Tag Archives: the beatles

#957: The Beatles – Nowhere Man

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Hey, it’s ‘Nowhere Man’. The track written by a 24-year-old John Lennon, who in 1865 was one of the most famous people in the world, but still felt like a bit of a bum who didn’t have a purpose or set direction in life. This wasn’t the usual “I love you/I wish you loved me/I’m thankful you love me/My friend loves you, you know” type track that the group had become known for up to that point. ‘Nowhere’ was much different in its theme. This was a song about, what we call nowadays, the existential crisis. Lennon once recalled that he wrote it very quickly after properly wracking his brain in trying to write another song for Rubber Soul. His remarks make it sound like he barely put any thought behind it, but there’s definitely a hint of sadness that maybe he wouldn’t have wanted to admit to. In the end, it ended up being one of the highlights from the album. Probably my favourite on there.

Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison open the track a capella, harmonising on the song’s first line before all the instruments jump in. It’s pretty much smooth sailing from then on. No momentum is ever lost. McCartney really keeps things busy with a hopping and striding bassline that keeps its groove, but also carries out its own melody. On top, Ringo Starr keeps a steady rhythm alongside Lennon’s acoustic guitar, and the three vocalists consistently harmonise right up to the song’s end. Even when they aren’t singing the same words, Harrison and McCartney harmonise some wordless vocals while Lennon sings another verse/chorus/bridge. It’s hard to tell. There’s no distinctive section in this track. Every part just rolls into the next so smoothly, it’s a hook with another hook lined up next to another one, most of the time linked together by a descending five-note guitar riff that is also so memorable in its own way.

I’m not sure how to heap more praise or talk about this track without inadvertently ripping from other places. I certainly do admire it still. It’s a greatly upbeat track about the worries of wondering what you’re doing with your life, and I’m sure that’s something we’ve all felt at least once when you get to that mid-20 age range. It never really stops after that either. So the ability of the band to somehow capture that feeling and at least turn it into something positive and relatable ticks all the boxes for me. A very miniscule highlight for me, which you probably wouldn’t notice unless you’re really listening, is when the three sing the last “Making all his nowhere plans for nobody” lyric and Lennon kinda slows the way he sings it, while McCartney and Harrison rush it. It’s very subtle. I can assume it wasn’t on purpose. But it always sticks out to me.

#944: The Beatles – Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

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The Beatles’ ‘Norwegian Wood’ is a tale of infidelity… going wrong? Not that infidelity is the best situation, but in John Lennon’s case he was ready to go until seemingly being mislead and left hanging. Affected by the ordeal, he wrote what became the second track on 1965’s Rubber Soul. Worked on together with the input of the other three guys, it became the first track of its kind to incorporate an Indian instrument into a Western rock recording through George Harrison’s work on the sitar and essentially started the whole India craze in music that lasted for quite a while in that decade.

So, yes, Lennon was gonna cheat on his wife on one occasion, with whom it’s never been revealed, but as we can assume from this song nothing happened leaving him frustrated. He’s invited in, admires the decor, thinks things are going somewhere, the lady has other ideas and leaves, Lennon wakes up from a bath and finds out she’s gone, and whichever way you interpret the ending, he lights a fire and continues admiring the house or burns the whole place down as revenge. The things men think of doing when blue-balled, eh. But the story is delivered in a calming setting, aided by Lennon’s soft vocal, his strong acoustic guitar work, and of course the sitar by Harrison. It’s all so innocent sounding, like a cool breeze, which I think helps in giving the lyrical content another angle. Sometimes you get so lost in the instrumentation that a read of the words would bring on some different feelings. But for me, once that acoustic riff starts it off, I can only ever feel relaxed and not the least concerned about anything else.

I don’t think I knew this song existed until the release of The Beatles: Rock Band in 2009. Rubber Soul was released on the game as DLC, allowing players to go through the whole album with “dreamscapes” included which provided some nice visuals. Probably the closest thing the song could have to a music video. I’m guessing the track was a highlight for me from that point on, but there are a lot of things from when I was 14 that I can’t quite remember clearly. What matters is it’s been a mainstay for all these years. Nice how these things turn out.

#920: The Beatles – The Night Before

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‘The Night Before’ was one of the first few tracks of the Beatles where I heard it and thought, “Wow, these Beatles people aren’t actually too bad.” It was 2009. Earlier that year I downloaded Sgt. Pepper just to see how it was the greatest album ever as I had read in a lot of places. I thought the songs were just all right. The mixing didn’t do them much justice. So I kind of left the Beatles aside and pursued other things. But later that year their whole catalogue was released alongside The Beatles: Rock Band, all on the same day, and VH1 Classic was showing a “Beatlemania” slot that dedicated about 30 minutes of air time to Beatles music videos. Seeing those pretty much sent me down a bit of a spiral. I haven’t stopped being a Beatles fan since then.

Representing ‘The Night Before’ was its little section cut out from the Help! movie. The closest I can get to showing you that clip is via the video below, which uses alternative audio and switches some camera shots around. But seeing the four members actually ‘playing’ together, seeing how happy they were alongside the general catchiness and upbeat tone of the music was a bit of a revelation. Before then I’d only ever properly heard of the Beatles through the news and “Oh, how great they were” and all that, so the usual reaction would be “Well, how good could they have been really?” And with ‘The Night Before’ I was swayed to the other side that little bit. Then in that “Beatlemania” slot, ‘Penny Lane’ played and that was that. Went to search for those songs on YouTube on the daily.

You could definitely argue that it’s very difficult for a Beatles track to be considered ‘under the radar’, but I think in this case this song might just go under that category. There’s not a lot of people out there who you could say “Ah, man, “The Night Before”, that’s song’s great,” and expect a reciprocated response from. Except Beatles fans, and even then they might not listen to anything before Rubber Soul. I’ll always hold it dear though. For that sentimental value as described above, and because it’s just a good song. Paul McCartney belts out his lines, George Harrison and John Lennon harmonise in response. There’s an electric piano which makes it sound a lot smoother. Ringo Starr’s banging away on the drums. I think there’s meant to be a sense of sadness to the song, but I can’t help but feel good when it’s on.

#865: The Beatles – Mother Nature’s Son

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Another Beatles-related post. I can’t help how these things turn out. But I won’t apologise. Those people made some good songs. Today’s comes from when they were still together, but also during a time when the cracks in their relationship began to show. ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ was made when the group were making what became their double album, released in November 1968. At the point of the recording of the song, relationships between the four guys had got to a point where they would record songs individually in different studios. ‘Mother Nature’s’ was one of those; Paul McCartney recorded all the parts to the song by himself. The track’s inspiration did come from a source of positivity, I think.

Earlier in 1968, the Beatles went to India for some courses in Transcendental Meditation. In a particular session, the Maharishi gave a lecture that inspired Paul McCartney and John Lennon to write two separate songs. Lennon’s, entitled ‘Child of Nature’, was demoed, then left on the shelf, and then a few years later became ‘Jealous Guy’. ‘Mother’ was McCartney’s. To be fair, I do think the latter’s was just a bit better. Lennon’s tune was good, but the words could have been better. And he proved they could be later on.

So on what is essentially a solo Paul McCartney song, he provides the usual sweet, sweet melody with some vocalized ‘do-do-dos’ and ‘yeah-yeah-yeahs’ in there, over a bit of an intricate acoustic guitar arrangement. Though to make it fuller, you’ve got two trumpets and two trombones played by some musicians who never got their credits on the album sleeve. McCartney sings about being a poor, young, country boy who’s one with nature, the environment, and goes around making people smile with his music. A lot of natural imagery conjures up in his lyricism (fields, daisies, the sun, you name it), and I guess you can never beat a wordless chorus from time to time. They’re certainly very memorable. My favourite part is probably the ending acoustic solo in the right channel that slides into the last iteration of the song’s title to close the whole thing out. There’s a jazzy tinge to it which I think gives it some edge, and it segues nicely into the next track where things get a bit crazier. A lot of mood shifts happen on this album.

#838: The Beatles – Michelle

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Story goes that, in his younger days, Paul McCartney would go to parties, pretend he was French and perform a song with his acoustic guitar with a fake accent to woo the ladies. In his own words, his goal never came to fruition. But many years later when he was in the Beatles and recording Rubber Soul, John Lennon reminded him of that fake-French song and told him to work on it so it could be a new number for their album. The result is ‘Michelle’, a love song cherished by many and probably a reason why a lot of people out there have the same name.

For a long time, I mean a long time, I didn’t care about this track. Thought it was just a soppy love song, “I love you, I love you”, yeah, yeah, okay McCartney. Didn’t give it much thought. And it suffered from the terrible instruments-in-one-ear-vocals-in-the-other mix that the whole album had. Didn’t make the listening experience much better. Then I made my own mix using the Beatles Rock Band stems that you can find online with a quick google, and I suddenly liked it a lot more. I’m still not into the lyrics that much, but there’s a swing and coolness in its delivery that’s undeniable.

I find myself listening more to McCartney’s bass line that rings and climbs and falls and sometimes mirrors the ‘ooh-ooh’ backing vocals by Lennon and George Harrison. Those elements really add to the smoky nightclub feel which I think the track is going for. That smooth solo that comes in during the middle is pretty slick too. All of these aren’t really given their props in the album mix. Now if I could share my mix, you’d probably like the song a lot more. But that’d just be too long of a process. So I’ll share the mix from the Rock Band game instead.