This week, June 21, back in 1966, working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded from start to finish, a new John Lennon song ‘She Said She Said’. The song was reportedly based on a bizarre conversation during The Beatles stay in LA during the summer of 1965 that Lennon had with Peter Fonda while John and George Harrison were tripping on LSD. While Starr agreed to try the drug, McCartney refused to partake. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was written by John Lennon with assistance from George Harrison. Lennon described it as "an 'acidy' song". "She Said She Said" was the last track recorded for Revolver. Due to an argument over the song's musical arrangement, Paul McCartney walked out of the studio and did not contribute to the recording.
In late August 1965, Brian Epstein had rented a house at 2850 Benedict Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills, California for the Beatles' six-day respite from their US tour. The police department detailed a tactical squad of officers to protect the band and the house. The Beatles found it impossible to leave and instead invited guests, including folk singer Joan Baez. On August 24, they hosted Jim McGuinn and David Crosby of the Byrds and actor Peter Fonda.
Fonda brought up his nearly fatal self-inflicted childhood gunshot accident, saying that he knew what it was like to be dead, since he had technically died in the operating theatre. Lennon urged him to drop the subject. Lennon explained in a 1980 interview: "We didn't want to hear about that! We were on an acid trip and the sun was shining and the girls were dancing and the whole thing was beautiful and Sixties, and this guy – who I really didn't know; he hadn't made Easy Rider or anything – kept coming over, wearing shades, saying, "I know what it's like to be dead," and we kept leaving him because he was so boring! ... It was scary. You know ... when you're flying high and [whispers] "I know what it's like to be dead, man."
Lennon began working on "She Said She Said" in March 1966, shortly before the Beatles started recording Revolver. On the home recordings he made at this time, the song was titled "He Said" and performed on acoustic guitar. Lennon said that the episode with Fonda had stuck with him, and when writing the song, "I changed it to 'she' instead of 'he.'" Harrison recalled helping Lennon construct the song from "maybe three" separate segments that Lennon had. Harrison described the process as "a real weld". In his 2017 book Who Wrote the Beatle Songs?, author Todd Compton credits Lennon and Harrison as the song's true composers.
"She Said, She Said" was the final track recorded during the Revolver sessions. It was also the first composition that Lennon had brought to the band in almost two months, since "I'm Only Sleeping". Because of Lennon's lack of productivity, Harrison was afforded a rare opportunity to have a third song, "I Want to Tell You", included on a Beatles album.The session took place on 21 June 1966, two days before the Beatles had to leave for West Germany to begin the first leg of their 1966 world tour. It took nine hours to rehearse and record, complete with overdubs, making it the only song on Revolver to be made in a single session. After the subsequent mixing session, the Beatles' producer, George Martin, said: "All right, boys, I'm just going for a lie-down."
Lennon later called the song a throwaway track and thought little of it.
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