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“They were doing things nobody was doing. Their chords were outrageous, just outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid.”
– Bob Dylan

“We wrote a lot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ I remember when we got the chord that made the song. We were in Jane Asher’s house, downstairs in the cellar playing on the piano at the same time. And we had, ‘Oh you-u-u/ got that something…’ And Paul hits this chord [E minor] and I turn to him and say, ‘That’s it!’ I said, ‘Do that again!’ In those days, we really used to absolutely write like that — both playing into each other’s noses.”
– John Lennon (Playboy)

“‘Eyeball to eyeball’ is a very good description of it. That’s exactly how it was. ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ was very co-written. It was our big number one; the one that would eventually break us in America.”
– Paul McCartney (Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles)

This is the song that made America pay attention, and kick-started the “British Invasion”. It is the essential Beatles -63 pop song (ok, along with She Loves You). When released in USA,  750,000 copies were sold in the first 3 days, 10,000 copies were sold each hour in New York!

Wikipedia:

Single by The Beatles
B-side	“This Boy” (UK), “I Saw Her Standing There” (US)
Released	29 November 1963 (UK), 26 December 1963 (US)
Format	7″
Recorded	17 October 1963, EMI Studios, London
Genre	Rock, pop
Length	2:24
Label	Parlophone (UK), Capitol (US)
Writer(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer	George Martin

“I Want to Hold Your Hand” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment.

The Beatles – I Want To Hold Your Hand:

“I Want to Hold Your Hand” was one of the most important songs in rock history. It was the first the Beatles song to become a hit in the United States, rocketing to number one in early 1964; it was the song most responsible for making the group an international phenomenon; and it was the song that launched the British Invasion. And, historical concerns aside, it was a great song.”
– Richie Unterberg (allmusic)

..the record’s joyous energy and invention lifted America out of its gloom, following which, high on gratitude, the country cast itself at The Beatles’ feet. Their TV performance on The Ed Sullivan Show February, claimed by many US commentators to be the pivotal event in American post-war culture, sealed the deal and, by April, their back catalogue was flooding the US charts.
~Ian MacDonald (Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties)

John Lennon: vocals and rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: vocals and bass guitar
George Harrison: lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums

…and they all clapped hands.

It was also released with German lyrics, Kom Gib Mir Deiner Hand:

Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something
I think you’ll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

Oh, please, say to me
You’ll let me be your man
and please, say to me

You’ll let me hold your hand
Now let me hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

And when I touch you i feel happy, inside
It’s such a feeling
That my love
I can’t hide
I can’t hide
I can’t hide

Yeah you, got that something
I think you’ll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

And when I touch you I feel happy, inside
It’s such a feeling
That my love
I can’t hide
I can’t hide
I can’t hide

Yeah you, got that something
I think you’ll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your ha-a-a-a-a-a-and

Check out:

37. I Want To Hold Your Hand (Lennon/McCartney – 50/50%)
38. Taxman (written by George Harrison ~100%)
39. Because (written by John Lennon ~100%)
40. All You Need Is Love (written by John Lennon ~100%)

– Hallgeir & Egil