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TL;DR:

  • One song from The Beatles’ Rubber Soul was inspired by an Elvis Presley song.
  • The Elvis song in question was a cover.
  • The line The Beatles reused was very morbid.
The Beatles at a window during the 'Rubber Soul' era
The Beatles | Icon and Image / Contributor

One song from The Beatles‘ Rubber Soul was inspired by an Elvis Presley song. The Beatles directly lifted one line from the Elvis track. In addition, John Lennon said the Fab Four wouldn’t exist without the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

John Lennon said Elvis Presley paved the way for The Beatles

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John discussed the evolution of music. “Without rock ‘n’ roll there would be no Beatles,” he said. “Without Elvis, there would be no Beatles. Without Johnnie Ray, there would be no Elvis. Without whoever came before Johnnie Ray there would be no Johnnie Ray. It’s endless. It’s timeless.”

He also discussed a certain generation’s attitude toward the Fab Four. “In the ’60s, it was The Beatles, so that music is going to be important to them until they die,” he said. “But in the ’40s it was, whatever, Glenn Miller, and when our parents hear Glenn Miller they go through the same thing.”

George Harrison liked 1 of the songs from The Beatles’ ‘Rubber Soul’ that was inspired by Elvis Presley

John discussed the song “Run for Your Life.” “Just a sort of throwaway song of mine that I never thought much of, but it was always a favorite of George’s,” he said.

John revealed “Run for Your Life” reused a line from another track. “Yeah, it has a line from an old Presley song: ‘I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man’ is a line from an old blues song that Presley did once,” he replied. The track in question was Elvis’ cover of Arthur Gunter’s “Baby, Let’s Play House.”

Related

The Beatles’ Ringo Starr Said This Elvis Presley Hit Is 1 of His Favorite Songs

How ‘Baby, Let’s Play House’ and ‘Rubber Soul’ performed on the pop charts in the United States

Elvis released “Baby, Let’s Play House” before the Billboard Hot 100 existed, so it did not hit the chart. The tune eventually appeared on the compilation album The Sun Sessions. The compilation reached No. 76 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 11 weeks.

“Run for Your Life” was never a single, so it didn’t hit the Billboard Hot 100. The song’s parent album, Rubber Soul, became far more popular. It topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks, staying on the chart for a total of 70 weeks.

The Beatles wouldn’t exist without Elvis and “Run for Your Life” wouldn’t exist without “Baby, Let’s Play House.”

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