Learning from The Beatles: "Do You Want to Know a Secret?"
"Do You Want to Know a Secret?" I love The Beatles. I can’t get enough of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. If you “Drive My Car,” you’ll find the SiriusXM tuned to The Beatles channel. And “I Want to Tell You” that in almost every Beatles song—“Here, There, and Everywhere”—you can relate the song back to some important legal rule or tip for the bar exam. "Dig It."
So, “From Me to You,” “I Want to Tell You” some of my favorites (it’s obviously not “Every Little Thing”):
1. Help!
Help! I need somebody
Help! Not just anybody
Help! You know I need someone
Help!
Evidence: Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, an excited utterance is defined as a statement that concerns a startling event, made by the declarant when the declarant is still under stress from the startling event. An excited utterance is admissible under an exception to the hearsay rule.
Tip: Look for the exclamation point(!) in the fact pattern!
When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a Valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four
Contracts and Sales: The Statute of Frauds refers to the requirement that certain kinds of contracts be memorialized in a writing, signed by the party to be charged, with sufficient content to evidence the contract. Contracts that cannot be performed within a year must be in writing.
Tip: Look for dates and time frames in Contracts and Sales questions. They're usually important.
Try to see it my way
Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on?
While you see it your way
Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone
We can work it out
We can work it out
Evidence: There are two separate marital privileges: (i) spousal immunity (i.e., the privilege not to testify against a spouse in a criminal case), and (ii) the privilege for confidential marital communications.
Tip: Make sure you know which marital privilege applies in the particular fact pattern, and who may properly invoke the privilege.
For the benefit of Mr. Kite
There will be a show tonight on trampoline
The Hendersons will all be there
Late of Pablo Fanques Fair-what a scene
Over men and horses hoops and garters
Lastly through a hogshead of real fire!
In this way Mr. K. will challenge the world!
Contracts and Sales: A third-party beneficiary contract arises when two parties enter into an agreement for the benefit of a third person.
Tip: If you know the rules in this area, you’re likely to pick up points over the field. The concepts aren’t necessarily difficult, but most first-year law school Contracts courses don’t spend an adequate amount of time discussing these principles.
Ooh I need your love babe,
Guess you know it's true.
Hope you need my love babe,
Just like I need you.
Hold me, love me, hold me, love me.
Ain't got nothin' but love babe,
Eight days a week.
Evidence: Federal Rule of Evidence 406: “Evidence of a person’s habit or an organization’s routine practice may be admitted to prove that on a particular occasion the person or organization acted in accordance with the habit or routine practice. The court may admit this evidence regardless of whether it is corroborated or whether there was an eyewitness.”
Tip: Look for trigger words like “always,” “automatically,” and “without thinking” in the fact pattern. These words likely indicate habit.
I think I'm gonna be sad,
I think it's today, yeah.
The girl that's driving me mad
Is going away.
She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
But she don't care.
Contracts and Sales: A ticket to ride lets you engage in a service—to ride a train, to ride a ski lift, to ride on plane, etc. The common law applies to services contracts, while the U.C.C. applies to the sale of goods.
Tip: Determining the applicable law—common law or U.C.C.—should always be the first question you resolve in any Contracts and Sales question.
Happiness is a warm gun (bang bang shoot shoot)
Happiness is a warm gun, mama (bang bang shoot shoot)
When I hold you in my arms (oh, yeah)
And I feel my finger on your trigger (oh, yeah)
I know nobody can do me no harm (oh, yeah)
Because, (happiness) is a warm gun, mama (bang bang shoot shoot)
Happiness is a warm gun, yes it is (bang bang shoot shoot)
Criminal Law: Common law murder is the killing of another human being with malice aforethought. Malice aforethought is a legal term of art that can be established in one of four ways: (i) intent to kill; (ii) Intent to inflict great bodily injury; (iii) reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life; or (iv) intent to commit a felony.
Tip: Because one way malice aforethought can be established is by proving reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life, common law murder is considered one of the two malice crimes tested on the MBE (the other malice crime being arson).
8. Day Tripper
Got a good reason
For taking the easy way out
Got a good reason
For taking the easy way out now
She was a day tripper
One way ticket, yeah
It took me so long to find out
And I found out
Criminal Law: John's lyrics in Day Tripper are considered his first overt reference to LSD in a Beatles song. Day Tripper can be seen as John teasing Paul about not taking acid. The defense of intoxication (as a result of drugs, alcohol, medicine, etc.) may be raised whenever it negates one of the elements of the crime, but make sure you distinguish between voluntary and involuntary intoxication.
Tip: Voluntary intoxication is a defense to specific intent crimes if the intoxication prevents formation of intent. On the other hand, involuntary intoxication may be a defense to all crimes.
She came in through the bathroom window
Protected by a silver spoon
But now she sucks her thumb and wanders
By the banks of her own lagoon
Didn't anybody tell her?
Didn't anybody see?
Sunday's on the phone to Monday
Tuesday's on the phone to me
Criminal Law: Common law burglary is the breaking and entering of a dwelling of another at night with an intent to commit a felony therein.
Tip: What makes burglary questions on the MBE difficult is that modern statutes often eliminate many of the requirements of common law burglary, such as eliminating the requirements of a breaking, that the structure be a dwelling, and that the act occur at nighttime. On the MBE, however, make sure you rigidly apply the common law principles unless you’re told otherwise in the fact pattern.
10. Because
Aaaaaaah-aaah
Because the world is round
It turns me on
Because the world is round
Aaaaaaah-aaah
Because the wind is high
It blows my mind
Because the wind is high
Aaaaaaah-ah
Love is old, love is new
Love is all, love is you
Tip: The word “because” should be generously used in your essay responses because the word forces you to explain your position, argument, conclusion, etc. It prevents you from being conclusory—stating a position without factual support—and it preempts the examiner from asking “why.” The word “because” wonderfully connects rules to relevant facts.
“The End”
