‘. It sounds so damn happy an album yet few of the songs are when you start looking at them. And then you get to thinking where are all the happy love songs from ‘Beatles For Sale ‘ thru to ‘Rubber Soul ‘. But we are going off topic.
To get back, the outtakes on ‘Anthology 2 ‘ are so enjoyable.
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9.13am
26 January 2017
Offline meanmistermustard said
However, despite the title it’s not an out-and-out love song as the relationship is very fraught, fighting every night is not good for a couple. It reminds me of ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me ‘. And then I got to realise that on ‘Help !’ the only true happy love song is ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face ‘. It sounds so damn happy an album yet few of the songs are when you start looking at them. And then you get to thinking where are all the happy love songs from ‘Beatles For Sale ‘ thru to ‘Rubber Soul ‘. But we are going off topic.To get back, the outtakes on ‘Anthology 2 ‘ are so enjoyable.
I was talking about this earlier with I Feel Fine . Even love songs with apparently upbeat titles are ingrained with John’s sense of paranoia, pessimism, and self-depreciation. It’s Only Love is another example. Even when he found Yoko, his deepest and most vulnerable songs of love were really intense, i.e I Want You, Don’t Let Me Down . Something inside of John couldn’t seem to get comfortable. 
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