Beatles: In My Life Meaning

Song Released: 1965

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In My Life Lyrics

There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In...

1. 1TOP RATED

   MountaineerForLife

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   Sep 20th 2007, 18:39 report

   
   

   I never heard this song in a real historical context - as in John looking at specific places, people, and events throughout his life. I've always thought of this song as the ultimate statement of love for someone - it is, in my opinion, the most well-written love song ever. Here's why...
   
   He recalls all the places and people that he's known and loved throughout his life and says that they still mean something to him, but not as much as the person to whom the song is directed. He seems to be willing to leave behind all those things that he's felt so much for because the love that he now feels for this girl is much stronger. And even though he is leaving all of that behind, he still manages to say that these people and places will always have a place in his heart, even if they have since changed.
   
   This song seems to indicate a large transition in his life - he's leaving so much behind in favor of a new love, and that's a powerful statement.
   
   Like I said, I don't obsess over the actual history of the song - like how and where it was written - I just like to look at it as a stand-alone body of work and interpret it by itself (us English majors would call it New Criticism). To me, it is the ultimate statement of love for someone as well as continued affection for one's past loves.

   
   
   
   

2.  

   anonymous

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   Jun 24th 2012, 16:14 report

   
   

   THis will be the song for mother/son ( me) at my upcoming wedding.
   I chose it for several reasons:
   1) I grew up listening to the Beatles and always loved dancing with her to it
   2)it, in my opinion, epitomizes love for those with us and those who have moved on- particularly touching for having lost a brother and her third son 13 years ago.
   (We are getting married (2nd wedding for both of us))
   
   on the 13th, somehow this may be symbollic of breaking chains and "superstitions" about the number 13...."
   
   My interpretation is really quite simple:
   It is one of the most perfectly written songs I've ever heard...
   up there with Imagine
   (Lennon) and many others that powerful evoke tender, reflective emotion...
   T

   
   
   
   

3.  

   Songwriter61

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   Dec 19th 2011, 05:45 report

   
   

   This song is one of the greatest love songs ever written. The prosody of the Lyric and Music is exceptional!! The Melody is Introspective,Longing,Emotional and Marvelously Beautiful! I do agree with most of all the other assessments of this song for the most part, but I believe "Lyrically" speaking, the most important line may be looked at from a different perspective with even more profundity and if this is it's true meaning, then it says something that I believe is even more profound than the popular assessment. The line: "And these memories lose their meaning when I think of love as something new."This line really needs to be thought through critically. Yes, it could mean exactly what most opinions believe it to mean but the following should be considered: Earlier in the Lyric the Writer mentions that "Some are Dead and Some are Living". So with that said, it's quite possible that the person the writer is addressing is someone who he/she has just met-and therefore living, or it could be referring to someone who is dead. It's important to think this through first because the Profound line is, again, "And these Memories lose their meaning, when I think of love as something new. To me, it is just as possible and possibly even more profound for the writer to mean the following in that phrase. He seems to be going from the general to the specific and from the lesser to the greater. While my opinion does not suggest that the lesser loves in his life are by any means diminished, but by this statement rather,reaffirmed or reestablished. What could be a very reasonable assessment of main line is that what he means when he says, "And these memories lose their meaning, when I think of love as something new is another way of saying: To think that something could come along and surpass this already established true article "Lifetime Love"would actually cheapen it and in so doing greatly change it's meaning.Moreover,it should be noted that while the writer talks about friends and lovers, the recipient of their affections may actually be intended for someone outside of those two categories, like maybe a parent, a sibling or a child. Nevertheless, to have the "REAL DEAL" once in one's lifetime, could never be replaced or diminished by something "NEW" or else it was never the "REAL DEAL" in the first place. Thinking of the Lyric this way to me makes more sense and is in fact even more profound when speaking of the power of love!

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Nov 17th 2011, 08:28 report

   
   

   Father/daughter wedding dance song.

   
   
   
   

5.  

   anonymous

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   Jan 16th 2011, 11:51 report

   
   

   My interpretation is that this song is basically about how the beatles view life. They sum it up perfectly under just three minutes. In a way all of the lines are prophetic because of what happened to John Lennon and George Harrison - God rest their souls - they mention places that have changed 'forever not for better' so they can still remember the most trivial places that had some significance in their lives. They also sing about people who have affected their lives 'some are dead some are living in my life ive loved them all' It is a beautiful piece that represents real music. It is my favourite song in the world, my father wants this song played at his funeral which also has a significance to the lyrics :)

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Jun 11th 2009, 17:55 report

   
   

   so this was written by jhon and it was about his life as many of us have said. He's saying I've met so many people and I loved them all, some of them are dead some of them are alive, some have changed and some have stayed the same. BUt that doesnt matter, hes basically saying to the person you love, will mean more to you than anyone else in the world and you have to hang on to it, because it may never happen for you again.

   
   
   
   

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   alvi

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   Feb 16th 2009, 19:32 report

   
   

   This is the kind of song that makes you say "Great song" the first time you hear it.The music is ,i would say perfect,especially that part of solo.The lyrics one of the most poetic ones.But what really matters it's their meaning.John talks about his life and as you hear the song you realize that deep inside you would do anything to be like him.Isn't it great?To expres beautifully something beautiful.
   For my opinion the best song ever.

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Sep 17th 2007, 08:03 report

   
   

   I think the previous interpretations are correct (including that the song is "beauty defined") but I also think the song is primarily a love song to a particular person.
   
   He has had many experiences and loved many people and things but none of those previous affections are as intense and real as the love he feels for this person.
   
   "And these memories lose their meaning/ When I think of love as something new."
   
   This love he feels for the person to whom he is singing is so profound that it feels like a completely new emotion. Everything else pales in comparison to this "new" love.

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Jul 15th 2007, 13:46 report

   
   

   This song is beauty defined.

   
   
   
   

10.  

    HelterSkelter

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    May 6th 2006, 22:54 report

    
    

    John wrote all of the lyrics. He has been quoted as saying something like he remembers writting the lyrics to the song and originally they were boring, bland lyrics about places he'd seen. He said he was trying to think of clever lyrics for quite sometime when he gave up, and then all of the sudden the lyrics to "In my Life" came to him (everything about stu sutcliffe and such). As per the dispute a few people have mentioned, it wasnt for the lyrics (which John wrote and werent ripped off from any one) it was for the music in the song it self. Although a very beatlesque thing to do was leave holes through out the song and fill them in later. Apparently the beatles stepped out and George Martin (producer of most Beatles records, and sometimes aptly dubbed "the fifth Beatle") thought it'd be nice to throw a harpsicord solo in there. He played it at half speed and down an octave (he couldnt play the actual solo that fast) and sped it up. "It's a way of tricking someone into thinking you can do something really well" martin says. Enjoy!

    
    
    
    

11.  

    LennonLives

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    Jan 5th 2006, 22:01 report

    
    

    This Song was written by John with some help from Paul to finsh some parts of it. I think it was credited 70 - 30 lennon/mccartney.
    
    Anways, the song is basically John looking back at all the things in his life that he can remember that have changed. He wrote this lyrics while on a bus trip, This was when Lennon really started to focus on the lyrics. On the bus ride he passes the actual things that were changed the bus station ect.....
    
    The part about dead and living focuses on people who died in his life Stuart Sutcliffe, His Mother Julia.......
    
    The piano that is played in the middle as a lead was actually sped up to the speed on the record.

    
    
    
    

12.  

    anonymous

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    Nov 22nd 2005, 21:00 report

    
    

    This song is about John Lennon's life (obviously). However there was some conjecture some years later that John had stolen a poem written by a beat poet and set it to music.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway