Drive My Car

This song is a character song (Aspiring starlet, unnamed), written about somebody in particular, and it deals in the motifs of social commentary and storytelling, which also turns up in 'Long Tall Sally', a year earlier. It uses onomatopoeia ('Beep-beep'm-beep-beep'). The title issues a command, and the language is tonally neutral. The writing draws on Chuck Berry and R&B. One for the curious, the line "I got something to say" turns up in one other Beatles song, 'You Can't Do That'.

'Drive My Car' is a rock and R&B song, written in D major and taken at about 103 BPM, with Stax and Motown influences. The guitar riff here is doubled by bass. Then, listen to slide guitar (McCartney solo overdub) and a melodic bass (the bass line is lifted from Otis Redding's 'Respect'). Whether it was meant or not, the harmony moves D7 → G7 → D7 → G7 → D7 → G7 → A, the same shape 'Good Morning Good Morning' takes as A → D → A → D → A → D → E.

The song came out of EMI Studio 2, cut in four takes with overdubbed piano and slide guitar from McCartney. The bassline borrows directly from Otis Redding's 'Respect'. They reached for the Ludwig Super Classic, Starr's own kit since 1964, 1965 being the year he used it most. Among the 33 songs they recorded in 1965 this was the 21st, and the 90th of the career.

McCartney and Lennon wrote it, the two of them share the lead, as they do on 'I've Got a Feeling' and 'We Can Work It Out'. There is a role swap on it, McCartney on slide lead guitar solo, with cowbell among the instruments. He wrote the tune and called it one of the stickiest writing sessions the two of them had. Lennon rejected McCartney's first lyric and the pair rewrote it together, the title credited to him by Bob Spitz.

The record reached listeners on December 3, 1965, as one track among many on Rubber Soul. In the running order it starts the album. In America it arrived six months later, on Yesterday and Today, a Capitol record. This song was the 18th of the 33 records the Beatles released in that year, and the 87th of their career.