Roberta O'Donnell, MUS120: Beatles' Rubber Soul Essay Analysis

This essay, prepared for a MUS120 course, analyzes The Beatles' album 'Rubber Soul', examining its significance in the band's musical evolution. The essay compares the band's music before, during, and after the album, highlighting changes in lyrics, instrumentation, and song structure. It focuses on the progression from early influences like rhythm and blues to the experimentation with folk-rock and Indian music. The analysis includes detailed descriptions of specific songs from 'Rubber Soul', such as "Norwegian Wood," "In My Life," and "Nowhere Man," discussing their influences, instruments, and lyrical themes. The author draws comparisons between the essay's descriptions and reviews from the All Music Guide, noting similarities and offering deeper interpretations of the songs. The essay also addresses the social context of the album, particularly the portrayal of female characters, and suggests further areas for exploration, such as the album cover's design and the band's evolving musical direction. The paper concludes by emphasizing the album's revolutionary impact on popular music and its influence on subsequent artists.

Running Head: ENGLISH 1
Music artists
Author's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Introduction

EDUCATION 2
I have always been a fan of Beatles and it was really exciting to look for information on
“Rubber Soul” by Beatles is what made Beatles, the Beatles. The given description of Rubber
Soul Songs in the paper covers the progression of the music by The Beatles as they experimented
with different instruments and sounds. There are instruments and sounds before Rubber Soul and
after Rubber Soul and three songs from Rubber Soul.
The three songs discussed from Rubber Soul include “Norwegian Wood,” “In My Life”
by John Lennon and Paul McCarty and “Nowhere Man.” I have heard those songs and “In My
Life” is my favorite. Each of those songs is described based on the influences, instruments used
and Beatle’s experimentation with song structures and instruments. The descriptions match with
the opinion and reviews given in the All Music Guide. Rubber Soul makes a giant leap in terms
of maturity and intricate folk-rock arrangements. The use of sitar on "Norwegian Wood” and
influences of Indian music is mentioned in both descriptions. I love the touch of the indain
music. John Lennon and Paul McCarty’s “In My Life” is described as a reflection of John’s life
and how the piano is made to sound like a harpsichord in the song (AllMusic Review, 2018).
“Nowhere Man" is described to move beyond romantic themes as the lyrics are not about girls or
love.
When I compared the description of the artist’s songs and music in the paper, and the
opinion given in the All Music Guide, I could see some similarities. However, the interpretation
of the songs and sounds is much in-depth in the presented paper. As the paper discusses Beatles
songs before and after “Rubber Soul,” one gets a deeper insight on how the Beatles progressed in
their music and revolutionized the popular music because of this record.
However, I could definitely ask the author some more questions about “Rubber Soul.”
There could be questions about the other songs in the album as well as questions on why the

EDUCATION 3
developing interest in Indian music and culture. The purpose is to get a comprehensive picture of
the album rather than just focus on three songs from the album. I learned that no one sang about
female characters like this before “Rubber Soul.” There was a social controversy about women
with careers (Sheffield, 2016). The Rubber Soul woman is bold and stays up late drinking wine.
There could be more questions about the female characters in the album to know the feel and
mood of the songs. There is no description about the album cover, like who designed the album
cover or shot the front cover photograph and why there is no name of the band on the cover. I
feel that having those answers would add to a greater understanding of the album, the music, and
the singers.
Rubber Soul is indeed an album that gave new musical directions to the artists who were
influenced by American rhythm and then sang under the influences of classical and modern
music. When one looks at the description of the artists’ music in the paper, there is a more in-
depth–information on the three songs chosen for the paper. However, I feel that there is a lot
more to the album than just those three songs.
References

EDUCATION 4
AllMusic Review. (2018). AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger, allmusic Retrieved from
https://www.allmusic.com/album/rubber-soul-mw0000192940
Sheffield, B. (2016). 50 Years of ‘Rubber Soul’: How the Beatles Invented the Future of Pop,
rolling stone Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/50-years-
of-rubber-soul-how-the-beatles-invented-the-future-of-pop-59132/