The “joke” Beatles song inspired by Nina Simone and bad French
The Beatles‘ back catalogue is certainly big enough to get lost in. On their multitude of albums the Fab Four, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, created some of the most eclectic pop music the world had ever seen. It was this ability to play into a multitude of genres, even creating a few along the way, that made the band such a historic outfit. They were artists in the truest sense and found inspiration from across the board.
Starting their life as high-charting writers of perfect pop fodder soon enough Lennon and McCartney were looking outside the usual rock ‘n’ roll tropes for inspiration. Talking about teen love, fast cars, and the natural moments of British life in the 1960s was all well and good, but they soon found enough spark in their creative engines to motor on down the road more quickly than many had expected. By the time the band had reached Rubber Soul in 1965, they were dead set on pushing the envelope.
For many lovers of the band, the record is regarded as perhaps their boldest leap forward. While Sgt Pepper was a concept album in its truest form and The White Album was an equally whiplash-inducing turn of pace, Rubber Soul saw the group reject their crowns as pop princes and aim for something far greater. Much of that push towards experimentation on tape among aficionados is seen as the band’s dalliance with drugs, at this point in their careers, mainly marijuana. But while that certainly is true, their moral compass suggested much of their newfound direction as they were desperate to move toward a purer artistic output.
It meant that songs could be influenced or inspired by any number of things, often using many facets of everyday and outlandish life in the same verses. One such song that saw the duo work through a variety of themes was ‘Michelle’. The track, as McCartney confirmed in 1977, “was like a joke French tune for when you go to a party or something. That’s all it was. And then after a while you say, ‘Well, that’s quite a good tune. Let’s put some real words to it.'”
It’s something that Lennon had suggested closer to the song’s release in 1966: “Paul has had this idea about writing a bit with some other language, with French in it. And he just sort of had a bit of a verse, and a couple of words, and the idea. I think he had some other name or something?”
The songwriter continued: “He used to talk Double-Dutch French, you see, just to sing the bit. (imitates singing mock-French) He just brought it along and just sort of started fiddling around trying to get a middle-eight. We pinched a little bit from somewhere and stuck it in the middle-eight, and off we went.”
As so often was the case with the songwriting duo, though they would compose the bulk of the song by themselves, they would often seek out the other members of the group for the final flourishes. The same can be said for ‘Michelle’, a song in which Lennon contributed the bluesy middle eight. However, though Lennon can be credited with helping to get the song over the line, it was also inspired by another singer—Nina Simone.
Speaking with Playboy in 1980, Lennon said: “He and I were staying somewhere, and he walked in and hummed the first few bars, with the words, and he says, ‘Where do I go from here?’ I had been listening to (blues singer) Nina Simone. I think it was ‘I Put A Spell On You.'” The track, first performed by Screaming Jay Hawkins, was taken into a brand new space by the accomplished Simone.
For Lennon and McCartney, the cover provided a spark of inspiration: “There was a line in it that went, ‘I love you, I love you.’ That’s what made me think of the middle-eight for ‘Michelle.’” It’s a contribution that completes the track and turns a “joke” song into something beautiful and raw. It acted as the perfect counterpart to McCartney’s sweet and light style.
As Lennon confirms later in the interview, “So, my contributions to Paul’s songs was always to add a little bluesy edge to them. Otherwise, ‘Michelle’ is a straight ballad, right? He provided a lightness, an optimism, while I would always go for the sadness, the discords, the bluesy notes.”
It may not be one of the most glorified songs of the dynamic partnership, but it is a perfect example of the fine balancing act the duo worked out during their time together.
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