Nowhere Man (song)
| "Nowhere Man" | |
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| Song |
| "Nowhere Man" | |
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| Song | |
| B-side | "What Goes On" |
"Nowhere Man" is a song by the Beatles, from their album Rubber Soul.[3] The song was written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney).
It was recorded on 21 and 22 October 1965. "Nowhere Man" 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.[4] It was released as a single (although not in the United Kingdom) on 21 February 1966, and reached #1 in Australia and Canada and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison sing the song in three-part harmony. The song appears in the film Yellow Submarine, where the Beatles sing it about the character Jeremy Hilary Boob after meeting him in the "nowhere land".
George and John play identical "sonic blue" Fender Strats -- John plays in the verses and George on the solo.[5]
Interpretation
Lennon claimed that he wrote the song about himself. He wrote it after racking his brain in desperation for five hours, trying to come up with another song for Rubber Soul. Lennon told Playboy magazine:
- "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".[6]
McCartney said of the song:
- "That was John after a night out, with dawn coming up. I think at that point, he was a bit...wondering where he was going, and to be truthful so was I. I was starting to worry about him".[7]
Doctor Who fans have a theory that says the song is about the series' main character, an alien in human form who travels in time and space with no certain destination, trying to save the universe ever since his home land and species were destroyed[citation needed].
Musical structure
The song begins with E (I dominant) chord ("He's a real") and then involves a 5-4-3-2-1 pitch descent between the B (V dominant) chord ("nowhere man") and A (IV subdominant) chord ("sitting in"); but the entrancing twist comes where Am (iv minor) replaces A in the final verse ("nowhere plans") and the simultaneous G# note melody creates a dissonant Am/major 7.[8] The middle eight, which appears three times, seesaws on a G# minor/A major sequence before falling back on an F# minor and leading back to the verse on a B7.
Personnel
- John Lennon – double-tracked vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar, lead guitar (in the verses)
- Paul McCartney – bass guitar, harmony vocal
- George Harrison – lead guitar (in the solo), harmony vocal
- Ringo Starr – drums
- Personnel per Ian MacDonald[9]
Other recordings
- The Settlers recorded the song in 1966.
- In 1967, the Carpenters performed a piano/vocal version in Joe Osborn's garage studio. Richard Carpenter used the original demo to create a version that was released on As Time Goes By in 2001.
- In 1967, Indexi covered this song with the title Jednom smo se svađali.
- In 1969, Gershon Kingsley recorded a version featuring the Moog synthesiser on the album Music to Moog By.
- In 1976, Jeff Lynne recorded it for the musical documentary All This and World War II.
- In 1981, Stars on 45 covered this song as part of an eight song Beatles medley in "Stars on 45 (song)", which went to #1 in the US.
- Randy Travis recorded a version for the 1995 Beatles' tribute Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles.
- In 1996, Dokken recorded an acoustic version on their One Live Night album.
- Joe Pass released an instrumental version on his album Simplicity / A Sign Of The Times.
- Marky Ramone and the Intruders have a cover on their 1999 album The Answer To Your Problems?.
- The Smashing Pumpkins also released a cover of the song in their Live Smashing Pumpkins album series. "'Nowhere Man' is such a beautiful pop song with a groundbreaking, existential lyric," said Billy Corgan. "It lets you see that moment of discovery." [10]
- Paul Westerberg recorded a version for the soundtrack to I Am Sam released in 2002.
- Low recorded a version featured on the 2005 Beatles' tribute album, This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul.
- Mortal recorded a version on their album, "Wake". Though the band was an industrial outfit, little was changed from The Beatles' original version.
- A version performed by Chris While appears on the album "Rubber Folk" (2006), a compilation of Beatles' songs performed by various artists.
Notes
- ^ a b Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Nowhere Man"
- ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - The Beatles Gold Singles". Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ Gilliland 1969, show 35.
- ^ Unterberger 2009.
- ^ Robert Fontenot. Nowhere Man. Oldies Music. https://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/nowhereman.htm accessed 25 December 2011
- ^ Playboy, September 1980.
- ^ Playboy, December 1984.
- ^ Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. p 193 ISBN:
- ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 172.
- ^ "66 - 'Nowhere Man'". 100 Greatest Beatles Songs. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
References
- Turner, Steve. A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles' Song, Harper, New York: 1994, ISBN 0-06-095065-X
- Gilliland, John (1969). "The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance". Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
{{cite web}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Unterberger, Richie (2009). "Rubber Soul [UK]". Allmusic. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
{{cite web}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
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- Use dmy dates from June 2011
- The Beatles songs
- 1965 songs
- 1966 singles
- Parlophone singles
- The Carpenters songs
- Songs produced by George Martin
- Songs written by Lennon–McCartney
- Singles certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
- English-language songs
- Psychedelic rock songs
- Songs published by Northern Songs
- RPM Top Singles number-one singles