How the Beatles Hid a 'Naughty' Word in 'Girl' From 'Rubber Soul'
The Beatles were professional music-makers, well-seasoned by the time they started making 1965's Rubber Soul, but they were also something simpler: boys who enjoyed being silly from time to time.
Especially at that time, when the Beatles were moving full steam ahead and continuing to work hard at their craft, it was fun to loosen up a little in the studio as they were recording the song "Girl."
"It was always amusing to see if we could get a naughty word on the record: 'fish and finger pie,' 'prick teaser,' 'tit tit tit tit,'" Paul McCartney recalled in Many Years From Now. "The Beach Boys had a song out where they'd done 'la la la la' and we loved the innocence of that and wanted to copy it, but not use the same phrase.
So we were looking around for another phrase, so it was 'dit dit dit dit,' which we decided to change in our waggishness to 'tit tit tit tit,' which is virtually indistinguishable from 'dit dit dit dit.' And it gave us a laugh. It was to get some light relief in the middle of this real big career that we were forging. If we could put in something that was a little bit subversive then we would. George Martin might say, 'Was that 'dit dit' or 'tit tit' you were singing?' 'Oh, 'dit dit,' George, but it does sound a bit like that, doesn't it?' Then we'd get in the car and break down laughing."
Source: ultimateclassicrock.com/Allison Rapp
