{"id":876894,"date":"2026-10-10T00:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T00:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/876894\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T00:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T00:28:08","slug":"david-quantick-on-the-beatles-rubber-soul-superdeluxeedition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/876894\/","title":{"rendered":"David Quantick on The Beatles\u2019 Rubber Soul \u2013 SuperDeluxeEdition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rubber Soul, the sixth Beatles<\/a> album, was released in December 1965. Its predecessor, the soundtrack to Help!, had only come out in August, which for most bands would have meant no chance to regroup and work on new ideas. But Rubber Soul is a masterpiece, a flowering of new directions, musically, lyrically and sonically for the band: it\u2019s leagues away from the Beatlemaniac sounds of previous records.\u00a0 If Help! was the first Beatles film in colour, then Rubber Soul was the first Beatles album in colour.<\/p>\n

The signs were already there, in the form of the band\u2019s 1965 singles, \u2018Day Tripper\u2019 \/ \u2018We Can Work It Out\u2019, and \u2018Ticket To Ride\u2019: two riff-heavy rock songs and a contemplative folk-rocker: the Beatles were both competing with their new guitar band rivals \u2013 The Kinks<\/a>, The Who<\/a>, The Stones<\/a> \u2013 but also evolving in their own way. And now with studio time away from touring, they were able to spread out and experiment: not the full-on experiment of \u2018Tomorrow Never Knows\u2019 or \u2018Strawberry Fields Forever\u2019, but tentative new directions.<\/p>\n

Rubber Soul begins with the song that justifies its punning title, \u2018Drive My Car\u2019, a Staxy stomper that cries out for a brass section, its lyric a story with a punchline (\u201cI found a driver\/ And that\u2019s a start\u201d) and its hook a \u201cbeep beep yeah\u201d that Bowie<\/a> nicked for \u2018Fashion\u2019. It\u2019s exuberant and cocky, the sound of a band doing what they want and doing it brilliantly: and it\u2019s followed, somewhat contrastingly, by another story song with a punchline, \u2018Norwegian Wood\u2019: this time the mood is dark and distant, almost sociopathic, and perfectly complemented by the sound of a sitar, an instrument that would become part of the Beatles\u2019 sound armoury on their next two albums. \u2018Norwegian Wood\u2019, with its exotic instrumentation and its Dylanesque melody, was an indication that The Beatles were leaving Gerry and the Pacemakers and the \u201cMersey Sound\u201d far, far away.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

That said, \u2018You Won\u2019t See Me\u2019 is the kind of perfect Beatles song that would have fitted on any of their earlier albums \u2013 and with its \u201coo la la la\u201d harmonies, is clearly the inspiration for the Rutles\u2019 perfect parody \u2018I Must Be In Love\u2019. \u00a0Conventional but brilliant, it\u2019s followed by another signposting song, the self-pitying jangle of \u2018Nowhere Man\u2019, whose Byrdsian guitar, droll guitar break (\u201cting!\u201d) and swooning harmonies put the song next to Help! as an early John-is-depressed number. It\u2019s also, being a Lennon song, gorgeous and haunting.<\/p>\n

Which cannot be said of \u2018Think For Yourself\u2018, the first of two George Harrison<\/a> songs, and one most notable for its fuzz bass and its lyrical content, in which (as would be common in his later work) George delivers himself of a stern lecture, telling the subject of the song that they need to think for themselves. \u201cThanks George,\u201d you imagine the subject of the song saying, \u201cFrom now on I will do as you told me and think for myself.\u201d The song\u2019s minor chords, or whatever they are, do nothing to lift the dour mood of a song that\u2019s more finger-wagger than toe-tapper.<\/p>\n

Joy is prevalent on \u2018The Word\u2019, notable for being one of the first Beatles songs which is not about girls per se. Upbeat and energetic, Lennon\u2019s vocal almost trips over itself to deliver his message, which is that \u201cthe word is love.\u201d Its urgency is matched only by its vagueness, but that doesn\u2019t matter: the song\u2019s enthusiasm and positivity carry the day, while its subject predates the hippy era by at least two years ( and its theme would be a constant in The Beatles\u2019 work for the rest of their careers, from \u2018All You Need Is Love\u2019 to \u2018Silly Love Songs\u2019). There\u2019s also an exuberance to the song which suggests that, in actual fact, the word is \u201cmarijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s \u2018Michelle\u2019. Is \u2018Michelle\u2019 the most divisive Beatles song? For some it\u2019s a clever little ditty in which Paul turns a party piece into a slightly meaningless love song with French bits in, for others it\u2019s just horrible doggerel that sacrifices meaning and rock \u2019n\u2019 roll for showing off (you can imagine Paul at parties, his spaniel eyes going goo goo as he sits on the sofa at parties next to a blushing girl). In reality it\u2019s a lovely little pastiche ballad, one of several excursions into unusual, almost European ballad writing on Rubber Soul: better was to follow, on the same record.<\/p>\n

The Beatles, who\u2019d always loved soul and R&B even before they went to the States, had now spent a lot of time in America, where they had been exposed to a great deal of country and western, an influence that ran through Beatles For Sale, re-emerged on Help!, and would be most obvious here in \u2018What Goes On\u2019, a snappy country tune with a perfect Ringo vocal and a twistily bizarre lyric about waiting for the tides of time to turn. It\u2019s catchy, cool and rockin\u2019 and would be the last song in this style the band would ever attempt (discuss).<\/p>\n

By way of contrast, as they say, \u2018Girl\u2019 is not country, western or rocking: it\u2019s an extraordinary song with a non-rock\u2019n\u2019roll beat, a sneaky drugs reference\u00a0 (the inhaling hiss in the choruses) and a naughty backing vocal (\u201ctit tit tit tit\u201d) in which John lays out his favourite mid-\u201860s stall of misogyny and blaming women for stuff. This time round the subject of the song gets off lightly (no arson or death threats) with just a few caustic comments. That said, the song is light years away from something like, say, \u2018Under My Thumb\u2019 with lyrics like \u201cWas she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure?\u201d.<\/p>\n

We now return to Paul who continues You Won\u2019t See Me\u2019s theme of invisibility as sign of a relationship in trouble with \u2018I\u2019m Looking Through You\u2019, a song powered by pep and a ridiculously basic organ riff. It\u2019s the kind of song that, had it been released by a Detroit garage band, would be a cult classic: here it\u2019s just another great song on a great album.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Now we come to what has to be the centrepiece of Rubber Soul: inarguably the best song here, and the cornerstone of The Beatles\u2019 new direction \u2013 \u2018In My Life\u2018. This is one of John Lennon\u2019s most beautiful songs, and a brilliant deceiver, in that he claims to be singing a love song to a woman who by her very presence erases the past and offers love and a future: but really the song is about the pleasure of memory, and looking back at the \u201cfriends and lovers\u201d who make up our personal history. Add to that a gorgeous, wistful melody, George Martin\u2019s sped-up piano and the best vocal of Lennon\u2019s career so far and the result is one of the truly great Beatles\u2019 songs, and a song none of them could have written two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u2018Wait\u2019, on the other hand, is a song that could have been on any Beatles album since 1963: its driving beat and shared vocal would be a good fit on With The Beatles, which is no criticism. A return to romance (\u201cAnd if your heart\u2019s strong\/ hold on, I won\u2019t delay\u201d) and a rare song of devotion and yearning: which cannot said be of George\u2019s second number, \u2018If I Needed Someone\u2018. Despite a great melody and those chiming guitar (George being The Byrds<\/a> being The Beatles), the lyric is once again a bit patronising \u201cCarve your number on my wall and maybe you will get a call from me\u201d ) as well as grammatically appalling. Still, it\u2019s also George\u2019s best song to date and those chimes are irresistible \u2013 and it\u2019s a lot more fun than the album\u2019s finale, the memorably unpleasant \u2018Run For Your Life\u2019, a song that not only steals its opening couplet from Elvis\u2019<\/a> \u2018Baby Let\u2019s Play House\u2019 (\u201cWell, I\u2019d rather see you dead, little girl\/ Than to be with another man\u201d) but uses them as a template for the rest of the song. It\u2019s a weird choice for the last song, and ends the album on a slightly odd, is-that-it note.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But in 2026 Rubber Soul doesn\u2019t end there, it goes on to present us with an impressive plethora of extra material, American mixes, backing tracks, mono versions \u2013 and a new song. \u2018Little Girl\u2019 is a Lennon demo notable for its very Lennon title (cousin to \u2018Hello Little Girl\u2019, \u2018Little Child\u2019 and indeed \u2018Run For Your Life\u2019), its somewhat weak lyrics (\u201cLittle girl I\u2019ve come to say \/ That this has been a lovely day \/ I love you\u201d) and its rather striking use of the phrase \u201csweet FA\u201d, which means either \u201cSweet Fanny Adams\u201d or \u201cSweet Fuck All.\u201d It does however have a charming melody and it\u2019s a shame it was abandoned. Still it\u2019s here now, as are Paul\u2019s famed home demo of \u2018We Can Work It Out\u2019 \u2013 ruined by John taping over the end \u2013 and an awful lot of instrumental backing tracks (12 compared to the Revolver boxed set\u2019s three). A mixed bag, but the bad bits are tolerable and the good bits\u2026 are amazing.<\/p>\n

By David Quantick. The Rubber Soul reissue is out now.<\/p>\n

Tracklisting <\/p>\n

All tracks below in Dolby Atmos (48\/24) and 96\/24 stereo (both newly mixed by Giles Martin and Sam Okell). The stereo version is the same non-limited file(s) used to cut the vinyl.
\n2026 Atmos & 2026 Stereo<\/p>\n

Drive My Car
\nNorwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
\nYou Won\u2019t See Me
\nNowhere Man
\nThink For Yourself
\nThe Word
\nMichelle
\nWhat Goes On
\nGirl
\nI\u2019m Looking Through You
\nIn My Life
\nWait
\nIf I Needed Someone
\nRun For Your Life<\/p>\n

BONUS TRACKS (2023 Atmos & 2023 Stereo)<\/p>\n

Day Tripper
\nWe Can Work It Out<\/p>\n

VIDEO CONTENT (sync\u2019d to 2023 Atmos & 2023 Stereo)<\/p>\n

Day Tripper
\nDay Tripper (Alternate Version)
\nWe Can Work It Out
\nWe Can Work It Out (Alternate Version)<\/p>\n

SuperDeluxeEdition.com\u00a0helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rubber Soul, the sixth Beatles album, was released in December 1965. Its predecessor, the soundtrack to Help!, had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-876894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}