‘For No One’, the Beatles

30 Songs Topic: Sad Songs

At first listen, the Beatles’ “For No One” dazzles you with its musical brilliance: A descending bass line a la “A Whiter Shade of Pale” with short staccatoed eighth notes on a clavichord. The bridge is purely classical; arpeggioed sixteenth notes on a piano, sounding like a Schubert piece, and halfway through, a French horn joins the mix. It’s Paul McCartney at his creative peak: music so lovely, I played it for my newborn daughters so they could hear perfect music at the earliest possible moment.

But I’ve never listened closely to the words, which paint a totally different picture. Paul wrote it on holiday with his then-girlfriend Jane Asher. Things weren’t going well, and he locked himself in the bathroom and penned the words to the song:

The day breaks, your mind aches
You find that all her words of kindness linger on
When she no longer needs you

The song paints a picture of a relationship that is dead; the two are going through the motions, with no real connection anymore. Paul admits that he still needs her and wants her, but is in denial, even when she says that her love for him is dead.

You stay home, she goes out
She says that long ago she knew someone but now he’s gone
She doesn’t need him

Cried for no one

Paul’s vocal performance is somewhat flat and unemotional – something I had noticed before but hadn’t really thought about. But after reading the lyrics closely, I found that his performance matches the relationship; he is numb to any more pain. He is emotionally spent, and in the song, he simply, almost matter-of-factly, explains the situation.

And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind her tears
Cried for no one
A love that should have lasted years

The song’s original title was called “Why Did It Die?” and early versions of the song had verses that alluded to finding some way to fix the relationship. But the finished song is less introspective, less hopeful. He tells it like it is, not trying to figure out a way to make it work. It’s beyond repair, and he’s accepted it, and that’s what’s most depressing about the song.

Paul was always known as the cute optimist, the composer of “Good Day Sunshine” and “Obla-Di, Obla-Da.” With “For No One,” he showed that he could be downright depressing in a subtle but brilliant way.

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