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Deciphering The Beatles.........Seventeen..............Nowhere Man - gryphon - 11-09-2011 Deciphering The Beatles.........Seventeen..............Nowhere Man Lyrics He's a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Doesn't have a point of view knows not where he's going to Isn't he a bit like you and me? Nowhere man please listen You don't know what you're missing Nowhere man, The world is at your command He's as blind as he can be Just sees what he wants to see Nowhere man, can you see me at all Nowhere man don't worry Take your time, don't hurry Leave it all till somebody else Lends you a hand Ah, la, la, la, la Doesn't have a point of view knows not where he's going to Isn't he a bit like you and me? Nowhere man please listen You don't know what you're missing Nowhere man, The world is at your command Ah, la, la, la, la He's a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Written in 1966 , This is another of John’s introspective songs: at this point in his carrier John felt that he was going nowhere..................He had ridden the rocket to fame, he had become a celebrity, he was part of a successful song writing team, he had become as he was to say in I’m The Greatest..........part of “the Greatest Show On Earth” and somehow it felt like nothing, it counted for nothing . So in his room at the back of Kenwood, he decided to try and write about all this.....................and how it felt. He took one step away from it and wrote in the third person and created a character out of his feelings.................. He started with where he was now: He's a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody John is The Nowhere Man He sits in Kenwood away from it all................Nowhere land He feels he cannot say what he wants or eels because it might damage the Beatles clean “mop top” image.....................so his real feelings don’t get to be shown John was resentful of the way the Beatles had to be so careful i what they did or said: The Maureen Cleave article that lead to the clash with the Bible belt of the USA had left Brian Epstein and Derek Taylor very cautious of what they could and could not be seen to do......... So John reflected this Doesn't have a point of view knows not where he's going to Isn't he a bit like you and me? Then he starts to talk to his new character John/Nowhereman Nowhere man please listen You don't know what you're missing Nowhere man, The world is at your command The tensions between what John will do and wants to do ae here in the last part of this verse, He is trying to give himself permission and the justification to speak out on the matters that matter to him Now we get John talking about how he feels really in the third person of No Where Man: He's as blind as he can be Just sees what he wants to see Nowhere man, can you see me at all Nowhere man don't worry Take your time, don't hurry Leave it all till somebody else Lends you a hand Ah, la, la, la, la The later part reflects the idea of John positioning himself ready to speak out and say what he thinks...........however, it would not be until the death of Brian Epstein , that this would happen. The song then repeats parts of itself to an end ............ There is an interesting coda to the song Al Brodax and his team at King features were commissioned to turn Yellow submarine into an animated feature in late 66 or so.................In doing so , one of the key points in the film, is the inclusion of the song Nowhere Man................ They managed to build on the imagery of the song to produce an actual nowhere man character. In doing so they, throw up a mirror to John and his character and reveal some other parts. The Character is name Jeremy Hillary Boob PhD.................................... If the animation is studied, this person has some traits that are seen in John........He is a writer, and artist..............a musician ....................an intellectual.................... He lives in “his” nowhere land which is a void created by a vacuum beast ! The character is used to mark a turning point in the film by his ability to “Mend The Motor “ and after this there is a change in the fact that by finding a “Nowhere man” they are able to go somewhere! Hence , mimicking John’s feeling of being in a void but by writing this song he had given permission to himself to be able to start speaking out...............it was a while before he did but Revolution was the point in question which was motivated by Nowhere Man. Deciphering The Beatles.........Seventeen..............Nowhere Man - CRAZY-HORSE - 11-09-2011 another good analysis of a great Lennon track G-man! Deciphering The Beatles.........Seventeen..............Nowhere Man - SteveO - 11-09-2011 Thank you very much, Gryph, for this insight into a great song from John ! The decipher illustrates the fact that John was the "deeper" thinker in the group with hidden meanings in his songs. I also believe that George was somewhat of an insightfull character as depicted in some of his songs - especially the Indian influenced ones.