Nowhere Man (song)
"Nowhere Man" | ||||
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What Goes On " | ||||
Released |
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Recorded | 21–22 October 1965 | |||
Studio | EMI, London | |||
Genre | Folk rock[1] | |||
Length | 2:44 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
Producer(s) | George Martin | |||
The Beatles US singles chronology | ||||
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"Nowhere Man" is a song by the English rock band
Recorded on 21 and 22 October 1965, "Nowhere Man" describes a man with no direction in his life and with no genuine worldview. It is one of the first Beatles songs to be entirely unrelated to romance or love, and marks a notable example of Lennon's philosophically oriented songwriting.[3] Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison sing the song in three-part harmony. The lead guitar solo was performed in unison by Harrison and Lennon.[4][5] The pair played identical "sonic blue"-coloured Fender Stratocasters on the track.[6] The song appears in the film Yellow Submarine, where the Beatles sing it about the character Jeremy Hillary Boob after meeting him in the "nowhere land". The song was also played throughout the Beatles' 1966 US tour and their 1966 tour of Germany, Japan and the Philippines.
Background
Towards the end of the production for Rubber Soul, John Lennon had difficulties in coming up with a new song. He spent over five hours trying to come up with another song, and eventually decided to "lay down". During his idling, Lennon suddenly thought of himself as being a "Nowhere Man—sitting in his nowhere land".[7] Lennon then shared the lyrics he had written with McCartney. McCartney said that Lennon wrote the song for himself, personally interpreting it to be about his marriage and described it as an "anti-John song". Lennon had written the song in the third-person, deciding to end the song with the lyric "Isn't he a bit like you and me?"[8][9] The song is generally credited as being among the first Beatles' songs not pertaining to themes of romance or love.[3][10] Lennon reflected in a 1980 Playboy interview that:
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.[11]
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.[12]
Reviewing the U.S. single release, Record World called it a "meaningful song about what happens to a fellow afraid to be himself."[13]
Composition
The song as a whole is a 32-bar form, following the standard model of the Tin Pan Alley chorus, with a repeating 8-bar primary statement outlining the E-major chord, a third phrase (bars 17–24) forming a musical question (concluding on the dominant B), and a fourth phrase recapitulating the initial statement in E major. The primary statement begins with the chord of E (I tonic) on "He's a real" and then involves a 5–4–3–2–1 pitch descent between the B (V dominant) chord on "nowhere man" and A (IV subdominant) chord on "sitting in"; a twist comes where Am (iv minor) replaces A in the final line ("nowhere plans") and the simultaneous G♯ note melody creates a dissonant AmM7.[14] The bridge (a standard third-phrase "B" in the AABA form), which appears three times, seesaws on a G♯ minor/A major (iii–IV) sequence before falling back on an F♯ minor and leading back to the verse on a B7, as is typical of "Tin-pan alley" standard B sections.
Cover versions
A ukulele version of "Nowhere Man" by Tiny Tim was Harrison's contribution to the Beatles' 1968 Christmas record.[15] Distributed to members of the Beatles' fan club, the record differed from the band's previous Christmas records by including separate contributions from the four bandmates, reflecting the disharmony within the group at the time.[16] Beatles historian John Winn describes Tim's version as the "highlight of the disc" and a "timeless" interpretation.[17]
The song has attracted many other cover versions, including recordings in the synth-pop style by
Personnel
According to Ian MacDonald, the line-up on the Beatles' recording was:[19]
- John Lennon – double-tracked lead vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar, lead guitar
- Paul McCartney – bass guitar, harmony vocal
- George Harrison – lead guitar, harmony vocal
- Ringo Starr – drums
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Certifications
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References
- ^ Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Nowhere Man"
- ^ Gilliland 1969, show 35.
- ^ a b Unterberger 2009.
- ^ Everett 2001, p. 322.
- ^ Winn 2008, p. 367.
- ^ Babiuk 2002, p. 157.
- ^ Playboy, September 1980.
- Far Out Magazine. Archivedfrom the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- Far Out Magazine. Archivedfrom the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ^ "Nowhere Man". The Beatles. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
"Nowhere Man" is among the very first Beatles' songs to be entirely unrelated to romance or love.
- ^ Playboy, September 1980.
- ^ Playboy, December 1984.
- ^ "Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 26 February 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. p 193
- ^ Spizer 2003, pp. 218–19.
- ^ Clayson 2003, p. 257.
- ^ Winn 2009, p. 229.
- ^ a b Kruth 2015, p. 135.
- ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 172.
- ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
- ^ "The Beatles – Nowhere Man" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2016.
- ^ "The Beatles – Nowhere Man" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2016.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5709." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
- ^ Kimberley, C (2000). Zimbabwe: Singles Chart Book. p. 10.
- ^ "The Beatles Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ Hoffmann, Frank (1983). The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950–1981. Metuchen, NJ & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 32–34.
- ^ "Record World 100 Top Pops – Week of April 2, 1966". Record World. 2 April 1966. p. 17.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "The Beatles Single-Chartverfolgung (in German)". musicline.de. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "American single certifications – The Beatles – Nowhere Man". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
Sources
- Babiuk, Andy (2002). Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio. San Francisco, CA: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-731-8.
- ISBN 1-86074-489-3.
- Everett, Walter (2001). The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514105-9.
- Gilliland, John (1969). "The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance". Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
- ISBN 978-1-61713-573-6.
- ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
- ISBN 0-9662649-4-0.
- Turner, Steve. A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles' Song, Harper, New York: 1994, ISBN 0-06-095065-X
- Allmusic. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- Winn, John C. (2008). Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume One, 1962–1965. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-3074-5239-9.
- Winn, John C. (2009). That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966–1970. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-307-45239-9.
External links
- The Beatles - Nowhere Man on YouTube