[15][16] After Lennon and George Harrison had first taken the drug in London early in 1965,[15][17] Ringo Starr had joined them for their second experience, which took place in Los Angeles when the Beatles stopped there during their August 1965 US tour.

[18] Given McCartney's continued abstinence, author Ian MacDonald says that the song's lyrics may well have been partly directed at him,[19] a perspective shared by music journalist Keith Cameron.

[21] Throughout the summer, soul music had been one of the dominant sounds heard on American radio, particularly singles by acts signed to the Motown and Stax record labels.

[23][nb 1] According to MacDonald, Lennon possibly came up with the riff in an effort to improve on the Rolling Stones' 1965 hit single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction",[25] which similarly showed the influence of Stax soul.

[5] He sees the "Day Tripper" riff as a combination of the ostinatos heard on Motown recordings such as the Temptations' "My Girl", Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" and Marvin Gaye's "I'll Be Doggone", while also incorporating a rockabilly element that recalls Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman".

[28][32] In Everett's view, the intensity of the bridge – the bass pedal, rising scale, guitar solos, cymbal playing, and increased attack on the vocalised "aah"s – conveys the realisation that the singer is being used by the female day-tripper and "express a gradually-arising, yet sudden sensation of, enlightenment".

He also highlights the judicious use of falsetto and change of wording in the final chorus – where the day tripper's "one-way ticket" becomes a reference to her as a "Sunday driver" – as examples of the song's avoidance of "rote consistency" and its ability to continually surprise.

He cites "the triple implication of 'day tripper' as flighty girlfriend, or weekend hop-head, or uncommitted disciple of the new wisdom", adding that the ascending wordless vocalisation in the bridge serves as a "self-reference to that defining Beatle moment" in their 1963 cover of "Twist and Shout".

[38] Unusually for the time, the group allowed visitors into the studio, as Lennon's wife Cynthia and his half-sisters Julia Baird and Jacqui Dykins attended part of the session.

[4] "Day Tripper" had been conceived as the A-side of the Beatles' next single but the band came to favour "We Can Work It Out", which was predominantly written by McCartney and recorded later in the Rubber Soul sessions.

[47][48] To promote the upcoming release, the Beatles filmed mimed performances of the two songs on 1–2 November[49] for inclusion in the Granada TV special The Music of Lennon & McCartney.

[53][nb 5] Lennon's championing of "Day Tripper" was based on his belief that the Beatles' rock sound should be favoured over the softer style of "We Can Work It Out".

[68][70] In music critic Richie Unterberger's view, Starr's antics lend the performance "a dash of surrealism (by 1965 pop group standards at any rate)".

[74] The release coincided with speculation in the UK press that the Beatles' superiority in the pop world since 1963 might be coming to an end, given the customary two or three years that most acts could expect to remain at the peak of their popularity.

[76] Cash Box's reviewer predicted that the Beatles would "quickly trip the [US] charts fantastic for the umpteenth time" with "We Can Work It Out" and described "Day Tripper" as a "hard-pounding, raunchy ode all about a gal who is somewhat of a tease".

"[79] In his role as guest reviewer for Melody Maker, the Animals' Eric Burdon said he preferred "Day Tripper" and especially admired Harrison's guitar contributions, saying that rather than musical prowess, "It's what he does and when he does it."

[105] Over 2,000 fans broke through the security barriers separating the audience from the open area housing the elevated stage,[106] causing the Beatles to stop the performance and shelter backstage for half an hour until order was restored.

[108] During the band's final press conference as a performing act, held at the Capitol Tower in Los Angeles on 28 August,[109] a reporter asked what they thought of Time magazine's recent dismissal of pop music, particularly the writers' contention that "Day Tripper" was about a prostitute and "Norwegian Wood" was a song about a lesbian.

"[111][nb 11] When introducing the song at San Francisco's Candlestick Park the following night, during the Beatles' final commercial concert,[112] Lennon described it as being "about the very naughty lady called Day Tripper".

[121][122] The success of "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out" popularised the double A-side format and, in giving equal treatment to two songs, allowed recording artists to show their versatility.

[111] Lenny Kaye, an aspiring musician in 1965, later described it as one of the era's "great riffs" and highlighted the song as an example of how the Beatles' music was always harder to master than that of contemporaries such as the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds.

A groove this natural doesn't need much ornamentation, but the Beatles nevertheless chose to build in a climax after the second verse that propels the song to breathtaking heights.

[19] Alex Petridis of The Guardian finds the song inferior to "We Can Work It Out", writing: "Its addictive riff aside, there is something unappealingly snooty about Day Tripper: the sound of an acid initiate sneering at someone insufficiently hip to have turned on, tuned in and dropped out.

He said it was the most riff-oriented of all the Beatles' songs and praised the group's performance, highlighting Lennon and McCartney's "finest tag vocal melodrama", Starr's effective drum rolls, and Harrison's ascending sequence over the middle eight for "lur[ing] us to the verge of hysteria".

[20][nb 14] "Day Tripper" was ranked the 30th best Beatles song by Ultimate Classic Rock in 2014[citation needed] and by the music staff of Time Out London in 2017.

[130] As of December 2018, the double A-side was the 54th best-selling single of all time in the UK – one of six Beatles entries in the top sales rankings published by the Official Charts Company.

[132] According to MacDonald, Redding was delighted by the Beatles' imitation of his sound in "Drive My Car" and responded by recording "his own, madly up-tempo" arrangement of "Day Tripper".

[137] According to Kruth, Nancy Sinatra provided another "hot" female reading on her album Boots, which also includes a provocative interpretation of "Run for Your Life", Lennon's "sexist 'sermon'" from Rubber Soul.

"[142][nb 16] Pauline Oliveros's tape-delay collage piece "Rock Symphony", which she debuted at the San Francisco Tape Music Center in December 1965, used samples of "Day Tripper" and "Norwegian Wood", along with recent recordings by the Animals, the Bobby Fuller Four and Tammi Terrell.

Rob Chapman cites the Oliveros composition as an example of mid-1960s avant-garde composers being quick to incorporate the latest pop sounds into their work, thereby expanding the scope of their medium.