The Word (song)

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"The Word"
Song

"The Word" is a song by English rock group 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.

Composition

The song was co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. According to Lennon, it was written together but it was "mainly mine".[2] They wrote it after smoking marijuana, something they hadn't done before in a composing session, which from McCartney's perspective (opposite to Lennon's), "got in the way of songwriting". McCartney on the subject:

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We smoked a bit of pot, then we wrote out a multicolored lyric sheet, the first time we'd ever done that. We normally didn't smoke when we were working. It got in the way of songwriting because it would just cloud your mind up — "Oh, shit, what are we doing?" It's better to be straight. But we did this multicolor thing.[3]

Music

Musically, the song is based upon a driving rhythm with few chord changes and a simple melody in the key of D major.[4][5] (The refrain is a 12 bar blues in D. The main chord is D(#9), also used in "Drive My Car" and "Taxman". The two line verse uses D7, C7, F13, and G7.)

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'".[6]

George Martin plays the harmonium solo in the track. McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison sing the song in three-part harmony. Lennon sings the middle eight by himself.

Samples from this song are also included on Love released in November 2006, in the track "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing".

John Lennon gave Yoko Ono the original sheets to the song just before their relationship began.

Live performances

Paul McCartney has played a medley version of "The Word"/"All You Need Is Love" on his On the Run Tour

Personnel

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[7]

Covers

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Miles 1997, p. 272.
  4. ↑ Pollack 1993.
  5. ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 498.
  6. ↑ Aldridge 1990, p. 24.
  7. ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 178.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

References

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External links

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