Beatles: Get Back Meaning

Song Released: 1969

Get Back Lyrics

Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it wouldn't last.
Jojo left his home in tucson, arizona
For some california grass.
Get back, get back.
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, get back.
Get back to where you once...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Dec 9th 2014 !⃝

   My interpretations of the Loretta part is this. She is good friend with a guy for whom she has feelings. She thinks that she is a woman to this man, that he views her as a potential partner, but he is seeing her only as a friend, and thus one of the guys, a man. "Girls around her say she's got it commig.." This, to me, shows how society views male-female friendships. They are saying that you can't try to be friends with a guy, because eventualy, someone is going to develop feelings for a friend. This could connect to the rest of the song because Loretta is lonely because the guy doesn' love her the way she loves him.
   
   I am fully aware that this is not what te song was supposed to be about, but the best songs are open to many interpretations. I just wanted to share my thoughts in case anyone thought of the same thing :)
   
   P.S. English isn't my native language, I apologize if there are mistakes in spelling and/or grammar. Feel free to correct me. Have a good day. :D

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Dec 8th 2019 !⃝

   Joseph See [JoJo] was Linda McCarthy's first husband. They lived in southern Arizona and had a daughter named Heather. Joe was an archaeologist and travelled for many months at a time. He went to South Africa on a dig and when he came back, Linda had taken Heather and left him. She divorced Joe and eventually met Paul through mutual friends. They married and Paul adopted Heather. Joe never got over Linda and used to stay with the McCarthys when visiting his daughter. He would stay too long and Paul didn't like that. [Get back to where you belong JoJo].
   Paul and Linda had a horse range in Tucson, AZ. Just a few miles from See,s home. Linda and Joe remained friends and would visit when in AZ. Joe took his own life in 2000 after Linda died of cancer. Linda died on their AZ ranch.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jul 23rd 2016 !⃝

   The song was meant for the song to be satirical. McCartney intended to parody the negative attitudes that were common among politicians and the press towards immigration.
   
   The original demo was changed many times b/c they realized their meaning was too obscure. When the demos became public, many called McCartney out for being racist.
   
   John Lennon said in an interview that the lyrics, "get back to where you should be," in one demo version, refers to Yoko Ono.
   
   The original versions of the song didn't include the characters JoJo or Loretta; they were added in b/c The Beatles believed it would help keep their song from being misconstrued.
   
   (Info from The Beatles Bible)
4. anonymous

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   Dec 23rd 2021 !⃝

   McCartney denied that JoJo was a reference to Linda's first husband in his 1988 biography (Many Years From Now) saying that he and Linda were on good terms with See, who used the first name Melville, and that "JoJo" was "an imaginary character, half-man and half-woman."
5. anonymous

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   Mar 13th 2021 !⃝

   The song is about Paul telling Yoko to Get Back away from the Beatles and go back to where you once belonged, Yoko or JoJo. Wearing her high heels and a low neck sweater as Yoko would dress. It can be sugar coated all we want but the song is about Yoko.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
6. anonymous

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   Dec 3rd 2020 !⃝

   All this time I didn’t think this was about JoJo thinking he/she was a loaner / I misinterpreted the English accent and thus the word - thinking that JoJo wanted to be to be “Anonna” I just looked it up because I wanted to know what Beatles might’ve meant by that.
   I had my own sort of philosophical/religious ideas about what it might’ve meant to say a person left their home thinking that they were “Anonia”
   No, I am not high.
   It has been very interesting though, learning what the real word was/is, and also reading all the different interpretations people think the real lyrics might represent.
   
   To me this is all good fun, while Perhaps this also sheds some light on how subjective it can be when suggesting meaning to others lyrics.
   
   As an aside, thank you Beatles for some of the greatest Music ever made.
   
   -67 year old, Still learning and still interested
7. anonymous

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   Nov 18th 2018 !⃝

   Paul ran out of song ideas.
8. anonymous

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   Feb 4th 2016 !⃝

   Its a song that faul sung to his wife to get back into the kitchen and stop coming on stage with me.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
9. anonymous

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   Dec 31st 2011 !⃝

   My dog is Jo Jo
   Jackie in another life.
10. anonymous

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    Oct 26th 2011 !⃝

    What was jo jo's last name ? linda's ex ? please post.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. anonymous

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    Apr 24th 2011 !⃝

    Loretta Martin had something to do with George Martin.
12. anonymous

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    Jul 30th 2010 !⃝

    If you listen to the oficial version (ie, The one on the let it be album)There is no meaning,
    Listin to the Rooftop version and there is a hiding meaning.
    First verse:The beatles were some men who thought they had great music, but they knew it won't always last,The Beatles left live songs they were famous for doing, for studio effects. Get Back, Get Back, Get back to where you once belonged,yeah Get Back, Get Back, Get back to where you once belonged.
    Get back you Beatles.
    Second verse:The Beatles really thought a rooftop concert was the right thing,so they played live again.
    Other people Brought Policmen to stop them,For a dumb reason.
    Get Back, Get Back, Get back to where you once belonged,yeah Get Back, Get Back, Get back to where you once belonged.
    Get back you Beatles get back home,Aw C'mon go home, The police wan't you, with there guns and hats you beatles go home,Aw Get Back, Get Back, Get back to where you once belonged,yeah Get Back, Get Back, Get back to where you once belonged.Woo yeah, get back youv'e been out to long you beatles you're playing on the roof's now,and that not good, cause the public dosn't like that, oh there angry, there trying to have you arested get back, get back yeah yeah yeah, get back, get back, to were you once belonged.
13. anonymous

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    Feb 17th 2010 !⃝

    I think the words "Get back to where you once belonged" was for Yoko. Paul made up the rest of the story to hide his true intent. He didn't like Yoko. Read the details on the net. They were not in good terms for a long long time.
14. Fabian

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    Aug 25th 2009 !⃝

    Jo Jo was the name of Linda Eastmans ex husband who live in Arizona and died in 2000.The song was in it's origional form a racist comment by Paul against the immigration of Pakistanis into the UK in the 1960's.
    The words were changed to suit a more commercial market(typical Paul Mc Cartney)and to ensure air play.I have seen the rough cut in the recording studio and it was not a happy scene.It was also a slur against anyone with a gender issue,sweet Loretta thought she was a woman etc.
    Everyone was told to get back to where they once belonged,but not in the UK.Even though Paul decribed Yoko as "not the brightest button"he did not aim this song at her out of his respect for John.
15. so123

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    Sep 28th 2008 !⃝

    Jo Jo was a man that thought he was a loner . A city person that thought he could escape into the desert, after his time there he realized he could not stand the solitude and went back to the green of California ( Beverly Hills )Jo Jo was Paul who owned property there with his first wife Linda.
16. anonymous

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    Aug 25th 2008 !⃝

    Songs about yoko - jojo kind of sounds like Yoko they are both unique names.. get back to where you once belong is referring to how Yoko was in the studio with John 24/7 and she was a 'loner' to the fame.
17. anonymous

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    May 9th 2008 !⃝

    I think in a way Paul is referring to both John and Yoko. He is saying John should go back to his Beatle life and yoko should go back home, should leave, should get away.
18. anonymous

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    Feb 14th 2008 !⃝

    I think this song was written by Paul to John, suggesting John should "get back" to being a Beatle. The first line says: Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner, but he knew it couldn't last. I think Paul meant that John's new lifestyle could only last so long and eventually he would have to come back to change again. I think Paul wanted John to come back to the Beatles, his true home. I also think he used Jojo, as a sort of shortened version of John.

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