The Beatles – Nowhere Man
Summer 1966 Germany Mini-Tour (24 June 1966, Circus Krone Building, Munich)
“Nowhere Man” is a song by the Beatles, from their album Rubber Soul. The song was written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney). It was recorded on 21 and 22 October 1965. “Nowhere Man” is among the very first Beatles’ songs to be entirely unrelated to romance or love, and marks a notable instance of Lennon’s philosophically-oriented songwriting. It was released as a single (although not in the United Kingdom) on 21 February 1966, and reached #1 in Australia and Canada and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison sing the song in three-part harmony. George and John play identical “sonic blue” Fender Stratocasters—John plays in the verses and George on the solo.
Lennon claimed that he wrote the song about himself. He wrote it after racking his brain in desperation for five hours, trying to come up with another song for Rubber Soul. Lennon told Playboy magazine: “I’d spent five hours that morning trying to write a song that was meaningful and good, and I finally gave up and lay down. Then ‘Nowhere Man’ came, words and music, the whole damn thing as I lay down”.
McCartney said of the song: “That was John after a night out, with dawn coming up. I think at that point, he was a bit…wondering where he was going, and to be truthful so was I. I was starting to worry about him”.
Lyrics:
He’s a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Doesn’t have a point of view
Knows not where he’s going to
Isn’t he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere Man, don’t worry
Take your time, don’t hurry
Leave it all till somebody else lends you a hand
He’s as blind as he can be
Just sees what he wants to see
Nowhere Man can you see me at all?
Nowhere Man, please listen
You don’t know what you’re missing
Nowhere Man, the world is at your command
He’s a real Nowhere Man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
