Comments on: For No One

By: MikeP

MikeP — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 16:26:25 +0000

Pity your posts constantly sound like that of a child. Shame you are such a blinders-on hater of Paul that you always feel the need to offer your utterly valueless opinions on the matter wherever and whenever you can. You’re either trolling or vainly trying to convince others you know more than they do, but in any case it is very immature and frankly, boring (not to mention flat-out wrong).
SMH…….

By: MikeP

MikeP — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 16:20:39 +0000

Donny: To use a George Martin quote (among many others): “That’s codswollop”.

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 15:36:11 +0000

Except “Hey Jude,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Blackbird,” “Mother Nature’s Son,” and “The End” are just as fine. (Just to mention a few that are in the same vein.) (By the way, just as an FYI, a major psychology scholar who studies compulsive behavior is considering launching a large–scale study of people who build their lives around crazy conspiracy theories. She will offer free confidential counseling and therapy.)

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 10:56:27 +0000

I suspected pauls vocal was sped up! sounds far too ‘bright’ for his usual tone.

By: JFrench

JFrench — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 18:10:15 +0000

NIna, you nailed the meaning, I echo everything you stated regarding this extraordinary song.

By: Nina

Nina — Sat, 23 Sep 2017 01:13:26 +0000

I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. The emptiness is why she’s crying. So she’s crying for no one. She doesn’t need him(she doesn’t love him anymore, the relationship is used up, empty, over in all but name really) but she’s crying because of the loss of what once was hoped to be but now no longer exists. It’s not the same thing as crying for someone, as though you still have feeling specifically for the person in some way. It’s more about crying over the loss of a way you’d pictured your life would be(and most likely not knowing what to do now to move on which is why the relationship still exists, empty and unfullfilling as it is). Her tears are real but they aren’t for him or anyone in particular.

In a way though it’s a good illustration of what’s happening in the song, you’re doing the same thing the guy in the song is “And when she says her love is dead, you think she needs you”. Paul’s actually tackling a pretty complex issue in these lyrics.

By: RingoStarr39

RingoStarr39 — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 13:18:16 +0000

If the overdubbed drums, maracas and tambourine were recorded at once and on the same track, then surely Ringo couldn’t have played all three of them. George and John, or someone else, must be playing them.

By: JEM

JEM — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 13:42:42 +0000

I was intrigued to read about the high note for the french horn and how it contributed to the pain and pathos of the song. That never occurred to me.
Once, many years ago, I attended a classical string quartet concert and there was a pre-concert talk given by the musicians. I cannot recall the piece but I vividly recall one of the musicians saying that the composer of the piece purposely created a fingering that was somewhat painful for the musician to play so that the listener could hear that pain in the music when it was performed. Perhaps the strain for the high note by the french horn is similarly felt.
To me, the brilliance of this song is how haunting the disconnect is between how very sad the lyrics are with the “apathy/coldness” of the delivery.
One of JPM’s best!!!

By: Beraleh

Beraleh — Tue, 16 May 2017 08:06:00 +0000

I’m an amateur musician (guitar) and I feel the same as you about the theoretical discussions here. I suspect that approximately half of what people say is at least partially incorrect (or inexact) but I love all of it.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 21:06:10 +0000

I left out my admiration for French Horn virtuoso Dennis Brain, who tragically died young in an accident, driving one of his beloved motor cars. He of course is the standard by which all French Horn players are judged… I meant to add that however much I enjoyed the CSO and Clevenger versions, the image of Dennis Brain lurks in these pieces, as it does in Alan Civil’s horn on “For No One”. That we are alluding to Dennis Brain, to Mozart, at all, is a testament to the utter brilliance of “For No One” as a composition. If only Dennis Brain had lived to hear it, he would have loved it immensely, as I, and all here obviously, do.

By: Dan L

Dan L — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 13:53:21 +0000

Intriguing, how some of Paul’s most acclaimed Beatles’ compositions — For No One…Here, There, and Everywhere…Eleanor Rigby…Yesterday — have minimal if any participation from the other Beatles. I’ve just noticed this, and am not sure what to make of it.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 01:38:24 +0000

I love “For No One” so much. Yes, much of the humanity of “Eleanor Rigby” is here, too. I have played that French horn bit on the trumpet as often as I can since1966… I can play a little French Horn, but I do vastly prefer the trumpet. Yes, I also like and play “Penny Lane”, but I play that part an octave lower! Paul isn’t there in the room when I play trumpet to try to get me to play the upper register. LOL
I want to draw fans of the French Horn’s attention to “Tommy” by the Who… and to the French Horn, there, in the overture and beyond… and of course to the Stones’ single version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”… delightful French Horn, there.
But, above all, Mozart’s concertos for French Horn are fabulous.
I like Dale Clevenger and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra… and recommend those versions of Mozart.
Cheers, all!

By: MikeP

MikeP — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 03:10:33 +0000

That’s an excellent analysis!
I get more than a little tired of the Lennon vs. McCartney nonsense.

By: Billy B in L.A.

Billy B in L.A. — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 04:30:17 +0000

With respect, Donny, your information makes no sense, and is factually incorrect. Most orchestras tune their ‘A’ to anywhere from 435 to 444hz, but it’s still an ‘A’, and the difference is barely discernible to the untrained ear. This chart http://mathman.biz/html/piano.html shows the nearest notes below and above A-440 (G# and A#) are at around 415 and 466, respectively; and F# is down around 370. There are various reasons, most based on temperature fluctuation, to choose different references. (There is also a controversial theory that A- 432 is ideally suited to the natural vibration of our environment. see: http://www.viewzone.com/432hertz222.html )

By: Billy B in L.A.

Billy B in L.A. — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 03:05:07 +0000

I wondered about that, too. First, I read that Alan Civil said the track had been recorded “in the cracks, between B-flat and B” — probably having been vari-speeded down from C, which is where Macca plays it on his “Yesterday” guitar (tuned down a whole step) here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idqxslV4w-c — putting it in B-flat for the strings & horn, WHOSE HIGH NOTE IS CONCERT ‘G’ (written ‘D’). Possibly, for the REVOLVER horn session, they slowed it down to A-flat, making the high note an ‘F’; it does seem to have a thinner, quasi-flugelhorn tone which would result from playing back the recording whole-step higher (in B-flat). (Anyway, I learned it in B, same as Penny Lane, which I guess was lowered from C, and probably further lowered to B-flat for the trumpet solo, but I haven’t researched that. Having digressed this far, I might as well add that I associate B-major with the intro and interlude to “…Walrus” and the interlude to “Day Tripper”. I also happens to be the easiest scale , ergonomically, to play on piano.)

By: Arnie Porter

Arnie Porter — Sat, 04 Feb 2017 14:59:14 +0000

Why do we compare who had more talent? Without both of their talents combined, there are no Beatles. They both had tremendous talent that complimented each other. Everything else is just one’s opinion anyway.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 19:48:59 +0000

When I was a grade 3 pupil in primary school in 1973, a neighbor house beside the school, I always hear a trumpet player doing or practicing the For No One solo.

As a kid I was already familiar with Beatles songs so I knew it was For No One solo did on trumpet. He done it perfectly note for note. That was only for some days in weekdays not everyday, after some months it’s gone and I miss hearing that man practicing again.

By: Donny

Donny — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 09:11:44 +0000

In those days the UK had a different tuning reference than we did in The States. Our G# would have been an F for them, as they were tuning to “435” and not our standard A-440 reference. They later tuned to 440 to accommodate the songs where they used orchestras..

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 14:14:56 +0000

Other than your first comment, what an absolutely stupid post.

By: Johan cavalli

Johan cavalli — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 09:20:03 +0000

Perhaps McCartney´s best composition. But what about the lyric bit: “…a love that should have lasted years…”? Like a slogan from a insurance company. Pitty McCartney´s voice. He sounds like a child.