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"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. And to think it is one of the most underrated albums of the British quartet, often going unnoticed, even more so than "Abbey Road," the last masterpiece of the Fab Four, as well as their musical testament.
But why is "Rubber Soul" so important? First of all, it marks the first true artistic maturation of Lennon & McCartney starting from '63, that is, from the group's first album, the unripe and, pardon, predictable "Please, Please Me". And, secondly, because it is precisely with this record that Lennon & McCartney definitively abandon the usual schemes of the pop song they themselves had established, thereby bringing the era of the Mersey Beat to an end.
The title itself is significant: "Rubber Soul", literally "rubber soul". And the music of "Rubber Soul" gives just this impression: of being malleable, colorful, rubbery. The massive use of drugs, a greater freedom to experiment in the studio compared to the past, leads the four to discover a new reality and unexplored territories, suddenly producing distorted, strange musical signals.
"We were starting to hear sounds that we couldn't hear before" McCartney later admitted. Lennon felt the same way: "We were improving both technically and musically. At first we had to take what came, we had to finish in two hours, and two or three takes were enough, but we didn't know how to make the bass sound. Then, with 'Rubber Soul,' we became modern."
And so, passing from the exotic atmospheres of "Norwegian Wood" to the sweet acoustic ballad "Michelle"; from the slow and poignant "Girl" to the rock of "Drive My Car" and "Run For Your Life", then moving on to an unusual "The Word" with very jazzy overtones or the ambitious and complex harmonies of "Nowhere Man", "Wait" and "If I Needed Someone", to the sappy pop of "You Won't See Me" and "I'm Looking Through You", to the distorted guitars of "Think For Yourself", to the soul of "What Goes On" or even to the piano ballad "In My Life".
All songs, of love and otherwise, that show a new maturity and depth, with more complete and complex harmonic and melodic structures, and less direct than those of the previous five albums.
"We had reached a point where we thought: 'Now we can extend our repertoire to slightly more surreal, slightly more fun songs'" said McCartney.
The album was released on December 3, 1965, coinciding with the single "Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out", and within a week it shot up to the number one spot on both the British and United States charts. "Rubber Soul" is therefore a joyful album, meticulously crafted, perfect, which inaugurates new recording techniques and marks the transition from beat to new psychedelic sounds: the end of one era and the beginning of another.
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 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 currahee72
"Rubber Soul was the first album to introduce the new Beatles, the grown-up Beatles, to the world with imagination in power."
"A unique example of pop-beat music elevated to its highest artistic expression."
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."
