I'm Looking Through You

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I'm Looking Through You is a song off The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Contents

Writing

Paul McCartney had written I'm Looking Through You after fighting with then-girlfriend Jane Asher. It was written at Jane's family home on Wimpole Street in London, which had a room for Paul to compose and sleep. Paul recalls "I wrote quite a lot of stuff up in that room actually. I'm Looking Through You I seem to remember after an argument with Jane. There were a few of those moments." Many songs written by Paul around this time were about Jane Asher, others including We Can Work It Out and You Won't See Me. Paul recalled, "As is one's wont in relationships, you will from time to time argue or not see eye to eye on things, and a couple of the songs around this period were that kind of thing. This one I remember particularly as me being disillusioned over her commitment. She went down to the Bristol Old Vic quite a lot around this time. Suffice to say that this one was probably related to that romantic episode and I was seeing through her façade. And realising that it wasn't quite all that it seemed. I would write it out in a song and then I've got rid of the emotion. I don't hold grudges so that gets rid of that little bit of emotional baggage. I remember specifically this one being about that, getting rid of some emotional baggage. 'I'm looking through you, and you're not there!'" In the 1968 biography of The Beatles, Hunter Davies writes that Paul said, "My whole existence for so long centred around a bachelor life. I didn't treat women as most people do. I've always had a lot around, even when I've had a steady girl. My life generally has always been very lax, and not normal. I knew it was selfish. It caused a few rows. Jane left me once and went off to Bristol to act. I said OK then, leave, I'll find someone else. It was shattering to be without her."

Recording

I'm Looking Through You was first recorded on October 24, 1965 in one take. It took nine hours of work this day. Onto the basic track, they overdubbed lead and backing vocals, handclaps, maracas, organ and electric guitar. This take was included on Anthology 2. This version did not have the "why, tell me why" section and included more instrumental breaks. They remade the song in a faster tempo in two takes on November 6. They were not completely satisfied, however, and they remade it again on November 10. During the November 10 session, The Beatles recorded the basic track in one take, overdubbed a Hammond organ played by Ringo, and the sound of Ringo tapping his fingers on a book of matches.

Recording Sessions


Trivia

Available Versions

Available On

Personnel

The Beatles

Production

Cover Versions

Source

Retrieved from "http://www.beatleswiki.org/wiki/I%27m_Looking_Through_You"
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