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"The Word"
Philippine single label
Song by the Beatles
from the album Rubber Soul
Released	3 December 1965 (1965-12-03)
Recorded	10 November 1965
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Rock, R&B
Length	2:41
Label	Parlophone
Songwriter(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)	George Martin

"The Word" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded with Lennon on lead vocals. It was first released on their 1965 album Rubber Soul.

Background and inspiration

John Lennon had felt during his youth that "love had been the answer", and had written "The Word" as his "first expression" of the concept. He had felt that love was an "underlying theme of the universe", and that love was fundamental in many things, which had inspired the lyric "In the good and bad books that I have read". The song is credited to Lennon-McCartney, however Lennon had stated that it was "mainly mine". It had marked the first time the Beatles had written a song about love as a concept, which would become important in the band's later work.

Composition

Musically, the song is founded on a driving funk beat, with few chord changes and a simple melody in the key of D major. (The refrain is a 12 bar blues in D. The main chord is D7(♯9), also used in "Drive My Car" and "Taxman".)

Paul McCartney said of this song, "John and I would like to do songs with just one note like 'Long Tall Sally'. We get near it in 'The Word'".

Reception

In his review for the 50th anniversary of Rubber Soul, Jacob Albano of Classic Rock Review writes that "The Word" is the first song on its parent album not to be "absolutely excellent," calling the harmonies "a bit too forced." However, Albano still considered the song "entertaining", and complimented the "piano backdrop" and Starr's drum performance. Far Out's Jack Whatley and Tyler Golsen had both considered the song to be an important song for the Beatles and had been considered to be a part of their transition from creating pop songs to psychedelic-influenced songs.

In 2018, the music staff of Time Out London ranked "The Word" at number 33 on their list of the best Beatles songs.

Personnel

According to Walter Everett, except where noted:

The Beatles

• John Lennon – lead vocal, rhythm guitar
• Paul McCartney – falsetto and double-tracked backing vocals, bass guitar, piano
• George Harrison – double-tracked backing vocal, lead guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums, maracas

Additional musician

• George Martin – harmonium

Notes

1. On the US stereo release of Rubber Soul, Lennon's lead vocal is double-tracked during the song's bridge.

References

1. Hamelman, Steven L. (2004). But Is It Garbage?: On Rock and Trash. University of Georgia Press. p. 11.
2. Young, Alex (19 September 2009). "Album Review: The Beatles – Rubber Soul". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
3. The Beatles 2000, p. 192.
4. "Beatles Songwriting & Recording Database: Rubber Soul". Beatlesinterviews.org. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
5. ^ Whatley, Jack (18 August 2020). "The John Lennon song that would change The Beatles forever". Far Out. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
6. ^ Golsen, Tyler (22 December 2021). "The early Beatles song that set out John Lennon's vision for peace". Far Out. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
7. Pollack 1993.
8. MacDonald 2007, p. 498.
9. Aldridge 1990, p. 24.
10. ^ Albano, Jacob (3 December 2015). "Rubber Soul by The Beatles". Classic Rock Review. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
11. Time Out London Music (24 May 2018). "The 50 Best Beatles songs". Time Out London. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
12. Everett 2001, pp. 331–332.
13. Winn 2008, p. 375.
14. MacDonald 2007, p. 178.

Sources

• Aldridge, Alan (1990). The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics. Boston: Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence. ISBN 0-395-59426-X.
• Everett, Walter (2001). The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514105-4.
• MacDonald, Ian (2007). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Third ed.). Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-733-3.
• Pollack, Alan W. (4 May 1993). "Notes on The Word". Notes on ... Series.
• Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York City: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 9780805052480.
• Winn, John C. (2008). Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume One, 1957–1965. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-307-45157-6.
• The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0811836364.

External links

• The Beatles songs
• Song recordings produced by George Martin
• Songs written by Lennon–McCartney
• 1965 songs
• Songs published by Northern Songs