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Rating: "Rubber Soul" was the first work by the Beatles conceived and produced as an album and not as a simple collection of tracks. It was the first album to introduce the new Beatles, the grown-up Beatles, to the world with imagination in power. For the first time, they began to think of records as an art form in itself, as complete and unique entities.
With this epoch-making work, the Beatles made a record that raised the stakes of pop and rock music to an absolute level. The virtues of "Rubber Soul" were so numerous and significant that many distinguished colleagues were encouraged and inspired to create something similar, especially Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys who in 1966 produced his masterpiece "Pet Sounds", while music enthusiasts worldwide recognized the Beatles as top of their class. "Rubber Soul" has a full and sparkling sound and the three-part vocal harmonies are true gems. Among the highlights of the work, all stemming from John Lennon's genius, it's worth mentioning "In My Life", a touching tribute to the past with vaguely neoclassical echoes by George Martin, "Nowhere Man", a sad reflection on the senselessness of life, and "Norwegian Wood", the not-so-subtly masked story of a secret relationship, with George Harrison debuting on sitar. The influence of American soul music reaches new heights in tracks like "The Word", a sort of anticipation of "All You Need Is Love" for its universal content, and in the opener "Drive My Car", one of the most convincing and coherent performances by the group up to that moment. Even "Wait", a track recorded for the previous "Help!", magically transforms into something exhilarating thanks to the impeccable work of the Starr-McCartney rhythm section.
Among the ballads shine the tender "Girl" and the highly successful "Michelle", two tributes to imaginary women written with entirely new introspective accents and points of view. Dominated by a simple lyric and a precise and delicate harmonic structure "Michelle", mystical, allusive, and vaguely sadistic in content "Girl". If Paul McCartney in "You Won't See Me" and in "I'm Looking Through You" does not spare details on the bitter disappointments of his relationship with Jane Asher, George Harrison with "If I Needed Someone" and "Think For Yourself" delivers two successful efforts, performed with the attention they deserve, both rich in meticulously chiseled harmonies and highly effective. Finally, it's worth noting the usual country exercise of "What Goes On" entrusted to Ringo, who signs it as an author along with John and Paul, and the sarcastic and never particularly loved "Run For Your Life", a piece perhaps a bit too anachronistic for an album like this.
"Rubber Soul" was a masterpiece album conceived in a short period of time to be released on the market for Christmas 1965. When the studio work began, it was October 12th and the Lennon & McCartney duo had very little material ready. But those were truly creative days for them and they were not yet divided by too many resentments and jealousies. "Rubber Soul" was one of the absolute peaks of John Lennon's art, analogous to what Paul McCartney would achieve a year later with "Revolver". Moreover, the single "We Can Work It Out" / "Day Tripper, released on the same day as "Rubber Soul", represented one of the band's highest points. A record so solid on both sides that, for the first time, it was released as a "double A-side". Along with "Rubber Soul", it represented their pre-psychedelic masterpiece. A unique example of pop-beat music elevated to its highest artistic expression.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Drive My Car (02:21)
Asked a girl what she wanted to be
She said baby can't you see
I wanna be famous, a star of the screen
But you can do something in between
Baby, you can drive my car
Yes, I'm gonna be a star
Baby you can drive my car
And maybe I'll love you
I told that girl that my prospects were good
And she said baby it's understood
Working for peanuts is all very fine
But I can show you a better time
Baby, you can drive my car
Yes, I'm gonna be a star
Baby you can drive my car
And maybe I'll love you
Beep beep mm beep beep, yeah
Baby, you can drive my car
Yes, I'm gonna be a star
Baby you can drive my car
And maybe I'll love you
I told that girl I could start right away
And she said listen baby I've got something to say
I got no car and it's breaking my heart
But I've found a driver and that's a start
Baby, you can drive my car
Yes, I'm gonna be a star
Baby you can drive my car
And maybe I'll love you
Beep beep mm beep beep, yeah
Beep beep mm beep beep, yeah
Beep beep mm beep beep, yeah
02 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (02:05)
I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me...
She showed me her room, isn't it good, Norwegian wood?
She asked me to stay and she told me to sit anywhere,
So I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair.
I sat on a rug, biding my time, drinking her wine.
We talked until two and then she said, It's time for bed.
She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh.
I told her I didn't and crawled off to sleep in the bath
And when I awoke, I was alone, this bird had flown
So I lit a fire, isn't it good, Norwegian wood.
04 Nowhere Man (02:44)
He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Doesn't have a point of view
Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man, please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere man, The world is at your command
Ah, la, la, la, la
He's as blind as he can be
Just sees what he wants to see
Nowhere man, can you see me at all
Nowhere man don't worry
Take your time, no hurry
Leave it all till somebody else
Lends you a hand
Ah, la, la, la, la
Doesn't have a point of view
Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere man, The world is at your command
Ah, la, la, la, la
He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
07 Michelle (02:41)
Michelle, ma belle
These are words that go together well
My Michelle
Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
Tres bien ensemble
I love you, I love you, I love you
That's all I want to say
Until I find a way
I will say the only words I know that you'll understand
Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
Tres bien ensemble
I need to, I need to, I need to
I need to make you see
Oh, what you mean to me
Until I do I'm hoping you will know what I mean
I love you
I want you, I want you, I want you
I think you know by now
I'll get to you some how
Until I do I'm telling you so you'll understand
Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
Tres bien ensemble
And I will say the only words I know that you'll understand
My Michelle
09 Girl (02:29)
Is there anybody going to listen to my story
All about the girl who came to stay?
She's the kind of girl
You want so much it makes you sorry
Still you don't regret a single day
Ah, girl, Girl, Girl
When I think of all the times
I tried to hard to leave her
She will turn to me and start to cry
And she promises the earth to me
And I believe her
After all this time I don't know why
Ah, girl, girl, girl
She's the kind of girl who puts you down
When friends are there
You feel a fool
When you say she's looking good
She acts as if it's understood
She's cool, ooh, oo, oo, oo
Girl, girl, girl
Was she told when she was young
That pain would lead to pleasure
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back
To earn his day of leisure?
Will she still believe it when he's dead
Ah, girl, girl, girl
Girl
12 Wait (02:13)
It's been a long time
Now I'm coming back home
I've been away now
Oh how I've been alone
Wait till I come back to your side
We'll forget the tears we've cried
But if your heart breaks
Don't wait, turn me away
And if your heart's strong
Hold on, I won't delay
Wait till I come back to your side
We'll forget the tears we've cried
I feel as though
You ought to know
That I've been good
As good as I can be
And if you do
I'll trust in you
And know that you
Will wait for me
It's been a long time
Now I'm coming back home
I've been away now
Oh how I've been alone
Wait till I come back to your side
We'll forget the tears we've cried
I feel as though
You ought to know
That I've been good
As good as I can be
And if you do
I'll trust in you
And know that you
Will wait for me
It's been a long time
Now I'm coming back home
I've been away now
Oh how I've been alone
Wait till I come back to your side
We'll forget the tears we've cried
It's been a long time
Now I'm coming back home
I've been away now
Oh, how I've been alone
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Other reviews
By GiacomoLeopardi
Rubber Soul amazes for the eagerness with which it drives the listener, pinning them to their stereo, leaving them breathless from the very first listen.
Lennon’s lyrics: superb in 'In My Life' (absolute poetry), somnambulist in 'Nowhere Man,' prophetic in 'The Word,' cannabiolic in 'Girl.'
By Miki Page
"Rubber Soul" is a fundamental album in the history of rock, one that marks a turning point not only in the Beatles' career, but also and especially for the music that would follow.
We were starting to hear sounds that we couldn’t hear before — McCartney later admitted.
By BRIOBLUE
The Beatles were four mediocre musicians who still sang three-minute melodic songs...
Rubber Soul is certainly one of the best Beatles albums, but true music must be sought in other bands.
By pier_paolo_farina
"The Beatles begin to fully justify their already overblown fame...providing actual numbers of high inspiration, ingenuity, and originality within popular music."
"Norwegian Wood falls among the deadliest fifty-fifty combinations of Lennon’s genius (the verse) and McCartney’s (the chorus)."
By Rax
"Rubber Soul is not a masterpiece... it is generally inferior to the much-maligned 'Let It Be.'"
"Norwegian Wood... is one of the Beatles' greatest melodic masterpieces."
