The Beatles changed styles so effortlessly and grew as songwriters so rapidly that two songs from separate eras can often seem like the work of two different bands. But one thing that never changed: Their willingness to imbue their lyrics with relevant touches that make the stories hit home.
During their years of recording, the band mastered the art of delivering profound character sketches, even with only a few minutes of recording time to do so. Here are five occasions when the Fab Four did a particularly impressive job of sketching out a believable human being.
“Nowhere Man” from Rubber Soul (1965)
John Lennon tended to write from a more confessional headspace than his professional partner Paul McCartney. But Lennon was good for an incisive character sketch now and again, with “Nowhere Man,” found on the breakthrough album Rubber Soul, representing one of the finest examples. The song gets deep inside the psyche of someone who …