IN MY LIFE

"'In My Life'" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney that first appeared on The Beatles' 1965 album ''Rubber Soul''. It was ranked 23rd on the ''Rolling Stone'' article "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and was placed second on CBC's 50 Tracks. ''Mojo'' magazine named it the best song of all time in 2000.

Contents

Composition

Recording

Musical analysis

Cover versions and cultural references

Notes

External links

Composition

John Lennon wrote the song in the form of a long poem reminiscing on his childhood/teenage years. The original version of the lyrics was based on a bus route he used to take in Liverpool, naming various sites seen along the way, including Penny Lane and Strawberry Field.^[1]
However, Lennon found it to be "ridiculous" and called it "the most boring sort of 'What I Did On My Holidays Bus Trip' song"^[2] and reworked the words with Paul McCartney, replacing the specific memories with a generalized meditation on his past. "Very few lines" of the original version remain in the finished song.
Lennon's friend and biographer Peter Shotton related in his book (titled ''John Lennon "In My Life"'') that Lennon told him the lines "Some [friends] are dead and some are living/In my life I've loved them all" referred to Stuart Sutcliffe (who died in 1962) and to Shotton.^[3]
As for the music, Lennon claimed in 1980 that McCartney's contribution was limited to helping out with the "middle eight" or bridge section of the song (an odd claim, because there is no middle eight in this song),^[4][5] but McCartney claimed he set Lennon's lyrics to music from beginning to end, claiming that he wrote the whole melody, taking inspiration from songs by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Of the disagreement, McCartney said, "I find it very gratifying that out of everything we wrote, we only appear to disagree over two songs."^[6] (The other song in question is "Eleanor Rigby".)^[7]

Recording

The song was recorded on 18 October, 1965 and was complete except for a "hole" which was left for an instrumental bridge between verses.^[8] At that time, Lennon had not decided what instrument to use, but he subsequently asked George Martin to play a piano solo, and "play it like Bach". Martin wrote a Baroque-styled piece that he could not play at the song's tempo. On 22 October, the solo was recorded at half-tempo (one octave lower) and the tape speed was doubled for the final recording, which solved the performance challenge and gave the piano solo a unique, harpsichord-like timbre.^[9][10]

Musical analysis

Key: A major
Time: 4/4
Verse:
I V vi V2-of-IV IV iv I
Bridge:
vi IV IV-of-IV I
vi V7-of-V IV iv I
The most notable feature of this song, harmonically, is the use of the subdominant minor chord, which is borrowed from the parallel minor key, in this case, A minor. This chord is used here in a manner quite consistent and prevalent compared to other pop songs of the era: it sets up a three-note chromatic descending line between the 6th scale degree and the 5th, thus resolving to I. It is a chromatically altered plagal cadence.
The bridge briefly flirts with the relative minor, F# minor before returning us to A major. The bVII chord (noted here as its function of IV-of-IV) is a bluesy chord quite common in The Beatles' canon, as is the deceptive V7-of-V resolving to IV, a progression that occurs in the tag of "Yesterday".

Cover versions and cultural references

The song has been covered by a number of artists, including Mary Hopkin, Judy Collins, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Selah, Jose Feliciano, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne (Under Cover), Marie Osmond, Keith Moon (''Two Sides of the Moon''), Kippington Lodge, Allison Crowe and Johnny Cash ('').
Twiggy covered the song on ''The Muppet Show'' (Season 1 Episode 21).
A cover by Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk was used as the theme for the NBC show ''Providence''. Bette Midler also recorded this song for the 1991 film soundtrack ''For the Boys''. Dave Matthews played the song during a tribute show honoring John Lennon.
During George Harrison's 1974 US tour, the band played a version of the song that was drastically slower than the ''Rubber Soul'' version.
George Martin borrowed the song title for an album of various artists covering Beatle songs. In the tribute song, Sean Connery narrates the lyrics with minimal support from Martin's piano.
Kevin Kern borrowed the song title for his album that covered many artists' songs in piano, including "In My Life". In this version, the barouque piano solo that written by George Martin had been deleted.
The Ten Tenors performed the song during their 2006 "Here's To The Heroes" tour, an arrangement a little slower than the original, with more emphasis harmonies, showcased in an A Cappella section in the middle of the song.
It was the name of a Broadway musical.
The song was played at Kurt Cobain's funeral. ^[11] Cobain was an avid Beatles fan.

Notes

1. The Beatles: The Biography, Bob Spitz, , , Little, Brown, 2005,
2. All We Are Saying, David Sheff, , , St. Martin's Press, 2000,
3. John Lennon: In My Life, Pete Shotton and Nicholas Schaffner, , , Stein and Day, 1983,
4. All We Are Saying, David Sheff, , , St. Martin's Press, 2000,
5. All We Are Saying, David Sheff, , , St. Martin's Press, 2000,
6. Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, Barry Miles, , , Henry Holt & Company, 1997,
7. Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, Barry Miles, , , , 1997,
8. The Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn, , , Harmony Books, 1988,
9. The Beatles, Bob Spitz, , , , 2005,
10. The Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn, , , , ,
11. True, Everett. ''Nirvana: The Biography.'' Da Capo Press, 2006. ISBN-13 978-0-306-81554-6 p. 568

External links

★ Songmeanings.net Lyrics and explanations

★ In My Life Songfacts Entry