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This is my first ever blog, so I'm not really sure what I'm doing  . I guess I'll learn as I go along.
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| Now & Then Lead vocalist: John Lyrics ▼ This song is the perfect way to end this challenge. The last song ever to be played on by all four Beatles (though not, necessarily, at the same time). This song was released as a single in November 2023, and it went on to win a Grammy for Best Rock Performance in 2024. The perfect ending to an unprecedented career. John recorded the original demo in 1977. Yoko Ono gave Paul two cassettes with three songs on that John had recorded years later. This song was one of them. In 1995, Paul, George and Ringo got together and recorded their parts for this song, but at the time, they didn’t have the technology to isolate John’s voice. The piano was too loud, and they couldn’t extricate his voice from it. So, they gave up. But then, Peter Jackson had some new-fangled machine that could isolate John’s vocals, and in 2021, Paul and Ringo finished recording harmonies and instrumentals for the song. So, it genuinely is the last song to be recorded by all four Beatles. Just a quick note on the lyrics … I think they sound kind of wistful. Sad, a little. My first thought when I heard this song was it had to be about Paul. Giles Martin, George Martin’s son, said he believed this song was, “a love letter to Paul written by John” and that that was why Paul was so determined to finish it nearly fifty years after the original demo was born. |
| I Me Mine Album: Let It Be, 1970 Lead vocalist: George Lyrics ▼ This isn’t George’s most famous song, but I had to include it in my list of forty songs because I absolutely love it. The way the melody switches from a waltz to hard rock is fabulous. The two shouldn’t go together, but they really do. And seamlessly, too. George wrote this song during the ‘Get Back’ sessions when tensions were running high. He, in fact, left the band temporarily at this time because he had had enough of Paul’s criticisms and the way he wouldn’t listen to him. I think George felt overlooked by John and Paul, passed by, in a way. And this song about how, as humans, we are naturally self-centred is kind of a lament of selfishness. In the album version of this song, only Paul and Ringo play on it because John had already left The Beatles by this point. I think it interesting to note how everyone, except for Paul, left the band at some point. I think he just might be the common denominator there. |
| Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) Album: Rubber Soul, 1965 Lead vocalist: John Lyrics ▼ I know the lyrics to this song are a little controversial, in that John wrote them about an extra-marital affair he was having at the time, but the song in itself is a landmark in the band’s career. George’s sitar playing is one of the first times the instrument was used on a western music record. It is a great example of how the band wanted to stay bang on trend, even ahead of the trend if possible. George first became interested in the sitar and in Indian music in 1965 when filming the movie ‘Help!.’ There was a scene in an Indian restaurant, and some of the actors were playing sitars. Apparently, George became fascinated with the instrument and promptly bought one from an old music store. He then listened a lot to Ravi Shankar, meeting him and learning from him. And that interest stayed with George for the rest of his life. |
| Come Together Album: Abbey Road, 1969 Lead vocalist: John Lyrics ▼ What a cracking song! The rhythm that runs through every line is incredible. It’s impossible to listen to this song and not shake my stuff, lol. (Sorry. Too much information?) Although it does make me really sad to hear John repeatedly saying, “Shoot me.” This song was banned by the BBC, but not because of the reason you might think. The lyrics, it acknowledged, weren’t especially shocking. But the BBC refused to allow any product brand names to be mentioned, so the reference to Coca Cola got this song banned. Which kind of makes it even more exciting. I don’t honestly know what this song is about, other than it calls for people to come together, not separate. Which is kind of ironic when you consider it was recorded in the fraught ‘Abbey Road’ sessions where the band were rapidly coming apart. I believe John didn’t even perform on many of the songs on this album. And ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ was a song he hated. Which is unfair, I think. It’s one of those that gets under your skin and has you banging the hammer. But I digress. ‘Come Together’ is a great song. It just is. Ringo cites it as one of his favourites, and if Ringo likes it, it’s fine by me! |
| In My Life Album: Rubber Soul, 1965 Lead vocalist: John Lyrics ▼ Is this the best Beatles song ever recorded? According to some, it is. This is a sweet song that oozes nostalgia. John wrote it about looking back over his life, at lovers and friends he had over the years. It’s not often that John shows this sentimental side, and that is why I have included this song. That, and — you’ve guessed it — I love it. According to John’s friend and biographer Peter Shotton, the lyrics, “Some are dead and some are living, In my life I’ve loved them all” refer to Stuart Sutcliffe. Here are some of the accolades this song has achieved over the years: Ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" as well as fifth on their list of the Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs. The song placed second on CBC's 50 Tracks. Mojo magazine named it the best song of all time in 2000. That’s all quite impressive. But how does it inspire you? |
| Taxman Album: Revolver, 1966 Lead vocalist: George Lyrics ▼ This song is credited solely to George Harrison. He wrote this. It is his. That said, John did assist him with some of the lyrics. I love the acerbic commentary on those reviled people we call “taxmen.” Or, actually, “tax people” I guess. The lyrics are so clever in this song. When I recently listened to this song for the first time in a few years, I was struck by the fact that nothing has changed. This song is spot on the money. No pun intended. I love the “Ah, ah, Mr Wilson” and “Ah, ah, Mr Heath” which references the two leaders of the main political parties in the UK. Apparently, this song was a protest against the supertax that Harold Wilson’s government had imposed, meaning people like the Beatles were paying a 95% supertax. I’m not sure how it worked, but it does sound a little unfair. I like it when songs get a little political sometimes. Although, here, I think the protest was born out of the band’s own circumstances and not necessarily the wider public’s trials. |
| Act Naturally Album: Help!, 1965 Lead vocalist: Ringo Lyrics ▼ Oh, my gosh, I love this song! Okay, okay. It isn’t written by Lennon-McCartney. It isn’t technically complicated. It doesn’t have the best lyrics in the world. (Not to mention, though it pains me to say it, Ringo doesn’t have the best voice in the group.) But this song is pure joy. It makes me happy, makes me laugh. And when I watch this video, I can see how much Ringo is loving every second of singing it. His little glances at John and the grin he cannot suppress show how much delight he had from this song. It also has a bit of a country twang to it, and Ringo has stated before how much he enjoys that genre. So, I think, this song was just the band giving Ringo free rein to have fun. And he did. |
| The Fool On The Hill Album: Magical Mystery Tour, 1967 Lead vocalist: Paul Lyrics ▼ The inspiration for this song, according to Paul, came from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the band’s meditation teacher and guru. He had a giggle that he often let go, and this gave those who didn’t know him the impression that he was a bit of a fool. And from there, the song was born. I don’t have any other pearls of wisdom about this song. I just like it. I can’t honestly verbalise why; I just do. |
| She’s Leaving Home Album: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967 Lead vocalist: Paul Lyrics ▼ This is one of those songs that makes me feel sad. I can relate to both sides of the story here. The one, where a teenager has felt smothered at home, like she’s never been allowed to be herself and live her own life on her own terms. And then, the parents who had no idea they were smothering her and are absolutely distraught that their daughter has left. The lines, “Standing alone at the top of the stairs, She breaks down and cries to her husband, Daddy, our baby's gone.” always bring a lump to my throat. Of course, they are followed with questions of how their daughter could be so selfish. I think this is something that almost everyone will relate to on some level. I love how the daughter thinks that fun is the one thing money can’t buy. According to The Beatles themselves, there is also 'love'. Paul was inspired to write this song by a story he read in the Daily Mail about a seventeen-year-old girl who had left home to be with her boyfriend, a croupier. He based the song on her, although, he says, the majority of the details are made up. This song is the first Beatles song where the string arrangement was not done by George Martin. Apparently, he was busy working on something else, but Paul was eager to get the song recorded, so he asked an arranger called Mike Leander to step in. Martin was supposedly hurt by this, and Paul says he never really forgave him. He did, however, produce the song. Finally … this song won the 1967 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically & Lyrically. Not bad, eh? |
| I’ve Got A Feeling Album: Let It Be, 1970 Lead vocalist: Paul & John Lyrics ▼ Okay. I’ll admit: This song is pure indulgence in my part. It’s one of my all-time favourites. And this video shot of their final ever live performance, on the rooftop of Apple Studios in London, is one of my favourite Beatles videos. I love the way John and Paul enjoy playing music together. I love their little looks they give each other. George, too. While not entirely comfortable, there are times he appears to be enjoying the moment. What I love the most about this song is how it joins two unfinished songs together to make an extraordinary song in its own right. Paul’s ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’ and John’s ‘Everybody Had A Hard Year’ just fit together like they were always meant to be as one. And that, my dear music fans, is the magic of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership. |
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