Beatles music can be studied at so many different levels and is truly like studying literature, or poetry! It is incredible how four, very different men collaborated their various interests, political and social views, and personalities to create historically significant music. According Ian MacDonald, a well known British music critic, each of the Beatles brought to their music different understandings of what message the music would give, making it multi-faceted and often self-contradictory!
MacDonald brings to the reader's attention the particular influences each individual Beatles member gave to their music. The sixties, more than anything else, was a time of transition and as a result, a time of personal and cultural turmoil. Individualistic materialism began to replace traditional Religious belief systems, as technology brought previously "upper-class-only" items to the middle classes, releasing a wave for the need for instant gratification. People began to replace their religious ideas of enduring suffering on earth for a eternal happiness in Heaven, or whatever afterlife they believed in, with a sense that they could enjoy gratification and pleasures immediately, whenever they wanted. However, religious themes crept quickly through the back door, as the hippies began to promote spiritual growth with the help of drugs. All in one culture, an given person would be influenced by the pervading sense of materialism, the pressure to use drugs, and desire to make a change in the world by joining a protest, violent or passive. As can be imagined, the cultural quandary that people found themselves in with so many contradictory philosophies to choose from, became a huge theme expressed through the arts, and especially by the Beatles in Rubber Soul.
George Harrison's clearest individual contribution to the Beatles music was through his rhythm and guitar and sitar playing. Strongly influence by the deeply religious and meditative Indian culture, Harrison was really the only Beatle who brought a religious element to their music. Two songs that can be analyzed as "particularly Harrison's" are "Think for Yourself" and "If I needed Someone".
In "If I needed Someone", Harrison writes:
If I needed someone to loveYou're the one that I'd be thinking ofIf I needed someoneIf I had some more time to spendThen I guess I'd be with you my friendIf I needed someoneHad you come some other dayThen it might not have been like thisBut you see now I'm too much in loveCarve your number on my wallAnd maybe you will get a call from meIf I needed someoneAh, ah, ah, ahIf I had some more time to spendThen I guess I'd be with you my friendIf I needed someoneHad you come some other dayThen it might not have been like thisBut you see now I'm too much in loveCarve your number on my wallAnd maybe you will get a call from meIf I needed someoneAh, ah
Rather than jumping into an impulsive relationship based on a shallow desire, as much of sixties culture would promote, Harrison introduces a more prudent search for love, the way he would do it. Harrison essentially is saying that he is not quite ready for a relationship, but he recognizes that there is a woman who does love him. If he needs someone, he reasons, if she leaves her phone number carved somewhere he can find it, he will give her a call. Even though a little sad, this song is really hopeful, as Harrison is making a bit of a promise that, if she is willing to wait, when he feels ready to fall in love, he will.
The whole aspect of waiting for the right time to fall in love goes against the more psychedelic culture of living free, something which both Lennon and McCartney were more accustomed to. According to MacDonald, Lennon can be most strongly associated with the psychedelic culture and pacifism, which really shows through in their song "The Word".
Say the word and you'll be freeSay the word and be like meSay the word I'm thinking ofHave you heard the word is love?It's so fine, It's sunshineIt's the word, loveIn the beginning I misunderstoodBut now I've got it, the word is goodSpread the word and you'll be freeSpread the word and be like meSpread the word I'm thinking ofHave you heard the word is love?It's so fine, It's sunshineIt's the word, loveEverywhere I go I hear it saidIn the good and the bad books that I have readSay the word and you'll be freeSay the word and be like meSay the word I'm thinking ofHave you heard the word is love?It's so fine, It's sunshineIt's the word, loveNow that I know what I feel must be rightI'm here to show everybody the lightGive the word a chance to sayThat the word is just the wayIt's the word I'm thinking ofAnd the only word is loveIt's so fine, It's sunshineIt's the word, love
Here the classic hippie mantra of revolution through love is clearly stated. Freedom to be individual and throw off the alienation that American culture set, can be gained by spreading love! Interestingly, Lennon and McCartney, who wrote this song, are almost putting themselves in the position of a prophet, someone who has seen the light, and has come back to direct others toward it.
Now that I know what I feel must be rightI'm here to show everybody the light
The song that speaks most directly to the common hippie theme of breaking away from conformity is one written again by Lennon and McCartney, "Nowhere Man".
He's a real nowhere man,Sitting in his Nowhere Land,Making all his nowhere plansfor 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!(lead guitar)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, don't hurry,Leave it all till somebody elselends you a hand!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 missingNowhere Man, the world is at your command!He's a real Nowhere Man,Sitting in his Nowhere Land,Making all his nowhere plansfor nobody.Making all his nowhere plansfor nobody.Making all his nowhere plansfor nobody!
Here a man is depicted having little influence and being influenced by little or nothing at all. In this time of change, Lennon and McCartney call for an "up-and-at-'em" attitude, and try to tell the conforming type how much they are missing, and how much they could get out of life if they broke away from conformity. This is certainly one of the most widespread and best understood hippie view in the fifties and sixties.
By presenting so many viewpoints in their music, the Beatles show that they accept all different types of people, all different types of problems, and especially, all different viewpoints. As I listened to each song over and over again, enjoying each more each time around, I realized that none of the songs have a negative tone. While some are sad, there is always a hopeful line. I think this is the Beatles' way of conveying to their audience the tremendous hope of good things that would come from the turbulent and confusing aspects sixties. Essentially, they point out many different perspectives and say "Hey, you can have that view, just as long as you make something out of it, and don't just sit their conforming!" I think this is part of the reason the Beatles were so popular. At the deepest level, they were accepting, and hopeful, two attributes everyone is attracted to.
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