16. In My Life
Everybody's prom song from the 70's. The stereo on Rubber Soul is so interesting. Just about every song separates the vocals from the music and it's so fun to listen to the different "sides". I often have more fun listening to only one side...whether just the vocals or the music. Such a simple sounding guitar kicks this song off with a soft bass line too. For me, the drums are some of the most interesting that we've ever heard Ringo play. The strong harmony is amazing...Paul at his best. I'll make the point here that I believe The Beatles were the best backup singers of all time. How's that for finding yet another reason why they were the best. Paul put a lot of effort into the bass line and I love his use of the double stop at 12 1/2 seconds. For those of you who don't know a double stop on bass is merely playing two notes at the same time. It's not done very often and Paul inserts this technique very nicely here and throughout the song.
We all know the story about how it's George Martin playing the lead on the harpsichord. The story goes that he had to play it at half speed and an octave down. When speeded up to real time it fits perfectly. The only time that I can hear some notes that just sound a little off due to the speed is at the very end of his solo...right around the 1:46 mark it just sounds unplayable. Not a big deal. What I do think is a big deal is that John left the lead up to his producer. I would have loved to hear the discussion about what to do for the lead. In my mind, I think John didn't know what to do and left it unfinished. George Martin had an opening and wanted to impress the boys and contribute in a more meaningful way. He probably worked very hard on that lead and it shows.
Of course the reason this is such a great song is because of the lyrics. It's the perfect prom song or even a wedding song but there is something sad about it at the same time. John seems to be bidding farewell to Cynthia. "I know I'll never lose affection" seems to be a bit of a send off. It doesn't really seem as if there's love here....just affection. Even though he says "I'll love you more", what does that really mean? If you think too hard about this lyric it stops making sense and even seems a bit insincere. So this beautiful love song has "see ya later" attitude which again makes it the perfect prom song for leaving your high school mates behind.
It cracks me up that the final guitar note by George buzzes as he lifts off the neck. Again, I'll say it that these little mistakes were never corrected and it does surprise me.
