"Think for Yourself" is a song by the English rock band

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

from their 1965 album ''

Rubber Soul ''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom, on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single " Day Tripper" / " We Can ...

''. It was written by

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

, the band's lead guitarist, and, together with "

If I Needed Someone "If I Needed Someone" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist. It was released in December 1965 on their album '' Rubber Soul'', except in North America, where it appeared on the J ...

", marked the start of his emergence as a songwriter beside

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

. The song's lyrics advocate independent thinking and reflect the Beatles' move towards more sophisticated concepts in their writing at this stage of their career. The song has invited interpretation as both a political statement and a love song, as Harrison dismisses a lover or friend in a tone that some commentators liken to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's 1965 single "

Positively 4th Street "Positively 4th Street" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, reaching on Canada's '' RPM'' chart, on the U.S. ''B ...

". Among musicologists, the composition has been recognised as adventurous in the degree of tonal ambiguity it employs across

parallel Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Computing * Parallel algorithm * Parallel computing * Parallel metaheuristic * Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel * Parallel Sysplex, a cluster o ...

major and minor

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (m ...

and through its suggestion of multiple

musical mode In music theory, the term mode or ''modus'' is used in a number of distinct senses, depending on context. Its most common use may be described as a type of musical scale coupled with a set of characteristic melodic and harmonic behaviors. It ...

s. The Beatles recorded "Think for Yourself" in November 1965, towards the end of the sessions for ''Rubber Soul''. In a departure from convention, the track includes two bass guitar parts – one standard and one played through a

fuzzbox Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

. Performed by McCartney, this fuzz bass serves as a lead guitar line throughout the song and marked the first time that a bass guitar had been recorded using a fuzzbox device, as opposed to manipulating equipment to achieve a distorted sound. The group overdubbed their harmony vocals during a lighthearted session that was also intended to provide material for their 1965 fan-club Christmas disc. A snippet from this session was used in the Beatles' 1968 animated film '' Yellow Submarine''. The song has also appeared on the 1976 compilation ''

The Best of George Harrison ''The Best of George Harrison'' is a 1976 compilation album by English musician George Harrison, released following the expiration of his EMI-affiliated Apple Records contract. Uniquely among all of the four Beatles' solo releases, apart from p ...

'' and on the 1999 '' Yellow Submarine Songtrack'' album.

Background and inspiration

In his 1980 autobiography, '' I, Me, Mine'',

recalls little about the inspiration behind "Think for Yourself". He said that his intention was to target narrow-minded thinking and identified the British government as a possible source. Partly as a result of the vagueness of his comments, the song has invited interpretation as both a political commentary and a statement on a failing personal relationship. The song reflects the influence of

, with whom

had spent time socialising in May 1965, in London, and then in mid August, following the band's concert at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

in New York. Just as their songs had encouraged Dylan to embrace

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...

, Dylan's work inspired the Beatles, and particularly Harrison, as a nascent songwriter, to address more sophisticated concepts than the standard love song. In addition, since March that year, Harrison's outlook had been transformed by his and

's experiences with the hallucinogenic drug

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

; in a 1987 interview, he said that the drug had revealed to him the futility of the band's widespread fame. Author George Case groups "Think for Yourself" with two

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...

compositions from the Beatles' ''

'' album – "

I'm Looking Through You "I'm Looking Through You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 album ''Rubber Soul''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. McCartney wrote the song about English actress Jane Asher, his ...

" and " The Word" – as examples of how the band's focus had progressed "from excited songs of juvenile love to adult meditations on independence, estrangement and brotherhood". In

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

's later recollection, ''Rubber Soul'' was the Beatles' "departure record", written and recorded during a period when, largely through the influence of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various t ...

, "We were expanding in all areas of our lives, opening up to a lot of different attitudes."

Composition

Musical form

"Think for Yourself" has a 4/4

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...

and is set to a moderate rock beat. After a two-

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

introduction, the structure comprises three combinations of verse and chorus, with the final chorus being repeated in full, followed by what musicologist

Alan Pollack Alan Pollack (born 1964 in New Jersey) is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Works Alan Pollack produced interior illustrations for many ''Dungeons & Dragons'' books and ''Dragon'' magazine since 1994, and did th ...

terms a "petit-reprise of the last phrase" to close the song. The chorus sections contrast rhythmically with the verses, providing a more upbeat mood. The song's

musical key In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in classical, Western art, and Western pop music. The group features a '' tonic note'' and its corresponding ''chords'', al ...

is a combination of G major and G minor. Pollack comments that whereas Lennon and

had regularly employed a major key and its parallel minor to provide an element of contrast in their songs, Harrison's composition ensures that the two modes are "blended", so creating a form that is "neither quite really Major nor minor". In the description of musicologist Dominic Pedler, while G major appears to be the central key, the song's musical premise involves permanent

tonic key Tonic may refer to: *Tonic water, a drink traditionally containing quinine *Soft drink, a carbonated beverage *Tonic (physiology), the response of a muscle fiber or nerve ending typified by slow, continuous action * Tonic syllable, the stressed sy ...

ambiguity and "restless

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

movement" through extensive borrowing from the parallel minor key. The G7 chord over the introduction suggests a tonic key of G major and a

of G Mixolydian, yet the verse opens with A minor, the ii chord in

Roman numeral analysis In music theory, Roman numeral analysis is a type of musical analysis in which chords are represented by Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, …). In some cases, Roman numerals denote scale degrees themselves. More commonly, however, they represent ...

, which suggests A

Dorian mode Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the medieval musical modes; or—mo ...

, and the subsequent change to D minor then suggests A

Aeolian mode The Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the natural minor scale. On the white piano keys, it is the scale that starts with A. Its ascending interval form consists of a ''key note, whole step, half ste ...

, in which the chord represents iv. The immediate shift to a B chord (III in G major) followed by a C chord (IV in G major) creates further ambiguity, since these chords hint at a VI–VII rock run in D Aeolian. During the chorus, Pedler continues, the anticipated tonic-identifying V–I (D7–G7) shift is preceded by an unexpected VI (E/B) chord in

second inversion The second inversion of a chord is the voicing of a triad, seventh chord, or ninth chord in which the fifth of the chord is the bass note. In this inversion, the bass note and the root of the chord are a fourth apart which traditionally quali ...

that undermines its tonal direction. The unusual chord progression is an example of the Beatles' use of chords for added harmonic expression, a device that Harrison adopted from Lennon's approach to melody. Musicologist Walter Everett describes the composition as "a tour de force of altered

scale degrees In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic, the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals a ...

". He adds that, such is the ambiguity throughout, "its tonal quality forms the perfect conspirator with the text's and the rhythm's hesitations and unexpected turns." Pollack also views the composition as musically adventurous; he identifies it as a "curious stylistic hybrid" in the

pop/rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

genre, comprising

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

-inflected motifs within a folk-based framework.

Lyrics

The song's message recalls that of Dylan's September 1965 single "

", as Harrison appears to be ending a relationship, possibly with a lover. The lyrics adopt an accusatory stance from the opening line: "I've got a word or two to say about the things that you do." Author Ian Inglis describes the song as "a withering attack" in which "Harrison's blunt 'I left you far behind' and Dylan's curt 'It's not my problem' rom 'Positively 4th Street'could be spoken by the same voice." Harrison also incorporates Dylan-esque

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

in his reference to "opaque" minds and in the line "the good things that we can have if we close our eyes". According to Beatles biographer Jonathan Gould, despite Harrison having envisaged "Think for Yourself" as a form of

social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

, contemporary listeners most likely interpreted it as a love song, given the limited perception afforded the work of pop artists. As a result, Gould includes the composition among "a new genre of 'anti-love' songs", a style that was inaugurated by Dylan in 1964 and later developed by

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

. When read as a farewell to a romantic partner, according to James Decker, an English literature academic and

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi- autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical re ...

scholar, the lyrics express the view that their relationship is based on a false reality, whereby the individual is submerged within the bounds of the relationship. In the final verse, Harrison urges his partner to "try thinking more", confident that she too will come to see the emptiness in her life choices. While adhering to this particular interpretation of "Think for Yourself", Decker says that "Harrison and the Beatles have thus raised the stakes from the naïve idealism of hand-holding" that typified love songs of the period. In the opinion of Steve LaBate of '' Paste'' magazine, the song "implores listeners to question what they're told and live a more examined, conscious life". Author and critic

Kenneth Womack Kenneth Womack (born January 24, 1966) is an American writer, literary critic, public speaker, and music historian, particularly focusing on the cultural influence of the Beatles. He is the author of the bestselling ''Solid State: The Story of A ...

identifies an air of superiority in Harrison's lyrics. In his description, the song represents "the inaugural entry (with shades of '

Don't Bother Me "Don't Bother Me" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1963 UK album ''With the Beatles''. It was the first song written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist, to appear on one of their albums. An uptempo rock and ...

') in Harrison's existential philosophy, later to be adumbrated by Eastern religion and thought, about the mind-numbingly automatic and insensate manner in which human beings undertake their lives in the workaday world".

Recording

Basic track

The Beatles recorded "Think for Yourself" towards the end of the sessions for ''Rubber Soul'', at which point they were under pressure to meet the deadline for completing the album. Recording for the song, which had a working title of "Won't Be There With You", took place at EMI Studios (now

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music ...

) in London on 8 November 1965. The group achieved a satisfactory basic track in one take, with a line-up comprising two electric guitars, bass guitar and drums. Lennon's guitar contribution does not appear on the completed recording, however. Instead, he

overdubbed Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

a keyboard part, played on either a

Vox Continental The Vox Continental is a transistorised combo organ that was manufactured between 1962 and 1971 by the British musical equipment manufacturer Vox. It was designed for touring musicians and as an alternative to the heavy Hammond organ. It supp ...

organ or an electric piano.

Fuzz bass part

McCartney overdubbed an additional bass part, which he played through a

effect unit known as a

Tone Bender {{Refimprove, date=April 2010 Tone Bender is the name of several fuzzboxes. Macari's Ltd, who also own the Sola Sound Brand, and who have built and sold the pedals since 1965 now own the Tone Bender trademark.fuzz bass" on a song. Gould and Everett consider that the Beatles' adoption of this effect was inspired by the Rolling Stones' 1965 hit "

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff ...

", on which the distorted, fuzz-tone sound of the lead guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

had been a key element. However, Harrison credited

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

's production of "

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is a song composed by Allie Wrubel with lyrics by Ray Gilbert for the Disney 1946 live action and animated movie ''Song of the South'', sung by James Baskett. For "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", the film won the Academy Award for Best O ...

", by Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans – a 1962 recording that, after the distorted lead guitar sound had been created accidentally in the studio, led to

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

's invention of the first fuzzbox. McCartney's riff-dominated part serves the role of a lead guitar throughout the track. The inclusion of fuzz bass, and its layering beside a standard bass part, typified the Beatles' willingness to experiment with sound on ''Rubber Soul''. McCartney used a Rickenbacker 4001S, a solid-body guitar that gave his bass playing on ''Rubber Soul'' a more precise tone than he had been able to achieve with his usual Höfner "violin bass". Inglis comments that, in its dialogue with Harrison's vocal lines, the "growling" fuzz bass contributes to the song's "persistent mood of menace", while Gould describes the effect as "the snarls of an enraged

schnauzer A Schnauzer (), plural ''Schnauzer'', lit. translation "snouter") is a dog breed type that originated in Germany from the 14th to 16th centuries. The term comes from the German word for "snout" and means colloquially "moustache",

Vocal overdubs

Typical of the group's sound on the album, the song's arrangement includes three-part harmonies sung in

homorhythm In music, homorhythm (also homometer) is a texture having a "similarity of rhythm in all parts"Griffiths, Paul (2005). ''The Penguin Companion to Classical Music'', p.375. . or "very similar rhythm" as would be used in simple hymn A hymn is ...

. Since the band also had to have their annual fan club Christmas disc completed at this time, their producer,

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

, instructed the studio engineers to set up a second, ambient microphone and tape the Beatles as they rehearsed and recorded their vocal parts for the track. The tapes captured the three vocalists – Harrison, Lennon and McCartney – engaging in humorous banter and often unable to remember their parts. As a rare record of the group at work in the studio, the "Think for Yourself" rehearsal tape has invited comparison with the Beatles' '' Let It Be'' documentary film, made in January 1969. Whereas that film documents a period of acrimony among the band members, the 1965 tape shows them, in author Mark Hertsgaard's description, "clearly akingjoy in one another's company". Once the vocals had been recorded successfully, and then

double-tracked Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...

, Starr overdubbed tambourine and

maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...

s. Contrary to Martin's hopes, nothing from the rehearsal tape was deemed suitable for the Beatles' 1965 Christmas record. In 1968, six seconds' worth of Harrison, Lennon and McCartney's

a capella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

singing – repeating the line "And you've got time to rectify" – was used in the soundtrack of the '' Yellow Submarine'' animated film. McCartney subsequently incorporated other segments from the "Think for Yourself" rehearsal into his 2000 experimental album ''

Liverpool Sound Collage ''Liverpool Sound Collage'' is an album by Paul McCartney released in 2000. The album is also credited to the Beatles, Super Furry Animals and Youth; but because McCartney was so heavily involved in its creation, in addition to his production cr ...

''. A fifteen-minute edit of the full tape became available unofficially in 1991 on the

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made a ...

compilation ''Unsurpassed Masters, Volume 7''. In 1995, a mix of the song featuring only vocals was among several tracks that were in the running for inclusion on the '' Anthology 2'' compilation album but were ultimately passed over.

Release and reception

EMI's

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

label released ''Rubber Soul'' on 3 December 1965 in Britain, with "Think for Yourself" sequenced as the fifth track, between " Nowhere Man" and "The Word". The album was a commercial and critical success, although initially some reviewers in the UK were confused by the band's more mature approach. The release also marked the start of a period when other artists, in an attempt to emulate the Beatles' achievement, sought to create albums as works of artistic merit, with a consistently high standard of original compositions and with increasingly novel sounds. Among the albums influenced by ''Rubber Soul'' was the Rolling Stones' '' Aftermath'', which included fuzz-toned bass parts on the songs "

Under My Thumb "Under My Thumb" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Under My Thumb" features a marimba played by Brian Jones. Although it was never released as a single in English-spea ...

" and " Mother's Little Helper". Author John Kruth writes that, with its vitriolic tone and an "edge" that was unfamiliar in the Beatles' work, "Think for Yourself" was "somewhat startling" to many listeners. In his album review for the '' NME'', Allen Evans interpreted the song's message as "advice to someone who's going off the rails to think for himself and rectify things", and he admired the track's "good tempo and vocal sound". ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'' review panel opined: "Nice song but a feeling hereabouts that there's a sameness about some of the melody-construction ideas. Maybe we'll lose it later on …" While recognising ''Rubber Soul'' as another example of the Beatles "setting trends in this world of pop", '' KRLA Beat'' highlighted the "wonderful sound effect" created by McCartney's fuzz bass and concluded: "a good, strong, driving beat will keep this one on top." ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' said that "Think for Yourself" was among the album's best tracks and also admired its "double tempo" sections and "good chugging maraca beat". Michael Lydon, who interviewed Lennon and McCartney for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' laudatory feature on the Beatles in early 1966, quoted the song's chorus in the conclusion to his 1972 article for ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', in which he reflected on the passing of the 1960s cultural revolution. He introduced the lyrics with a statement on the Beatles' impact: "Freedom to have a good time, to boogie, they showed, was a practical possibility for the average human. I'm glad I got the message." "Think for Yourself" was one of the seven Beatles tracks that

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

included on the 1976 compilation album ''

'', released following the expiration of Harrison's contract with EMI. Coinciding with the release of the newly restored ''Yellow Submarine'' film in 1999, a new mix of the song was issued on the Beatles' '' Yellow Submarine Songtrack'' album.

Retrospective assessment and legacy

Among Beatles biographers, Tim Riley considers the track to be "a step beyond" Harrison's two contributions on ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles " Help!" and " Ticket to Ride", ...

'', with the fuzz bass providing "just the right guttural cynicism", yet he says the song lacks the "melodic sonorities and layered texture" that distinguishes the guitarist's other ''Rubber Soul'' composition, "

". Riley adds that "Think for Yourself" merely serves to provide contrast with the Lennon songs either side of it on the album. Conversely,

Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was a British music critic and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed techniques from ...

finds the song underrated and "less ingratiating but more incisive" than "If I Needed Someone". While he considers that the group's performance could have been improved on, MacDonald admires the "real fervour" in McCartney's vocal over the choruses.

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

views both tracks as evidence that Harrison was "developing into a fine songwriter" on ''Rubber Soul'', a view echoed by author Robert Rodriguez. In his review of the song for AllMusic, Thomas Ward deems it one of Harrison's weakest compositions. He says that the track offers "a very dated, rather patronising lyric and rather bland melody", although he also recognises "an ingenious chord sequence and, typically, a great introduction". Alex Young of ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' describes it as a "vital" inclusion on ''Rubber Soul'', as the first track to show how "this album is truly the champion of making bitterness sound cheerful." In 2010, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked "Think for Yourself" at number 75 in its list of the "100 Greatest Beatles Songs". The magazine's editors wrote that while the Beatles created the track in obvious haste and under the influence of marijuana, these conditions worked to the song's advantage, lending it "an unchained, garage-band feel". Dominic Pedler cites "Think for Yourself" as an example of the extent to which Harrison contributed to the Beatles' legacy as writers of pioneering, original melodies. He recognises the song as "harmonically outrageous" and "a maverick blueprint for left-field pop-rock". Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' on the 50th anniversary of the album's release, Bob Stanley described "Think for Yourself" as "cool but fierce". He grouped it with " Norwegian Wood" and "

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

" as songs that conveyed the Beatles' new, sophisticated outlook at the time and, decades later, evoked progressive women such as Edie Sedgwick,

Maureen Cleave Maureen Diana Cleave (20 October 1934 – 6 November 2021) was a British journalist. She worked for the London ''Evening Standard'' from 1958 conducting interviews with many prominent musicians of the era, including Bob Dylan and John Lennon. O ...

and

Pauline Boty Pauline Boty (6 March 1938 – 1 July 1966) was a British painter and co-founder of the 1960s' British Pop art movement of which she was the only acknowledged female member. Boty's paintings and collages often demonstrate a joy in self-assured ...

. He said that the same three songs were statements that ensured that ''Rubber Soul'' would remain "fresh" for another 50 years. Also writing in December 2015, Emily Mackay of the ''NME'' described the song as "acerbic" and empathetic with the confused sexual politics of "Norwegian Wood". She recognised Harrison's "assertion of independent-mindedness" as a forerunner to Lennon's 1968 song "

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

". In his 2015 book ''1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music'', Andrew Grant Jackson identifies it as the Beatles' contribution to a "subgenre" of

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

s that emerged in 1965, in which artists railed against "oppressive conformity itself" rather than political issues. He views it as one of the musical statements that, informed by mass media,

hallucinogenic drugs Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...

and the introduction of the

contraceptive pill Oral contraceptives, abbreviated OCPs, also known as birth control pills, are medications taken by mouth for the purpose of birth control. Female Two types of female oral contraceptive pill, taken once per day, are widely available: * The combin ...

, "chronicled and propelled a social reformation as the old world forged its uneasy synthesis with the new". Unterberger regrets that the Beatles did not attempt to play more of their material from the 1965–66 era in concert before deciding to quit touring in late 1966. He identifies "Think for Yourself" and " Drive My Car", along with some of the guitar-based tracks on their ''

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that has at least one gun barrel, barrel and uses a revolving cylinder (firearms), cylinder containing multiple chamber (firearms), chambers (each holding a single ...

'' album, as songs that "would have worked well in a live setting". Yonder Mountain String Band have performed "Think for Yourself", featuring a bluegrass arrangement that includes

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

. They also contributed a recording of the track to '' This Bird Has Flown – A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul'' in 2005.

Pete Shelley Pete Shelley (born Peter Campbell McNeish; 17 April 1955 – 6 December 2018) was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist in 1977 wh ...

covered the song for ''Yellow Submarine Resurfaces'', a CD issued with the July 2012 issue of ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' magazine. Kruth describes Shelley's version as "an exhilarating punk anthem" that includes "crunchy guitar chords" in the style of

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

' " All Day and All of the Night".

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald: *

– lead vocal, lead guitar *

– harmony vocal, Vox Continental organ *

– harmony vocal, bass, fuzz bass *

– drums, tambourine,

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Full lyrics for the song at the Beatles' official website
{{Authority control 1965 songs The Beatles songs Songs written by George Harrison Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs published by Northern Songs British pop rock songs