I love The Beatles; Paul, John, George, and Ringo are some of my favorite people to grace this planet. Many people believe that The Beatles was the greatest musical group known to humanity, and I wholeheartedly disagree. There are more talented groups out there, I hate to admit it ,but it's very true. I think what made The Beatles so loved were their relatable, simple lyrics (in the beginning of their musical career, at least) and their charming personalities. As their musical career progressed, the lyrics became a bit deeper as they began to shift their focus from placing on the pop charts and actually exploring the world around them.
1. Love Me Do
- Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney
- Album: Please Please Me
- What the song is about: The singer is basically asking someone to please love them back.
- Fun Fact: The word "love" is said 21 times and the majority of the words are only one syllable.
2. I Want to Hold Your Hand
- Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney
- Album: With the Beatles
- What the song is about: As stated by the song's title, this song is about wanting to hold a girl's hand. In their early years, The Beatles (very blatantly) pandered to teenage girls who were the majority of their audience.
- Fun Fact: This was the first song written by a British band to reach the Number 1 spot on the pop charts in America.
3. Help!
- Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney (mainly John)
- Album: Help!
- What the song is about: John was feeling trapped by fame and wanted someone to help him.
- Fun Fact: This was John's first be step in starting to use words that were longer than one syllable. He used, 'self-assured,' 'appreciate,' 'independence,' and 'insecure.'
4. Yesterday
- Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney (mainly Paul)
- Album: Help!
- What the song is about: There has been speculation that Paul wrote the song about his mother's death and how he wasn't able to express his grief at that point in his life. However, this has never been confirmed or denied by Paul.
- Fun Fact: Paul woke up with the tune for this song in his head, but he was worried that it was a song he had heard somewhere else. For about a month, he would ask people if they had heard the tune and sing, "scrambled eggs, oh you've got such lovely legs," instead of the opening line.
5. Eleanor Rigby
- Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney (mainly Paul)
- Album: Revolver
- What the song is about: The life of some woman named Eleanor Rigby. Paul came up with the storyline for this song by wondering who would pick up the rice from a wedding in a church. Yes, I'm serious.
- Fun Fact: Originally, Father McKenzie was going to be named Father McCartney; however, Paul didn't want people to think he was referring to his dad, so he looked in a phone book and chose the name Father McKenzie.
6. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
- Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney
- Album: Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- What the song is about: John's son, Julian, came home from school and showed his dad a picture he had drawn of a classmate named Lucy. When asked to explain the picture, Julian told his dad that Lucy was in the sky with diamonds and John liked how the phrase sounded.
- Fun Fact: It is not about LSD and if I have one more person try to convince me, I might explode. The lyrics were inspired by John's love for Lewis Carroll's books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass which is why they are so bizarre.
7. I am the Walrus
- Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney (mainly John)
- Album: Magical Mystery Tour
- What the song is about: John found out that there was a teacher who was having his students analyze various Beatles' songs as homework. So, John wrote a song full of nonsense. This song has no meaning because John felt like being a troll.
- Fun Fact: The song is comprised of three song ideas that John didn't know how to use or finish.
8. Hey Jude
- Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney (mainly Paul)
- Album: Single Release
- What the song is about: When John started canoodling with Yoko, it wasn't long until his wife, Cynthia filed for a divorce. Paul, who was very close with Julian Lennon, wrote this song to encourage and support him.
- Fun Fact: Julian Lennon didn't know that the song was about him until 1987 ('Hey Jude' was released in 1968) when he ran into Paul in New York. Julian has said that, "It's very strange to think that someone has written a song about you. It still touches me."
- Bonus Fun Fact: 'Hey Jude' was the most successful Beatles song ever with over 5 million copies sold within the first year of it's release alone.
9. Let It Be
- Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney (mainly Paul)
- Album: Let It Be
- What the song is about: Paul wrote this song in response to his feelings of despair when The Beatles were beginning to fall apart. Paul has said that, "I was really passing through my 'hour of darkness' and writing the song was my way of exorcising ghosts."
- Fun Fact: While many people speculate that the 'Mother Mary' mentioned in the song is the Virgin Mary, Paul has stated that it is actually his mother, whose name was Mary (however, he encourages fans to interpret it anyway they want).
Ringo Bonus: Octopus's Garden
- Written by: Ringo Starr (literally one of two songs Ringo wrote)
- Album: Abbey Road
- What the song is about: Ringo was inspired by learning about the life of octopi while on a family vacation.
- Fun Fact: Ringo said that he loved the idea of an octopus picking up rocks and shiny objects for his garden. How can you not love Ringo?
George Bonus: Here Comes the Sun
- Written by: George Harrison
- Album: Abbey Road
- What the song is about: The impending end of The Beatles was close when George wrote this song and the stress became too much for him. He went for a walk in a garden and was inspired by nature.
- Fun Fact: The garden George walked around in belonged to his close friend, Eric Clapton (if you don't know who Clapton is, educate yourself).
I don't love The Beatles because they were "the greatest band ever," I love The Beatles because they're relatable and straightforward with their lyrics (except for you, John. You're a troll and I love it).
