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TL;DR:

  • In retrospect, Paul McCartney felt The Beatles’ “Nowhere Man” was a cry for help from John Lennon.
  • John Lennon said he was the “nowhere man” before he met his “teacher.”
  • “Nowhere Man” was a hit in the United States but not in the United Kingdom.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney wearing suits during The Beatles' "Nowhere Man" era
The Beatles’ John Lennon and Paul McCartney | Fox Photos/Getty Images

Paul McCartney said The Beatles‘ “Nowhere Man” and another song were John Lennon’s “cries for help.” During one of his last interviews, John gave fans insight into the song. Notably, “Nowhere Man” became a hit in the United States but not the United Kingdom.

Paul McCartney said 2 of The Beatles’ songs were John Lennon’s ‘cries for help’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed John’s songwriting. “Looking back on it, I think songs like ‘I’m a Loser‘ and ‘Nowhere Man’ were John’s cries for help,” he recalled.

“We used to listen to quite a lot of country and western songs and they are all about sadness and “I lost my truck” so it was quite acceptable to sing ‘I’m a loser,'” he said. “You didn’t really think about it at the time, it’s only later you think, God! I think it was pretty brave of John.”

John Lennon seemed to connect The Beatles’ ‘Nowhere Man’ to his life before meeting Yoko Ono

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, he discussed his relationship with Yoko. “That’s what people don’t understand,” he said. “She’s the teacher and I’m the pupil. I’m the famous one, the one who’s supposed to know everything, but she’s my teacher. She’s taught me everything I f****** know.”

Subsequently, John identified himself with the title character of “Nowhere Man.” “She was there when I was nowhere, when I was the nowhere man,” he said. “She’s my Don Juan [a reference to Carlos Castaneda’s fabricated Yaqui teacher].” Yoko said she learned from John as well.

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How ‘Nowhere Man’ performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“Nowhere Man” became a hit for The Beatles in the United States. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for nine weeks. The tune appeared on the compilation album 1962-1966. The compilation peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 175 weeks. 1962-1966 lasted on the Billboard 200 longer than most Fab Four compilations.

“Nowhere Man” was never a single in the United Kingdom, so The Official Charts Company reports it did not chart there. Meanwhile, the song appeared on the British edition of Rubber Soul. The album hit No. 1 for eight of its 42 weeks on the chart.

“Nowhere Man” was a hit and it provides insight into John’s life before he met Yoko.

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