"Woman"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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I listened to the Beatles' Please Please Me this morning, and I noticed that "Ask Me Why" has some lyrics in common with "Woman."  "Ask Me Why" has:

I can't believe
It's happened to me
I can't conceive
Of any more misery

And "Woman" has:

I can't conceive, no
I can't believe you love me too

"Woman" uses believe and conceive more as an internal rhyme where "Ask Me Why" uses them for a line-ending rhyme.

"Ask Me Why" was released as the b-side to the "Please Please Me" single on 11 January 1963, and "Woman" was released as the b-side of the "Leave Me Be" single on 16 October 1964.  (Coincidentally, both songs were the b-side of each band's second single.)  So, between the chronology and the Beatles' influence on Rod Argent (which he's mentioned multiple times), there might be a connection between these two songs.  On the other hand, rhyming believe and conceive isn't too unusual, so it might just be a coincidence that both songs use them.  At best, it's just a conjectured influence.