Heard Here

The Beatles - Rubber Soul

I’ve fallen in love again. It’s for real this time. We met when I was but a child, dancing around my living room, sharing joyful moments. But I grew up, and we grew apart. Sometimes these things happen.
Last week, after a chance meeting in the Review office, Rubber Soul by the Beatles and I reconnected — perhaps this time for good. Immediately, I remembered singing “Norwegian Wood” with my mother, listening to her story about seeing the Beatles the first time in America. Poor girl, after the concert, my mother who had to hold it the whole time, as to not risk losing one moment of seeing her favorite band, dashed to the bathroom. She foolishly placed her program from the concert on the ground, only to have it peed on by the woman in the next stall. I said to her, “it’s too bad you had to throw that away.”
“Oh no,” replied my mother, “I still have it! Would you like to see it?” Grand.
It’s not often that the Review features an old album in the “Heard Here” column, but this classic album by the Beatles is without a doubt worth the re-examination. Indeed, buying a new CD can be a life-changing experience. The rediscovery of an old album is almost better: memories (such as the one above) are conjured, you already know all the words and it’s probably going to cost you nothing.
The first song, “You Can Drive My Car” is just brilliant. Catchy and simple, the chorus “Baby you can drive my car/Yes I’m gonna be a star/Baby you can drive my car/ And baby I love you” just screams for interpretive dance. If you need some inspiration, I’d be happy to show you the one I made up when I was 10 at summer camp.
“Norwegian Wood (This Bird had Flown)” is the second track, and the personal favorite of Janet Richert, my mom. Granted, the lyrics are somewhat vacuous, tracking the romance of John and some chick he was hot for.

Obviously she liked him too, as “She showed me her room/Isn’t it good, Norwegian wood/She asked me to stay to stay/She told me to sit anywhere/I looked around and noticed there wasn’t a chair.” Unfortunately, she doesn’t give it up because John ends up sleeping in the tub. But for how silly the lyrics are, the most wonderful thing about this song is the use of the sitar. The twangy, exotic sound of the stringed instrument marks the Beatles imminent transition from “boy-next-door” Beatles to “Sargent-Pepper-is-a-figment-of-our-tripped-out-imagination” Beatles, and reflects perfectly the oddness of the song.
There are a few more classics on this album, including “Nowhere Man” and “In My Life.” “The Word” is a departure from the Beatles’ previous songs. An experimentation in funk, it sounds like something that James Brown might cover. The lyrics are even more inane and repetitive than “Norwegian Wood,” so I think Mr. Brown can handle it.
“The Word” is followed by “Michelle.” Now, let me just talk about this song for a moment. It’s a perfect, passionate love song for some English-illiterate French girl. Mom, if you’re reading, can I change my name to Michelle? Please? Then Paul McCartney would be singing “Michelle, ma belle/Sont de mots qui vont tres bien ensemble/tres bien ensemble.” To me. All to me. In French…sigh.
Unfortunately, the album ends on a disconcerting note. “Run for Your Life” is more or less about a girl that McCartney thinks is cheating on him. “I’d rather see you dead, little girl/than to see you with another man, little girl,” warns McCartney. I mean, he’s not messing around. He reiterates this creepy message in the chorus “If I catch you with another man, little girl/That’s the end little girl.” The up-beat guitar riffs add an even more macabre feel to the song; with those lyrics, they might as well be playing an organ and bassoon in a minor key.
But let’s not talk about that. Rubber Soul is one of the best albums the Beatles produced. Enough said. Now, let’s talk about how you should all go out and search through all those CDs you never thought you’d listen to again. Find that special one and I promise, you’ll be walking around with a glow on your face that can only mean one thing: you’ve fallen in
love…again.

-Cat Richert