I'm Looking Through You

"I'm Looking Through You" is a Lennon–McCartney song, written by Paul McCartney, that first appeared on the Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul.

It was written about Jane Asher, McCartney's girlfriend for five years,^[2] "You don't look different, but you have changed," the lyrics declare, reflecting his dissatisfaction with her and their relationship. The lyrics also reference his changing emotional state, "Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight".

Recordings

During October and November 1965, the Beatles recorded three versions of the song. The original version recorded on 24 October was slower than the released version, had a significantly different rhythm, and lacked the "Why, tell me why..." middle eight of the final version.^[3][4] It was eventually released in 1996 on the Anthology 2 compilation.^[5] The final version was recorded on 10 November with overdubs on 11 November and is the version included on Rubber Soul.^[6]

The North American stereo version of the song contains two false guitar starts.

At 1:18, feedback can be heard on both the mono and stereo remastered versions.

In the mono version of this song on the 2006 box set The Capitol Albums, Volume 2 has this false guitar start, it indicates that it is from the first pressing of this set which erroneously substituted incorrect mono mixes; they were simply the channels of the stereo versions combined, rather than the original mono mixes.

The album sleeve and other sources indicate that Ringo Starr played Hammond organ on this track,^[3] an unusual instrument for the Beatle drummer. Mark Lewisohn reported that he could not hear the organ and that Hammond organ was not listed on the session tape box.^[6] Starr plays quick two-note vamps in the choruses.^[1] Also, Starr created a percussive sound by tapping a box of matches with his fingers and slapping his lap for a drum beat as he did on "I'll Follow the Sun".

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – double-tracked vocal, bass guitar
• John Lennon – harmony vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar
• George Harrison – electric guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums, hammond organ, tambourine and other percussion

Personnel per Ian MacDonald^[3]

MacDonald was unsure whether Harrison or McCartney played the electric guitar part.^[3]

Cover versions

• Mark Heard covered the song on his album Second Hand.
• The Wallflowers recorded a version of the song for the film I Am Sam, whose soundtrack was composed entirely of contemporary Beatles covers.
• Ted Leo and the Pharmacists recorded a version of the song for the 2005 release of This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul, an album composed of Beatles covers by various artists.
• The Muppets team performed a cover of the song for a special Halloween episode (guest starring Vincent Price) in season one of The Muppet Show. A pun was added to the song with the fact that the performing Muppets were ghosts.
• Davey Graham covered this on his 1966 album Midnight Man.
• The Punkles did a cover of this song on their third album Pistol.
• Tyler Hilton covers the song on the soundtrack for the film Imagine That.
• Roberta Flack recorded a version of the song for her Beatles tribute album, Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings the Beatles, released in 2012. Her version is available in a deluxe edition of the album sold on Amazon.com.^[7]
• Steve Earle covered the song on his album Train a Comin'.

Other appearances

• The Beatles version appears toward the end of the trailer of Ghost Town, and also during the opening scene of the film. It is one of the few times the original recording of a Beatles song has appeared on a movie soundtrack.
• The song is a playable track in The Beatles: Rock Band.
• Mafalda is listening and dancing the song, at Quino's famous "Mafalda" Cartoon.^[8]

Notes

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Rubber Soul

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "I'm Looking Through You"