Richie Unterberger contends that the song was McCartney's most mature to that point. He writes that, in hindsight, its rapidly strummed acoustic guitar triplets signaled the band's turn to folk rock, pointing out that the American folk rock band the Byrds covered it in their early live shows. Tom Ewing of Pitchfork describes the song as "wintry and philosophical before the surprising, stirring middle eight". Journalist Robert Sandall suggests that the song's "mood of brooding reverie" is more closely aligned with fan's perceptions of Lennon's feelings than McCartney's. Writer Ian MacDonald also states it is closer in style to Lennon than McCartney, further writing that the song "established a model of strident dramatic contrasts" for the Beatles' next album, Beatles for Sale, heard in songs like "Baby's In Black", "Every Little Thing", "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" and "No Reply". In McCartney's authorised biography, Many Years From Now, Barry Miles writes that, like "And I Love Her", the song was inspired by McCartney and Asher's relationship and the frequent separation from one another they experienced due to their busy careers. MacDonald similarly writes that the sombre lyric of "Things We Said Today" was inspired by the interruptions in McCartney and Asher's relationship. BBC Radio and live versions British law in the 1960s compelled BBC Radio to play material recorded especially for the medium. In keeping with this practice, the Beatles played "Things We Said Today" twice for radio, recording for the BBC Light Programmes Top Gear and From Us to You on 14 and 17 July 1964, respectively. The former, broadcast two days later, was the first Top Gear programme to run on BBC Radio 1. EMI included this performance on the album Live at the BBC, released in the UK and US on 30 November and 6 December 1994, respectively. The album achieved number one on the UK Music Week top 75 and number three on the Billboard 200. The Beatles regularly performed an abbreviated version of the song during their 1964 North American tour. MacDonald writes the song's combination of "ease and effectiveness" secured its inclusion in their set list. Capitol, hoping to release a live album of the band in the US market, recorded their 23 August 1964 concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles but deemed the recording of insufficient quality for release. In 1977, Capitol approached Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick to