Think for Yourself

The motifs it works with are politics, social commentary and instruction. The lyric turns to double meaning (reads as both a dismissed lover and political critique), something the Beatles reached for 20 times in all, most of them in 1968. A triple rhyme arrives once, "do/to/you", and the language is concerned with despair and alienation (dismissal, ruin, misery). Curiously, the line "The things that you do" turns up in one other Beatles song, 'A Hard Day's Night'.

'Think for Yourself' is a rock and pop piece, written in G major and taken at about 129 BPM. The tune carries a countermelody under the tune (bass against vocal) and an appoggiatura, a leaning note that resolves late, a thing the Beatles had done before, on 'This Boy' 2 years earlier. The performance shows a melodic bass (fuzz bass functions as lead line). Interestingly, the chords run C → G → Am → D7, the same move 'Lovely Rita' makes as E → B → C♯m → F♯.

The tape rolled at EMI Studio 2, basic track cut in a single take, then overlaid with a second bass through a Tone Bender fuzzbox, lead guitar, Vox Continental organ, percussion, and two three-part vocal overdubs. The Beatles reached for the Ludwig Super Classic, Starr's own kit since 1964, 1965 being the year he used it most. The record carries distortion, one of sixteen Beatles records to use it. Counting the 33 songs they recorded in 1965, this was the 30th, and the 99th they ever made.

The record was written and sung by Harrison, who wrote 25 Beatles songs in all, such as 'Only a Northern Song' and 'Something'. It has everybody in their usual roles, with Lennon on rhythm guitar, McCartney on bass, Harrison on lead guitar and Starr on drums, with maracas filling it out. The bass guitar you hear is two parts, clean + fuzz.

The public first heard it when Rubber Soul appeared on December 3, 1965. It reached America three days later, on the Capitol album Rubber Soul (US), with a different tracklist from the UK. The song turns up in the film Yellow Submarine, from 1968. This song was the 22nd of the 33 records the Beatles released in 1965, and the 91st counting from the start.