Lennon/McCartney

 

 

Rating: ***** (excellent)

 

 

 

 

Paul usually wrote an immortal ballad for the Beatles albums, an this is his immortal ballad in Rubber Soul. An instant standard. It seems that Paul plays all the instruments except drums, including some sweet bass and guitar playing. Many versions of the song were recorded; the Overlanders did a cover that reached #1 in UK, in early 1966. Another info: ‘Michelle’ won the 1966 ‘song of the year’ Grammy Award.

 

 

John (1972): “Both of us. I wrote the middle with him.”

Paul (1977): “‘Michelle’ was like a joke French tune for when you go to a party or something. That’s all it was. And then after a while you say, ‘Well, that’s quite a good tune. Let’s put some real words to it.’”

John (1980): “He and I were staying somewhere and he walked in and hummed the first few bars, with the words, and he says, ‘Where do I go from here?’ I had been listening to (blues singer) Nina Simone. I think it was ‘I Put A Spell On You.’ There was a line in it that went, ‘I love you, I love you.’ That’s what made me think of the middle-eight for ‘Michelle.’ So, my contributions to Paul’s songs was always to add a little bluesy edge to them. Otherwise, ‘Michelle’ is a straight ballad, right? He provided a lightness, an optimism, while I would always go for the sadness, the discords, the bluesy notes.”

Paul (1988): “I’ll never forget putting the bass line in ‘Michelle’ because it was a kind of Bizet thing. It really turned the song around. You could do that with bass. It was very exciting.”

 

 

Recording

Recorded: November 3, 1965 at Abbey Road, London, England   Instrumentation: John Lennon - backing vocal Paul McCartney - lead vocal, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, lead guitar George Harrison - backing vocal Ringo Starr - drums

 

 

Releasing

	Release Date	Title	Format	Label
UK	1965, December 3	RUBBER SOUL (UK)	LP	Parlophone
	1966, July 8	NOWHERE MAN	EP	Parlophone
	1966, December 9	A COLLECTION OF BEATLES OLDIES	LP	Parlophone
	1973, April 19	THE BEATLES / 1962-1966 (Red Album)	LP	Apple
	1977, November 19	LOVE SONGS	LP	Parlophone
US	1965, December 6	RUBBER SOUL (US)	LP	Capitol
	1973, April 2	THE BEATLES / 1962-1966 (Red Album)	LP	Apple
	1977, October 21	LOVE SONGS	LP	Capitol

 

 

Lyrics

MICHELLE   Michelle, ma belle These are words that go together well My Michelle   Michelle, ma belle Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble Très bien ensemble   I love you, I love you, I love you That’s all I want to say Until I find a way I will say the only words I know that you’ll understand   Michelle, ma belle Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble Très bien ensemble   I need to, I need to, I need to I need to make you see Oh, what you mean to me Until I do I’m hoping you will know what I mean I love you   I want you, I want you, I want you I think you know by now I’ll get to you somehow Until I do I’m telling you, so you’ll understand   Michelle, ma belle Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble Très bien ensemble And I will say the only words I know that you’ll understand My Michelle

 

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