I can't find anything either to confirm or deny it so I'm just going to assume that '(f/s)' stands for 'flip side'. I suppose it could also be 'first side' but that doesn't sound quite right to me. In the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, the Fab Four's latest hit was a double A side. Though the CHUM chart had been more than open to them, this practice wasn't observed by RPM who presumably were following the American Hot 100's rule of only recognizing a single side. That said, the US singles charts also allowed for B sides to chart in their own right. Thus, The Beatles held two spots on the American Top 5 with the same single (while "We Can Work It Out" was number one, "Day Tripper" peaked at five); for whatever reason this wasn't permitted in Canada. (If I had to guess, I'd say it was due to Can Con regulations)
Famously, The Beatles had to rush to record their sixth album Rubber Soul so that it could come out in time for the Christmas market. Though deep cut "Wait" had been a holdover from the "Help!" sessions earlier that year, they wrote and recorded the thirteen remaining tracks in around a month. In addition, they had enough left in the tank for a standalone single and an unreleased instrumental. The pressure might have got to some but John, Paul, George and Ringo thrived under these conditions. Though not quite every track proved to be a classic — "What Goes On" is a Ringo number and therefore isn't especially great while "Run for Your Life" has an unsettling message even if the tune itself is quite good — more than enough of them are. The likes of "In My Life", "Norwegian Wood", "Drive My Car", "The Word" and "I'm Looking Through You" were by no means album filler: if anything, they rival and even top the two songs that ended up being selected for the group's next single.
The decision was made to pair "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out" together. (While it's easy to imagine "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" ending up on Revolver and "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, I find it impossible to come up with a version of Rubber Soul that includes either of side of this single) Though John Lennon and Paul McCartney co-wrote them and their vocals appear on both, they quarreled over which one should be the A side. The more rockist Lennon preferred the former's memorable riff (as well as its suggestive lyrics) while the pop purist McCartney favoured the latter. (This isn't to suggest that they disliked the each other's picks however) Unable to agree, they gave up and let radio stations and audiences decide for themselves.
I don't know if there was a rift that developed between Lennon and McCartney over "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out". If there had been the two parties must have moved on from it fairly quickly. In any case, it couldn't have been as serious as the issues that began to divide them at the end of the sixties. But what's interesting about this is that it seemed to divide listeners as well. The fanbase seems split over which one is better and which one should have received the bulk of the promotion. (As far as the critics I like to cite go, Tom Breihan prefers "Day Tripper" while Aidan Curran is firmly on the side of "We Can Work It Out". As if unable or willing to act as tie breaker, Tom Ewing doesn't specify)
Personally, I find it hard to take a side on this one. If I ever find myself leaning towards "Day Tripper" then I begin to think about how much more considered "We Can Work It Out" is. Then again, if I'm feeling like more of a "We Can Work It Out" guy, I'll immediately think about how audacious and relentlessly catchy "Day Tripper" is. The respective strengths of each are partially revealed by the other. Does "We Can Work It Out" feel just a bit too carefully thought out? Well, look no further than the more spontaneous "Day Tripper". Do you ever get the sense that "Day Tripper" isn't really doing anything new and that The Beatles might even have been phoning it in? The waltzy middle eight, Lennon's harmonium playing and even the Motown-esque use of tambourine all contribute to "We Can Work It Out" being a considerable step forward.
The Lennon-McCartney divide is there for a reason but it sometimes feels like people are searching a little too hard for examples. Lennon's section in the bridge of "We Can Work It Out" is often described as a pessimistic counter to McCartney's optimism in the verses and chorus but this over-simplistic analysis misses a couple key points. One is that McCartney is being much more bull-headed than he's normally given credit for with few even noticing his perspective is based entirely around doing things his way in order to resolve the issues he and his girlfriend have been faced with. Which brings us to Lennon, who is really there to reaffirm his partner point, even if his words are far more blunt and to-the-point. Contrary to them being polar opposites, the two had a lot more in common than we might initially assume.
Mention of the song's bridge brings to mind the group's tendency around this time to have repeated middle eights when one would have sufficed. For a two-minute pop record, there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to have a second pass through the "life is very short..." bit other than to fill up some space where another verse or a guitar solo might have gone. This could at least partially explain why Lennon and McCartney were able to dash off so many brilliant numbers within such a narrow window of time (even though many of the songs on the less hastily recorded Help! also utilize the same trick). I don't wish to pick on "We Can Work It Out" specifically for a mildly irritating trend in their work during 1965 — the next time The Beatles come up it will be with a single that has three larbourious middle eights — but the song's brevity really does make it stand out - and not in a good way.
More than "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", more than "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" and more than "Something" and "Come Together", the pairing of "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" is one which needs the other. (The only other Beatles' single that comes close is the non-double A "Get Back" and "Don't Let Me Down" and that's only because they sound so much alike) Though the two aren't quite enough on their own, together they're as good anything the Fab Four ever created. If I listen to one, I have to put on the other. It's not unlike how Lennon and McCartney themselves were always far better when working together as pop and rock music's unchallenged greatest duo ever.
Score: 8
Nice write up on the singles.
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