I'm Looking Through You

Yoko Ono inspired John Lennon to write a great many songs.  Patti Boyd served as a muse for both George Harrison and Eric Clapton.  And, later in life, Linda Eastman was an inspiration for Paul McCartney.  But, for much of his time as a member of the Beatles, Paul was dating, and even engaged to, actress Jane Asher.  Yet most of the songs he wrote concerning their relationship were contrasts to his usual upbeat offerings, a typical Northern man's response to her desire to be independent and career-oriented.  Never was this more evident than during the late 1965 sessions for the album Rubber Soul, resulting in several strong numbers such as I'm Looking Through You, We Can Work it Out, You Won't See Me and possibly even Drive My Car.

For some reason, the recording of I'm Looking Through You turned out to be the longest and most complex to date for the Beatles.  The first version of the song was realized at two sessions on October 24th, 1965 totaling nine hours.  After rehearsal, only one take of the basic track was put on tape.  Paul played bass and sang live, John played acoustic and George electric guitar while Ringo played his drum kit.  The many overdubs included maracas, bongos, an organ, John singing a harmony vocal and Paul double-tracking his lead vocal.  One other overdub was actually a changing pattern of handclaps throughout the song.  This quirky, interesting alternate version, which can be heard on Anthology 2, was then considered to be complete.

On November 6th, the group began work on a remake of the song, opting for a more acoustic feel.  Paul had now also written a bridge for the number, something sorely lacking in the first version.  Six hours in the studio on this date resulted in two unsatisfying takes.  It took work on one more take on November 10th to finally arrive at the master.  Overdubs were not added to this until the early morning of November 12th at the final session for the album.  Ringo played one chord on a Hammond organ (he is even credited on the album for this!) and George contributed some sporadic lead guitar fills, but Paul played the tricky lead guitar phrases at the end of each verse himself.  New vocals by Paul and John were also added to this version.

The song is featured on both the British and American versions of the album Rubber Soul.  A mistake in the mixing stage left two false starts by John on acoustic guitar at the top of the stereo mix on the US album.  This delightful rarity is preserved on the recent US albums collection.  The alternate first version of the song featured on Anthology 2 was also scheduled to be a part of the famous Sessions album that almost saw release in the 1980's.