Author: The Beatles
Released: 1965
Genre: Folk Rock, Rock
Producer: George Martin
Rating: ******* (7 out of 10)
Personnel:
Guitar, Vocals Jon Lennon
Guitar, Bass,Vocals Paul McCartney
Guitar, Vocals Gorge Harrison
Drums Ringo Starr
List of Songs:
1. Drive My Car 2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 3. You Won't See Me
4. Nowhere Man 5. Think for Yourself 6. The Word 7. Michelle 8. What Goes On
9. Girl 10. I'm Looking Through You 11. In My Life 12. Wait 13. If I Needed Someone
14. Run For Your Life
Rubber Soul was the sixth album the Beatles released, and frankly is one of my favorites. This was the first album in which the band really started taking control of the whole process. In an interview with John Lennon, he was quoted as saying “Finally we took over the studio. We were more precise about making the album...We took over the cover and everything.” This album has a total of 14 songs, with many of them becoming hits after the album’s release. However, I believe that every song in this album deserves its time to shine, so we’re going to go through all the songs in order.
The first song on this album is the well-known “Drive My Car”. This particular tune was sung mainly by McCartney, but was noted to be one of Ringo Starr’s best drumming performance in his Beatles career. “Drive My Car” is reminiscent of the older Beatles’ songs, in both tune and simple lyrics. This song reminds me of the simpler times of being in high school, driving around with friends and dreaming of our successful futures.
Next up is “Norwegian Wood”, a dreamy-toned song about one of John’s many affairs. In this particular instance, John meets a mysterious girl who proceeds to bring him to her apartment. This song features the sitar played by Harrison, which only adds to the dreamy and almost drug-like feeling of this track.
“You Won’t See Me” is, in all honesty, a forgettable track on this album. About a crisis between Paul and his then-girlfriend Jane Asher, this song is about as interesting as listening to your coworker’s marital problems (unless these are spicy problems).
Next is the unforgettable “Nowhere Man”. This song was influenced by Lennon’s feelings of isolation, despite his immeasurable fame due to the Beatlemania. What I really admire about this song is the universally relatable feeling of being the Nowhere Man at some point in our lives. We’ve all felt isolated throughout our existence.
“Think For Yourself”, the next track on the album, marked the emergence of Harrison as a songwriter for the band. While this song is rather straightforward “Do what you want to do, and go where you’re going to. Think for yourself ‘cause I won’t be there with you.”, there is that spark of the protesting sound that soon became popular among the youth. Overall, this song is merely an “okay” Beatles song, but perhaps this allowed for Harrison to better hone his songwriting abilities crossed so many times by his colleagues.
“The Word” is indeed love, love of a certain plant. That’s right folks, the Beatles were supposedly stoned out of their mind when writing this, and you can certainly tell. As was custom at the time, the marijuana was used to promote peace and love in a time of uncertainty and war. This is a cute little tune, but ultimately has no depth with its message, unlike the influential later track of “All You Need Is Love”. But who’s telling us whom we should love?
“Michelle”, the love ballad everyone knows. This song was the most recorded out of all the Beatles songs, and even won a Grammy award for song of the year in ‘67. If you’re anything like me, you instantly fell in love with the rhythmic strumming of the guitar and McCartney’s sweet, lulling voice throughout the song. It was an instant hit and has remained as one even today. Funny to think that two decades later some fruste added “My” before Michelle and introduced slightly different story of the same name...
Ringo had been always given the throwaway songs, that is a plain fact. However, I simply cannot understand why they even decided to put “What Goes On” on this album. This country-esque mistake was sung by the poor Ringo Starr, who always had an affinity for country-western themes. I know I may get some flack for this, but Ringo isn’t a horrible singer. He sings his part well, but I have no idea why they allowed this song on the album, it simply doesn’t fit with the other tracks. In short, ***k this song.
“Girl” freshens the palate after experiencing the previous song. Written by Lennon, this song is the dreaming up of the perfect girl, who in reality doesn’t exist. This “girl” acts as if she’s too cool for her boyfriend, making him look like a “fool” in public, however the singer “won’t regret a single day”. In all honesty, this song confuses me. The tone is quite sad and yet nostalgic of a good time. It is almost reminiscent abusive relationships where the abused idealizes their abuser. Overall, it’s a memorable song, but with a confusing message.
“I’m Looking Through You” is another song in which McCartney talks about his dying relationship with Jane Asher. In this song, they have become so distant that they barely recognize the person they once were in love with.
“In My Life” has always meant something special to me. Being the hopeless romantic I am, this song really hits home to what it feels like to be in love with someone. You never forget your memories of past lovers, but you realize that out of all your experiences, you still would want to be with your current partner. The lovely harpsichord segment in the song really adds something to this slower song. It’s not that it speeds up at all, but adds a sort of classical romantic sound. Overall, this is probably one of my favorite Beatles’ songs and I would recommend it to anyone who needs a heartfelt song to send to their lover.
“Wait” is unfortunately another forgettable track on this album and honestly, this song just bores me. It has a good concept but the rhythm is so repetitive that I get bored halfway through a 2 minute song. Wait… that’s it?
“If I Needed Someone” is a track written by Harrison and depicts a person already in a relationship, being hit on by someone new. The person in the relationship is committed to their partner, but says “if I needed someone” it would be the person hitting on them. It’s reminiscent of the “for a good time call” kind of relationship, in which the person is simply filling a, probably sexual, need using another person.
“Run For Your Life” is the final track on this album, and boy is it a dark ending. This song is about a man who is threatening his girlfriend if she ever goes against him. These threats are mostly death threats, which makes it seem as though this relationship is highly abusive. This reflects Lennon’s own struggle with jealousy and insecurity, in which he would show aggression towards his partners in order to keep them close. In fact, Lennon was reported saying that out of all the songs he has written, this is the one he regrets the most, perhaps because it shows a violent side of him. Curious, do you think that Sammy Hagar had the same in mind penning a-same-title-track?
This album was full of memorable hits that have lasted to this day, and also some flops that should never see the light of day. Overall, this is the start of when the Beatles start experimenting with new sounds and themes. This experimentation would soon progress, creating the Revolver album in which the Beatles become even more successful with their experiments. I would highly recommend this album to anyone first getting into the Beatles, seeing as some of the earlier albums may seem a bit too bubblegum-pop for beginners. The Beatles have influenced the world with their music, and this album was only the beginning of their influential ride through musical history.
