<P> The song was written following a recording session for trumpet player Hugh Masekela that Hillman had attended during 1966, a year that saw the bassist blossoming as a songwriter . On The Byrds' previous album, Fifth Dimension, Hillman's only songwriting contribution had been a shared writing credit for the instrumental "Captain Soul". On Younger Than Yesterday, however, he is credited as the sole songwriter of four tracks, as well as the co-writer of "So You Want to Be a Rock' n' Roll Star" with Jim McGuinn . </P> <P> "Have You Seen Her Face" has a strident structure and melody, greatly influenced by the British Invasion groups of the mid-1960s and complemented by Hillman's melodic, Paul McCartney-esque bass playing . The song also features a faux country and western lead guitar solo played by McGuinn on rhythm guitarist David Crosby's Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar . </P> <P> Despite its relatively poor showing on the U.S. charts, critical reaction to the song was positive, with Record World describing it as a "Pretty contemporary love song" and Billboard magazine commenting "the quartet has a strong commercial entry in this easy - beat folk - rocker with a compelling lyric ." In recent years, Thomas Ward of the Allmusic website has described the song as "magnificent" and "one of The Byrds' great songs ." Ward also noted that "the song distils the groups' many influences, from Indian music (in McGuinn's wondrous guitar solo) to folk to rock and roll ." Ward concluded his review by stating that "Have You Seen Her Face" was "one of the most outstanding songs of the period, by anyone ." </P> <P> The Byrds performed "Have You Seen Her Face" on the television programs The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and American Bandstand, as well as featuring it in their performance at the Monterey Pop Festival . The Byrds' performance of the song at Monterey is included on the 1992 The Monterey International Pop Festival CD box set . </P>

The byrds have you seen her face lyrics