Even the most basic and uninspiring Beatles songs have interesting back stories.
‘Hello, Goodbye’ is the sort of fluff that Paul McCartney could write in 15 minutes, and that’s kind of what he did. When Alistair Taylor, one of Brian Epstein’s assistants, asked McCartney about his songwriting process, Paul sat down at a harmonium and asked Taylor to do a call-and-response. Taylor would say the opposite of whatever word McCartney offered up, and Paul built the song around that framework.
The song was chosen as the band’s 1967 Christmas single, and was the first single The Beatles released after Epstein’s death in August of that year.
The single’s B-side was the John Lennon-penned ‘I Am the Walrus,’ and John wasn’t happy that his song took the back seat to a throwaway tune like this. The decision paid off, however, as ‘Hello, Goodbye’ topped the charts in the UK, the United States, and a handful of other countries.
You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go go go
Ooh no
[Chorus]
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello, hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
[Verse 2]
I say high, you say low
You say why and I say I don’t know
Oh no
[Chorus]
You say goodbye and I say hello
(Hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye) Hello, hello
(Hello, goodbye) I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
(Hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye) Hello, hello
(Hello, goodbye) I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
(Hello, goodbye)
[Bridge]
Why why why why why why do you say goodbye?
Goodbye, bye bye bye bye
Oh no
[Chorus]
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello, hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
[Verse 3]
You say yes (I say yes)
I say no (But I may mean no)
You say stop (I can stay)
And I say go go go (Till it’s time to go)
Oh, oh no
[Chorus]
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello, hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
Hello, hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello, oh, oh
Hello
Meet Me In Montauk 
Love this!
What are those lyrics you printed in the bridge? They are nowhere in the song. Rather odd!
Oops… I accidentally copied some stray promo text from the site with the lyrics. I don’t think The Beatles were promoting their other songs in the middle of this one. 🙂