Hold Me Tight – Knight of Wands (Lennon/McCartney) With the Beatles, 1963 “Hold Me Tight” has been disparaged by critics and even both Lennon and McCartney as an uncharacteristically weak Beatles song, Paul, the primary composer, admitted it was a failed attempt to write a single but ultimately ended up as “acceptable album filler”. John…
All Together Now – 3 of Cups (Lennon/McCartney) Yellow Submarine, 1969 The Beatles’ animated movie classic Yellow Submarine comes to a cheerful conclusion when the real-life Fab Four make an appearance to perform “All Together Now”. Composed mainly by Paul, it’s a jubilant singalong that’s likely to be stuck in your head for days afterward.…
Devil in Her Heart – The Devil (Drapkin) With the Beatles, 1963 Before managing the Beatles, Brian Epstein owned the biggest music store in Liverpool. NEMS – short for North End Music Stores – was where the four Beatles did their record shopping before they got famous. Brian took pride in having the greatest selection…
Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? – Strength (Lennon/McCartney) “The White Album”, 1968 As the Beatles neared completion of the sprawling double-record that would be known as the “White Album”, Paul had one final track he wanted to record. John and George were busy working on other songs at the time, so McCartney…
Don’t Bother Me – 5 of Cups (Harrison) With the Beatles, 1963 “Don’t Bother Me” is the first song composed by George Harrison and appears on the Fab Four’s second album With the Beatles. Before then, whenever he took lead vocal duties, he sang either cover versions or Lennon/McCartney originals that they had given to…
Tomorrow Never Knows – Judgement (Lennon/McCartney) Revolver, 1966 The Beatles began recording their seventh album with a new song from John Lennon. The song not only set the record’s tone for fearless creativity without limits, but also went on to change the entire landscape of popular music. “Tomorrow Never Knows”, appearing as the final track…
I’ll Be Back – 8 of Cups (Lennon/McCartney) A Hard Day’s Night, 1964 The Beatles’ first two albums concluded with loud, raucous songs that each served as their record’s grand finale. But for their third album – the soundtrack to the film A Hard Day’s Night – they chose to end things on a more…
Octopus’s Garden – Page of Cups (Starkey) Abbey Road, 1969 “Octopus’s Garden” is a delightfully whimsical children’s song composed and sung by Ringo. It is one of just two songs he wrote for the Beatles and represents the final time he sang lead with the band. The song can be appreciated as a spiritual sequel…
Anna (Go to Him) – Death (Alexander) Please Please Me, 1963 “Anna (Go to Him)” was written and originally recorded by southern soul singer Arthur Alexander. The Beatles were big fans, including three of his songs in their live repertoire from 1962-63. Years later, Paul said, “If the Beatles wanted a sound, it was R&B.…
Hello, Goodbye – The Sun (Lennon/McCartney) Magical Mystery Tour, 1967 “Hello, Goodbye” was one of the Beatles’ most successful singles, topping the charts all over the world. In the UK, it spent seven consecutive weeks at number one, a feat the band hadn’t attained since “She Loves You” four years before. Despite – or maybe…