- John Lennon came up with this after struggling to write a song for the album. Said Lennon: "I thought of myself sitting there, doing nothing and getting nowhere."
- This was used in the animated Beatles movie Yellow Submarine. They sing it to Jeremy Hillary Boob, PhD, who describes himself as an "eminent physicist, polyglot classicist, prize-winning botanist, hard-biting satirist, talented pianist, good dentist too." The Beatles decide to take him Somewhere, and he eventually helps them to defeat the Blue Meanies.
- This starts with a 3 part harmony sung by Lennon, Harrison, and McCartney.
- This is probably the first Beatles song that has nothing to do with love.
- Typical of many John Lennon compositions are the "falling" melodies, which can be heard in "Nowhere Man." Folk music often has falling melodies, indicating melancholy. In Baroque music, a falling melody means sadness.
- There is a very audible feedback 38 seconds into the song after the word "missin'." (Thanks to Ron Foster. More from Ron at oldiesradioonline.com.)
- Natalie Merchant performed this at the 2001 special, Come Together: A Night For John Lennon's Words And Music. She did a mellow version, as the show was also a tribute to victims of the terrorist attacks on America.
- In a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone, Lennon recalled the background to this song: "I remember I was just going through this paranoia trying to write something and nothing would come out so I just lay down and tried to not write and then this came out, the whole thing came out in one gulp."
- In 2003, John Lennon's original handwritten lyrics to this song were auctioned at Christie's of New York for $455,500.
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