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He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Doesn't have a point of view
Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere man, the world is at your command
He's as blind as he can be
Just sees what he wants to see
Nowhere man, can you see me at all
Nowhere man don't worry
Take your time, don't hurry
Leave it all 'til somebody else
Lends you a hand
Ah, la, la, la, la
Doesn't have a point of view
Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere man, The world is at your command
Ah, la, la, la, la
He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Doesn't have a point of view
Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere man, the world is at your command
He's as blind as he can be
Just sees what he wants to see
Nowhere man, can you see me at all
Nowhere man don't worry
Take your time, don't hurry
Leave it all 'til somebody else
Lends you a hand
Ah, la, la, la, la
Doesn't have a point of view
Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere man, The world is at your command
Ah, la, la, la, la
He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
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This is one of my favourite Beatles songs. This is how I interoperate it....
At the time it was written, The Beatles were trying to break out of their shell and become more opinionated (their views on Vietnam for example). Their first "break away" record was REVOLVER.
With the song "Nowhere Man", they continue with this "breaking away". In the first five lines they try to establish a sad almost pathetic character. A "Nowhere" man if you will. Then, when the listener is thinking about what a pathetic individual this nowhere man is, the line "Isn't he a bit like you and me" comes along. The listener now compares himself/herself to this man and thinks, "could I be like that?", just like The Beatles probably did at some point. The lines "Nowhere man please listen, you don't know what your missing", and, "Nowhere Man, the world is at your command", try to establish that having an opinion is better than not having one. The rest of the song just continues this theme. I
n short, it is a reply to people who feel that the new direction The Beatles took was too controversial and, all in all, a bad decision.
If you agree with my view, or even if you don't, please feel free to e-mail me.
Make sure your spelling is correct.
@jslatz Holy shit this comment is exactly 20 years old today.
@jslatz Holy shit this comment is exactly 20 years old today.
The Nowhere Man is a lot like the Fool On The Hill. He is making all of these plans for no one, has no opinion or point of view, but that is what makes him free. It is what separates him from everyone, and at the same time, makes him like everyone else. The fact that Nowhere Man can be anyone is what makes the song take on a dynamic property in the story-telling of the song. The listener thinks this guy is a loser, but John is basically saying that because the Nowhere Man has cleared his head, he can become anyone. He is truly free. John revisits the theme of melancholy so many times in his songs, and later in his solo work. The same theme of Nowhere Man can be heard in the Free As A Bird demo. You can almost hear the sadness in the chords. But listen carefully to the VOX chimes, the purity of the singing, and the vibrancy of the band as a whole. In this moment, they are redefining the history of rock and roll forever. Right on this recording. The Beatles, musically, spiritually, and culturally, transcend the barriers of pop and rock music with this song. After this, every single album they make doesn't become exponentially better, it exponentially changes the landscape of pop, rock, country, and r&b music forever. They are basically letting go of the "silly love songs" that confined them. Here is where The Beatles go from being pop-friendly young kids ala ("A Hard Day's Night") to the four greatest revolutionary artists of the 20th century. Music changes after this song. After the break-up in 1969, there are movements in rock and roll that involve desperately trying to imitate this band's sound and desperately trying to repudiate them (punk rock, etc). Following this song, countless bands emerge where their entire record sounds like this one song. The Beatles basically drop an atomic bomb on music with the release of Rubber Soul.
The song is about Lyndon Johnson, who was President when this song came out. This is an anti-war song. Johnson is not so cryptically referred to the line, "The world is at your command." He is "sitting in his nowhere land," the White House at his desk, and doesn't have a point of view. He just listens to advisors and is a puppet for the military Industrial complex.
Thanks for all of the information! Great songs indeed.
this isnt a "make a change" hippy song
DONT POST IN HERE IF YOUR ONE OF THOSE STUPID BEATLES "fans" who thinks they're hippy-dippy led zeppelin fans who like acid. your opinions are wrong
john wrote this about himself. he is the nowhere man. he felt like nothing people do really takes them anywhere. like no one is really "alive". he then realized that this applies to everyone, that we are all nowhere men. its a big explaination of human life
No, the song is about you - it's about ignorance
@dubtiger This is what I've read in interviews with 'the boys'. It was the first song they did that wasn't about love or romance and marked the beginning of more philosophical and spiritual, as well as protest songs that came later.
@dubtiger Shut your hole, you insufferable quim. Your OPINION (And that's all it is, as shitty as it is, you're entitled to it) is not a fact, and trying to tout it as such makes you look like a braying jackass who likes to hear themselves talk.
this song reminds me of this really sad man i saw buying sandals at LIDL
this song is partially about everyone, and how unimportant most people are, another great guitar solo by George, he played in standard tune even though the other guitar has a capo on the 2nd fret
@Billie_Joe -- Yeah, George's solo is great. You can tell he was trying to think "away" from his previous solos too, in which he would merely copy the same notes John & Paul sang during verses. He's about halfway there.
its about the working class person that's just does what he does and doesnt have much a life. and the truth is the world is at his command any time he wants to alter the world he can
Yeah, that's what I got from it too
I agree with yeahyeahyoyo. Its about aperson who hasn't seen through the bullshit.
omg this makes me cry. i watched Yellow Submarine when i was about 5 years old (my dad was watching it) and it made me cry then- the Nowhere Man is just so pathetic and sad. i wanna give him a hug. i am so pleased that the Beatles befriended him in the movie :)
reminds me of Holden Caufield and "I Know There's an Answer" by the Beach Boys. "I know so many people who think they can do it alone, isolate themselves and stay in their comfort zone". It's about people who deny love out of fear of loss of control over their world.
I feel like this is about political apathy and John kind of railing against his own wishy-washy mind, artistic or otherwise