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The Beatles landmark 6th Album. Why is it a landmark? Well it marks the departure of cover songs on their records, the start of Geroge Harrison as a capable songwriter and John Lennon’s and Paul McCartney’s departure from what were standard pop songs. They would stop singing about “silly love songs” as Paul would call them and start writing a whole new type of songs about pretty much anything and everything, some being deeper than others, but still great. This would be the start of some truly classic albums as Rubber Sould begat Revolver which begat Pepper and a revolution was born.
The Album
1) Drive My Car
Really good opening number with an instantly recognizable opening guitar passage. I believe Paul played the slide part but I could be wrong. Great song that is just fun and very singable. Beep Beep Yeah!
Yeah Count: 5
Love Count: 4
2) Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
The first usage of a sitar on a pop record. The Beatles were such revolutionaries. The sitar added so much to the song that I can’t picture the song without it. With all the talk about the sitar, the brilliant acoustic guitar part is usually never mentioned. It almost sings along with the vocal melody. The lyrics are really good too. Proabably my most favorite song on the album.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
3) You Won’t See Me
This would be Paul’s average song on this album. By average I of course mean, not too good. It’s just a plain song with simple lyrics and I couldn’t really get into it. One of only two “bad” songs on the album.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
4) Nowhere Man
Another one of my favorite songs from the album. The harmonies on the song are impeccable, the lead guitar part is absolutely amazing in its simplicity and the lyrics are very powerful and meaningful, even today.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
5) Think For Yourself
The first of two Harrison numbers on the album, this song has some a real grunge feel to it. I say that because of the very heavy distortion on Paul’s bass and the guitar. It’s a great song too, and the lyrics are very good. That’s what I always loved about George, he’d write these great lines about things that most other people didn’t write about.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
6) The Word
Ahh yes, the word is love you know. I don’t care much for the chorus but the verses move along nicely.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 12
7) Michelle
A pretty famous Paul song. I love the opening acoustic part on this and it’s a perfect unplugged song. I still don’t know what the hell he’s saying though! It’s a great low-key ballad with a perfect solo in it.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 3
8) What Goes On
The only Lennon/McCartney/Starkey song in the Beatles catalogue. A countryish song that Ringo gets to sing. It’s very similar in style to Honey Don’t from the Beatles for Sale album.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
9) Girl
Very good Lennon song here. I love the acoustic guitar sound and the lyrics are quite impressive. It sounds very angry yet he doesn’t sing them angrily. This is another well-known song on this album, and listen to the backing vocals of the boys saying “tit.” Interesting, eh?
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
10) I’m Looking Through You
A lesser known number but that doesn’t mean its not good. The Beatles would play almost any style and there’s really no other song like this in their catalogue. It starts with the acoustic guitar and breaks into the verses and they throw in a heavy guitar sound during the choruses.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 2
11) In My Life
Perhaps the best song on the album. It’s the most emotional song the Beatles have probably ever recorded as it hits home on so many levels. The lyrics are some of the most powerful you’ll ever hear and the mood of the music fits the mood of the lyrics.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 4
12) Wait
Definitely my least favorite song on the album. It’s a hard song to get into as the slow parts of the verses and faster speed of the choruses don’t mix well. The only song I usually regularly skip.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
13) If I Needed Someone
The second Harrison number on the album and an easy winner. Its one of the last times he uses the 12 string guitar and George uses a formula for him that works. Throw a capo on the seventh fret and base a song around one chord structure. See also, Here Comes the Sun, Dark Horse and probably many we’ll never hear. This song rocks though and I am always up for some 12-string electric action.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 1
14) Run For Your Life
This song is a great song to end the album on. Great feel to the song that offsets the rather serious message of the song. If you leave me, I’ll kill you. It’s Lennon’s acerbic wit at its best.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
The Liner Notes
8 pages for this one. The first is the cover page, the second page is the track listing with who sang and played what. Pages 3-6 are pictures of the individual Beatles. Page 7 is the CD information and page 8 is the track listing with songwriter credits.
The Sound
This was recorded WAY back in 1965 using analog tapes and only 4 track tapes to boot. It sounds really good for its age. Nowhere near the standards of today, but the Beatles sounding like this is better than anything released now, in my totally unbiased opinion!
The Final Review
History has already named this a change in direction for the Beatles, but if you look at it based just on their previous five albums and disregard what was to come, you’d still have a fine record. Their sound was more refined and they’d spend more time in the studio crafting the sound they’d want. Some of these songs are classics in their own write (Drive My Car, Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Girl, Michelle and In My Life) and the other 8 songs aren’t bad either! Some good George Harrison songs and an overall great B-Side make this a near perfect album and out of the 13 Beatles albums, ranks really highly as one of my favorites.
6th out of 13
Final Rating:
9.5
Final Yeah Count: 5
Final Love Count: 26
Cumulative Yeah Count: 159
Cumalative Love Count: 250
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