Album Summary: Rubber Soul

Rubber Soul has been a fantastic album with only one or two minor hiccups. :P I enjoyed almost every song (minus today's "Run for Your Life"), and I especially loved "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", "Nowhere Man", "Michelle", and "Girl". 

Wikipedia's page for the album has a great summary of the album's reception and what it meant for the guys as a group:

The album was a major artistic leap forward for the group, and is often cited by critics, as well as members of the band, as the point at which The Beatles' earlier Merseybeat sound began to evolve into the eclectic, sophisticated pop/rock of their later career. Lennon later said this was the first album on which The Beatles were in complete creative control during recording, with enough studio time to develop and refine new sound ideas.

You can definitely hear this, particularly with a song like "Norwegian Wood", which is so very different from anything they'd done beforehand.

Interesting tidbit! The title of the album was coined by Paul:

McCartney conceived the album's title after overhearing a musician's description of Mick Jagger's singing style as "plastic soul". Lennon confirmed this in a 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, stating, "That was Paul's title... meaning English soul. Just a pun."

(Whatever that means. :P )

See you tomorrow! :)

Run for Your Life

Today we finish Rubber Soul with the horrifying "Run for Your Life", in which the singer threatens his girlfriend's life, saying he'd "rather see you dead" than with another man. John himself said he regretted writing this song, although it was George's favorite at the time, and revisited the topic post-Beatles with a more "apologetic" approach ("Jealous Guy").

My opinion of the song can be summed up with that one word: horrifying. The image painted by the lyrics is just too appalling for me to even appreciate whatever musical talent is displayed--although, according to Wikipedia:

[Ian] MacDonald criticised the vocal performance and added these comments about the guitar: "The guitar-work, some of which is badly out of tune, is similarly rough, the piercingly simplistic blues solo suggesting that the player was not Harrison but Lennon himself."

Kind of a bummer endnote for an otherwise great album, but tomorrow is a new day, a new album, and a new song. :) Stay tuned for the album summary.

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Heard It Tally: 18
Songs Completed: 98

If I Needed Someone

Today's song is "If I Needed Someone", George's requisite one song on Rubber Soul. Apparently Harrison was greatly inspired by the music of The Byrds. Wikipedia tells us that "'If I Needed Someone' was the only Harrison composition played during any of The Beatles' tours; otherwise Harrison sang only covers onstage." Also, this song is one of only two from Rubber Soul that the guys performed in concert; the other is "Nowhere Man". 

This one is interesting to me... I like the lyrics, in which the singer states he's too busy for love, but if you'll please leave your number he (may) call you back (probably... maybe). The heavily harmonized vocals are pretty good, though I think John and Paul's backup singing overshadows George's voice. Maybe that's just me, though. I'm always getting them confused. :P

That's all for today... See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 18
Songs Completed: 97

Wait

Today's song is "Wait", which was written by either John and Paul, or just Paul, depending on who you ask. The lyrics tell us about the singer's anxiety about finally returning to his lover, unsure of where they stand since he's been away for a while. He advises her, "But if your heart breaks, don't wait, turn me away / And if your heart's strong, hold on, I won't delay." 

I like this one a lot, because it sounds unique. It's got a whole different thing going on than most of their other songs up to this point. The music matches the vocals, with the beats occurring at the same time. This gives the song a slightly stronger and more insistent emphasis, letting the audience feel the singer's insecurity on a deeper level. 

That's all for now! See you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 18
Songs Completed: 96

In My Life

"In My Life" is today's song. It was written by John, who based it off memories and recollections from his childhood. George Martin, playing an electric piano, contributed the pretty awesome instrumental bridge in the middle. Paul contributed some to the song, but of course it's in dispute how much. However, Paul seems pretty content as far as the credits go, having once said, "I find it very gratifying that out of everything we wrote, we only appear to disagree over two songs" (the other being "Eleanor Rigby").

This one makes you want to reminisce. It's got a comforting melody, and that bridge that Martin plays uses very high notes that lend a classical, and yet almost childlike, atmosphere to the song. My favorite part, besides the lyrics, are the opening notes. There's just something about them. However I do sort of think that vocally, the song might have worked better with just one singer, minus the double-tracked vocals and harmonizing. A single voice would've been more personal, at least. :)

That's all for today. See you later!

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Heard It Tally: 18
Songs Completed: 95

I'm Looking Through You

"I'm Looking Through You" was written by Paul about his girlfriend, Jane Asher. It tells the familiar story of how two people can grow apart when one person changes. At this point in time, Paul and Jane had been together for five years--but it had been a pretty crazy and intense five years. The Beatles had shot to super-stardom, and stuff like that understandably changes people.

I like this one; Paul sings in a higher range, which gives the song a more urgent and questioning feel. The music is stabby, poking and prodding and almost accusing, an excellent match for the lyrics. Overall a great, albeit sad, song. :)

That's all for today. See you guys tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 18
Songs Completed: 94

Girl

"Girl" is the (amazing) song of the day. Written by John and Paul, it talks about a girl "you want so much it makes you sorry"--not the most romantic love song, and certainly not a positive one. 

As with many of their songs, John and Paul had differing memories as far as who wrote what and what it was supposed to mean. While Paul maintains that he wrote the lines, "Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure" and "That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure", John said in a 1970 interview that those lines "were a dig at the Roman Catholic Church."

Despite its depressing lyrics, this is one of my favorite Beatles songs. I love the original, and I love the version from Across the Universe just as much. I think Jim Sturgess's accent just adds this fantastic sound to the song, even though he only sings the first verse in the film.

Well, that's all for today! See you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 18
Songs Completed: 93

What Goes On

Today's song, "What Goes On", is the only Beatles song to be credited to John, Paul, and Ringo. It also features Ringo on vocals, giving the song a distinctive sound (sometimes I still have trouble telling Lennon and McCartney apart, but rarely George and never Ringo. They're too unique). Wikipedia tells us more about the songwriting credit:

Starr contributed to the lyrics, his first-ever composing credit on a Beatles song. However, when asked what his contribution was to the song, Starr jokingly stated, "About five words, and I haven't done a thing since." To his chagrin, the first pressing of the single accidentally omitted "Starkey" in the song-writing credit.

I'm rather fond of this one--not for its music style (it's very country western), and not necessarily for its lyrics, but because Ringo sings it. :) Overall, not a bad song; John wrote most of the lyrics during The Quarrymen days and dusted it off for a brush-up with the guys for Rubber Soul, so it does have an older feel stylistically, but it's not too distracting since they did a good job with its execution. :)

Well, that's all for today... See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 17
Songs Completed: 92

Michelle

"Michelle" is today's song; the lyrics and most of the music was written by Paul, and John co-wrote the middle eight. The lyrics are unique from other Beatles songs in that they alternate English and French. "Michelle" was wildly popular in France and won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1966. 

Wikipedia tells us the song's origins in more detail.

The words and style of "Michelle" has its origins in the popularity of French Left Bank culture during McCartney's Liverpool days. McCartney had gone to a party of art students where a student with a goatee and a striped T-shirt was singing a French song. He soon wrote a farcical imitation to entertain his friends that involved French-sounding groaning instead of real words. The song remained a party piece until 1965, when John Lennon suggested he rework it into a proper song for inclusion on Rubber Soul. 

It took me a couple of listens to get into it. Once I imagined myself listening to it in France it clicked better in my head. :P This is definitely a song that puts you in mind of some incredibly attractive Parisians sitting at a cafe, sipping red wine, wearing dark sunglasses and smoking cigarettes with infinite coolness. The name "Michelle" is French itself; it means "who resembles God?" and was the most popular baby name in 1969.

Well, that's it for today! See you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 17
Songs Completed: 91

The Word

Today's song is "The Word". It marks a change from The Beatles' normal method of speaking about love (that is, between a boy and a girl). Instead, the lyrics (written on a multicolored lyric sheet by John and Paul after smoking some pot) are more abstract. "It's so fine, it's sunshine / It's the word, love" describes the idea of love rather than a specific instance of it. 

I think this song's pretty groovy; the high vocal range and the guitar parts really put me in mind of the sound of the 70's musically, while the lyrics are solidly 60's and the first Beatles song I've encountered to start talking about free love (in a roundabout way). :) It's definitely a unique love song. 

That's all for today! See you guys tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 17
Songs Completed: 90

Think for Yourself

Today's song, "Think for Yourself", is by George and serves as "a warning against listening to lies." Later, in his book I Me Mine, he wrote, "But all this time later, I don't quite recall who inspired that tune. Probably the government."  

Rubber Soul came out in December of 1965, which was a year of turmoil for the world. It was the year Lyndon B. Johnson took office and the year the U.S. landed troops in Vietnam; the year Malcolm X was assassinated and Winston Churchill died; the year of Bloody Sunday, civil rights protests and marches, and the Voting Rights Act; and it was the year Pope Paul VI announced that it's been decided the Jews are not collectively responsible for killing Christ; among other events. 

So, George probably had a lot of political events to choose from when writing "Think for Yourself." Specifically in Britain and in the United States where The Beatles often performed, there was a great deal of tension over various issues, including Rhodesia's (later South Africa) struggle for independence, the Vietnam War and the draft (as well as draft card burnings, Vietnam War protests on Washington, and some of the first televised images and films of the true horrors of war). A lot of the turmoil of the Sixties was shown pretty well in Across the Universe, which links those Beatles songs to events in that time period. 

Coming back to the song itself, "Think for Yourself" is a pretty good song. Wikipedia tells us an interesting fact:

In a departure from all precedent at the time, the song has two bass lines, a normal one and one created by Paul McCartney's then-unique application of a fuzzbox to his bass.

That fuzzbox gives the bass a pretty neat growl, which really complements Harrison's admonishing lyrics well. I believe this is the first Beatles song that could be interpreted to have a political meaning--but certainly not the last, as we'll see.

That's it for today... See you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 17
Songs Completed: 89

Nowhere Man

Today's song, "Nowhere Man", according to Wikipedia, "is among the very first Beatles' songs to be entirely unrelated to romance or love, and marks a notable instance of Lennon's philosophically-oriented songwriting." John, Paul and George sing the lyrics in three-part harmony, lending kind of a unique, echoing sound to the song.

Lennon wrote the lyrics about himself; he'd apparently been frustrated for hours, trying to write a decent song. 

Lennon told Playboy: "I'd spent five hours that morning trying to write a song that was meaningful and good, and I finally gave up and lay down. Then 'Nowhere Man' came, words and music, the whole damn thing as I lay down."

Interestingly, the melody of the song's verses resembles parts of Chopin's Mazurka No. 48 in F Major, Op. 68/3.

I like this song; I've heard it before, but years and years ago. The guys' voices are a bit haunting, and the lyrics that John wrote seem to be a self-deprecating and encouraging at the same time, as if he was trying to shake himself out of it. My favorite line is "Isn't he a bit like you and me?" 

Well, that's all for today. Hope you enjoyed the song (as well as the movie review I just posted). :) See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 17
Songs Completed: 88

You Won't See Me

"You Won't See Me" is a song that Paul wrote while having troubles with his girlfriend, Jane Asher, who was apparently refusing to speak to him or return his calls. Understandably, the lyrics are somewhat less cheerful than his usual love ballads. At 3 minutes, 22 seconds, it's also the longest song the guys had recorded up to that point.

This song also gives us a sighting of yet another fifth Beatle (I'm calling him that, but I'm not sure anyone else is. I think he counts). 

Mal "Organ" Evans (one of The Beatles' roadies throughout their career) is credited on the album sleeve as having played Hammond organ on this track, his contribution consisting solely of an A note quietly held throughout the last part of the song.

See? Any Beatles roadie named "Organ" and who contributed to a song should be considered among the ranks of the fifth Beatles. :P

Interestingly, "You Won't See Me" wasn't in The Beatles' concert repertoire, but in later years, Paul played it during his own solo concerts: "The song wasn't performed live by Paul McCartney until his '04 Summer Tour (in 2004), with McCartney telling the audience that, up until then, he literally had not played the song since recording it 39 years prior." I wonder if he had to practice it a few times, to brush up on it. Probably. :P

Well, kind of a short post today... But I'll see you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 16
Songs Completed: 87

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

Today's song is the lovely and enigmatic "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". George Harrison plays the sitar; he had started becoming strongly influenced by Indian culture and music (later he would be particularly inspired by Indian musician Ravi Shankar). Lennon wrote and sang the song; apparently he wrote it about the extramarital affairs he was having around that time. He stated:

"Norwegian Wood" is my song completely. It was about an affair I was having. I was very careful and paranoid because I didn't want my wife, Cyn, to know that there really was something going on outside of the household. I'd always had some kind of affairs going on, so I was trying to be sophisticated in writing about an affair. But in such a smoke-screen way that you couldn't tell. But I can't remember any specific woman it had to do with.

There are different opinions as to who the particular woman was, if there was one. However, more interestingly, during a 1966 press conference in Los Angeles, a reporter asked the guys some questions regarding the song.

Reporter: I'd like to direct this question to messrs. Lennon and McCartney. In a recent article, Time magazine put down pop music. And they referred to "Day Tripper" as being about a prostitute...
Paul: Oh yeah.
Reporter: ...and "Norwegian Wood" as being about a lesbian.
Paul: Oh yeah.
Reporter: I just wanted to know what your intent was when you wrote it, and what your feeling is about the Time magazine criticism of the music that is being written today.
Paul: We were just trying to write songs about prostitutes and lesbians, that's all.

That made me laugh. :P 

The song tells the story of a girl who leads the singer on and at the last minute makes him sleep in the bathtub. The last lines of "Norwegian Wood" mention that the singer lights a fire; Paul and John said the audience is meant to believe that he has burned the girl's house down in revenge. Paul said of the title of the song:

It was pine, really, cheap pine. But it's not as good a title, "Cheap Pine", baby. So it was a little parody really on those kind of girls who when you'd go to their flat there would be a lot of Norwegian wood. It was completely imaginary from my point of view but in John's it was based on an affair he had.... So she makes him sleep in the bath and then finally in the last verse I had this idea to set the Norwegian wood on fire as revenge, so we did it very tongue in cheek. She led him on, then said, "You'd better sleep in the bath." In our world the guy had to have some sort of revenge ... so it meant I burned the place down.

Rather violent, I think, setting a girl's house on fire just because she's a tease. :P Still, I rather like "Norwegian Wood". The sitar lends the song an indescribable but enchanting quality, pairing an India-infused melody with facetious British lyrics. I honestly cannot remember if I've heard this song before; it sounds incredibly familiar, but since I can't be sure, unfortunately I'll have to hold off adding it to the tally.

That's all for today. The film Help! is winging its way to me as we speak, and I'm looking forward to watching it soon. :) I'll see you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 16
Songs Completed: 86

Drive My Car

Today we begin the album Rubber Soul. Released in December of 1965, the album was rushed to meet the Christmas market and thus it's the only Beatles album to have been recorded during a specific period of time (as opposed to written and recorded haphazardly over a long period). Interestingly, the UK version of the album has a more soulful feel, whereas the U.S. version, which included two songs from Help!, has a more folk-rock vibe (similar to Bob Dylan and The Byrds). As we go through the album, we'll discuss more about it. 

The first song, "Drive My Car", opens with some blasting guitar notes and tells the story of a girl who's dead-set on getting famous. Richie Unterberger of AllMusic.com praises the subtlety of the song, saying

While initially the song seems like the standard macho boasting of some guy showing off his car, it transpires that actually the girl in the song is leading the narrator on by half-hinting that she'll let him be her chauffeur, and maybe be his lover too. That's a subtle, one might say almost O. Henry-like, slant that was most likely totally beyond the reach of the usual Californian hot-rod act, or most other pop and rock singers for that matter. The most ironic touch, however, was applied when the Beatles merrily sang "beep beep" at the end of the chorus' punch line: a nifty way of making nonsense words compliment the images and the sounds.

I really dig this song; it's got a strong and confident female lead, excellent singing and instrument-playing from the guys, and an overall fun-loving and catchy sound. [You may notice that on the main Wikipedia page for the album, "Drive My Car" is described as a "a satirical piece of sexism". However, I have to disagree that this is sexism at all.] 

Well, that's it for today... Hope you enjoyed the song as much as I did. :) See you tomorrow!

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Heard It Tally: 16
Songs Completed: 85