The Beatles – Paperback Writer / Rain

While The Beatles put out so much wonderful material, most of it beyond good, with an extraordinary amount simply ground breaking, for me, it will always be their singles that hold the most revered spot in my heart. There was something about the essence of their singles that was totally unlike anything they released on their albums that sets these songs apart ... and while singles like “I Want To Hold Your Hand” are light and bopping compared to “Rain,” there was still a certain something about any Beatles single that sets that song apart from any others. Often the songs were so good, and so out of place in context or structure that the single would never be placed on an album ... hence The Beatles' singles collection.

There is no reason “Rain” should have ever been relegated to a B Side, as in my mind it stands as one of their best songs of all time, ranking every bit as good as “Strawberry Fields” and “Penny Lane.” “Rain” opens with one of the most unique drum riffs ever, holding your attention from the first to the last note, never relenting, never faltering, only continuing to build and create the psychedelic 60’s; despite the ‘Fab Four’ image on the sleeve. This was very serious music, I don’t believe that The Beatles even knew where songs like this came from ... and had I been their producer during those days, I would have certainly built an album around the songs “Day Tripper,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Rain,” “Paperback Writer,” “Penny Lane,” “Strawberry Fields” and “All You Need Is Love.” I think these songs strung together with other material would have created an album equal to or perhaps greater than Sgt. Pepper, had they used some of the Sgt. Pepper numbers ... but those are just my dreams on a warm spring afternoon some forty plus years after the fact.

With that in mind, there are a number of Beatle singles that never found their way to formal albums, and that’s a shame as far as I’m concerned, as many of them, such as “Rain” would have enhanced several releases. Consider Sgt. Pepper, Revolver, Rubber Soul, and of course Magical Mystery Tour, where nearly all of those splendid singles that came to be during their psychedelic phase, would have brightened, along with lengthening, my favorite albums from that time period.

“Rain” is a wonderfully odd number that saw the band expanding on their studio techniques, even if much of it was by accident. As to the lyrics, “Rain” is said to have been born of two minds, with the actual genesis coming from the boys landing in Sydney, Australia, where the country was saturated by the most intense rainfall John had ever seen, where in the song he waxes on about people moaning and groaning about the weather, about phenomena beyond their control. The inability to be in control was an aspect one learns to deal with early on with the use of LSD … where it’s best to relax and float down stream. Around both of these situations “Rain” was born, and is one of the most deeply intoxicating songs to rise from the Beatles catalog.

With the number already put to bed, Lennon took a copy home with him, threaded it backwards, he claims from being overly stoned, and was confronted with hearing his voice backwards, coming face to face with effects he would use several other times … yet with sobriety in mind, it was actually George Martin who was reaching into one of his bags of tricks here. There also seems to be a slipping or a slide at the beginning of the song, this was due to the tape not having been rewound tightly enough, with the effect being rather spooky, prophetic and entirely magical.

One of the most exciting aspects of “Rain” was that there were no less than three promotional films for the song directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, which are now considered to be early precursors to what we know as music videos. One film features the Beatles walking and singing in both a garden and a greenhouse filmed on the 20th of May 1966 at Chiswick House in London. The other two films feature the lads performing on a sound stage, which was filmed on the 19th of May 1966; one in colour for Ed Sullivan and the other in black & white for the UK television market. McCartney was injured in a moped accident on the 26th of December 1965, six months prior to the filming of “Rain,” where closeups in the film reveal a scarred lip and a chipped tooth. This wounded appearance of Paul in the film played a pivotal role in the “Paul Is Dead” rumors that began circulating during 1968 and 1969.

As to the song and its actual meaning, Paul seems to have pulled the plug on any mystery or hidden meanings saying, “I don’t think it was John who brought up the original idea, when we sat down to write, he just kicked it off. Songs have traditionally treated rain as a bad thing and what we got on to was that it’s no bad thing. There’s no greater feeling than the rain dripping down your back. The most interesting thing about it wasn’t the writing, which was tilted 70-30 to John, but the recording of it.”

“Rain” is one song for which I seek out cover versions, and I have some brilliant ones; the best may have been done by Polyrock. I guess I could have shortened this whole thing, and just said that “Rain” is a stunning release, but like the beginning drum riff, I just needed to emphasize the point ... because how many songs can continue to haunt you for so many years. Regardless of how the song came to be, or the recording process, the result of this B-Side for “Paperback Writer,” was one of the most mysterious psychedelic songs of all time, one that shouldn’t be missed by anyone for any reason.

Review by Jenell Kesler