One popular theory is that Lennon was addressing Frank Sinatra in response to a hagiographic article on the singer in Esquire magazine; another contends that the song was directed at Mick Jagger with reference to Marianne Faithfull.

[5] His first wife Cynthia recalled that the song was inspired by her presenting Lennon with a clockwork bird inside a gilded cage, wrapped in gift paper, apart from the wind-up mechanism.

[8] In his 2007 book Can't Buy Me Love, Jonathan Gould says that Lennon wrote "And Your Bird Can Sing" about Frank Sinatra after reading a hagiographic article on the singer in Esquire magazine.

[9][10] Written by Gay Talese, the article detailed Sinatra's wealth and power, describing him as "the fully emancipated male ... the man who can have anything he wants", and repeatedly mentioned his use of the word "bird" to mean a penis.

[8] According to Rolling Stone, and supported by Womack, the line "You say you've seen seven wonders" could be a reference to a comment McCartney made in 1964 when the Beatles were smoking cannabis with Bob Dylan in New York.

[16][17] Under the effects of the drug, McCartney declared that he knew the answer to the questions of existence and told Beatles roadie Mal Evans to write down any statements he made on the subject.

[36] Rodriguez and music critic Richie Unterberger speculate that the remake was motivated by the Beatles' realisation that the 20 April recording was overly derivative of the Byrds and that this aspect had possibly come about through a pun on the word "bird".

[28][35] The session began with Lennon's tongue-in-cheek introduction, "Okay, boys – quite brisk, moderato, foxtrot",[37] and the group performing a rhythm track that Lewisohn terms "very heavy", before the mood was lightened in subsequent takes.

[38][39] In the description of Charles Shaar Murray, the completed track is nevertheless one of the guitar-based songs on Revolver that "glisten" with "cascades of jangle", as the Beatles responded to "what The Byrds had done with the Fabs' own proto-folk-rock sound on A Hard Day's Night".

[41] "And Your Bird Can Sing" was one of the three songs intended for Revolver that the Beatles reluctantly gave to Capitol Records for inclusion on the North American LP Yesterday and Today.

He views its omission as indicative of the band's mindset that touring had become a futile exercise but rues that they did not seek to regain enthusiasm by playing recent material that would have suited their stage act.

[53] Recalling the album's release in his 1977 book The Beatles Forever, Nicholas Schaffner commented that whereas the group's more traditional fans warmed to McCartney's new songs, "Lennon's numbers were a different kettle of fish entirely" due to their oblique lyrics.

[7][55] In his 50th anniversary review for Revolver, Steve Marinucci of Billboard described "And Your Bird Can Sing" as "an incredibly ambitious song, highlighted by a superb guitar solo by George Harrison".

[62] In his commentary for Mojo, Litt identified the track as "the birth of all powerpop, from Big Star through Cheap Trick to Fountains of Wayne" and the inspiration for other artists that "use jangle to attack".

[63] In 2002, Genesis drummer and vocalist Phil Collins said it was his favourite Beatles album and highlighted "And Your Bird Can Sing" as "one of the best songs ever written, and it's only a minute and a half long".

[64][nb 4] Jim Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain contributed a recording of the song to Revolver Reloaded,[65] a CD that accompanied Mojo's July 2006 issue celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the Beatles' album.

[65] Among the other artists who have covered "And Your Bird Can Sing" are the Flamin' Groovies, the Charles River Valley Boys, Spanky and Our Gang, the Jam, Guadalcanal Diary, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, Les Fradkin, R. Stevie Moore and I Fight Dragons.