The Beatles – Rubber Soul (1965)
“Leave it all ’till somebody else lends you a hand.”
Produced by: George Martin
1. DRIVE MY CAR
2. NORWEGIAN WOOD (THIS BIRD HAS FLOWN)
4. NOWHERE MAN
6. THE WORD
7. MICHELLE
8. WHAT GOES ON
9. GIRL
11. IN MY LIFE
12. WAIT
And the folk rock revolution is, well…it wasn’t really born here. Dylan and The Byrds gave birth to that puppy when they released Bringing It All Back Home and Mr. Tambourine Man (respectively, of course). Even if they didn’t invent it, they validated it about as much as anyone could. Hey, if The Beatles are doing it, everyone has to. They were the trendsetters. To some people this is the album that killed rock. In two short years these guys had become the end-all, be-all of modern rock music. If they put out an album that wasn’t as rockin’ as before, then that must be the way to go. Suddenly rock was something wholly other.
It was nearly art.
Of course, in hindsight it’s not too far of a jump from Help! to Rubber Soul. It’s not like they had just put out a metal album or anything.
But at the time it was very strange for their fans to pick up their new album and hear songs like “Norwegian Wood” and “Nowhere Man.” It sounded as if The Beatles actually had a message now. They weren’t just singing about holding hands, love and their own insecurities. They were singing about Love (as in, “The word is”), sex and memories. They were singing about the world’s insecurities. They were singing about being an individual in the mass market.
This was pretty heady stuff for a pop group that just last year was singing about how they loved to come home to their girls.
Even the album cover was groundbreaking. Shot from a lying down position with overly saturated colors, it started a new trend of “album cover as art.” It showed them as a different band. No longer were they the moptops of yore. They still had the long hair, but now they had long faces to match. And they were being seen through the fisheye lens. And that title. What did it mean? Rubber Soul? Are they talking about a shoe?
Yep. Something had changed, alright. They had grown up. And they were putting out some of the greatest music of their collective careers.
In case you’re interested (which you probably aren’t, but I’ll tell you anyway), this is my favorite album of theirs.
For an album that started folk rock in the mainstream, it sure does start off with a great rocker. Paul is singing about a girl who wants him to drive her car. In a whacked out twist of fate, she doesn’t have one.
A parable about the government and how we’re supposed to be running it? Maybe about how we want to run our lives, but we can’t because we don’t think we have the right equipment?
Well, this is Paul, so it’s probably just another silly love song. With a difference.
LISTEN FOR: “Beep beep m beep beep, yeah!” And that awesome guitar from George.
2. NORWEGIAN WOOD (THIS BIRD HAS FLOWN)
John’s first song is one of his best from this period. Written about an affair of he had with a “prominent female reporter,” it follows a man who is confused about what he is doing and the lifestyle of the girl he is with, but he goes through with it and learns something in the process.
The last line (“Then I lit a fire. Isn’t it good? Norwegian Wood.”) apparently refers to him burning down her house. This was suggested by one of John’s friends from Liverpool. If I hadn’t read it somewhere I never would have figured out that that’s what he did. Kinda cool, though.
LISTEN FOR: Mainstream rock’s first sitar, played by George. He was the first of The Beatles to get interested in Eastern philosophy and music. He was learning the sitar from the legendary Ravi Shankar and, well, here it is. Great addition to the song, if he’s a little shaky on it. But he keeps it simple (and Western) enough so that we don’t really notice.
What’s a guy to do when his girl won’t answer his phone calls? Break it the fuck off. But Paul can’t do that, because he “would lose [his] mind if [she] won’t see [him].” Who hasn’t felt like this? “I wouldn’t mind if I knew what I was missing.” Yup. Been there, too.
LISTEN FOR: George and John’s harmonies in the background.
We’ve all seen that lonely guy in the corner. He’s just lost everything he holds dear. Or maybe he’s just lonely in general. Haven’t we all been there? What makes us so different from him? Certainly nothing makes us better. One of my favorites from Rubber Soul and the first time that John really started to steer away from love as a subject. (Unfortunately, it’s hard to get the image of Jeremy Hillary Boob, PhD out of my head when I hear this song.)
LISTEN FOR: Paul’s harmonies on the last line. He goes MUCH higher than everybody else. And George’s gentle guitar solo in the middle is awesome, too.
5. THINK FOR YOURSELF (Harrison)
George’s first song on the album is a killer. A sheer indictment of closed minded people and one of the nastiest songs The Beatles ever recorded, especially in the early days. “Although your mind’s opaque, try thinking more if just for your own sake.” Wow.
LISTEN FOR: The first use of the fuzz bass on a Beatles’ album.
A precursor to John’s later “All You Need Is Love,” this isn’t about romantic love. It’s about the universal love that we all SHOULD feel for each other. Filthy gospel for the Love Generation. “Spread the word and you’ll be free.” If only…
LISTEN FOR: The organ and guitar duet near the end. Dirty in the best way.
Back to romance as only Paul can produce it. The French is a bit shaky, but that doesn’t matter. Dylan once said that better songs were coming out of Tin Pan Alley at the time. But millions of little girls got their name from this song. How many girls named Johanna are there?
LISTEN FOR: That French. He’s not saying “Someday monkey won’t play piano song.” And the guitar solo at the end is a classic.
8. WHAT GOES ON (Lennon/McCartney/Starkey)
The first song that Ringo got a credit on is a pretty cool Carl Perkins type rocker. He sees his girl with another guy. What the fuck is she thinking? And how can she lie so easily?
LISTEN FOR: In the background after Ringo says “Tell me why” about a minute and a half in, John says (barely audibly), “We already told you why!” referencing their earlier song “Tell Me Why.” Gotta love that. And it sounds like John and Paul are having problems with the “ooo-ooo”s in the background. Of course, that could be because John took the high road, which is unusual.
John at his heartbroken best. “She’s the kind of girl who puts you down when friends are there, you feel a fool.” Not a very nice girl at all, but he still loves her. Why? He knows not. Another one of my favorites.
LISTEN FOR: The backing vocals of “tit tit tit tit tit.” Nice that they could get that past EMI’s censors.
Paul’s girl has changed so much that he can’t even see her anymore. “The only difference is you’re down there.” Someday, I want to use lines from this song. It’s pretty evil.
LISTEN FOR: On the American album, there are two false starts. On both versions, there’s a little bit of feedback from Paul’s mic one time after he sings the title line. Whoops.
One of the most beautiful of John’s songs from this period, it’s about what a man sees near the end of his life. Everything comes back to him, but it’s the woman he loves who is really on his mind. “But of all these friends and lovers, there is no one compares with you.” An amazing insight from someone so young. (And someone whose marriage was not going so well at the time.)
LISTEN FOR: The harpsichord that George Martin plays. He couldn’t play it as fast as it needed to be played, so he did it at half speed and sped the tape up. It’s not far from that to the tricks on their next album.
Written and recorded for the Help! sessions, this is one of the happier numbers on the album. Yeah, we’ve done some bad shit to each other, but wait until I get back to you. We’ll forget all that and just love each other again. And I wonder what the guy is coming back home from. War? Prison? Wherever, he knows that it’s been a long time and that her heart might be broken. In that case, don’t wait. “But if your heart’s strong, hold on. I won’t be late.” Great song.
LISTEN FOR: Paul’s break: “I feel as though you ought to know…” He’s been good, but only “as good as I can be.” Hmmm….
13. IF I NEEDED SOMEONE (Harrison)
Based on The Byrds song “The Bells Of Rhymney,” George gets another cut on the album. If he needs someone, he’ll get to her. If not…well, she can wait. Unfortunately for her, he’s too much in love. (By the way, George got permission for this one. No “Sue You, Sue Me Blues.”)
LISTEN FOR: George’s Byrds-like guitar ringing out above everything else.
They needed another song, so John tossed this one off really quickly. He took a line from an old Elvis song and turned it into one of the most violent songs of their early years. He’d rather see her dead than with another guy. And he kinda sounds like he might do it, too. John never liked this one. I can understand why…but I like it a lot.
LISTEN FOR: John’s “NA NA NA”s at the end. How very 60s.
