For the first half of The Beatles’ career, there was no doubt that John Lennon was the true leader of the group. Paul McCartney was certainly his partner in crime on every song they wrote together, but the conviction that Lennon had during the early years made him the kind of person that every one of his mates wanted to march behind. So, for someone who had that much self-confidence, McCartney was shocked at how much Lennon went against himself on the song ‘Nowhere Man’ for Rubber Soul.
At the same time, Lennon did have more than a few moments where he started to let down the facade of being a simple rock and roller. He was the one that was still yelping along to ‘Twist and Shout’, but ‘If I Fell’ in A Hard Day’s Night was the most vulnerable he had ever sounded on record up until that point, as he harmonised with McCartney about not being taken for granted in a relationship.
But for all of the romantic subtext in that song, there’s not one inkling of love in ‘Nowhere Man’. Compared to every other track they made, this felt more like a thought experiment than anything else, with Lennon talking about a version of himself that doesn’t have a point of view and can never grasp what he wants out of life.
‘I’m a Loser’, taken from Beatles for Sale, is probably a more damning look at this kind of character, but Lennon almost wants to cut himself a break in this track. He knows that he doesn’t have a sense of direction after becoming famous, but he knows that the next best thing for him is just around the corner, whether he knows it or not.
In fact, the track’s bouncy atmosphere was so chipper that McCartney didn’t think Lennon could have written it, telling Rolling Stone, “It was really an anti-John song, written by John. He told me later he’d written it about himself, but he was clever enough to say, ‘Isn’t he a bit like you and me.’”
That wouldn’t even be the last time that Lennon opened up like that on the album. ‘Nowhere Man’ was more about the existential side of his personality, but hearing him talk about becoming overpowered by his lover on ‘Girl’ is still his most earnest love song, almost taking Bob Dylan’s love songs one step further by being so openly honest about the pitfalls of a relationship.
While Lennon was still disillusioned about his place in the world, his union with Yoko Ono is half the reason why he is able to escape his own seclusion. He could have continued being the same rock star who zoned out at his house when on his off-hours, but having Yoko by his side gave him a sense of direction no one could really nail down.
If Plastic Ono Band taught us anything, though, it was that the lonely boy at the heart of John Lenon would always be there in some capacity. He had leadership characteristics, but that was only a front to hide the more fractured parts of his personality.
