I Want to Hold Your Hand by T.V. Carpio (from Across The Universe

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" film clip (from Across The Universe)
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" Beatles recording

One of the worst films I’ve ever seen is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This disaster of a film starred the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton and a host of other music and film stars including Steve Martin, Aerosmith and George Burns. The filmmakers attempted to link together Beatles' songs to create a musical and the results were both musically and dramatically disastrous (well except maybe for the Earth, Wind & Fire and Aerosmith performances).

I’m not trying to be sarcastic or funny, this film is just painful.

So when I heard that there was a film being made that was going to link Beatles songs into a musical, I was dreading the result. Even though the director was Julie Taymor one of my favorite artist who directing The Lion King on Broadway and Titus, one of my favorite Shakespeare films I was still nervous about the venture.

The Beatles catalogue is amazing. They recorded music that represents every single genre of music of the 1960s and beyond including Motown, Rock, Folk, and Punk. Many songs the Beatles recorded told great stories from the lonely life of "Eleanor Rigby" to the silly romp of "Maxwell’s Silver Hammer." However there are no linear stories across songs even in the concept album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is one reason that the previous attempt to make the Beatles’ songs a musical failed so completely.

Then I saw the trailer for Across The Universe and I was floored. I saw the film a couple months and it didn’t disappoint. The visuals are original, sometimes shocking but always sublime. The music sounded fresh and the film as a whole worked.

For most of the songs Julie Taymor brought out what musically characteristic about the songs. Taymor with “Let It Be” brought out it’s spiritual overtones and set it as a gospel song. This approach was effective because it brought out the meaning of the songs and put them in a musical context that came within the song itself. However one song was shockingly different.

Roger Ebert in his review of Across the Universe observed: “When Prudence sings "I Want To Hold Your Hand," for example, I realized how wrong I was to ever think that was a happy song. It's not happy if it's a hand you are never, never, never going to hold. The love that dare not express its name turns in sadness to song.”

“I Want to Hold Your Hand” introduced America to the Beatles. It was the Beatles first number one hit in America and started what is known as the British Invasion, a period of time when British rock groups dominated the American pop charts. ”

The songs mix of emotions from the exuberant opening to the reflective bridge combined with innovative chord changes revolutionized and defined the pop song for generations to come. The songs message of wanting to hold a girl’s hand because of the happiness it brings is both innocent and genuine. The energy of the instruments and the infectious melody add to the song resulting in one of the most loved songs in popular music.

In Across The Universe, the character of Prudence played by T.V. Carpio sings “I Want to Hold Your Hand” as a love to song to a fellow female cheerleader. This lesbian fantasy (“the love that dare not express its name") because of the slower tempo and mournful performance by Carpio comes across as a longing that will never be fulfilled.

The slower tempo brings attention to the lyrics. In the original Beatles version, they go by so quickly in the verse that many people who have listened to this song for years still don’t know them. It becomes clear in Carpio’s performance that she first thinks that the other girl will understand but then proceeds to plead “oh please, you’ll let me hold your hand.”

When the Beatles sing “I can’t hide,” we think of a teenager who is so in love with someone that they can’t help but tell everyone about their excitement. When Carpio sings this line she is expressing how much she yearns for this connection. The sad truth is that because of the time and place she has to hide what she feels she cannot.

At the end of both songs, the feeling of joy and bliss from the idea of holding someone’s hands shines through. The context of this feeling coming from a teenage simplicity with the Beatles and a tortured yearning of Carpio’s performance are both part of the magic of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

It’s pretty amazing that without changing the lyrics, melody or chords Julie Taymor could bring a new light to “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” It’s as much a credit to her artistry as well as the song itself that this was possible.

What the Beatles understood about popular music is that it needs to be specific emotionally but open enough to apply to different people’s lives. That is the beauty of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” We all know how magical it is to hold someone’s hand and want this feeling in our own individual and equally valid way: from my excitement when my wife comes home to work to a teenage girl dreaming of a day when she no longer has to hide the love she feels in her heart.