John Lennon Said a Beatles ‘Rubber Soul’ Song Is About the ‘Underlying Theme of the Universe’

TL; DR:

• John Lennon said one of the Beatles songs rubber core dealt with an important subject.
• John said he wanted to imitate Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi.
• rubber core became a hit in the US and UK.

The Beatles’ rubber core includes songs on a variety of topics. For example, John Lennon said a rubber core the song is about the “underlying theme of the universe”. John revealed that the song was written as part of his “marijuana period”.

John Lennon Said One Of The Beatles’ ‘Rubber Soul’ Songs Are About ‘The Answer’

The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon includes an interview from 1980. In it, John discussed his views on love. “I kind of figured out that love was the answer when I was younger,” he recalls.

“On the Beatles” Rubber Soul album, the first expression of it was a song called “The Word”: “The word is love / In good and bad books I’ve read,” John said, paraphrasing the track. “‘The word is love’ seemed to be the underlying theme of the universe or whatever it was worth, boiled down to this story of love, love, love. And that was the struggle to love, to be loved and to express it.

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John Lennon said the song was part of his ‘marijuana period’

John said he wanted to emulate some of the most admired men in history. “You know, there’s something about love that’s fantastic,” he said. “Even though I’m not always a loving person, I want to be that, I want to be as loving as possible. Or in a Christian sense, as Christlike as possible. In a Hindu sense, as Gandhi as possible.

The book Everything we say; The Last Great Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono includes another interview from 1980. In it, John revealed the origin of “The Word”. “’The Word’ was written together, but it’s mostly mine,” he recalls. “You read the words, it’s about – getting smart. It’s the marijuana period. It’s the love, it’s the love and peace stuff.

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How The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” performed on the charts in the US and UK

“The Word” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, rubber core topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks. The album stayed on the charts for a total of 70 weeks.

According to The Official Charts Company, “The Word” was also not charted in the UK. On the other hand, rubber core was a huge hit there. In the UK, the album was No. 1 for eight of its 42 weeks on the charts.

“The Word” was not a hit, but John found it to be profound.

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