☝️ Key Points
- The song is about an impending breakup where the singer feels abandoned by the woman who drives him crazy.
- The repeated line 'She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care' illustrates that she has the freedom to end the relationship and seems unaffected by his feelings.
- The lines 'She said that living with me, Is bringing her down' and 'She would never be free, When I was around' show that the woman was unhappy in the relationship and felt trapped.
- The singer questions her motivation to leave in the lines 'I don't know why she's riding so high, She ought to think twice, She ought to do right by me'.
- The closing words 'My baby don't care' show the singer's disappointment and sadness over her indifference towards his feelings.
Interpretation
'Ticket to Ride' by
the Beatles is about an impending breakup and the associated emotions. The main character of the song is a man who is sad and confused because the woman who drives him crazy is leaving him. She has a 'ticket to ride', which metaphorically represents her decision to end the relationship and go her own way.
The repeated line 'She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care' emphasizes that she has the freedom to leave and it seems like she is unaffected or indifferent to the singer's feelings.
The lines 'She said that living with me, Is bringing her down' and 'She would never be free, When I was around' show that the woman was unhappy in the relationship and felt trapped. She feels like she will never be free as long as she is with the singer.
The words 'I don't know why she's riding so high, She ought to think twice, She ought to do right by me' suggest that the singer wonders why she is so eager to go and believes that she should reconsider her decision and be fair to him.
In the closing lines of the song, 'My baby don't care', the singer expresses his disappointment and sadness that she apparently has no concern for his feelings.