I Need You – 5 of Cups

I Need You – 5 of Cups

(Harrison)

Help!, 1965

“I Need You” was just the second George Harrison composition recorded by the Beatles, and was featured in their second movie Help!.  The song may have foreshadowed the future of his relationship with future-wife, Patti Boyd. They were soon to be married but years later she left George for his friend Eric Clapton.

This is a sad song about the pains of a breakup. Making matters worse, he didn’t even see it coming; one day out of the blue she told him she doesn’t love him anymore. Now he’s proclaiming how much he misses her and begging that she return to him. The 5 of Cups is a perfect fit for this song because it’s the tarot card representing sadness, loss, or regret.

The singer of “I Need You” may not understand why his girl left him, but we can figure it out by looking more closely at our tarot deck. Deep wisdom is encoded within the deck, and we can therefore learn a lot about why things happen by studying its structure. One way of doing this is by interpreting a card based on where it lies in sequence of its suit.

The suit of Cups corresponds to the classical element Water, and therefore symbolizes issues of the heart. And since 5 comes after 4, we can understand why a 5 of Cups situation might occur by looking at the 4 of Cups. The 5 of Cups can be summarized as the experience of heartbreak coming from loss. And the 4? The 4 of Cups is a safe and predictable emotional state, lacking in excitement or passion. It is Water in a state of stagnation, causing boredom and eventually dissatisfaction. Any matter of the heart that enters the state of the 4 of Cups is very likely to enter the 5 eventually. So while one partner may enjoy the predictability of a 4 of Cups situation, the other may grow increasingly restless and bored. And just like that, they end it, and the victim has gone from the comfort of 4 to the agony of 5.

As Beatles songs go, “I Need You” is a bit limp. Sometimes romantic relationships end not because of a big blow up, but because there’s no excitement or passion. She’s left him because he needs her more than she needs him. He was content in a comfortable relationship, but she needed something more.

Notable Lyric:

“Said you had a thing or two to tell me

How was I to know you would upset me?

I didn’t realize as I looked in your eyes

You told me, oh yes, you told me, you don’t want my lovin’ anymore

That’s when it hurt me and feeling like this I just can’t go on anymore.”

 

This is song #51 of the Beatles Song Tarot Project. Click here to learn more about this magical, mystical trip through the Beatles catalogue.