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9.41pm
16 June 2017
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14. Run For Your Life (The only one I don’t love. I like it.)
13. The Word (Again, I love all of these. Just this is my least favorite of these 13.)
12. Drive My Car (Love the harmonies, lyrics could be better obviously)
11. You Won’t See Me (I love the lyrics, just not in love with the music. Only reason it’s low.)
From this point on, these are all some of the Beatles’ best. This album is off the charts.
10. Wait (Love this song a lot.)
9. Michelle (Barely love this song more than Wait . It is absolutely beautiful.)
8. If I Needed Someone (Beautiful.)
7. Think For Yourself (EXCELLENT song by George.)
6. What Goes On (so underrated. One of Ringo’s best.)
5. Nowhere Man (oh. my. god. the beginning harmonies and the lyrics are so phenomenal.)
4. Norwegian Wood (I wish I could rank this higher but these are all so incredible)
3. Girl- @Ahhh Girl – you have great taste, this song is one of John’s best.)
2. I’m Looking Through You (this is a very deep song. Often overlooked because it’s more uptempo than most of Paul’s deeper songs.)
1. In My Life (was there any question? My second best Beatles song.)
11.18am
26 January 2017
Offline AvecPaix said
I’m kinda laughing ’cause you accidentally skipped You Won’t See Me & listed I’m Looking Through You twice. Any preference between Michelle & Girl since you posted this? Considering this is your 2nd listing, I’m wondering if maybe you’d rank them totally different now than either of those times.
Haha oops!! I think I must have meant You Won’t See Me in the place of the second I’m Looking Through You , that is the one lower in the list.
And I don’t think so, both songs are stunning. Michelle has better lyrics (The line ‘These are words that go together well’ and then repeated in French is a clever twist and amusing satire on the simple nature of their earlier lyrics) but the harmonies on Girl are out of this world.
I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound.
4.37pm
27 February 2017
Offline 1.) Nowhere Man
The harmonies in this song are so truly beautiful and the bassline is certainly my favourite on Rubber Soul . The icing on the cake is the high note at the end of the guitar solo!
2.) The Word
What a great song! The guitar riff and the bass riff/line are so awesome and the harmonies in the vocals (especially at the end) too! I also love the harmonium, Ringo’s drum fills and the off-beat guitar chords. So many great things about this song!
3.) Norwegian Wood
This song is so full of tension, it’s incredible. Add the sitar and the triple metre and the result is mindblowing.
4.) You Won’t See Me
This song contains one of my favourite basslines and the harmony vocals are awesome too. And I love Ringo’s drumming pattern, it adds so much drive!
5.) Michelle
The song sounds so transparent, especially guitar and drums – it’s an amazing achievement of John and Ringo. But the way the bass plays in response to the melody and Paul singing as if it was the easiest thing in the world make it one of the best songs on Rubber Soul for me.
6.) Girl
John’s lamenting voice and the guitar work on this song are so heart-breakingly beautiful. And I love the way, Ringo plays the cymbals on 2 and 4 during the last guitar solo.
7.) In My Life
This song is like a hug from beginning to ending. John’s voice sounds so warm and comforting. And, very recently, I’ve also learnt to admire the drumming on this track. It’s a pity the song’s so short, though.
George’s sounds so ‘George’ on this song, I love that and the fuzz bass is just cool!
Cool bassline, very bright sounding guitar work and beautiful harmonies again – just an amazing song!
10.) Drive My Car
Ah, this song is so great! The cowbell, the colour of Paul’s voice, Ringo’s drum fills, and of course the ‘beep beeps’!
What? This is already no.11? But I still love this song! The thing I like the most is the percussion. There’s this percussive sound (semi-quavers in each chorus) that I confused with handclaps first but, apparently, they’re Ringo tapping on a matchbox (or are they?). Anyway, it sounds so nice!
12.) What Goes On
Ringo’s voice is so charming on this track and the backing vocals are great as well.
13.) Wait
Great tom-toms in the chorus and the way Ringo does a crescendo on the snare in the second bridge is really cool too.
14). Run For Your Life
I used to love that song for its lyrics but somehow, as time goes by, I dislike it more and more for exactly the same reason I’ve liked it before.
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The Hole Got Fixed, WeepingAtlasCedarsNot once does the diversity seem forced -- the genius of the record is how the vaudevillian "When I'm 64" seems like a logical extension of "Within You Without You" and how it provides a gateway to the chiming guitars of "Lovely Rita. - Stephen T. Erlewine on Sgt Pepper's
6.15pm
12 April 2017
Offline I really really like almost every song on here, which made it hard to rank the lower ones. There’s just so many good songs on this album.
1. In My Life – beautiful lyrically and musically. When John sings those “for people and things” & “with lovers and friends” lines like he’s winding down or relaxing, I think that’s brilliant! Love how the lead guitar has a mellower bassy sound quality and it’s contrasted by the brighter piano sound.
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) – This is just one of the catchiest songs of the 20th century and that might not even be the best thing about it.
3. Nowhere Man – Thought provoking & introspective. Amazing harmonies. Good leadwork by George. Love the ding at the end of the solo. Love how Ringo’s drum rolls add a touch of suspense at points.
4. Wait – Cool rhythms, catchyness dripping all over the place, and a great little rockin’ bit with Paul vocals. Just wish the percussion was a bit stronger in the mix, to make the beat pop a bit more.
5. The Word – love the rhythms in this one and the dynamics between the emptyish parts versus the rockin’ part that feels a bit more filled in.
6. If I Needed Someone – One of the most unique lyrical subjects, and a beautiful song.
7. Girl – cool song. Especially like how John sings the word “girl” while exhaling.
8. Drive My Car – the bass riff, the piano part in the chorus, & lines like “but I found a driver and that’s a start”, make this awesome
9. You Won’t See Me – This is just a cool & fun song. The accents in the rhythm’s groove, the backing vocals and harmonies, Paul’s lead vocals, the catchy melodies, and the piano being so prominent.
10. Think For Yourself – Perfect song to listen to when you’re dealing with idiots all day. Good lyrics, and also that lovely fuzzy crunchy bass and the way parts of the vocal melody seem to slide. Awesome stuff.
11. I’m Looking Through You – Fun and slightly cheesy music to me, with some serious lyrics. I wish they’d left the handclaps in like the version on Anthology 2 .
12. Michelle – I hate ranking this one so low, because it’s still an awesome song. I have to rank it a bit low though ’cause it mostly feels a bit cliche to me. Love the French bit, like QuarryMan said.
13. Run For Your Life – Really like this song musically, but…. those lyrics spoil it for me.
14. What Goes On – Honestly, this song sounds to me like they’re bored. When Ringo sings “what goes on…”, it sounds like he’s just plain bored out of his mind and going through the motions. Sorry to all you guys who love this one, but I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s ’cause I’m not into country, I don’t know.
& in case you’re curious, 31 people (including me) have ranked the songs so far & I put the rankings all into a spreadsheet. I didn’t count QuarryMan’s 1st ranking since I think it’s safe to assume the 2nd one supersedes it. So far, through this post, the average ranking for each song looks like this —
3.16 – In My Life (11 #1 votes)
3.77 – Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (6 #1 votes)
4.37 – Nowhere Man (4 #1 votes)
6.11 – Girl (1 #1 vote)
6.58 – I’m Looking Through You (2 #1 votes)
6.77 – If I Needed Someone (3 #1 votes)
6.97 – Drive My Car (1 #1 vote)
7.47 – Think For Yourself (1 #1 vote)
7.80 – You Won’t See Me (1 last place vote)
8.31 – The Word (4 last place votes & 1 #1 vote)
9.82 – Michelle (4 last place votes)
10.30 – Wait (5 last place votes)
10.97 – Run For Your Life (5 last place votes)
11.80 – What Goes On (10 last place votes, & 1 #1 vote)
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Moderators
27 November 2016
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That’s really cool! I wonder why Run For Your Life and What Goes On get so much hate? They’re good songs!
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7.08pm
10 March 2017
Offline Although I like both songs as well, I can understand why the latter one gets so much hate.
Run For Your Life is a good song but it seems like they spent too much time on the guitar, there’s at least 5 different guitar parts in the song.
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4.26pm
26 January 2017
Offline That is a pretty cool averaging system. Somebody should pin that to the front of the topic, and you should totally do it for the other album song rankings too.
As for What Goes On and Run For Your Life , even if you like them (which I don’t) it’s no stretch to admit they’re the weakest songs on the album, melodically and production wise. The What Goes On melody would be bad at the best of times, with Ringo on vocals it’s even worse. Not that I don’t like his voice, it just isn’t suited to this song like it is Yellow Submarine , Octopus’s Garden or With A Little Help From My Friends .
I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound.
4.43pm
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Members
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20 August 2013
Offline A cracking idea. Post pinned.
How do the numbers stack up against the big canon vote?
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4.51am
22 April 2017
Offline In My Life , Norwegian Wood , Drive My Car , Michelle , I’m Looking Through You , Girl, You Won’t See Me , Nowhere Man are my most favorite songs on the Rubber Soul album. Here are my reasons why those songs are my favorites:
1. In My Life : Very nice song with nice meaningful lyrics, the piano playing mid-section on the song adds the charm to the song. Wonderful work by John.
2. Norwegian Wood : Beautiful song with clever lyrics, John’s honesty about his infidelity is refreshing. Then, George’s sitar playing adds the exotic charm to this song.
3. Drive My Car : Catchy song with snappy lyrics, I love the guitar riff intro the most. Quite a nice song for the album’s opening.
4. Michelle : Romatic song with sweet and romantic lyrics, my earlier favorite Beatles song. I loved this song very much as a child and I still love it very much until now. Then, the French jazz style music adds the charm to the song.
5. I’m Looking Through You : I love the folk style music, the lyrics are also very well written. Paul’s vocal is also great on that song.
6. Girl: Beautiful John style love ballad. The lyrics are very sweet yet acidic on the same time, very interesting combination. The Greek style music adds the charm to this song. John’s vocal is also great there, he really conveys the song pretty well.
7. You Won’t See Me : The song is so catchy yet the lyrics are pretty sad, Paul conveys the song pretty well.
8. Nowhere Man : The lyrics are sad yet philosophical
Run For Your Life is my least favorite song of the album. The reason why I don’t like that song is because the lyrics are pretty harsh, although I somewhat like the folk style music.
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QuarryMan9.17pm
5 August 2017
Offline I love this album so these songs are going to be hard to rank so I’m going to do a count down:
14. “Wait “- I just never really cared for this song as much as the others on the album, at all.
13. “In my life”- Beautiful lyrics but not my favorite.
12 and 11. I think “What Goes On ” and “You Won’t See Me ” are tied
10. “Michelle “- I love Paul’s voice but this song is a bit too slow for me. Plus I over-played it.
9. “If I Needed Someone “
8. “Run For Your Life “- I like this song a lot, even though John hated it.
7. “The Word “- Catchy tune.
6. “Drive My Car “- My favorite part is “BEEP BEEP’m BEEP BEEP YEAH!”
5. “Nowhere Man “- The first Beatles song I heard from Rubber Soul , love it.
4. “I’m Looking Through You “- My favorite song to listen to when I’m angry at someone.
3. “Think For Yourself “- I love everything about it. Go George!
2. “Norwegian Wood “- A song about arson, I chuckle every time I hear this song. I love the sitar and John’s voice. 
1. “Girl”- Yes! This is my favorite. I love the vocals and the sighs/breaths. 
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9.20pm
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20 August 2013
Offline Oh, yeah, you are my favorite forumpudlian of the month, Angela! My user name comes from Girl.
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12.14am
13 March 2018
Offline What a great album.
1. Norwegian Wood – I just love it
2. I’m Looking Through You – You can really feel Paul’s frustrations it’s like an early punk rock song
3. If I Needed Someone – Euphoric song, love the harmonies
4. Girl – Ahhh girl
5. In My Life – Very touching song
6. Michelle – Sounds so pleasant
7. Wait – The chorus make this a real earworm for me
8. Drive My Car – Fun song with a good lyric
9. What Goes On – Ringo has such a cool delivery
10. You Won’t See Me – It’s only 10th because this album is fantastic
11. Nowhere Man – A very relatable song
12. Run For Your Life – There is some beauty in the ugliness of the lyrics
13. Think For Yourself – Wise words from George
14. The Word – Good song, but I’m not too crazy about it this one
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Pineapple Records12.49pm
15 May 2015
Offline Just scanning this well-written list by @jangle I’m reminded & reinforced in my conviction that when it comes to Beatles’ albums from Rubber Soul to Abbey Road , it’s virtually impossible to adumbrate a “best/better/less better” list; it’s like the songs partake so much of excellence, they cluster around the #1 and #2 spots and refuse to behave like a decent Top Ten list.
So I can say, for example, with reference to the White Album , that Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey is a #1 while Sexy Sadie is a #2 — but only because the former is that good, not because the latter is comparatively lesser (if that makes sense).
So for me lists of this kind break down and fall apart for these albums.
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7.06am
14 June 2016
Offline Pineapple Records said
Just scanning this well-written list by @jangle I’m reminded & reinforced in my conviction that when it comes to Beatles’ albums from Rubber Soul to Abbey Road , it’s virtually impossible to adumbrate a “best/better/less better” list; it’s like the songs partake so much of excellence, they cluster around the #1 and #2 spots and refuse to behave like a decent Top Ten list.So I can say, for example, with reference to the White Album , that Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey is a #1 while Sexy Sadie is a #2 — but only because the former is that good, not because the latter is comparatively lesser (if that makes sense).
So for me lists of this kind break down and fall apart for these albums.
It’s very hard, that’s for sure. I start lists sometimes for ranking individual songs and end up abandoning the thread, for the reasons you provide. I end up just saying to myself ‘I like them all.’
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10.29pm
5 August 2018
Offline What Goes On has always been a favorite. Love the way they do a country-ish song with that upbeat, “modern” thing – you can feel Paul’s bass driving it. And John’s harmonies – his voice is sizzling. Like really sizzling. When he gets high up enough his voice does weird things. And George’s guitar – he never played like this on anything else. I guess it is a Chet Atkins kind of thing.
I can’t rank these songs though – I love them all. I might dislike Michelle – but the “I love you I love you I loooove you” part is just great. As is the guitar sound – I think that is a Gretsch with the “mud switch” (tone switch that takes out the treble) engaged.
Run For Your Life has the obnoxious lyrics. However, it does honestly express something in John. And the music is great – esp the vocals on “end-ah – little girl.
Vocals on this record are outstanding. The background vocs on You Won’t See Me has always been a favorite.
This record remains fresh.
3.56pm
19 August 2018
Offline On a given day, if you asked me, RS might be my favorite album. Other times it’s Revolver or Pepper, and sometimes even Help !
This is one of only two canon albums where I actually prefer the U.S. release. The other is Magical Mystery Tour . With MMT we got more music. With Rubber Soul we got less music, but it was all of a sort of thematic piece. It was folkier. More Dylanesque. And that was really cool at the time. Then they put out a great collection of cut out tracks on the wonderful Yesterday and Today. Up to Rubber Soul , and then with Revolver , I ended up liking the UK more. although I will say that our extra albums like Beatles Second Album, Beatles VI, and especially Y&T are awesome albums on their own.
1. Norwegian Wood – I have never tired of these first two tracks since the original release
2. In My Life – See 1
3. Drive My Car – Awesome song. As a yank, I was used to this on “Yesterday and Today” until the CD age. It was kind of jarring to me when I first heard it as the lead off track. American Rubber Soul was primarily a folk rock album. Being on the same album as Norwegian Wood and In My Life brings it to third place.
4. You Won’t See Me – One of my favorite Paul songs. Brilliant and deep for his age at the time and the state of popular music.
5. Girl – Short and sweet. Just a great John oberservational piece. John was on fire during this album.
6. If I Needed Someone – George comes into his own big time here. Another gem from the American “Yesterday and Today”
7. I’m Looking Through You – I like the American version with the false start best, but I always love this song. I wish they had put this one on Yesterday and Today, and put I’ve Just Seen A Face on this instead. It bugs me that that one is on Help in the UK Canon. It belongs with this set.
8. Think For Yourself – George further flexing his new found writing muscles.
9. Michelle – I love the melody and performance on this song. Pure McCartney genius. It only comes in so low because, well, this is Rubber Soul where almost every cut is 5 stars. I shaved a couple points for having a person’s name. That’s always kind of pushed me away in pop songs. Unless you have a Michelle in your life, it takes you out of the song a little bit.
10. What Goes On ? – I LOVE The Beatles flirtations with country, and this one is a Lennon/McCartney original to boot!
11. Nowhere Man – These last three are only 3 – 4 stars for me. The weakest 4 songs. You can put them in any order. This is my latest preference for them
12. The Word – see 11
13. Run For Your Life – see 11
14. Wait – see 11
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Saltie6.20am
14 June 2016
Offline The Hole Got Fixed said
That’s really cool! I wonder why Run For Your Life and What Goes On get so much hate? They’re good songs!
I like how Run For Your Life has foundation in some Elvis song I can’t recall right now. Run For Your Life is John at his jealous guy best, and that just happens to be confronting for some people.
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The Hole Got Fixed1.The Beatles 2.Sgt. Pepper 3.Abbey Road 4.Magical Mystery Tour 5.Rubber Soul 6.Revolver 7.Help! 8.Let It Be
9.A Hard Day’s Night 10.Please Please Me 11.Beatles For Sale 12.With The Beatles 13.Yellow Submarine
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3.00pm
17 September 2018
Offline 1. Girl
2. Nowhere Man
3. In My Life
5. Michelle
10. Wait
11. What Goes On
12. Drive My Car
13. You Won’t See Me
14. The Word
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back
To earn his day of leisure?
Will she still believe it when he's dead
8.30pm
11 October 2018
Offline 1. Nowhere Man – Sublime vocal harmonies and tight musical interplay. Each Beatle firing on all four cylinders, the result was close to perfection.
2. If I Needed Someone – A highlight from the Harrison canon. Crisp and spangly, uber-cool, with that deliciously mordant touch George was so adept at.
3. In My Life – Haunting, poignant, it deftly avoids oversentimentality to deliver a glistening reflective elegy which adds so much depth and gravity to the album.
4. Norwegian Wood – The perfectly measured presence of the sitar elevates an already mesmerising and mischievous track without swamping the melody.
5. Girl – Laden with repressed sexual tension, here’s John’s hypnotic Germanic two-step response to Paul’s romantic French vignette, Michelle .
6. I’m Looking Through You – Feisty little gem from Paul, with pugnacious vocals and prickly acoustics embracing a waspish organ.
7. Think For Yourself – Lyrically confident forward stride from George. The fuzzbox adds texture to his beautifully saturnine delivery.
8. Michelle – Gorgeously yearning, exquisite jewel from McCartney which quickly – and rightly – established itself as a Beatles standard.
9. The Word – They were way ahead of the game, as usual. Flags up the hippy ideal about a year and a half in advance. Such foresight!
10. Wait – 50/50 Lennon/McCartney. Clever tempo shifts, smooth double-tracked vocals and fab percussive touches with a lovely tidal wash guitar ending.
11. You Won’t See Me – Too good to be “filler”; but painting by numbers for them by this stage and it goes on for at least a chorus too long.
12. Run For Your Life – Wickedly lascivious. John’s snarl high in the mix and a suitably venemous harmony from Paul. The rattle at the end of Rubber Soul ‘s tail.
13. Drive My Car – Never a favourite. A sort of watered-down “Day Tripper “, with that irritating faux-soul/quasi-American lead vocal from Paul on the verses.
14. What Goes On – Bouncy singalong from Ringo which just about manages to absorb enough of the album’s generally cool ambience to escape “filler” status.
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2 April 2018
Offline In My Life & Norwegian Wood – timeless masterpieces
Nowhere Man & If I Needed Someone – absolutely amazing
Rest of the album – amazing
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