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Nowhere Man
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
John Lennon:
Vocals, acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney: Bass guitar, vocals
George Harrison: Electric guitar, vocals
Ringo Starr: Drums
Recorded
October 21, 22 1965.
Available
on:
Rubber
Soul
The Beatles 1962-1966 (Red Album)
Yellow
Submarine
One day,
John Lennon had writer's block. He wanted to write a new
song for the upcoming Rubber Soul album, but couldn't come
up with anything he was pleased with.
"I'd
actually stopped trying to think of something," he
told biographer Hunter Davies.
"Nothing
would come. I was cheesed off and went for a lie-down, having
given up. Then I thought of my self as Nowhere Man - sitting
in his nowhere land."
The song
might have a broader message though, and could be about
a disillusioned, 'average' person in society with no purpose
or direction in life. Hence the line:
"He's
as blind as he can be, just sees what he wants to see."
Nowhere
Man was the first recording in which Paul McCartney used
his brand new Rickenbacker 4001S bass guitar. Rickenbacker
boss F.C Hall had first offered this instrument to Paul
in the US in February 1964, but Paul declined to accept
it. But a year and a half later he had changed his mind.
Paul started using this specially constructed Rickenbacker
quite a lot in the studio from then on.
Nowhere Man was released in the US in February 1966, and
reached number 3 on the charts.
Nowhere Man
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
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
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 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
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