In My Life
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "In My life" | ||
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| Song by The Beatles | ||
| from the album Rubber Soul | ||
| Released | December 3, 1965 | |
| Recorded | Abbey Road Studios 17 June, 12 October - 11 November 1965 |
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| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 2:28 | |
| Label | EMI, Parlophone, Capitol | |
| Writer(s) | Lennon/McCartney | |
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |
| Music sample | ||
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"In My Life" (file info) |
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| Rubber Soul track listing | ||
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"In My Life" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and first appeared on The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul.
"In My Life" was ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's article "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and was placed second on CBC's 50 Tracks. Mojo magazine named it the best song of all time in 2000.
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[edit] Composition
Lennon wrote the song in the form of a long poem reminiscing on his childhood/teenage years. The original version of the lyrics was based on a bus route he used to take in Liverpool, naming various sites seen along the way, including Penny Lane and Strawberry Field.[1]
Finding this version too sentimental and nostalgic, Lennon reworked the words with McCartney, replacing the specific memories with a generalized meditation on his past. "Very few lines" of the original version remain in the finished song.[1]
Lennon friend and biographer Peter Shotton related in his book (titled John Lennon "In My Life") that Lennon told him the lines "Some [friends] are dead and some are living/In my life I've loved them all" referred to Stuart Sutcliffe (who died in 1962) and to Shotton.[2]
As for the music, Lennon claimed in 1980 that McCartney's contribution was limited to helping out with the "middle eight" or bridge section of the song,[3] but McCartney claimed he set Lennon's lyrics to music from beginning to end. He said he composed the melody inspired by The Miracles' "Tears of a Clown." Of the disagreement, McCartney said, "I find it very gratifying that out of everything we wrote, we only appear to disagree over two songs."[4] (The other song in question is "Eleanor Rigby".)[5]
[edit] Recording
The song was recorded on 18 October 1965 and was complete except for a "hole" which was left for an instrumental bridge between verses.[6] At that time, Lennon had not decided what instrument to use, but he subsequently asked George Martin to play a piano solo, and "play it like Bach". Martin wrote a Baroque-styled piece that he could not play at the song's tempo. On 22 October, the solo was recorded at half-tempo and the tape speed was doubled for the final recording, which solved the performance challenge and gave the piano solo a unique, harpsichord-like timbre.[7][8]
[edit] Musical analysis
Key: A major
Time: 4/4
Verse:
I V vi V2-of-IV IV iv I
Bridge:
vi IV IV-of-IV I
vi V7-of-V IV iv I
The most notable feature of this song, harmonically, is the use of the subdominant minor chord, which is borrowed from the parallel minor key, in this case, A minor. This chord is used here in a manner quite consistent and prevalent compared to other pop songs of the era: it sets up a three-note chromatic descending line between the 6th scale degree and the 5th, thus resolving to I. It is a chromatically altered plagal cadence.[citation needed]
The bridge briefly flirts with the relative minor, F# minor before returning us to A major. The bVII chord (noted here as its function of IV-of-IV) is a bluesy chord quite common in The Beatles' canon, as is the deceptive V7-of-V resolving to IV, a progression that occurs in the tag of "Yesterday".[citation needed]
[edit] Covers
The song has been covered by a number of artists, including Mary Hopkin, Judy Collins, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Selah, Jose Feliciano, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, Keith Moon (Two Sides of the Moon), and Johnny Cash (American IV: The Man Comes Around).
A cover by Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk was used as the theme for the NBC show Providence. Bette Midler also recorded this song for the 1991 film soundtrack For the Boys. Dave Matthews played the song during a tribute show honoring John Lennon.
During George Harrison's 1974 US tour, the band played a version of the song that was drastically slower than the Rubber Soul version.
George Martin borrowed the song title for an album of various artists covering Beatles songs. In the tribute song, Sean Connery narrates the lyrics with minimal support from Martin's piano.
The Ten Tenors performed the song during their 2006 "Here's To The Heroes" tour, an arrangement a little slower than the original, with more emphasis harmonies, showcased in an A Cappella section in the middle of the song.
It was also the name of a Broadway musical.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Bob Spitz (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, 587. ISBN 0-316-80352-9.
- ^ Pete Shotton and Nicholas Schaffner (1983). John Lennon: In My Life. New York: Stein and Day. ISBN 0-8128-6185-X.
- ^ David Sheff (2000). All We Are Saying. New York: St. Martin's Press, 178. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
- ^ Barry Miles (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 277-278. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
- ^ Barry Miles (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, 283.
- ^ Mark Lewisohn (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books, 64. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- ^ Bob Spitz (2005). The Beatles, 591.
- ^ Mark Lewisohn. The Beatles Recording Sessions, 65.
[edit] External links
- Songmeanings.net Lyrics and explanations
- In My Life Songfacts Entry
