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This song is actually about a French man that Paul and John met out on the streets. They were looking for inspiration for a song that wasn't about love, and could have a deeper, or more simplistic meaning about, well... something else. The man in the song was French, and he spoke in broken English and had proclaimed that he wanted to be a "Paperback Writer." He said the book was "based on a novel by a man named lire." Based on, in French ("fondé sur") also can mean "written by." When corrected to an English translation, its actual meaning is "I am the man who made this book, please read it." Notice, "lire" (not lear or leer) is the verb tense of "read" in French. This explains why he says he wants to be a "Paperback Writer," because in actual translation, he wanted to be a "published author." In order to further the French reference, the backing lyrics are "Frère Jacques." You may better understand them as "Freeeeeh-Raaaaaaah -- Shaaaaah-Gueeeeez."
In basic, this song is about a beggar on the street who wanted to publish a story, yet could not due to his economic position.
Song Meaning: It's about the starving artists who couldn't get their name out there. And that was deep enough for The Beatles.
This song is actually about a French man that Paul and John met out on the streets. They were looking for inspiration for a song that wasn't about love, and could have a deeper, or more simplistic meaning about, well... something else. The man in the song was French, and he spoke in broken English and had proclaimed that he wanted to be a "Paperback Writer." He said the book was "based on a novel by a man named lire." Based on, in French ("fondé sur") also can mean "written by." When corrected to an English translation, its actual meaning is "I am the man who made this book, please read it." Notice, "lire" (not lear or leer) is the verb tense of "read" in French. This explains why he says he wants to be a "Paperback Writer," because in actual translation, he wanted to be a "published author." In order to further the French reference, the backing lyrics are "Frère Jacques." You may better understand them as "Freeeeeh-Raaaaaaah -- Shaaaaah-Gueeeeez."
In basic, this song is about a beggar on the street who wanted to publish a story, yet could not due to his economic position.
Song Meaning: It's about the starving artists who couldn't get their name out there. And that was deep enough for The Beatles.