A Beatles album’s ability to take you away from wherever you are, perhaps even from what you are, has always been one of the band’s strongest selling points.
Rubber Soul, Magical Mystery Tour, Sgt. Pepper’s, Help!, The Beatles For Sale, and this one – they take you places. As exciting as the first song is, A Hard Day’s Night has always been a rainy day record for me.
A drizzly day in an old city; with a lover, or lamenting a lover’s departure. Rain on the glass; spontaneous little rivers on the street below, coursing into gutters. She calls you away from the window, or you imagine or remember her doing so. The needle’s sudden hiss as it traverses emptiness interrupts contemplation, or recollection, until you flip the record over.
