February 7, 2025 • 50 mins
🎙️ Podcast Episode: “In My Life – A Tale of Two Songs”
#TheBeatles #JohnLennon #InMyLife #RubberSoul #Songwriting #BeatlesHistory #PaulMcCartney #LyricAnalysis #ClassicRock #1960sMusic #MusicPodcast #PTPOPAMindRevolution #BehindTheLyrics #FolkRock #PodcastLife
In this episode of PTPOP: A Mind Revolution, I take a deep dive into “In My Life”, one of The Beatles’ most iconic songs. But what if I told you the original rough draft looked nothing like the final version?
What if The Beatles' legendary flair for songwriting wasn't entirely their own doing? Join me on a journey as I question the authenticity behind one of their most cherished tracks, "In My Life." This episode sheds light on how John Lennon's original handwritten draft morphed into a polished classic on the Rubber Soul album, delving into the inspirations and potential influence of Paul McCartney on its final form. Drawing on insights from Mike Williams' "Sage of Quay" show, we explore the possibility that The Beatles may not have had the time or means to write their extensive catalog, inviting listeners to reconsider the traditional narrative of their creative genius.
The Beatles faced an incredible challenge in the fall of 1965, racing against time to produce Rubber Soul. The cast of characters—Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr—found themselves under immense pressure to compose over a dozen new songs in just over a month. We take a closer look at the relentless recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios, where the band transcended their origins as a cover band to establish themselves as musical innovators. The rush to meet the December release date didn't hinder their creativity; instead, it sparked a transformation that left an indelible mark on pop rock history.
Amidst the chaos, "In My Life" emerged as a timeless masterpiece, raising questions about the collaboration and synergy that fueled its metamorphosis. Was it purely Lennon's vision, or did others play a pivotal role in refining its lyrics and melody? This episode celebrates The Beatles' undeniable brilliance while inviting listeners to ponder the mysteries of their chemistry. Share your insights with us via email or YouTube, and as we unravel the layers of The Beatles' genius, we hope to spark a conversation that continues beyond the episode.
🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform! 🚀🎶
Link to the rough draft of In My Life https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/in-my-life/lyrics-in-my-life_02/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Look deep, deep into my eyes.
You are witnessing ademonstration of the awesome
power of the human mind, theunlimited potential of total
concentration.
My mind is totally focused,able to maintain absolute and
utter control.
A mind such as this is apowerful force.
(00:22):
It could even rule the world.
Hey, you must remember that noharm will come to you.
No harm will come to you.
No harm will come to you.
Just relax, just relax.
(00:44):
You will do exactly as I tellyou.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Hey there everybody.
Pt Pop here in a mindrevolution, leading you out of
the rabbit hole one grain oftruth at a time.
Welcome back.
Thanks for downloading me Today.
My friends, I'm taking a deepdive into the evolution of one
of the Beatles' most cherishedsongs in my life.
(01:10):
But did you know that theoriginal handwritten draft was
drastically different from thefinal version that we all know
and love?
It really is.
It's so different and it's soodd how the two versions are so
completely different.
It makes you wonder did thesame person finish this song and
(01:32):
start it?
So I'm going to analyze andcompare and contrast John
Lennon's early version and hisearly draft with the polished
masterpiece that made it totheir sixth album, rubber Soul.
Now, along the way, I'm going toexplore a few things.
(01:54):
I'm going to explore theorigins of the song.
What inspired Lennon to writeit, the stark difference in
rhythm, rhyme and storytelling.
I'm going to briefly discussJohn Lennon's own 1980 Playboy
interview remarks where hereflected on the song and his
personal connection to it.
We're going to briefly discussdid Paul McCartney have a bigger
(02:15):
role in shaping the lyrics thanhe admitted?
And what does thetransformation reveal about the
Beatles' creative process andtheir shift into more
introspective songwriting, withhistory analysis and speculation
.
This episode is a must for theavid Beatles fan and songwriters
(02:35):
and artists and music lovers ingeneral.
So it's going to be a good one.
But before I get into today'stopic at hand, I want to invite
each and every one of you towatch my two YouTube channels.
I have youtubecom forward slashptpop, which is a channel where
I primarily discuss the evilsof working in call centers and
(02:56):
the corporate world, and then Ido an artistic channel where I
review electronics and talkabout art at Skating Bear
Studios.
So if you want to support thischannel, you know, please tune
into those channels and givethem the thumbs up, like and
subscribe.
But if you want to support thisparticular channel, you don't
(03:17):
have any cashola in the oldpockets.
Just listen to my podcast,download it, like, subscribe and
share.
But if you have some extracashola in those pockets, man,
you're rolling in the dough.
Visit my Patreon channel, whichI'll leave a link to in the
description here, and make acontribution, subscribe there.
We can see behind the scenes ofmy Skinny Bear Studios and my
(03:40):
PT Pop channel.
So on with the show, my friendsOn with the show.
So, as a one-time rabid, rabid,insane Beatles fan I was.
I was crazy about the Beatles.
I can tell you that at one timeI believed the official story
(04:00):
of the Beatles, their successand their songwriting
capabilities with all of myheart.
I never questioned it, I neverthought twice about it.
I was insane about the Beatlesfrom the age of eight years old
until about 38.
So about 30 years of justnon-questioning, devout loyalty
(04:21):
to this band.
And I would get into verbalaltercations with friends that
told me that they sucked andthey didn't like them.
And I'm like you don't know.
You don't know what you'resaying.
They're.
They're like the greatest groupever, man dude.
They're like the best thing.
How can you put, not put downthe Beatles and not like them?
You know I get like all upsetabout it, but as a songwriter
(04:43):
myself now, I've been asongwriter now for 30 years.
I've produced two award-winningdocumentary films.
I've published three novellas.
I'm a poet, a photographer andI'm an artist.
I'm a painter.
I do all these creative things.
When I stumbled upon thedifferences between the rough
(05:06):
draft of In my Life and I sawthe final version of it, I went
whoa, hold on here.
These are two completelydifferent authors.
I thought to myself.
There was no questioning it.
It was almost like twocompletely different people.
Now the same person wrote andI'll post the link to the rough
(05:27):
draft from the Beatlesbiblecomin the description here.
But when I saw the rough draftthey both look like the same
penmanship of John Lennon.
But it's two completelydifferent and entirely different
takes on the song and I have togive credit where credit is due
.
Now, I did not discover this onmy own.
(05:51):
Sage of Quay host Mike Williamsawesome guy, great show turned
me on to this whole Beatlesconspiracy thing about the
Beatles not even being a realband, not writing their own
music, and at first when I firstheard this I was like this
guy's got to be nuts right.
Then I started to watch hisvideos and he has almost
(06:13):
airtight proof that there's noway the Beatles had time or the
energy or the accessibility towrite as many songs as they did
in such a short period of timewith the busy schedule they had.
But he specifically turned meon to Rubber Soul and Rubber
Soul he does a whole thing aboutRubber Soul and how there's no
(06:37):
way in the world they had enoughtime to write 14 new songs,
record them, master them, getthem to the record company and
get them for a release date ofearly December 1965, with only a
month in the studio.
Now his analysis, and check itout go to Mike Williams, go to
Sage of Quay on YouTube and youcan see his analysis.
(06:59):
It's breathtaking.
It's really well done, wellthought out, well analyzed and
it's very eye-opening.
But his analysis of Rubber Soulto me is the smoking gun that
proves that the Beatles may nothave been as songwriters as we
all thought they were.
Now will we ever really knowthat?
(07:19):
Probably not.
But it looks like somethingelse may have happened that we
don't know about.
And again, I'll provide you alink to the rough draft of this
song.
You know the handwritten roughdraft that John Lennon scratched
out on a piece of paper in 1965.
Now, before we get into all thisanalysis, let me talk to you
(07:42):
about the history of this song.
Now, this song in my life wasreleased on the Beatles' sixth
album, rubber Soul, which wasreleased for sale in stores on
December 3rd 1965.
And it was released in both theUnited Kingdom and the United
States.
It was released in the UK, Ibelieve, on the 3rd and in the
US on December 6th.
Now the albums had differentsongs on them for some reason.
(08:05):
I don't know the history behindthat, but the uk release had 14
songs.
The us release had 12 songs.
For some reason the us releasetook a song from the album help
that had just been released afew months earlier, which is
called I've just seen a face andthey put it on rubber souls and
opening track.
Why they did that I I don'tknow.
That's a whole other story.
(08:33):
Now, this next analysis is fromthe book titled the Beatles
Recording Sessions by Mark Lewis.
I've got this book right hereand I've been looking through it
.
I read this book years ago.
I was fascinated with it Inthis book.
Recording Sessions is a bookthat catalogs and goes over in
great detail all the differentrecording sessions of all the
different albums and songs oneach Beatle album and what
(08:54):
tracks they lay down when theyrecord the drums, when they
record the bass and the vocalsand the harmonies and lead
guitar and solos and things likethat.
It's a fascinating book.
At least I thought so when Iread it many years ago.
Now the book states that therecording of Rover Soul
commenced on 12 October 1965 andended on 13 November 1965.
(09:14):
Lewiston states the problem was.
They had very little materialto work with and time was
getting on.
John and Paul, really for thefirst time in their lives, had
to force themselves to come upwith more than a dozen new songs
, which they later admitted wasvery impossible.
Then, with George and Ringo,they had to zip through a crash
(09:37):
series of recording sessions inorder to have the LP in the
stores by early December.
The recording sessions did noteven begin until the 12th of
October 1965.
So think about this.
Okay, for those of you that aremusicians, I'm a musician.
I've written over 150 songs,I've released five CDs of
(10:01):
original music and I can tellyou that writing a song just one
song is a very hard task.
You sit down, have an initialidea for a song and if you're
all by yourself, you've got tocome up with the words and the
(10:21):
music, you've got to come upwith the arrangement, a whole
bunch of things and you changeit.
So you sit down if you want towrite a song about one topic.
That idea evolves over time, itchanges, it metamorphosizes.
You sit and you stress over it.
You put it down, you pick it up, you walk away from it for a
(10:42):
few days, you wrestle with it.
It's like an enigma or a beastthat you were like.
Now some people can just knocka song off and make a hit in a
couple of seconds.
But think about this.
I mean they had this song.
They had 14 songs to recordright, 14 brand new songs that
(11:03):
mostly mostly John and Paulwrote.
Ringo and George had to learnthem.
So Ringo and George had tolearn what lead guitar to play,
they had to learn what drums,how to play the drums in these
songs, and Paul had to figureout what bass line to create in
all these songs.
Now, coming up with a bass lineis not a simple task.
(11:25):
Okay, you just don't go.
Okay, well, I'll play thesenotes and it'll be great.
You know Snoop-de-woo?
No, it's not that simple.
It's not like they portray itin the media.
Keep in mind that the Beatles,prior to their fame, they didn't
get famous until 1962.
Prior to that, they werebasically a bar band and all
(11:46):
they did was play cover tunes.
Like 95 to 99 percent of theirrepertoire were cover tunes
Chuck Berry, little Richard,larry Williams, ray Charles, all
kinds of other people's music.
Now, when you're creating acover tune, it's simple, it's
already done for you, it'salready laid out, the canvas has
already been painted.
(12:06):
You're just copying what theother band did.
So if you're Paul McCartney andyou're doing Roll Over Beethoven
, you know how to play the bassline because it's already been
played for you on the record,same with George Harrison's lead
guitar work, same with JohnLennon and George Harrison's
singing the whole thing it'salready done for you.
But when you're creating a newsong, it's from scratch.
And if you're not accustomed towriting songs and you've just
(12:33):
been a bar band, I mean I can'teven begin.
I wouldn't even know where tobegin.
If someone said you know, boys,we need you to write 14 songs.
Uh, what you know?
It's an arduous task, I wouldsay an impossible task for four
guys that are allegedly just abar band.
So keep that in mind when youthink about these guys who,
(12:56):
between 1962 and 1970, wrote allthese amazing, amazing songs.
How did they go from just beinga bar band to genius
songwriters?
So the Beatles recorded RubberSoul to Every Road Studios no 2
between October 12th andNovember 15th, and here are just
(13:18):
some quick dates.
So the recording dates beganOctober 12th, october 16th
through the 17th.
This is of 1965.
There were early takes of thesong Norwegian Wood, october
21st.
Nowhere man was recordedOctober 3rd I'm sorry, november
3rd.
(13:38):
Now we're into November 1965,michelle was recorded November
10th 1965, in my Life wasrecorded November 10th 1965, in
my Life is recorded and theinstrumental break that was
played by George Martin on piano, which sounds like a
harpsichord but really wasn't Ithink it was a sped-up piano the
instrumental break wasn'trecorded until November 18th,
(14:00):
november 11th.
Girl and Wait were recordedNovember 15th, final Recording
Sessions Before Mixing andMastering.
So this is like a 50, november15th, final recording sessions
before mixing and mastering.
So this is like a 50,000-footoverview of the recording
sessions.
Now the sessions it says herein Lewis and his book were
fast-paced as the Beatles had tofinish the album quickly to
meet their December 3rd 1965release date state and allegedly
(14:29):
this urgency resulted in someof their most experimental
introspective songwriting up tothat point.
Now I beg to differ.
Okay, if you're under the gun,you're in the biggest recording
studio in london or england,whatever, emi, you're in abbey
road number two.
You've got a record companysaying boys, boys, you've got to
get 14 songs recorded orthey're going to break your
knees.
Do you have time to beintrospective?
(14:51):
Do you?
Do you have time to sit backand write an introspective song
like In my Life?
Do you have the luxury to dothat?
And by the time it was releasedthe album was done and
completed on December 3rd 1965.
(15:11):
They had written, allegedly hadwritten, some of the most
iconic songs of the decade andof pop rock history.
Pretty good for guys that werejust slupping around Hamburg
with broken down guitars andamps that had never really
written a lot of really goodsongs.
I don't know, and this is justthree years after they got
(15:34):
famous.
So the album was released justin time for the 1965 holiday
shopping season.
So they wanted Capitol Recordsand Parlophone wanted to get
this album released in early1965, december 65, so they could
(15:58):
beat the holiday rush which allof us Christians at Christmas
time.
Back in those days the kidswere just dying to buy Beatle
records.
So they're like mom, mom, mom,get me the new Rubber Soul album
.
And this helped it become animmediate success because there
was there was a demand for therecord at that time, especially
at the holidays of Christmas.
(16:18):
Now, now it impacted the chartsin UK, the album and the charts
on December 11th 1965, andquickly reached number one.
It's staying at the top foreight weeks.
Us it topped the Billboard 200on January 8th 1966.
I'm not certain why.
(16:40):
I don't know why it took solong.
It took almost a month to breakthe charts.
There's probably more bands inthe US.
It remained number.
I don't know if it went tonumber one.
(17:00):
It doesn't say here.
My mind knows don't say Ibelieve it went to number one,
but it remained on the chartsfor six weeks.
How long did it take tomanufacture records in 1965?
Now Mike Williams discussesthis at a great extent in his
(17:23):
analysis of this Now.
1965, there were no MP3s, therewere no digital streams.
It was all done on vinyl.
Which vinyl comes from?
Plastic, melted plastic andthere's an entire long, lengthy
process to create a vinyl album.
Back in the 60s.
It didn't happen overnight.
(17:43):
In 1965, manufacturing a vinylrecord like Rubber Soul took
approximately two to four weeksFrom the final mix at EMI no 2
or Nabby Road Studios to beready for distribution.
Here's a breakdown of theprocess.
So mastering typically takes1-2 days.
So after the final mix isapproved, the mastering record
(18:05):
is transferred to what's calleda lacquer disc, which I believe
is like a master disc that theycreate the press from for the
vinyl.
So engineers carefully adjustlevels to ensure proper sound
quality.
On vinyl electroplating andstamper creation 1-2 weeks to
ensure proper sound quality onvinyl Electroplating and stamper
creation one to two weeks.
(18:26):
And the lacquer master iselectroplated to create a metal
master.
They create a metal master fromthe lacquer, which is what they
make all of the billions ofrecords from.
From this stampers are created.
This is all done in an assemblyline.
This is all done in a very vastassembly line of people making
(18:46):
records out of a stamper withmelted plastic and they press
the records with a machine andthis is a very time-consuming
process and it requiredprecision.
Now vinyl pressing the electricplating takes one to two weeks.
The vinyl pressing takes oneweek.
So once the stampers are ready,the vinyl records are pressed
(19:07):
in high volume factories.
Heated polyvinyl chloride PVCPellets were melted and pressed
between stampers to create eachrecord.
Then you've got to print thecovers and labels.
That takes one to two weeks.
Now if this is all going onconcurrently, right, you know
(19:28):
we're looking at anywhere fromone to three weeks to get this
all done, to make millions ofrecords that get in stores
worldwide.
This isn't just happening injust the US and in England.
The album is released throughoutEurope, the United States I
believe it was released in Japanand a variety of other
countries like Australia, placeslike that.
So the album had to go aroundthe globe on ships and airplanes
(19:49):
.
It wasn't digitally transmitted, so the process was very
lengthy.
Now think about this, and againI'll give this credit to Mike
Williams in order to printcovers and labels and to print
the circular cardboard part ofthe record vinyl where the songs
(20:11):
are listed the title of thealbum and the songs number one
you have to have a title to thealbum.
Now I've heard an interviewwith John Lennon or Paul
McCartney saying that to come upwith the name of the album,
they just drove around in thecar.
They would sometimes drivearound in their car and just
toss up ideas, you know, andoriginally we're going to call
(20:31):
it Plastic Soul.
We're going to call it PlasticSoul man, you know.
And then we said why don't wecall it Revolve?
It goes round and round, youknow.
Now we'll call it Rubber Soulman.
They didn't even have a namefor the record yet.
So you have to have a nameBefore you can press anything at
the records, at the recordprinting plants, you have to
(20:51):
have a title to the record andyou have to have the track
listing.
Okay, and in order to come upwith a track listing, the
producer usually sits down anddecides what order the songs
should go in, and they'reusually arranged by, you know,
up front.
The first track on the firstside will be the catchiest song
(21:12):
that they think is going to bethe hook to draw the listener
into the album.
Okay, so you've got to thinkabout that.
Then you've got to think aboutthat.
Then you've got to think ofwhat songs you want to have come
after that.
So you've got to think do Iwant to start off with an upbeat
track and then follow it withanother upbeat track, then go to
(21:36):
a more introspective track?
And in order to do that youhave to have.
You can't just toss it outthere.
You have to be methodical andintentional about the listing of
the songs that are going to beon the album.
Before we can send thisinformation to the record
company, before we can send themaster to the record company,
(21:57):
you have to know the tracklistings and the name of the
album.
So, for instance, in the UKpressing they started to open
the album with Drive my Car,which is an upbeat, funky, kind
of Motown sounding song.
Then the next song wasNorwegian Wood, which is a very
introspective song.
Another introspective song thatJohn just happened to toss off
(22:21):
in the middle of all this high,crazy pressure in the studio.
Then you Won't See Me, which iskind of a funky, more upbeat
song, the Noir man, which iskind of like I wouldn't say
psychedelic, but it's more of anintrospective song.
Think for Yourself.
So it goes upbeat,introspective, kind of upbeat,
introspective.
Think for yourself.
(22:43):
Upbeat the words, kind of funky, upbeat Michelle's a ballad.
What goes on is country upbeat,country tune.
Girl introspective I'm lookingthrough you upbeat In my life.
Introspective Weight upbeat.
If I needed someone upbeat.
If I needed someone upbeat Runfor your life upbeat.
(23:04):
So they had to figure out what'sgoing to make the best mix of
the album to draw the listenerin and keep them on the album
and want them to keep listeningto it over and over again.
There's a whole psychologybehind the track listing on
these albums.
Completely.
I've done this with my own CDs.
I know this is how they do it.
They want to keep the listenershooked onto the album.
(23:26):
So you've got to ask yourself aquestion okay, if Rubber Soul
was done in this amount of time,such a short period of time,
how in the world did they getthe album to the record
company's printing plantswithout the track listing or the
name of the album?
Yet?
And rubber soul is a prettycool name.
It's pretty.
I think it's the coolest nameof one of their records.
(23:48):
And the album cover is cool too, that weird warped looking, um,
the warp looking uh.
Picture of themselves, which Ifound out in an interview with
one of the two, john or Paul,that I don't know where they
were, but they were whereverthey were preparing the album
cover art and somebodyaccidentally knocked the
(24:10):
photograph over and it looked um, warped in the photographic
imaging equipment and they wentoh, do that, you know, keep it
like that.
That's.
That's a really kind of a vagueremembrance of that story.
So then let's say they get thename of the songs, they get the
name of the album, they get thetrack listing down, then they've
(24:31):
got to send this all to therecord company so they can make
the records, get the centersleeve, create the outer sleeve,
then they have to do packagingand distribution, which takes
two weeks.
Now finished records wereassembled with covers, shrink,
wrap and shipped to distributorsand then, depending on some
shipments, some were airfreighted for faster delivery,
(24:54):
some were sent by boat, by cargoship.
So the entire process isextremely lengthy.
Now, from what I read here,from this analysis I did online,
the total approximatemanufacturing time after they
(25:17):
got the master is anywhere fromtwo to four weeks time after
they got the master is anywherefrom two to four weeks.
So, rubber Soul, allegedly therecording finished on November
15th and they had it on storeshelves by December 3rd.
Guys, they had it on storeshelves by December 3rd.
(25:38):
It makes no sense.
They finished on December 15th,so in two weeks they had their
records produced.
They had them physicallyproduced with the vinyl printed,
packaged and shipped around theworld globally in two weeks on.
(26:02):
Even today it takes.
How long does it take me to geta package from china?
It sometimes takes two weeksjust to get a pair of pants from
china.
And that's today.
In 20, you know, in 2025,you're trying to tell me that
they somehow pulled out all thestops just to get they.
What did they stop theproduction on every other record
and every other boat and everyother plane.
They just stopped everything.
(26:26):
The mixing and mastering processfor Rubber Soul, it says here,
was incredibly fast.
The Beatles were on tightdeadline to release the album
before Christmas of 65, but theyhad to mix and master two
different versions of bothalbums.
They had to have a mono andthen they had to mix and master
two different versions of bothalbums.
They had to have a mono andthen they had to mix a stereo
version, two completely separateand independent mastering
(26:48):
sessions.
They alleged that the finalrecording sessions were
completed on November 15th andthe mono mixing sessions were
done by November 17th, but onNovember 18th.
I don't understand this.
If the records show that themono mixing sessions were done
by the 17th, it says thatNovember 18th of 1965, george
(27:11):
Martin recorded theharpsichord-like piano solo for
In my Life and an additionalmixing was completed.
So the album still wasn't done.
It really wasn't done untilNovember 18th.
It's not even.
It's maybe.
What is that 18th?
It gives them 12 days.
(27:32):
Well, it gives them just twoweeks to get it on the stores by
December 3rd or December 6th.
Then November 20th, stereomixing sessions.
It's even less time November22nd, final mixing and mastering
completed.
(27:53):
So now they've got a week.
They've got a week to get thisin the stores by December 3rd to
December 6th.
The dates don't add up.
Nothing adds up.
Nothing makes sense here.
Mastering and preparation forpressing.
From the records here it saysNovember 22nd and 23rd of 65,
(28:14):
master tapes are sent forlacquer cutting.
November 25th, vinyl pressingbegan.
It's allegedly December 3rd.
Rubber Soul was officiallyreleased.
I don't believe this for asecond.
I just don't.
So that's just kind of leadingup to what we're talking about
today.
And it was recorded andmastered in just over a month,
(28:34):
which is like Herculean.
It's an overwhelmingachievement.
It's just an amazingachievement.
It's beyond superhuman and Idon't really know what the real
story is.
(28:55):
But the song In my Lifeoriginally came about because it
took in the shape of a lengthypoem in 1964 that John Lennon
had written.
The initial lyrics found theirinspiration in a bus route that
John Lennon frequented inLiverpool, and he referenced
(29:16):
various landmarks along the way,such as Penny Lane, strawberry
Fields.
But Lennon hated the originallyrics.
Now let me read to you theoriginal lyrics and I'll bring
these up here and I'm just goingto read them to you.
And the rough draft has beenfeatured in several publications
that explore the Beatles'songwriting process, notably the
(29:38):
Beatles' anthology in 2000.
The comprehensive volumeincludes facsimiles of original
manuscripts provided insightinto the band's creative
development.
It's also in the Beatles'lyrics by Hunter Davies released
in 2014.
So here's what the rough draftreads.
Now.
If you can pull up the roughdraft on the link I provide in
the description, try to followalong, but it's handwritten and
(29:59):
some of the things are scratchedout.
Now the first verse is the samefirst verse as what was
originally released.
It says there are places I'llremember all my life, though
some have changed, some forever,but not for better.
Some have gone, some remain.
Second verse Penny Lane is oneI'm missing Up church and to the
(30:25):
clock tower In the circle ofthe abbey.
I've seen some happy hours,okay.
Then the third verse which isscratched out.
There's a third verse that Ihad to really look at it and
read it, but it says the fivebus into town, the trans shed
(30:47):
with no trans, the past, theDutch in St Columbus.
Okay, let me read that again.
It actually reads past thetram's shed with no trans, on
the five bus into town, past theDutch St Columbus, to the
(31:10):
Dockers umbrella.
They pulled down and what.
I did some research on.
I couldn't figure out what theheck is he talking about the
Dockers umbrella pulled down.
So I went on to Google and Ijust searched for the Dockers
umbrella and it came up with theLiverpool Overhead Railway.
There was an overhead railwayin Liverpool.
(31:31):
Now there's another scratchedout verse that reads In the past
we spent some good times.
Caldeo's one was good forjumping, but if you want to
really find me, I couldn't makeout all of it.
(31:53):
Then it says all these placeshave their memories, some with
loves people knew, some withsomething I couldn't read.
Some are dead and some are.
It looks like.
It says some are growing, butit's probably living.
So I put the lyrics into chatGPT and the scratched out
(32:13):
section that I couldn't read.
It says in the market I spentsome good times all before we
said our goodbyes, but if youreally want to find me, all
these places have their meaningand I think they found that in a
book.
Now this is what makes no sense.
Now, if you know the originalsong, this is entirely different
(32:38):
, completely different, from thefinal version of the song.
It's almost as if somebodygrabbed the lyrics from him and
said, look, look, you've got agood thing going here, john.
I kind of liked the first verse, let's see what I can do with
it.
And somebody took it intoanother room, sat down and
rewrote it Because they needed asong, I don't know.
(33:01):
Or they had a staff ofsongwriters at EMI that was
working with the Beatles thathelped them write their music.
I have no idea.
Now the scratched-out wordsseem to include an early version
of locations Liverpool, tramsheds, dockyards and St Columbus
.
The docker's umbrella they pulldown.
This likely refers to canopiesor structures near the docks,
(33:22):
which I've already discussedabout the overhead trams.
The bottom scratch-out sectionappears to contain alternative
lyrics, perhaps an early draftof the famous final stanza.
Now there's a significanttransformation between the rough
draft and the final version ofIn my Life and it's really hard
(33:45):
for me to understand.
As a songwriter, I understandthe metamorphosis of a song from
beginning to end.
I understand how it works.
(34:05):
I know the pain and the traumayou go through trying to write a
song, if you're struggling withit.
I know how hard it is.
But think about this John hadto not only think of the lyrics,
he had to think of the melodytoo.
So he had melody, he had lyrics, you had rhyme, pentameter, all
of that stuff.
Now, before I go into the finalanalysis of the song, let me
(34:26):
read the final version of thesong.
Think about what I just read toyou.
The final version of the songsays goes like this Now, the
first version is the same.
The first verse there are placesI remember all my life, though
some have changed, some forever,not for better.
Some have gone, some remain.
Now that is actually differentthan what I think I read
originally.
(34:46):
No, it's exactly the same.
Okay, so the first verse is thesame.
Second verse is a chorus.
Actually, all these places havetheir moments with lovers and
friends I still can recall.
Some are dead and some areliving in my life.
I love them all.
Verse two is but of all thesefriends and lovers, there's no
(35:09):
one that compares with you.
All these memories lose theirmeaning when I think of love as
something new.
Then it repeats the chorus.
Though I know I'll never loseaffection for people and things
that went before, I know I'lloften stop and think about them
in my life.
I love you more.
Then there's the piano solo.
(35:29):
Then they repeat the chorus.
Then there's the outro Entirely, completely, entirely different
in every way, shape and formfrom the rough draft.
Right Now, you may not agreewith me.
You may say, pete, you know asan artist, geez, you've got to
know there's a metamorphosis.
You start off with an idea andthen.
(35:50):
But my point is that the roughdraft is so completely and
utterly different from the finalversion.
It's almost as if two differentpeople worked on the song.
Okay, and the changes are notjust minor lyrical tweaks,
they're not Between the twosongs.
(36:10):
The changes are not just minorlyrical tweaks but rather a
complete restructuring of thesongs Rhythm, rhyme, scheme,
overall poetic flow.
It's entirely different.
Okay, the key differencesbetween the rough draft and the
(36:30):
final version.
Rhyme and meter the rough draftis more pro-like, almost
conversational, with uneven linelengths.
The final version has a clear,structured rhythm with an AABB
rhyme scheme in most verses.
Example in the rough draft itsays on the bus into town, past
the tram sheds with no trams,past the dock in St Columbus to
(36:53):
the dockers umbrellas that theypulled down.
The final version reads someare dead and some are living in
my life.
I love them all.
The final version tightens theflow into a consistent metrical
pattern that enhances themusicality.
Now, keep in mind again, theseare just four guys that were in
a bar band, that weren't knownto be songwriters at the time.
(37:16):
Somehow, someway, I don't know.
It's almost as if the originalversion was just a rough idea of
something John had while he wasriding a double-decker bus
around, or maybe he was at homein a cloud of pot smoke and he
just threw it down and somebodypicked it up and went.
You know what?
I can finish this all for you,son.
Let me finish this for you.
(37:36):
It's two entirely differentsongs.
Number two the subject matterfrom specific locations to
universal themes.
So John starts off allegedlywriting about specific locations
that he saw around town inLiverpool.
The rough draft reads like anostalgic travelogue listing
(37:57):
locations around Liverpool PennyLane, church Road, abbey, the
Abbey, dockyards, tram Sheds, stColumbus.
The final version is completelydifferent.
It broadens the perspective,turning into a meditation on
love, memory and time.
The shift makes the song morerelatable or appealing to the
(38:20):
general public.
It's more commerciallyappealing, appealing to anyone
reminiscing about their pastrather than just those familiar
with Liverpool.
So I don't even know how toexplain it.
But how did John, who was hoppedup on pot at the time under all
this pressure in the recordingstudio to make hit songs and get
(38:40):
it to the recording studio andon the shelves by December 3rd,
have the time and the luxury andthe freedom to sit down and be
so focused on this one song andso introspective that he took
this one horrible rough draftand turned it into this
magnificent, well-sculptedpoetic masterpiece, I don't know
(39:03):
, kind of interesting.
There's an emotional shift fromsentimentality over geography.
The rough draft has a strongersense of place.
It paints a personal,geographically-rooted picture of
Liverpool.
The final version replacesthose references with intimate
reflections on relationships andtime.
The line in my life I haveloved them all delivers a
(39:28):
universal emotional response orresolution, making the song
deeply resonant.
In other words, I thinksomebody like George Martin sat
down and said look, john, we'vegot to do this.
I like your song and I'm fondof Liverpool as well, but you've
got to take this song and makeit appealing to the general
masses.
So let me grab the song fromyou and I'll finish it off for
you and we'll make a hit out ofit, okay, all right, john, have
(39:51):
you seen my bong?
Have you seen my bong?
No, john, your bong is.
I think you left it in thetoilet.
No, I think something like thathappened.
Now the structural refinement ofthe final is interesting.
The rough draft lacks a chorusand feels like an evolving
thought process.
There's no end to it.
(40:11):
It's an open ending.
Like you know, it's not goingto end.
The final version balancesrepetition and phrasing to make
it memorable.
So let me ask you this johnlennon at the time uh, this is
1965, so he's like 25 years old.
He's been schlepping aroundhamburg for the better part of
(40:33):
five years with broken downequipment in a broken down van,
playing predominantly coversongs.
Somehow he just happened to uhhave an epiphany at the last
minute, under the pressure ofthe recording studio in a cloud
of pot smoke and he somehowstructured this thing to make it
a perfect masterpiece.
(40:54):
I guess the final versionbalances repetition and phrasing
to make it memorable.
Masterpiece.
I guess the final versionbalances repetition and phrasing
to make it memorable.
Example here I'll give you therough draft.
Meanders with inconsistent linelengths, the final draft
tightens every line into apredictable rhythm, making it
smoother to sing.
The final version is poeticversus a journalistic tone.
(41:21):
The rough draft is closer to adiary entry or a personal memoir
.
The final version reads like apolished poem, very carefully
chosen words.
Now, why does this matter to you?
You say Pete.
Why does this matter Now?
Why does this matter to you?
You say Pete.
Why does this matter Now?
Some would say that thedramatic shift reflects John
(41:42):
Lennon's evolving songwritingapproach, moving from raw
personal memory to a morepolished, emotionally impactful
piece.
It also shows McCartney'spossible influence, as he often
helped tighten Lennon's lyricsto make them more fluid and
commercially viable.
Okay, now there are thoughtsthat perhaps Paul McCartney
(42:04):
helped write this song.
But there's conflicting storiesabout that, you know.
John says he didn't, paul sayshe did, paul says he helped on
the middle eight or on thechorus.
Who knows what the truth is,who knows where the song came
from, who knows?
And the thing about it also is,you've got to think about the
(42:24):
opening riff of the song.
I've got my guitar here Nottuned up people, but you know.
Do where'd they come up withthat?
(42:47):
Do you have any idea how hardit is to write a hook for a song
?
Because so not only did theyhave to sit down and come up
with the words, melody,restructure this horrible rough
draft, they also had to come upwith the instrumentation for
everybody in the band Ringo,paul, george, john.
What are they all going to play?
And they were under pressureand they had like three weeks to
(43:09):
do it.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
I don't know man.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Seems kind of a far-fetched story.
So, yes, the transformationbetween the rough draft and the
final version is massive.
It evolved from a personal,scattered memory dump into one
of the most poetic andintrospective songs in the
Beatles catalog.
I mean, this song is played atweddings.
(43:35):
It's played at funerals.
Everybody plays this song.
Who's anybody?
Who's in the acoustic?
You know the acoustic solo.
You know acoustic solomusicians around town, excuse me
, oh my in my life, made megaseous, oh my in my life, maybe
(44:00):
gaseous.
The refinement of the meter,rhyme and sentiment turned it
from a local story into atimeless classic.
I'm sorry, guys, I don't knowJohn Lennon or any of the
Beatles.
I don't know him personally.
I never sat down and had lunchwith him, but this is a guy that
was in a turbulent time in hislife.
He was smoking pot and he wasmentally in a weird place.
(44:21):
Somehow he went from I want tohold your hand allegedly to this
timeless classic.
Seems kind of far-fetched andit's as if two different people
wrote them.
It feels like two entirelydifferent people wrote these
(44:41):
versions.
The huge jump from the roughdraft to the final version
suggests that either Lennon wentthrough a major creative shift
under pressure in the middle ofstudio number two, or that
someone else grabbed the songand finished it off for him,
someone like I think I don'tthink it was Theodore Adorno, I
think it was George Martin, orthese songs were already written
(45:05):
for them before they walkedinto the studio, which Mike
Williams discusses at length inhis analysis of this.
But the huge jump suggestssomething, and somebody else
must have played a significantrole in finding the lyrics, at
least the way it seems.
Now there could be a coupleexplanations for the drastic
(45:27):
change.
I don't know.
You know, the rough draft isjust raw and almost stream of
consciousness, where the finalversion is meticulously crafted.
It's possible that Lennonstarted with personal memories,
then deliberately reshaped themto a more poetic universal theme
.
But the shift to me is sodramatic it doesn't seem like
(45:48):
something that John at that timewould be capable of, you know.
I do know that John allegedlywrote more instinctively rather
than methodically refininglyrics like this.
But I don't know.
I didn't know John.
This is just what I've read andheard.
Paul McCartney did often stepin with John's songs to smooth
(46:11):
out lyrics and refine themusicality and flow, but
McCartney denied writing lyrics,though he admitted he helped
with the melody.
Now Lennon told Playboy in 1980that Paul helped with the
middle eight.
Now, given how much structurewas added to the final version,
it's possible Paul McCartneyinfluenced the rewriting process
(46:32):
more than Lennon later admitted.
Was there a ghostwriter outside,uh, working on it?
Now the final version doesn'tretain much of the original
structure.
It's not just edited, it'scompletely structured, and I
don't know it's it's.
(46:52):
It's something to think about.
You know, and you know theofficial narrative always pushes
what geniuses they were andwhat wonderful boys they were.
And they were just sittingaround drinking rum and coke and
smoking ciggies and writingsongs.
But guys, these were men.
These were four men, the primeof their lives.
(47:14):
They had a lot going on intheir lives.
And I know, when I was 26,there's something that I really
wanted badly and that was girls.
I wanted to go meet girls.
That's all I thought about.
Now let me go back here and I'mjust going to quote something
(47:36):
from I don't know if I did thisor not I quoted the 1980s with
Playboy magazine.
I'll finish with this.
So in 1980, john Lennon said hediscussed In my Life and its
origins, acknowledging it is oneof his most personal songs.
(47:58):
My life and its origins,acknowledging it is one of his
most personal songs.
He reflected on its meaning andthe songwriting process, saying
it was the first song that Iwrote that I consciously about
my life Before.
We were just writing songs a laEverly Brothers, buddy Holly,
pop songs with no more thoughtto them than that.
(48:19):
This was the first song that Iwrote that was really
consciously about my own lifeand it was sparked by a remark
journalists and a writer inEngland made after In His Own
Right, which is one of JohnLennon's books, came out.
I wrote a list of places Iremembered and I thought that's
a bit boring so I made it into asong.
(48:39):
Instead of writing aboutspecific places, I wrote about
emotions.
Lennon also touched onMcCartney's role in the
composition, which had beensubject of debate over the years
.
John says Paul helped with themiddle eight, but all the rest
is mine.
However, mccartney laterdisputed this, claiming he
co-wrote the melody.
The disagreement between themhighlights an ongoing mystery in
(49:03):
Beatles history.
So that's my analysis of In myLife.
So if you take a look at it froman outside perspective, you can
take off your Beatle hat, yourBeatles fanaticism, and step
back and take a look at it.
It's still going to be hard foryou, because if you really
don't know what it's like towork in a studio, if you don't
know what it's like to work on asong, if you don't know what
(49:25):
it's like to try to come up withall the integral parts of a
song the guitars, the bass, thedrums and put that all together
at once and create 14 brand newsongs for a release date of
December 3rd and you've only gotlike three and a half weeks.
It's going to be hard for theaverage person to put this all
together and go.
You know what?
Maybe the Beatles weren't whowe thought they were.
(49:47):
Yes, I'm implying that, but theevidence is in this album.
This album is a smoking gun tomake you go, wait a minute.
How did they do all this bythemselves?
But I don't know.
We don't really know and Idon't know if we'll ever know.
I mean, we just have to take itat face value that they were
allegedly just four geniusesthat rolled out of bed one day
(50:08):
and just happened to find eachother and get abandoned Happily
ever after took place, you know.
So let me know what you think,send me your comments to
skatingbearstudios at gmailcomor watch on YouTube.
I'll probably have this postedjust the audio posted on YouTube
, and let me know what you think.
(50:30):
But I think the facts arepretty much right there in front
of us.
But let me know what you thinkand thank you for downloading me
.
I'm Pete Depop.
This is Mind Revolution and allof you take care out there and
have a good day.
Bye.
Look deep, deep into my eyes.
You are witnessing ademonstration of the awesome
power of the human mind, theunlimited potential of total
concentration.
My mind is totally focused,able to maintain absolute and
utter control.
A mind such as this is apowerful force.
(00:22):
It could even rule the world.
Hey, you must remember that noharm will come to you.
No harm will come to you.
No harm will come to you.
Just relax, just relax.
(00:44):
You will do exactly as I tellyou.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Hey there everybody.
Pt Pop here in a mindrevolution, leading you out of
the rabbit hole one grain oftruth at a time.
Welcome back.
Thanks for downloading me Today.
My friends, I'm taking a deepdive into the evolution of one
of the Beatles' most cherishedsongs in my life.
(01:10):
But did you know that theoriginal handwritten draft was
drastically different from thefinal version that we all know
and love?
It really is.
It's so different and it's soodd how the two versions are so
completely different.
It makes you wonder did thesame person finish this song and
(01:32):
start it?
So I'm going to analyze andcompare and contrast John
Lennon's early version and hisearly draft with the polished
masterpiece that made it totheir sixth album, rubber Soul.
Now, along the way, I'm going toexplore a few things.
(01:54):
I'm going to explore theorigins of the song.
What inspired Lennon to writeit, the stark difference in
rhythm, rhyme and storytelling.
I'm going to briefly discussJohn Lennon's own 1980 Playboy
interview remarks where hereflected on the song and his
personal connection to it.
We're going to briefly discussdid Paul McCartney have a bigger
(02:15):
role in shaping the lyrics thanhe admitted?
And what does thetransformation reveal about the
Beatles' creative process andtheir shift into more
introspective songwriting, withhistory analysis and speculation
.
This episode is a must for theavid Beatles fan and songwriters
(02:35):
and artists and music lovers ingeneral.
So it's going to be a good one.
But before I get into today'stopic at hand, I want to invite
each and every one of you towatch my two YouTube channels.
I have youtubecom forward slashptpop, which is a channel where
I primarily discuss the evilsof working in call centers and
(02:56):
the corporate world, and then Ido an artistic channel where I
review electronics and talkabout art at Skating Bear
Studios.
So if you want to support thischannel, you know, please tune
into those channels and givethem the thumbs up, like and
subscribe.
But if you want to support thisparticular channel, you don't
(03:17):
have any cashola in the oldpockets.
Just listen to my podcast,download it, like, subscribe and
share.
But if you have some extracashola in those pockets, man,
you're rolling in the dough.
Visit my Patreon channel, whichI'll leave a link to in the
description here, and make acontribution, subscribe there.
We can see behind the scenes ofmy Skinny Bear Studios and my
(03:40):
PT Pop channel.
So on with the show, my friendsOn with the show.
So, as a one-time rabid, rabid,insane Beatles fan I was.
I was crazy about the Beatles.
I can tell you that at one timeI believed the official story
(04:00):
of the Beatles, their successand their songwriting
capabilities with all of myheart.
I never questioned it, I neverthought twice about it.
I was insane about the Beatlesfrom the age of eight years old
until about 38.
So about 30 years of justnon-questioning, devout loyalty
(04:21):
to this band.
And I would get into verbalaltercations with friends that
told me that they sucked andthey didn't like them.
And I'm like you don't know.
You don't know what you'resaying.
They're.
They're like the greatest groupever, man dude.
They're like the best thing.
How can you put, not put downthe Beatles and not like them?
You know I get like all upsetabout it, but as a songwriter
(04:43):
myself now, I've been asongwriter now for 30 years.
I've produced two award-winningdocumentary films.
I've published three novellas.
I'm a poet, a photographer andI'm an artist.
I'm a painter.
I do all these creative things.
When I stumbled upon thedifferences between the rough
(05:06):
draft of In my Life and I sawthe final version of it, I went
whoa, hold on here.
These are two completelydifferent authors.
I thought to myself.
There was no questioning it.
It was almost like twocompletely different people.
Now the same person wrote andI'll post the link to the rough
(05:27):
draft from the Beatlesbiblecomin the description here.
But when I saw the rough draftthey both look like the same
penmanship of John Lennon.
But it's two completelydifferent and entirely different
takes on the song and I have togive credit where credit is due
.
Now, I did not discover this onmy own.
(05:51):
Sage of Quay host Mike Williamsawesome guy, great show turned
me on to this whole Beatlesconspiracy thing about the
Beatles not even being a realband, not writing their own
music, and at first when I firstheard this I was like this
guy's got to be nuts right.
Then I started to watch hisvideos and he has almost
(06:13):
airtight proof that there's noway the Beatles had time or the
energy or the accessibility towrite as many songs as they did
in such a short period of timewith the busy schedule they had.
But he specifically turned meon to Rubber Soul and Rubber
Soul he does a whole thing aboutRubber Soul and how there's no
(06:37):
way in the world they had enoughtime to write 14 new songs,
record them, master them, getthem to the record company and
get them for a release date ofearly December 1965, with only a
month in the studio.
Now his analysis, and check itout go to Mike Williams, go to
Sage of Quay on YouTube and youcan see his analysis.
(06:59):
It's breathtaking.
It's really well done, wellthought out, well analyzed and
it's very eye-opening.
But his analysis of Rubber Soulto me is the smoking gun that
proves that the Beatles may nothave been as songwriters as we
all thought they were.
Now will we ever really knowthat?
(07:19):
Probably not.
But it looks like somethingelse may have happened that we
don't know about.
And again, I'll provide you alink to the rough draft of this
song.
You know the handwritten roughdraft that John Lennon scratched
out on a piece of paper in 1965.
Now, before we get into all thisanalysis, let me talk to you
(07:42):
about the history of this song.
Now, this song in my life wasreleased on the Beatles' sixth
album, rubber Soul, which wasreleased for sale in stores on
December 3rd 1965.
And it was released in both theUnited Kingdom and the United
States.
It was released in the UK, Ibelieve, on the 3rd and in the
US on December 6th.
Now the albums had differentsongs on them for some reason.
(08:05):
I don't know the history behindthat, but the uk release had 14
songs.
The us release had 12 songs.
For some reason the us releasetook a song from the album help
that had just been released afew months earlier, which is
called I've just seen a face andthey put it on rubber souls and
opening track.
Why they did that I I don'tknow.
That's a whole other story.
(08:33):
Now, this next analysis is fromthe book titled the Beatles
Recording Sessions by Mark Lewis.
I've got this book right hereand I've been looking through it
.
I read this book years ago.
I was fascinated with it Inthis book.
Recording Sessions is a bookthat catalogs and goes over in
great detail all the differentrecording sessions of all the
different albums and songs oneach Beatle album and what
(08:54):
tracks they lay down when theyrecord the drums, when they
record the bass and the vocalsand the harmonies and lead
guitar and solos and things likethat.
It's a fascinating book.
At least I thought so when Iread it many years ago.
Now the book states that therecording of Rover Soul
commenced on 12 October 1965 andended on 13 November 1965.
(09:14):
Lewiston states the problem was.
They had very little materialto work with and time was
getting on.
John and Paul, really for thefirst time in their lives, had
to force themselves to come upwith more than a dozen new songs
, which they later admitted wasvery impossible.
Then, with George and Ringo,they had to zip through a crash
(09:37):
series of recording sessions inorder to have the LP in the
stores by early December.
The recording sessions did noteven begin until the 12th of
October 1965.
So think about this.
Okay, for those of you that aremusicians, I'm a musician.
I've written over 150 songs,I've released five CDs of
(10:01):
original music and I can tellyou that writing a song just one
song is a very hard task.
You sit down, have an initialidea for a song and if you're
all by yourself, you've got tocome up with the words and the
(10:21):
music, you've got to come upwith the arrangement, a whole
bunch of things and you changeit.
So you sit down if you want towrite a song about one topic.
That idea evolves over time, itchanges, it metamorphosizes.
You sit and you stress over it.
You put it down, you pick it up, you walk away from it for a
(10:42):
few days, you wrestle with it.
It's like an enigma or a beastthat you were like.
Now some people can just knocka song off and make a hit in a
couple of seconds.
But think about this.
I mean they had this song.
They had 14 songs to recordright, 14 brand new songs that
(11:03):
mostly mostly John and Paulwrote.
Ringo and George had to learnthem.
So Ringo and George had tolearn what lead guitar to play,
they had to learn what drums,how to play the drums in these
songs, and Paul had to figureout what bass line to create in
all these songs.
Now, coming up with a bass lineis not a simple task.
(11:25):
Okay, you just don't go.
Okay, well, I'll play thesenotes and it'll be great.
You know Snoop-de-woo?
No, it's not that simple.
It's not like they portray itin the media.
Keep in mind that the Beatles,prior to their fame, they didn't
get famous until 1962.
Prior to that, they werebasically a bar band and all
(11:46):
they did was play cover tunes.
Like 95 to 99 percent of theirrepertoire were cover tunes
Chuck Berry, little Richard,larry Williams, ray Charles, all
kinds of other people's music.
Now, when you're creating acover tune, it's simple, it's
already done for you, it'salready laid out, the canvas has
already been painted.
(12:06):
You're just copying what theother band did.
So if you're Paul McCartney andyou're doing Roll Over Beethoven
, you know how to play the bassline because it's already been
played for you on the record,same with George Harrison's lead
guitar work, same with JohnLennon and George Harrison's
singing the whole thing it'salready done for you.
But when you're creating a newsong, it's from scratch.
And if you're not accustomed towriting songs and you've just
(12:33):
been a bar band, I mean I can'teven begin.
I wouldn't even know where tobegin.
If someone said you know, boys,we need you to write 14 songs.
Uh, what you know?
It's an arduous task, I wouldsay an impossible task for four
guys that are allegedly just abar band.
So keep that in mind when youthink about these guys who,
(12:56):
between 1962 and 1970, wrote allthese amazing, amazing songs.
How did they go from just beinga bar band to genius
songwriters?
So the Beatles recorded RubberSoul to Every Road Studios no 2
between October 12th andNovember 15th, and here are just
(13:18):
some quick dates.
So the recording dates beganOctober 12th, october 16th
through the 17th.
This is of 1965.
There were early takes of thesong Norwegian Wood, october
21st.
Nowhere man was recordedOctober 3rd I'm sorry, november
3rd.
(13:38):
Now we're into November 1965,michelle was recorded November
10th 1965, in my Life wasrecorded November 10th 1965, in
my Life is recorded and theinstrumental break that was
played by George Martin on piano, which sounds like a
harpsichord but really wasn't Ithink it was a sped-up piano the
instrumental break wasn'trecorded until November 18th,
(14:00):
november 11th.
Girl and Wait were recordedNovember 15th, final Recording
Sessions Before Mixing andMastering.
So this is like a 50, november15th, final recording sessions
before mixing and mastering.
So this is like a 50,000-footoverview of the recording
sessions.
Now the sessions it says herein Lewis and his book were
fast-paced as the Beatles had tofinish the album quickly to
meet their December 3rd 1965release date state and allegedly
(14:29):
this urgency resulted in someof their most experimental
introspective songwriting up tothat point.
Now I beg to differ.
Okay, if you're under the gun,you're in the biggest recording
studio in london or england,whatever, emi, you're in abbey
road number two.
You've got a record companysaying boys, boys, you've got to
get 14 songs recorded orthey're going to break your
knees.
Do you have time to beintrospective?
(14:51):
Do you?
Do you have time to sit backand write an introspective song
like In my Life?
Do you have the luxury to dothat?
And by the time it was releasedthe album was done and
completed on December 3rd 1965.
(15:11):
They had written, allegedly hadwritten, some of the most
iconic songs of the decade andof pop rock history.
Pretty good for guys that werejust slupping around Hamburg
with broken down guitars andamps that had never really
written a lot of really goodsongs.
I don't know, and this is justthree years after they got
(15:34):
famous.
So the album was released justin time for the 1965 holiday
shopping season.
So they wanted Capitol Recordsand Parlophone wanted to get
this album released in early1965, december 65, so they could
(15:58):
beat the holiday rush which allof us Christians at Christmas
time.
Back in those days the kidswere just dying to buy Beatle
records.
So they're like mom, mom, mom,get me the new Rubber Soul album
.
And this helped it become animmediate success because there
was there was a demand for therecord at that time, especially
at the holidays of Christmas.
(16:18):
Now, now it impacted the chartsin UK, the album and the charts
on December 11th 1965, andquickly reached number one.
It's staying at the top foreight weeks.
Us it topped the Billboard 200on January 8th 1966.
I'm not certain why.
(16:40):
I don't know why it took solong.
It took almost a month to breakthe charts.
There's probably more bands inthe US.
It remained number.
I don't know if it went tonumber one.
(17:00):
It doesn't say here.
My mind knows don't say Ibelieve it went to number one,
but it remained on the chartsfor six weeks.
How long did it take tomanufacture records in 1965?
Now Mike Williams discussesthis at a great extent in his
(17:23):
analysis of this Now.
1965, there were no MP3s, therewere no digital streams.
It was all done on vinyl.
Which vinyl comes from?
Plastic, melted plastic andthere's an entire long, lengthy
process to create a vinyl album.
Back in the 60s.
It didn't happen overnight.
(17:43):
In 1965, manufacturing a vinylrecord like Rubber Soul took
approximately two to four weeksFrom the final mix at EMI no 2
or Nabby Road Studios to beready for distribution.
Here's a breakdown of theprocess.
So mastering typically takes1-2 days.
So after the final mix isapproved, the mastering record
(18:05):
is transferred to what's calleda lacquer disc, which I believe
is like a master disc that theycreate the press from for the
vinyl.
So engineers carefully adjustlevels to ensure proper sound
quality.
On vinyl electroplating andstamper creation 1-2 weeks to
ensure proper sound quality onvinyl Electroplating and stamper
creation one to two weeks.
(18:26):
And the lacquer master iselectroplated to create a metal
master.
They create a metal master fromthe lacquer, which is what they
make all of the billions ofrecords from.
From this stampers are created.
This is all done in an assemblyline.
This is all done in a very vastassembly line of people making
(18:46):
records out of a stamper withmelted plastic and they press
the records with a machine andthis is a very time-consuming
process and it requiredprecision.
Now vinyl pressing the electricplating takes one to two weeks.
The vinyl pressing takes oneweek.
So once the stampers are ready,the vinyl records are pressed
(19:07):
in high volume factories.
Heated polyvinyl chloride PVCPellets were melted and pressed
between stampers to create eachrecord.
Then you've got to print thecovers and labels.
That takes one to two weeks.
Now if this is all going onconcurrently, right, you know
(19:28):
we're looking at anywhere fromone to three weeks to get this
all done, to make millions ofrecords that get in stores
worldwide.
This isn't just happening injust the US and in England.
The album is released throughoutEurope, the United States I
believe it was released in Japanand a variety of other
countries like Australia, placeslike that.
So the album had to go aroundthe globe on ships and airplanes
(19:49):
.
It wasn't digitally transmitted, so the process was very
lengthy.
Now think about this, and againI'll give this credit to Mike
Williams in order to printcovers and labels and to print
the circular cardboard part ofthe record vinyl where the songs
(20:11):
are listed the title of thealbum and the songs number one
you have to have a title to thealbum.
Now I've heard an interviewwith John Lennon or Paul
McCartney saying that to come upwith the name of the album,
they just drove around in thecar.
They would sometimes drivearound in their car and just
toss up ideas, you know, andoriginally we're going to call
(20:31):
it Plastic Soul.
We're going to call it PlasticSoul man, you know.
And then we said why don't wecall it Revolve?
It goes round and round, youknow.
Now we'll call it Rubber Soulman.
They didn't even have a namefor the record yet.
So you have to have a nameBefore you can press anything at
the records, at the recordprinting plants, you have to
(20:51):
have a title to the record andyou have to have the track
listing.
Okay, and in order to come upwith a track listing, the
producer usually sits down anddecides what order the songs
should go in, and they'reusually arranged by, you know,
up front.
The first track on the firstside will be the catchiest song
(21:12):
that they think is going to bethe hook to draw the listener
into the album.
Okay, so you've got to thinkabout that.
Then you've got to think aboutthat.
Then you've got to think ofwhat songs you want to have come
after that.
So you've got to think do Iwant to start off with an upbeat
track and then follow it withanother upbeat track, then go to
(21:36):
a more introspective track?
And in order to do that youhave to have.
You can't just toss it outthere.
You have to be methodical andintentional about the listing of
the songs that are going to beon the album.
Before we can send thisinformation to the record
company, before we can send themaster to the record company,
(21:57):
you have to know the tracklistings and the name of the
album.
So, for instance, in the UKpressing they started to open
the album with Drive my Car,which is an upbeat, funky, kind
of Motown sounding song.
Then the next song wasNorwegian Wood, which is a very
introspective song.
Another introspective song thatJohn just happened to toss off
(22:21):
in the middle of all this high,crazy pressure in the studio.
Then you Won't See Me, which iskind of a funky, more upbeat
song, the Noir man, which iskind of like I wouldn't say
psychedelic, but it's more of anintrospective song.
Think for Yourself.
So it goes upbeat,introspective, kind of upbeat,
introspective.
Think for yourself.
(22:43):
Upbeat the words, kind of funky, upbeat Michelle's a ballad.
What goes on is country upbeat,country tune.
Girl introspective I'm lookingthrough you upbeat In my life.
Introspective Weight upbeat.
If I needed someone upbeat.
If I needed someone upbeat Runfor your life upbeat.
(23:04):
So they had to figure out what'sgoing to make the best mix of
the album to draw the listenerin and keep them on the album
and want them to keep listeningto it over and over again.
There's a whole psychologybehind the track listing on
these albums.
Completely.
I've done this with my own CDs.
I know this is how they do it.
They want to keep the listenershooked onto the album.
(23:26):
So you've got to ask yourself aquestion okay, if Rubber Soul
was done in this amount of time,such a short period of time,
how in the world did they getthe album to the record
company's printing plantswithout the track listing or the
name of the album?
Yet?
And rubber soul is a prettycool name.
It's pretty.
I think it's the coolest nameof one of their records.
(23:48):
And the album cover is cool too, that weird warped looking, um,
the warp looking uh.
Picture of themselves, which Ifound out in an interview with
one of the two, john or Paul,that I don't know where they
were, but they were whereverthey were preparing the album
cover art and somebodyaccidentally knocked the
(24:10):
photograph over and it looked um, warped in the photographic
imaging equipment and they wentoh, do that, you know, keep it
like that.
That's.
That's a really kind of a vagueremembrance of that story.
So then let's say they get thename of the songs, they get the
name of the album, they get thetrack listing down, then they've
(24:31):
got to send this all to therecord company so they can make
the records, get the centersleeve, create the outer sleeve,
then they have to do packagingand distribution, which takes
two weeks.
Now finished records wereassembled with covers, shrink,
wrap and shipped to distributorsand then, depending on some
shipments, some were airfreighted for faster delivery,
(24:54):
some were sent by boat, by cargoship.
So the entire process isextremely lengthy.
Now, from what I read here,from this analysis I did online,
the total approximatemanufacturing time after they
(25:17):
got the master is anywhere fromtwo to four weeks time after
they got the master is anywherefrom two to four weeks.
So, rubber Soul, allegedly therecording finished on November
15th and they had it on storeshelves by December 3rd.
Guys, they had it on storeshelves by December 3rd.
(25:38):
It makes no sense.
They finished on December 15th,so in two weeks they had their
records produced.
They had them physicallyproduced with the vinyl printed,
packaged and shipped around theworld globally in two weeks on.
(26:02):
Even today it takes.
How long does it take me to geta package from china?
It sometimes takes two weeksjust to get a pair of pants from
china.
And that's today.
In 20, you know, in 2025,you're trying to tell me that
they somehow pulled out all thestops just to get they.
What did they stop theproduction on every other record
and every other boat and everyother plane.
They just stopped everything.
(26:26):
The mixing and mastering processfor Rubber Soul, it says here,
was incredibly fast.
The Beatles were on tightdeadline to release the album
before Christmas of 65, but theyhad to mix and master two
different versions of bothalbums.
They had to have a mono andthen they had to mix and master
two different versions of bothalbums.
They had to have a mono andthen they had to mix a stereo
version, two completely separateand independent mastering
(26:48):
sessions.
They alleged that the finalrecording sessions were
completed on November 15th andthe mono mixing sessions were
done by November 17th, but onNovember 18th.
I don't understand this.
If the records show that themono mixing sessions were done
by the 17th, it says thatNovember 18th of 1965, george
(27:11):
Martin recorded theharpsichord-like piano solo for
In my Life and an additionalmixing was completed.
So the album still wasn't done.
It really wasn't done untilNovember 18th.
It's not even.
It's maybe.
What is that 18th?
It gives them 12 days.
(27:32):
Well, it gives them just twoweeks to get it on the stores by
December 3rd or December 6th.
Then November 20th, stereomixing sessions.
It's even less time November22nd, final mixing and mastering
completed.
(27:53):
So now they've got a week.
They've got a week to get thisin the stores by December 3rd to
December 6th.
The dates don't add up.
Nothing adds up.
Nothing makes sense here.
Mastering and preparation forpressing.
From the records here it saysNovember 22nd and 23rd of 65,
(28:14):
master tapes are sent forlacquer cutting.
November 25th, vinyl pressingbegan.
It's allegedly December 3rd.
Rubber Soul was officiallyreleased.
I don't believe this for asecond.
I just don't.
So that's just kind of leadingup to what we're talking about
today.
And it was recorded andmastered in just over a month,
(28:34):
which is like Herculean.
It's an overwhelmingachievement.
It's just an amazingachievement.
It's beyond superhuman and Idon't really know what the real
story is.
(28:55):
But the song In my Lifeoriginally came about because it
took in the shape of a lengthypoem in 1964 that John Lennon
had written.
The initial lyrics found theirinspiration in a bus route that
John Lennon frequented inLiverpool, and he referenced
(29:16):
various landmarks along the way,such as Penny Lane, strawberry
Fields.
But Lennon hated the originallyrics.
Now let me read to you theoriginal lyrics and I'll bring
these up here and I'm just goingto read them to you.
And the rough draft has beenfeatured in several publications
that explore the Beatles'songwriting process, notably the
(29:38):
Beatles' anthology in 2000.
The comprehensive volumeincludes facsimiles of original
manuscripts provided insightinto the band's creative
development.
It's also in the Beatles'lyrics by Hunter Davies released
in 2014.
So here's what the rough draftreads.
Now.
If you can pull up the roughdraft on the link I provide in
the description, try to followalong, but it's handwritten and
(29:59):
some of the things are scratchedout.
Now the first verse is the samefirst verse as what was
originally released.
It says there are places I'llremember all my life, though
some have changed, some forever,but not for better.
Some have gone, some remain.
Second verse Penny Lane is oneI'm missing Up church and to the
(30:25):
clock tower In the circle ofthe abbey.
I've seen some happy hours,okay.
Then the third verse which isscratched out.
There's a third verse that Ihad to really look at it and
read it, but it says the fivebus into town, the trans shed
(30:47):
with no trans, the past, theDutch in St Columbus.
Okay, let me read that again.
It actually reads past thetram's shed with no trans, on
the five bus into town, past theDutch St Columbus, to the
(31:10):
Dockers umbrella.
They pulled down and what.
I did some research on.
I couldn't figure out what theheck is he talking about the
Dockers umbrella pulled down.
So I went on to Google and Ijust searched for the Dockers
umbrella and it came up with theLiverpool Overhead Railway.
There was an overhead railwayin Liverpool.
(31:31):
Now there's another scratchedout verse that reads In the past
we spent some good times.
Caldeo's one was good forjumping, but if you want to
really find me, I couldn't makeout all of it.
(31:53):
Then it says all these placeshave their memories, some with
loves people knew, some withsomething I couldn't read.
Some are dead and some are.
It looks like.
It says some are growing, butit's probably living.
So I put the lyrics into chatGPT and the scratched out
(32:13):
section that I couldn't read.
It says in the market I spentsome good times all before we
said our goodbyes, but if youreally want to find me, all
these places have their meaningand I think they found that in a
book.
Now this is what makes no sense.
Now, if you know the originalsong, this is entirely different
(32:38):
, completely different, from thefinal version of the song.
It's almost as if somebodygrabbed the lyrics from him and
said, look, look, you've got agood thing going here, john.
I kind of liked the first verse, let's see what I can do with
it.
And somebody took it intoanother room, sat down and
rewrote it Because they needed asong, I don't know.
(33:01):
Or they had a staff ofsongwriters at EMI that was
working with the Beatles thathelped them write their music.
I have no idea.
Now the scratched-out wordsseem to include an early version
of locations Liverpool, tramsheds, dockyards and St Columbus
.
The docker's umbrella they pulldown.
This likely refers to canopiesor structures near the docks,
(33:22):
which I've already discussedabout the overhead trams.
The bottom scratch-out sectionappears to contain alternative
lyrics, perhaps an early draftof the famous final stanza.
Now there's a significanttransformation between the rough
draft and the final version ofIn my Life and it's really hard
(33:45):
for me to understand.
As a songwriter, I understandthe metamorphosis of a song from
beginning to end.
I understand how it works.
(34:05):
I know the pain and the traumayou go through trying to write a
song, if you're struggling withit.
I know how hard it is.
But think about this John hadto not only think of the lyrics,
he had to think of the melodytoo.
So he had melody, he had lyrics, you had rhyme, pentameter, all
of that stuff.
Now, before I go into the finalanalysis of the song, let me
(34:26):
read the final version of thesong.
Think about what I just read toyou.
The final version of the songsays goes like this Now, the
first version is the same.
The first verse there are placesI remember all my life, though
some have changed, some forever,not for better.
Some have gone, some remain.
Now that is actually differentthan what I think I read
originally.
(34:46):
No, it's exactly the same.
Okay, so the first verse is thesame.
Second verse is a chorus.
Actually, all these places havetheir moments with lovers and
friends I still can recall.
Some are dead and some areliving in my life.
I love them all.
Verse two is but of all thesefriends and lovers, there's no
(35:09):
one that compares with you.
All these memories lose theirmeaning when I think of love as
something new.
Then it repeats the chorus.
Though I know I'll never loseaffection for people and things
that went before, I know I'lloften stop and think about them
in my life.
I love you more.
Then there's the piano solo.
(35:29):
Then they repeat the chorus.
Then there's the outro Entirely, completely, entirely different
in every way, shape and formfrom the rough draft.
Right Now, you may not agreewith me.
You may say, pete, you know asan artist, geez, you've got to
know there's a metamorphosis.
You start off with an idea andthen.
(35:50):
But my point is that the roughdraft is so completely and
utterly different from the finalversion.
It's almost as if two differentpeople worked on the song.
Okay, and the changes are notjust minor lyrical tweaks,
they're not Between the twosongs.
(36:10):
The changes are not just minorlyrical tweaks but rather a
complete restructuring of thesongs Rhythm, rhyme, scheme,
overall poetic flow.
It's entirely different.
Okay, the key differencesbetween the rough draft and the
(36:30):
final version.
Rhyme and meter the rough draftis more pro-like, almost
conversational, with uneven linelengths.
The final version has a clear,structured rhythm with an AABB
rhyme scheme in most verses.
Example in the rough draft itsays on the bus into town, past
the tram sheds with no trams,past the dock in St Columbus to
(36:53):
the dockers umbrellas that theypulled down.
The final version reads someare dead and some are living in
my life.
I love them all.
The final version tightens theflow into a consistent metrical
pattern that enhances themusicality.
Now, keep in mind again, theseare just four guys that were in
a bar band, that weren't knownto be songwriters at the time.
(37:16):
Somehow, someway, I don't know.
It's almost as if the originalversion was just a rough idea of
something John had while he wasriding a double-decker bus
around, or maybe he was at homein a cloud of pot smoke and he
just threw it down and somebodypicked it up and went.
You know what?
I can finish this all for you,son.
Let me finish this for you.
(37:36):
It's two entirely differentsongs.
Number two the subject matterfrom specific locations to
universal themes.
So John starts off allegedlywriting about specific locations
that he saw around town inLiverpool.
The rough draft reads like anostalgic travelogue listing
(37:57):
locations around Liverpool PennyLane, church Road, abbey, the
Abbey, dockyards, tram Sheds, stColumbus.
The final version is completelydifferent.
It broadens the perspective,turning into a meditation on
love, memory and time.
The shift makes the song morerelatable or appealing to the
(38:20):
general public.
It's more commerciallyappealing, appealing to anyone
reminiscing about their pastrather than just those familiar
with Liverpool.
So I don't even know how toexplain it.
But how did John, who was hoppedup on pot at the time under all
this pressure in the recordingstudio to make hit songs and get
(38:40):
it to the recording studio andon the shelves by December 3rd,
have the time and the luxury andthe freedom to sit down and be
so focused on this one song andso introspective that he took
this one horrible rough draftand turned it into this
magnificent, well-sculptedpoetic masterpiece, I don't know
(39:03):
, kind of interesting.
There's an emotional shift fromsentimentality over geography.
The rough draft has a strongersense of place.
It paints a personal,geographically-rooted picture of
Liverpool.
The final version replacesthose references with intimate
reflections on relationships andtime.
The line in my life I haveloved them all delivers a
(39:28):
universal emotional response orresolution, making the song
deeply resonant.
In other words, I thinksomebody like George Martin sat
down and said look, john, we'vegot to do this.
I like your song and I'm fondof Liverpool as well, but you've
got to take this song and makeit appealing to the general
masses.
So let me grab the song fromyou and I'll finish it off for
you and we'll make a hit out ofit, okay, all right, john, have
(39:51):
you seen my bong?
Have you seen my bong?
No, john, your bong is.
I think you left it in thetoilet.
No, I think something like thathappened.
Now the structural refinement ofthe final is interesting.
The rough draft lacks a chorusand feels like an evolving
thought process.
There's no end to it.
(40:11):
It's an open ending.
Like you know, it's not goingto end.
The final version balancesrepetition and phrasing to make
it memorable.
So let me ask you this johnlennon at the time uh, this is
1965, so he's like 25 years old.
He's been schlepping aroundhamburg for the better part of
(40:33):
five years with broken downequipment in a broken down van,
playing predominantly coversongs.
Somehow he just happened to uhhave an epiphany at the last
minute, under the pressure ofthe recording studio in a cloud
of pot smoke and he somehowstructured this thing to make it
a perfect masterpiece.
(40:54):
I guess the final versionbalances repetition and phrasing
to make it memorable.
Masterpiece.
I guess the final versionbalances repetition and phrasing
to make it memorable.
Example here I'll give you therough draft.
Meanders with inconsistent linelengths, the final draft
tightens every line into apredictable rhythm, making it
smoother to sing.
The final version is poeticversus a journalistic tone.
(41:21):
The rough draft is closer to adiary entry or a personal memoir
.
The final version reads like apolished poem, very carefully
chosen words.
Now, why does this matter to you?
You say Pete.
Why does this matter Now?
Why does this matter to you?
You say Pete.
Why does this matter Now?
Some would say that thedramatic shift reflects John
(41:42):
Lennon's evolving songwritingapproach, moving from raw
personal memory to a morepolished, emotionally impactful
piece.
It also shows McCartney'spossible influence, as he often
helped tighten Lennon's lyricsto make them more fluid and
commercially viable.
Okay, now there are thoughtsthat perhaps Paul McCartney
(42:04):
helped write this song.
But there's conflicting storiesabout that, you know.
John says he didn't, paul sayshe did, paul says he helped on
the middle eight or on thechorus.
Who knows what the truth is,who knows where the song came
from, who knows?
And the thing about it also is,you've got to think about the
(42:24):
opening riff of the song.
I've got my guitar here Nottuned up people, but you know.
Do where'd they come up withthat?
(42:47):
Do you have any idea how hardit is to write a hook for a song
?
Because so not only did theyhave to sit down and come up
with the words, melody,restructure this horrible rough
draft, they also had to come upwith the instrumentation for
everybody in the band Ringo,paul, george, john.
What are they all going to play?
And they were under pressureand they had like three weeks to
(43:09):
do it.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
I don't know man.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Seems kind of a far-fetched story.
So, yes, the transformationbetween the rough draft and the
final version is massive.
It evolved from a personal,scattered memory dump into one
of the most poetic andintrospective songs in the
Beatles catalog.
I mean, this song is played atweddings.
(43:35):
It's played at funerals.
Everybody plays this song.
Who's anybody?
Who's in the acoustic?
You know the acoustic solo.
You know acoustic solomusicians around town, excuse me
, oh my in my life, made megaseous, oh my in my life, maybe
(44:00):
gaseous.
The refinement of the meter,rhyme and sentiment turned it
from a local story into atimeless classic.
I'm sorry, guys, I don't knowJohn Lennon or any of the
Beatles.
I don't know him personally.
I never sat down and had lunchwith him, but this is a guy that
was in a turbulent time in hislife.
He was smoking pot and he wasmentally in a weird place.
(44:21):
Somehow he went from I want tohold your hand allegedly to this
timeless classic.
Seems kind of far-fetched andit's as if two different people
wrote them.
It feels like two entirelydifferent people wrote these
(44:41):
versions.
The huge jump from the roughdraft to the final version
suggests that either Lennon wentthrough a major creative shift
under pressure in the middle ofstudio number two, or that
someone else grabbed the songand finished it off for him,
someone like I think I don'tthink it was Theodore Adorno, I
think it was George Martin, orthese songs were already written
(45:05):
for them before they walkedinto the studio, which Mike
Williams discusses at length inhis analysis of this.
But the huge jump suggestssomething, and somebody else
must have played a significantrole in finding the lyrics, at
least the way it seems.
Now there could be a coupleexplanations for the drastic
(45:27):
change.
I don't know.
You know, the rough draft isjust raw and almost stream of
consciousness, where the finalversion is meticulously crafted.
It's possible that Lennonstarted with personal memories,
then deliberately reshaped themto a more poetic universal theme
.
But the shift to me is sodramatic it doesn't seem like
(45:48):
something that John at that timewould be capable of, you know.
I do know that John allegedlywrote more instinctively rather
than methodically refininglyrics like this.
But I don't know.
I didn't know John.
This is just what I've read andheard.
Paul McCartney did often stepin with John's songs to smooth
(46:11):
out lyrics and refine themusicality and flow, but
McCartney denied writing lyrics,though he admitted he helped
with the melody.
Now Lennon told Playboy in 1980that Paul helped with the
middle eight.
Now, given how much structurewas added to the final version,
it's possible Paul McCartneyinfluenced the rewriting process
(46:32):
more than Lennon later admitted.
Was there a ghostwriter outside,uh, working on it?
Now the final version doesn'tretain much of the original
structure.
It's not just edited, it'scompletely structured, and I
don't know it's it's.
(46:52):
It's something to think about.
You know, and you know theofficial narrative always pushes
what geniuses they were andwhat wonderful boys they were.
And they were just sittingaround drinking rum and coke and
smoking ciggies and writingsongs.
But guys, these were men.
These were four men, the primeof their lives.
(47:14):
They had a lot going on intheir lives.
And I know, when I was 26,there's something that I really
wanted badly and that was girls.
I wanted to go meet girls.
That's all I thought about.
Now let me go back here and I'mjust going to quote something
(47:36):
from I don't know if I did thisor not I quoted the 1980s with
Playboy magazine.
I'll finish with this.
So in 1980, john Lennon said hediscussed In my Life and its
origins, acknowledging it is oneof his most personal songs.
(47:58):
My life and its origins,acknowledging it is one of his
most personal songs.
He reflected on its meaning andthe songwriting process, saying
it was the first song that Iwrote that I consciously about
my life Before.
We were just writing songs a laEverly Brothers, buddy Holly,
pop songs with no more thoughtto them than that.
(48:19):
This was the first song that Iwrote that was really
consciously about my own lifeand it was sparked by a remark
journalists and a writer inEngland made after In His Own
Right, which is one of JohnLennon's books, came out.
I wrote a list of places Iremembered and I thought that's
a bit boring so I made it into asong.
(48:39):
Instead of writing aboutspecific places, I wrote about
emotions.
Lennon also touched onMcCartney's role in the
composition, which had beensubject of debate over the years
.
John says Paul helped with themiddle eight, but all the rest
is mine.
However, mccartney laterdisputed this, claiming he
co-wrote the melody.
The disagreement between themhighlights an ongoing mystery in
(49:03):
Beatles history.
So that's my analysis of In myLife.
So if you take a look at it froman outside perspective, you can
take off your Beatle hat, yourBeatles fanaticism, and step
back and take a look at it.
It's still going to be hard foryou, because if you really
don't know what it's like towork in a studio, if you don't
know what it's like to work on asong, if you don't know what
(49:25):
it's like to try to come up withall the integral parts of a
song the guitars, the bass, thedrums and put that all together
at once and create 14 brand newsongs for a release date of
December 3rd and you've only gotlike three and a half weeks.
It's going to be hard for theaverage person to put this all
together and go.
You know what?
Maybe the Beatles weren't whowe thought they were.
(49:47):
Yes, I'm implying that, but theevidence is in this album.
This album is a smoking gun tomake you go, wait a minute.
How did they do all this bythemselves?
But I don't know.
We don't really know and Idon't know if we'll ever know.
I mean, we just have to take itat face value that they were
allegedly just four geniusesthat rolled out of bed one day
(50:08):
and just happened to find eachother and get abandoned Happily
ever after took place, you know.
So let me know what you think,send me your comments to
skatingbearstudios at gmailcomor watch on YouTube.
I'll probably have this postedjust the audio posted on YouTube
, and let me know what you think.
(50:30):
But I think the facts arepretty much right there in front
of us.
But let me know what you thinkand thank you for downloading me
.
I'm Pete Depop.
This is Mind Revolution and allof you take care out there and
have a good day.
Bye.
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