Maybe placing it on the same album as “She Said She Said,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Got To Get You Into My Life,” and “Tomorrow Never Knows” meant that the song would have to fight to be heard. Even Macca himself rates the song as one of his favorites–if pushed, perhaps, even his favorite.
Yet taken on its own, it is certainly one of McCartney’s most outstanding compositions. Even contemporary reviews of the “Revolver” album appear to pass over the track without much comment. It was never released as a single or even as the lead track on an EP in the UK (the cover pictured above is Spanish).
Its positioning on the album between George’s Indian-fused “Love You Too” and the rousing singalong “Yellow Submarine” suggests the band considered it just another album track with no thought of its commercial potential. The original Beatles recording of the song on their 1966 “Revolver” album is gentle, with (intentionally) Beach Boys-esque harmonies, and guitar and drums providing simple accompaniment to the double-tracked lead vocal. I have no doubt that the chromatic guitar run in this section was created by George Harrison who had a knack for coming up with great complimentary touches to songs (e.g., the introduction to “And I Love Her”). The middle section changes key quite unsubtly, but it gives the song an interesting and unexpected twist. He then follows this with a subtle key change (one he used in “Yesterday” between the first word and the rest of the first line) which creates a lift and some tension that he exquisitely resolves in the last line.
The vocal leap in the first line, followed by a gentle ascent in the second is simply beautiful. However, when you talk about any Paul McCartney song, the real genius is in the music, and this song is an excellent showcase of the man’s natural gift for melody and harmony. But she’s so enraptured by the guy running his hands through her hair that she doesn’t even know the other guy exists. Consider also the story behind the line, “Someone is speaking but she doesn’t know he’s there.” In that one sentence, Paul suggests a potential competitor to the narrator’s affections who is trying to woo her away. For example, “Changing my life with a wave of her hand” conveys that feeling of being so in love with someone, even their most mundane actions, such as a wave, carry outsized significance. “Here, There, and Everywhere,” is an example of a song where Paul bucks the trend and comes up with a thoughtful lyric with some creative and evocative lines. John, on the other hand, thought about word textures and enjoyed creative wordplay and general wordsmithery. Paul has a tendency toward using filler words and being less than creative in his word choices, going with whatever “feels right” in the moment. I’ve said before that while I have a deep and abiding respect for Macca as a musician and composer, I’ve always thought his lyrical ability paled in comparison to John Lennon’s. Paul says he’s particularly proud of the lyric and the way the last word of a stanza is also the first word of the following stanza (“I want my love to be here, Here making each day…” “…something there, There running my hands…” etc.), and the way the words “here, there, and everywhere” frame each of the three verses. It seems John liked it and encouraged Paul to continue working on it, which he did. He had his guitar, and while he was sitting beside John’s pool waiting for his friend to get up, he noodled out this little tune. Sometime in 1966, Paul visited John Lennon for one of their regular songwriting sessions, so the story or legend goes. This is one I’ve been meaning to talk about for a while, and since Paul McCartney celebrated his 80th birthday recently, I thought now would be a good time to discuss one of his most beloved songs. Once again I’m featuring a Beatles song on Music Monday.
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