This is another brilliant musical innovation from the Rubber Soul album, the first point at which The Beatles shrugged off the "mop tops" image and went for bolder artistic horizons. "The Word" sounds almost like evangelizing; as opposed to a standard boy-girl love song, the lyrics here embrace love as more of a concept, the way the Flower Power movement was thinking about it. The lyrics of "The Word" also mark an important point at which The Beatles began to realize that they were, in fact, spokespeople for a new generation. Their songs started packing a stronger message, bridging their way to the future when John and George would make their lyrics more political.
Lead vocals on this song were shared by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Beatles producer George Martin played the harmonium, an organ-like keyboard instrument.
Yoko Ono gave the sheet music of this song as a gift to the composer John Cage, who later published it in his book Notations. Ono studied under Cage, even sharing the occasional stage with him, before she met John Lennon.
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