Album: Rubber Soul (1965)

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• Is there anybody going to listen to my story
  All about the girl who came to stay?
  She's the kind of girl
  You want so much, it makes you sorry
  Still you don't regret a single day
  Ah, girl, girl
  
  When I think of all the times
  I tried so hard to leave her
  She will turn to me and start to cry
  And she promises the earth to me
  And I believe her
  After all this time I don't know why
  Ah, girl, girl
  
  She's the kind of girl who puts you down
  When friends are there
  You feel a fool
  When you say she's looking good
  She acts as if it's understood
  She's cool, ooh, ooh, ooh
  Girl, girl, girl
  
  Was she told when she was young
  That pain would lead to pleasure?
  Did she understand it when they said
  That a man must break his back
  To earn his day of leisure?
  Will she still believe it when he's dead?
  Ah, girl, girl, girl
  Ah, girl, girl Writer/s: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
  Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Songtrust Ave, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 71

• George Pope from Vancouver BcHow exactly does his describe a perfect girl? "She's the kind of girl who puts you down
  When friends are there" is the mark of a most terrible girl, not a most perfect one.
• Idream from Ca, UsaAlmost every song is about more than just one thing, especially the songs written in the 60's. "Girl" is a beautiful, wonderful bitter sweet song with haunting lyrics and melancholic tone. On the surface it's about a girl and her interactions with the story teller. But when you add up all the verses, the imagery, and the melody, you can't help but to perceive it as a cautionary tale: Be careful what you get yourself into and don't take anything for granted!
  
  "She" can be a real person, a muse, or even one's own conscience. The whole song can be a conversation between the heart and the mind. The story teller could be talking to himself, using a woman as a symbol of needs and desires, for love, enlightenment or achievement.
  
  The ti ti ti ti chorus can be just about tits if you approach it from a purely Freudian perspective. But this chorus comes in only when he's talking about her betrayal, arrogance and conceit. And only in this part the tempo goes up. It's not just about tits alone. At least, not about tits as sexual organs. It's a hi tempo warning whisper. Watch watch watch watch! As if cautioning us about an impending fate. Getting too excited and needy about a girl, tits, drugs, or anything else in life, then looking like a fool when you falter and fall.
  
  The song wraps up with a final warning: "Did she understand it when they said...?" Will you break your back every day making a living until it's too late? "Will she still believe it when he's dead?" Keep your eyes open and proceed cautiously! Take your time and make the most out of life or you may regret it all in the end!
• Tina from U. S.Chloe, I fully agree with your comments. Everything isn't about drugs!! One thing, though, just FYI: "day tripper" is a British expression for prostitute; it's not about "tripping" as in taking acid, e.g.
• Yomammaznutsack from AzHonestly I believe this song is about smoking weed and doing blow. Verse 3 is a very well detailed experience of being under the influence and the last verse is a reference to it being a "Gateway" drug. ....First 2 verses sound like a cocaine reference. Opening verse is the guilt trip one experiences after a night out snorting powder . And the second verse backs this reference by describing the strong hold it has into full blown addiction. Then there is the Adlib that sounds like an Inhale from a joint or a snort of a line.
• Jennifur Sun from RamonaAlways loved the guitar they used on this song, don't know what it was but it is pretty.
• Rick Margin from Brick,njThis was John's response to Paul's Michelle. Thankfully,both songs were on the same album and both have a very similar vibe. The Greek influenced ending came from Paul,who had just vacationed there.
• Johan from Stockholm, SwedenLennon said in "Lennon letters" that there is an "oriental" sound in Girl, which he composed: "...regret a single day..." like "...everything is clear in our world..." in Oh My Love in his Imagine album 1971.
  
  George Martin, in his The Beatle Girls, didn´t get the melody. "...regret a single day..." consists of four halfsteps notes, but Martin
  
  made it most whole steps! That´s typical Lennon, he can have sudden special notes, he was really a genius. George had easier to understand McCartney´s more conventional songs. In George Martin´s Off The Beatle Track, Martin did instrumental versions of The Beatles hits, but he missed the most important note in Lennons Please Please Me: In the middle part, the climax is an octave rise, but Martin avoided the octave
• Johan from Stockholm, SwedenLennon´s "Girl" is one of the Beatles best, and the best song in the "Rubber Soul" album. Typical Lennon: A painful A-part melody, and the resolve in "Giiiiirl".
• George from Belleville, NjThis song fits very nicely in the Rubber Soul album. It has harmony and melody.I like the atmosphere it brings as a ballad with mood and feeling. Another great song by Lennon.
• Megan from Stevenson, AlOne of the best songs that the Beatles ever did. Amazing...love John's voice:)
• Carl from Apg, MdNotice that in the "ti-ti-ti ..." part, the song is being done in 4/4. Elsewhere it's in 12/8 (4 beats per mesaure, but each of those 4 beats is broken into 3 parts).
  
  When I click on "View Lyrics", I am getting the lyrics of the earlier "Thank You Girl". Please fix!
  
• Jia from Shanghai, ChinaI love the first sentence " is there anybody going to listen to my story". Like someone who is lonely ,being travelled a lot ,and want have much sad stories to tell others.
  I dont really like it if it is just a simple story about a girl>_
• Rob from Melbourne, Australiathe first verse is a direct reference to smoking pot. I think that the chorus is simply there to hide the verse meaning. (?)
• Jessica from Chisago, MnLove it! John is still my fav!
• Andy Barber from Tulsa, OkJohn Lennon got it! I did not realize how far he was into to "The Truth" about our being on this Planet..till 2001!
  Rubber Soul was my FAV!!!!
  
  Andy Barber/KJSR-FM/Tulsa
• Joss from Schenectady, NyI think this song is definitely about a girl, with the way that Lennon himself has described it to the press, and others. However, I do also think that it is possible that the song is in reference to pot. Not for the inhale,(which both the title of the song and the inhale may be considered drug reference). What makes me believe there is a reference to marijuana is this lyric: "She's the kind of girl that puts you down when friends are there you feel a fool." Basically I can relate that when I smoke weed I usually get thinking a lot, and become very internal and depressed. And at times it is when my friends are around and I feel lame and ashamed for feeling "down". I am completely aware that not all Beatles songs are reference to drugs, but that doesn't mean that this one is drug-reference free either lol. Maybe the main theme and message of the song is about a girl, and catholicism, but there is a double entendre to it as well, if so, that just proves even more so the genius that was John Lennon.
• Harold from San Bernadino, Cachloe-------you're right..i was overthinking that one a bit. sorry.
• Chloe from St. Louis, Moreed, i think you're overthinking it. seriously, if you think about it hard enough, anything can sound like a drug reference. would they seriously try so hard to hide it if it WERE about drugs? they didnt with "day tripper" and "got to get you into my life". and, look at the rest of the lyrics. do they make ANY sense whatsoever if its not about a real girl? really now, give them some credit.
• Reed from New Ulm, MnLinc---pardon me for saying so, but wouldn't lust be the sound of exhaling?...also, pot is of the 'female' plant; is it not?...["GIRL"]
• Linc from Beaumont, TxThe impassioned inhaling is the verbal expression of lust - hate to disappoint but not every Beatle song is about drugs folks.
• Ken from Louisville, KyGeorge Martin said he stopped the recording session and asked Paul and George if they were singing "tit-tit-tit". They said "No, George, it's dit-dit-dit". Martin said he knew they were pulling his leg, but decided to let them have their little joke. He didn't think anyone would notice.
  
  
• Eric from Bend, OrAdam from Beaver Falls: Yeah, it makes sense that this song could be about pot, considering that right after they sing "girl" in the song, they make an inhaling sound like they're smoking something. :)
• Timoklia from Athens, GreeceI really love this song and i find very interesting George's and Paul's backing vocals ..."tit-tit" even if they sing it as a joke.Ths song brings at the beginning a tranquility as the bit at first is not quick...then the rythm becomes faster.
  
  
• Faith from Liverpool, --*something. oh and by the way; this isn't about drugs at all.
• Faith from Liverpool, --It's pretty funny that George and Paul say "tit" during this. I love how they don't mind being wacky and they don't worry about people analizing their music. I also love that they don't take writing songs into deep consideration; they just wrote it and made sure it sounded good. And if you think that the "tit" thing is immature or laking a "better word to sing" you're just ignorant because they were brilliant songwiters. Lets see you write songthing better.
• Rosario from Naples, Flgreat song off of Rubber Soul. I didn't know the "tit" thing was intentional, I though it was just a noise...I love when they do silly stuff in the background. (ex. singing Frere Jaques during Paperback Writer.) And I think everyone should stop with the drug references.
• Tony from Red Deer, AbGood song. The vocals are pure magic. The way the guitar notes parallel the last verse in a harmonizing tune is very nice. Also the lyric "will she still believe it when he's dead" very powerful.
• Bill from Erie, PaJude, the main character of the Beatles-inspired sixties nostalgia film "Across the Universe" sings this song at the movie's opening.
• Hannah from Hampshire, England, United KingdomThis is my favourite Beatles songs...Love it.
• Forrest from Rochester, MnYeah Adam, Beaver Falls, PA, Pot was called Girl. Yup and Heroin is called Horse. But only AFTER the Beatles songs came out and people started looking for drug references.
• Peter Griffin from Quahog, RiThe sighing is how much in love he feels with the girl. He does not puff a joint. Enough said.
• Blue from Portland, Orabout seeing this song as about drugs:
  
  when a pickpocket meets an angel
  all he sees are pockets.
• Owen from Cavan, Irelandjohn was coming up with some great opening lines by this stage. i think this one is a parody (perhaps subconsciously on john's part) on all the folk songs that begin with "come gather round people and ill tell you a tale". lennon starts with "is anyone going to listen to my tale"
• Jaan from Pärnu, Estonia, OtherI want to add to the Miles's comment, that yes that song was released in the USSR on the EP "Kaleidoscope no 8" (in 1965?) with the text on the label: "Devushka, vokalno-instrumentalnyi ansambl, musyka i slova narodnye" (Girl - vocal-instrumental group - traditional music and lyrics). Neither The Beatles, nor Lennon and McCartney were mentioned, because The Beatles (and all the rock'n'roll music) was banned in the USSR at that time. Soviet censors had no idea that this beautiful ballad had any connection with The Beatles.
• R from Montreal, Qc, CanadaListen carefully to John lennon voice in the beginning; it's fabulous. If you compare that one with previous Beatles love songs, that's about the same lyrics; but the voice, the guitar line. Everything has changed. A real change with the previous album except maybe for I'm only sleeping.
• Joe from Montvale, NjThe guitar at the end sounds somewhat like a sitar but it's an acoustic guitar with capo.The Beatles used capo a lot on Rubber Soul to make the guitars sound different than the actual instrument they were playing.
• Melquiades from Cali, South Americaok these people arent humans (otherwise how can they make so many excellent songs?)
• Vickie from Sydney, AustraliaI recently read an article where John's first wife Cynthia "thought" this song was written about her. The only plausible line that this could be about Cynthia is "When I think of all the times I've tried so hard to leave her, she will turn to me and start to cry. And she promises the earth to me and I believe her, after all this time I don't know why." The rest of the lyrics don't really fit the description of Cynthia and or of her relationship with John.
• Bram from Zoetermeer, NetherlandsNo drugs, no pinching, just John with a very good one! listen to that chords at the refrain.... well found!
• Zoloft from Milton, WvVery faintly in the background, Lennon can be heard mumbling, "Smoke it or sniff it. Don't shoot up." Years later, Madonna planned to remake this song. But during rehearsal, her intended remake of "Girl" morphed into her song "Who's That Girl".
• Miles from Vancouver, CanadaA long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...whoops, sorry 'bout that...my mom and I were driving and we were listening to this song on a cassette I'd made and in the instrumental break just before the fadeout, my mom commented that the melody of the guitar solo sounded very Russian. And would you believe it? When Girl was released for the first time in the (then) Soviet Union on an EP by Melodiya, Girl was not credit as a Lennon-McCartney song, but as a traditional Russian folk song. Odd, no?
• Jim from Nycity, NyC'mon ..forget about all that "song gossip"
  ...just focus on how this super talented man plucked that beautiful melody from those simple chords...and told a story that fit the melody like a silk glove
• Jerry from Portland, OrI love Paul's music, but John's best stuff has a depth and profundity that Paul never approached. This song is typical Lennon soulfulness. The idea that "only suffering leads to salvation" is NOT a Christian doctrine, just another misunderstood one.
• Steve from Fenton, MoGood point, Stefanie.
• Yvonne from Berlin, Germanyhi, i have to do a refarate of the song girl, thanks for the nice informations. i guess the woman, who is desprited, is his dream woman!!
• Steve from Troy, NyOne of my favrtie Lennon songs
• Stefanie from Rock Hill, ScTo be about a dream girl, this song has some pretty pesimistic lyrics. Who know what inspired John to write it though.
• Lee from Clearwater, FlA different type of song for the Beatles. I really liked it. It was one of my favorites on the album.
• Stefanie Magura from Rock Hill, ScJohn. I don't think Paul was saying that this song is specifically about drugs. The key word in his comment is "probably". I'm surprised that anyone thinks this song is about drugs anyway!
• John from Topanga, IdI'm JOhn in Topanga, California, not ID
• John from Topanga, IdWilliam, in Pheonix, Arizona...."farajacka"??? Don't you nean "Frere Jacques"... the old French ditty??? C'mon people... act like you've been somewhere! And for those of you who seem so convinced that most, or even many songs are about drugs (especially Paul in Flagstaff, Arizona) it's just not that simple/ Thanks to the same William in Phoenix, though, for downplaying the constant drug influences. As for an entire album being a pot or lsd album, while the Beatles themselves, in Anthology, mention this as a general summary, no album can be considered "entirely" anything, but is a calico of influences, perhaps a joint or two, lots of inside jokes, even random words- especially with John Lennon!- and pure poetry. The "tit, tit, tits", however, is true. I absolutely adore the Beatles, but some of you fans are merely shooting from the hip with a fast or facile "explanation". Thanks, you others, for thinking before you write...
• Paul from Flagstaff, AzHey does anybody here agree this is a great song even if it isnt about pot. Im surprised only one person mentioned the brilliance of this song. It probably is about drugs, but despite that GREAT SONG. People dont realize how extremely difficult it is to produce the music the beatles produced about drugs. Sometimes the only thing that you find easy to write lyrics to is pot. The beatles have over 120 hit songs probably about 20 of them are deliberitely about drugs. That is 16 percent. How many bands can even say they have 20 great songs. Come on what im saying is pretty obvious.
• Nelle from Lima, PeruOk guys...so i hate to be one of those who sees drugs everywhere but if you read the lyrics you'll see that the pot reference actually makes sense. Besides, i've read somewhere a piece that spoke of different drugs that influenced several of their albums, and they said that Rubber Soul was a pot album, while Sgt. Pepper's was a LSD one.
• Martijn from Helmond, NetherlandsActually John wrote this song as a protest against the oppressive nature of Christianity in general and the Roman Catholic church in particular. The lines:
  
  Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure
  Did she understand it when they said
  That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure
  Will she still believe it when he's dead
  are a reference to the Christian doctrine that only suffering leads to salvation.
  
• Rich from Birmingham Uk, EnglandThe "tit tit" lines are deliberate because McCartney has stated many times it was for a laugh. McCartney also wrote the Greek sounding bit at the end, after going to Greece and hearing simular.
• William from Phoenix, Az<- Scott Baddwin, edmonton, England>>
  
  actually, it's about 2 queers. a quote from john himself. obviously taking the piss at the idiot news media. geeze, everybody's sniffing for drugs all the time.
  
  like some orwellian nightmare. saints preserve us, batman!
• William from Phoenix, Az<- Carrie, somewhere, WA>> I noticed it straight away, thank you so much. one of the cool things about the beatles was their humor. like singing farajacka in the background of paperback writer :)
• Carrie from Somewhere, WaI read the Beatles Anthology, where the beatles stated that saying "tit-tit-tit" was deliberate and it was a joke to see if anyone would notice. no one did.
• Natasha from Chico, Cabeautiful song, the inhaling sounds are really nice, i dont think they're a drug reference, they're more like the 'girl' takes his breath away, and he sighs when he sees her (i.e. you sigh when you're in love)
• Ellen from Nashville, Tnive just noticed that the song that john lennon liked the best are my favorites such as this one, and dear prudence
• Scott Baldwin from Edmonton, CanadaGuys,The sharp intake of air is not a drug refrance. Its how he feels about the girl.
• Natalie from Mulvane, KsThe huge sigh is simply symbolism for how he feels about the girl. It's the equivalent of saying Damn!.
• Scott Baddwin from Edmonton, CanadaDon,2 responses to your A's and B's:
  A:In the book Paul did not say that the girl was a drug referance he said that any word in the english dictianary could mistaken for a drug.B:the "tit-tit-tit" part was NOT for delibiratian,it was for a LACK of a better word to sing.
• Scott Baddwin from Edmonton, Englandthe best part is the "tit-tit-tit's".
• Scott Baddwin from Edmonton, EnglandAdam,not every song by the beatles contain drug references.OK,Mabye the sound sounds like a drug reference but does NOT MEAN ITS A DRUG REFERANCE. :(
• Adrian from Wilmington, DeOk, enough about the subliminal messages. This song is a great piece of work, one of the best songs on Rubber Soul. It sounds almost Dylan-influenced both in the lyrics and the arrangement. I love the philisophical statements in the last verse. The Beatles were definitely moving away from the cliche pop songs by this time.
• Yu from Demarest, PaI know about about the "tit" story, but not about the pot reference. Here's my take. the background chorus can be taken as a repeat of "ti" which makes it sound like a vocal rendition of possible violin arrangement. and the deep intake of air can be taken as a build up of a hugh sigh which makes more sense with the nature of the song. The interesting point is that it is the intake, not the sigh which adds more tension and sorrowness of the narrator of the song.
• Shirley from Ocean, NjAdam, then any word in the english language can be mistaken for a drug. Come on now.
• Don from Rapid City, SdA: Paul has admitted in his authorized biography that the sharp intake of air during the choruses of "Girl" was a deliberate reference to smoking pot.
  
  B: He also stated in the same book that the "tit-tit-tit"'s were also quite deliberate, NOT, "for lack of a better word to sing."
• Adam from Beaver Falls, PaI had heard that this is yet another obscurely written songs containing drug references. Apparently, at one point or another in the sixties (in Britain probably), pot was called 'girl.' Another reference comes during the noises made by Lennon during the chorus which, if the rumor is true, are self-explanatory.
• Marvin from East Brady, PaThe "tit" line was used for lack of a better word to sing.

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