‘I’m A Loser’: The John Lennon song directly inspired by Bob Dylan
I once interviewed a band that had injected a very Beatles-esque reprise into their album. It circled around an almost circus-like melody, driven by an organ and lifted by three-part harmonies. When I asked if the move was a nod to the great band, one of their members swiftly told me, “Yes, but you can’t do anything without it being a nod to The Beatles. Because they invented everything.”
Large parts of what he was saying was true. The band were as prolific as they were innovative in the 1960s, dumping a stream of pop revolution onto the world and in turn laying the foundations for a modern era of music. Be it their stunning yet at times simple melodic writing or their bending of conventional expectations in the studio, most of the music we hear now can be traced back to some form of experiment the band had previously performed.
But that’s not to say they grabbed a sonic blanket and threw it over everything generated in the 1960s. No I think we are all aware that The Beatles dominated one of the most fruitful eras of music history and while their greatness was relatively all-encompassing, one artist named Bob Dylan operated in their slipsteams.
Despite his global appeal with fans in his own right, Dylan was the artist’s artist. The musician was heralded as the industry’s divine genius, uncompromising and assured in his own artistic voice, so that he either fearlessly led the way for his contemporaries or frightened them into quitting.
Of course, The Beatles were somewhat immune to Dylan, instilling a sense of inadequacy that would inspire a retirement, but they were undoubtedly in awe of the songwriting icon. He represented something more nuanced and eloquent than what came in the mid-stages of the 1960s, the Fab Four desired for themselves.
They were certified pop icons by 1964 which combined with the growing appetite for a view into their personal and romantic lives, was in danger of stifling the sense of innovative creativity that made them so appealing in the first place. A chance encounter with Dylan and the handing over of what is rumoured to be their first ever joint, is accredited with being the spark that lit the fire of psychedelic creativity and the beginning of the bands more imaginative chapter.
The genre shifts on the likes of Rubber Soul and Revolver were jarring for some fans, but had they been listening closer on previous albums, they would have felt the changes beginning to rumble and the influence of Dylan’s presence make itself known.
“That’s me in my Dylan period again,” Lennon said in 1980, when describing ‘I’m a Loser’ from Beatles for Sale and the Help! track ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’. He continued, “I am like a chameleon, influenced by whatever is going on. If Elvis can do it, I can do it. If the Everly Brothers can do it, me and Paul can.”
On the two tracks, you can hear Lennon showcase a more pared-back vocal take, leaning into the sort of introspection we would come to expect from him in the following years. And of course, who can forget the title track from Help! directly referencing the shift in mindset of an artist grappling with fame, exposure and artistic expectation. Dylan not only lit the path of sonic difference for Lennon and The Beatles, but also inspired a sense of unwavering artistic independence that his future greatness was built on.
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