History Music / RubberSoul

As the page quote describes, the album marked an important step forward in the group's artistic development, as they began to shed their early image as the innocent, fun-loving "Fab Four". From the stylish cover art (which didn't even have the band's name on the front) to the introspective, poetic, [[LyricalDissonance often bitter]] lyrics, the Beatles were taking their music to the next level. Indeed, ''Rubber Soul''[='s=] innovations led directly to ''Music/{{Revolver|Beatles Album}}'' (1966) and ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' (1967). Such tracks as "Drive My Car", "Norwegian Wood", "In My Life", "Michelle", "Nowhere Man", and "Girl" became huge international hits.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* Music/GeorgeHarrison - guitar, backing and lead vocals, bass, sitar
* Music/JohnLennon - lead vocals, guitar, piano
* Music/PaulMcCartney - lead vocals, bass, guitar, piano
* Music/RingoStarr - drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals, organ, tambourine, maracas, cowbell, bells, cymbals

* RefrainFromAssuming: The second track is officially titled "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)," but people nearly always omit the parenthetical bit.

* CutAndPasteTranslation: As with every Beatles album up to ''Revolver'' in its original U.S. release.

* PunBasedTitle: "Rubber Soul", a pun on "rubber sole shoes", plus a riff on a Black musician calling Music/TheRollingStones (and by implication other White rock groups) "plastic {{soul}}" (apparently, the Beatles were stoned when they heard about that and thought "Rubber Soul" would be a ''hilarious'' name for an album).

* NostalgiaFilter: "In My Life".

As the page quote describes, the album marked an important step forward in the Beatles' artistic development, as they began to shed their early image as the innocent, fun-loving "Fab Four". From the stylish cover art (which didn't even have the band's name on the front) to the introspective, poetic, [[LyricalDissonance often bitter]] lyrics, the Beatles were taking their music to the next level. Indeed, ''Rubber Soul''[='s=] innovations led directly to ''Music/{{Revolver|Beatles Album}}'' (1966) and ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' (1967). Such tracks as "Drive My Car", "Norwegian Wood", "In My Life", "Michelle", "Nowhere Man", and "Girl" became huge international hits.

As the page quote describes, this album marked an important step forward in the band's artistic development, as they began to shed their early image as the innocent, fun-loving "Fab Four". From the stylish cover art (which didn't even have the band's name on the front) to the introspective, poetic, [[LyricalDissonance often bitter]] lyrics, the Beatles were taking their music to the next level. Indeed, ''Rubber Soul''[='s=] innovations led directly to ''Music/{{Revolver|Beatles Album}}'' (1966) and ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' (1967). Such tracks as "Drive My Car", "Norwegian Wood", "In My Life", "Michelle", "Nowhere Man", and "Girl" became huge international hits.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rubber_soul_2_9291.jpeg]]

As the page quote describes, this album was an important step in their artistic development, as they began to shed their early image as the innocent, fun-loving "Fab Four". From the unusually arty sleeve (which didn't even have the band's name on the front) to the introspective, [[LyricalDissonance often bitter]] lyrics, the Beatles were taking their music to the next level. Indeed, ''Rubber Soul''[='s=] innovations led directly to ''Music/{{Revolver|Beatles Album}}'' (1966) and ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' (1967). "Drive My Car", "Norwegian Wood", "In My Life", "Michelle", "Nowhere Man" and "Girl" became huge international hits.

* SillyLoveSongs: Notably averted with "Nowhere Man". This is notable because "Nowhere Man" was the first original song the Beatles ever released that wasn't a love song--every other original song on their first '''five''' albums, as well as every single and B-side, was a love song. You could also argue that "The Word", as a song about the ''concept'' of love, rather than a song about being in love, counts as an aversion too.

----

!! Rubber Tropes:

''[[Magazine/TimeMagazine Time]]'' magazine included the album in their [[TimeAllTime100Albums 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums]], and it was listed at #5 in ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='s=] [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.]]

As the page quote describes, this album was an important step in their artistic development, as they began to shed their early image as the innocent, fun-loving "Fab Four". From the unusually arty sleeve (which didn't even have the band's name on the front) to the introspective, [[LyricalDissonance often bitter]] lyrics, the Beatles were taking their music to the next level. Indeed, ''Rubber Soul''[='s=] innovations led directly to ''Music/{{Revolver}}'' (1966) and ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' (1967). "Drive My Car", "Norwegian Wood", "In My Life", "Michelle", "Nowhere Man" and "Girl" became huge international hits.

* CutAndPasteTranslation: As with every Beatles album up to ''Music/{{Revolver}}'' in its original U.S. release.

--> ''I got no car/ and it's breaking my heart/ but I found a driver and that's a start.''

* WorldMusic: "Norwegian Wood" is one of the first rock songs to incorporate influences from other traditional cultures, in this case UsefulNotes/{{India}}. Music/GeorgeHarrison plays sitar during this track, an instrument he learned to master thanks to Music/RaviShankar. He would play it again on "Love You To" from ''Music/{{Revolver}}'' (1966) and "Within You, Without You" from ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' (1967).

''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by Music/TheBeatles, released in 1965.

* ThisLoserIsYou: The title character of "Nowhere Man" is a man who lives an aimless life, and John compares him not only to listeners, but also himself.

* ThisLoserIsYou: "Nowhere Man".

* {{Mondegreen}}: Those who didn't realize Paul was singing in French on "Michelle" came up with something along the lines of "Sunday monkey no play piano song, play piano song".

* InTheStyleOf: "If I Needed Someone" in the style of Music/TheByrds. (George, by his own admission, took his guitar riff from their version of "The Bells of Rhymney".) "Nowhere Man" was also inspired by The Byrds' rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man."

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** "Norwegian Wood" a track by Lennon about a one-night stand he once had, but wrote in such a way that nobody would find out it was based on real life facts. And the last verse refers to the singer burning the house down.
** "Girl" has the refrain [[BuxomIsBetter "tit, tit, tit, tit"]].
** "Drive My Car" is their nod to the grand R&B tradition of the CarSong as a barely disguised metaphor for IntercourseWithYou.

* BaroquePop: "In My Life" has a baroque-influenced piano solo.

* DisproportionateRetribution: In "Norwegian Wood", the narrator burns a woman's apartment down for refusing to sleep with him.

* IntercourseWithYou: "Norwegian Wood", about a one-night stand.

** "Norwegian Wood" implies (and [=McCartney=] has confirmed that this was the intention) that if a woman invites you into her home and doesn't sleep with you, [[KillItWithFire burning the place down]] after she leaves for work the next morning is a reasonable response. It's probably worth noting that this was intended to be Lennon's way of writing about an affair without arousing the suspicions of his then-wife Cynthia.

* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The Beatles are stretched out on the album cover.