songs

Norwegian Wood (this bird has flown)

1965 Rubber soul -The song is about a girl and a Beatle, not a girl and a boy. It was sung to the strum of an acoustic guitar (homage to Bob Dylan). George Harrison plays the sitar for this song. The song leaves the listener to fill in the gaps about what happened (for example: the instrumental solo after "its time for bed"). This song is said to be about John's relationship with English journalist Maureen Cleave.

Yellow Submarine

1966 Revolver - simple words, simple chords, and numbingly simple refrain. -An ocarina, played by Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones performer play: • Winding a propeller and putting it into water • Scattering coins • A foghorn -final sing along at the end of the song. -mal evans and others in the studio made the marching sound in the end of the song. -Ringo played lead -The recording of this song was like a party in the studio filled with friends

Eleanor Rigby

1966 Revolver -transformation from pop-orientated act to a more experimental, studio-based band. -double string quartet arrangement by George Martin -lament of loneliness -juxtaposition. -montage--tells a story -"stabbing" violin sounds from Psycho

Paperback Writer

1966 single -hit #1 -was the last new song by the Beatles to be featured on their final tour -low frere jacques -Paul played a different bass, a Rickenbacker. -Then we boosted it further by using a loudspeaker as a microphone. We positioned it directly in front of the bass speaker and the moving diaphragm of the second speaker made the electric current.

Rain

1966 single first psychedellic pop song associated with LSD heavier bass sound vari-speeded and multi tracking vocals clash with guitars ringo: solo drumming noted for its slowed-down rhythm track and backwards vocals

Your mother should know

1967 Magical Mystery TOur -movie Magical Mystery Tour, -supporting an old-fashioned dance segment that starts with the Beatles coming down a grand staircase in white tuxedoes.

I Am the Walrus

1967 Magical Mystery Tour -It was also released as a single -Lennon, amused that a teacher was putting so much effort into understanding the Beatles' lyrics, wrote the most confusing lyrics he could. -the walrus is a reference to the walrus in Lewis Carrolls poem "the walrus and the carpenter"

With a little Help from My friends

1967 Sgt peppers -The song is partly in the form of a conversation, in which the other three Beatles sing a question - written for and sung by drummer Ringo Starr as the character "Billy Shears" -the cheering at the beginning taken from one of their concerts in the Hollywood Bowl

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite

1967 Sgt. Peppers -The inspiration to write the song was a 19th-century circus poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal, Rochdale--surreal. -One of the most musically complex songs on Sgt. Pepper--bridge changes to triple. -reminds the listener that the whole album is a show

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

1967 Sgt. Peppers -johns songs are imaginary elusive not real dream-like stories, he got the inspiration from his son Julian picture. -speculation arose that the first letter of each of the title nouns intentionally spelled LSD.[3] Although Lennon denied it, the BBC banned the song. -Leslie speaker

Fixing a Hole

1967 Sgt. peppers -Paul McCartney -This was the first time that the Beatles used a British studio other than Abbey Road for an EMI recording. -idea of spiritual and metal growth -marijuana. -song is very tricky and metaphorical

A day in the life

1967 Sgt.peppers -the Beatles got in trouble for their various drug references. -use of psychedelic effects etc. -sung by john and Paul. -surprises listeners by being the last song of the album (it was like it was sgt. pepper's encore)

Strawberry Fields Forever

1967 Single -inspired by Lennon's memories of playing in the garden of "Strawberry Field" -theme of nostalgia for their early years in Liverpool. -the songs also had strong surrealistic and psychedelic overtones

Magical Mystery Tour

1967 magical mystery tour -theme song for the album -explicit reference to drugs. -brass fanfare. Bass guitar and vocal overdubs -project was not as successful as past Beatles projects

Hello Goodbye

1967 single -topped the charts -The song features a coda which came spontaneously in the studio. -juxtaposition A side of the single

Penny Lane

1967 single -said to be written about the street lennon grew up on & where the boys would meet to practice. -about family memories.

all you need is love

1967 single -world message -performed by the Beatles in Our World program to represent the United Kingdom. -they include "She loves you" towards the end of the song

Dear Prudence

1968 White ALbum -The subject of the song is Prudence Farrow, who was present when the Beatles went to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. -piking guitar technique -paul plays the drums bcs Ringo temporarily left the Beatles.

Yer Blues

1968 White Album -Lennon wrote "Yer Blues" as a parody of British imitators of the blues -written while they were in Rishikesh, india -lennon was trying to write a blues song, yet turned into parody. -Lennon performed in the Rock and Roll Circus

Blackbird

1968 White Album -Paul was the sole singer of the song. -song consists of Only paul's vocals, tapping, acoustic guitar and birdsong overdub -racial tensions in the US

While my Guitar Gently weeps

1968 White Album -a song written by George Harrison with inspiration from reading the I Ching. (chines classical book) -concept that everything is relative to everything else. -Eric Clapton plays lead guitar

Hey Jude

1968 single -first single from the Beatles' record label Apple Records. -it was also the first Beatles' single to be issued in a company sleeve rather than a picture sleeve -song written by Paul for Julian Lennon

Revolution

1968 single -b side of hey jude -Another influence on Lennon was his burgeoning relationship with avant-garde artist Yoko Ono -John's response to the Vietnam War

Here Comes the Sun

1969 Abbey Road -is the study in brightness and lightness- two qualitities that had rarely been seen associated with Harrisons work. -folk-like tune with a synthesizer, wood winds and strings. -Written by George Harrison. -the song has a very long bridge

She came in through the bathroom window

1969 Abbey Road -written about fans who would hang around the homes of the Beatles -uses twelve string acoustic guitar -tambourine as well. -it has echoes like in "Lady Madonna"

Mean Mr. Mustard

1969 Abbey Road - song was written in India; -inspired by a newspaper story about a miser who concealed his cash wherever he could in order to prevent people from forcing him to spend it. -mentions "pam" from "Polythene Pam"

Her Majesty

1969 Abbey Road -appears 14 seconds after the song ends -very brief -Chord of "Mr. Mustard" -They put this at the end and didn't have the "hollywood" ending to the album

Something

1969 Abbey Road -classic love songs of the rock era a lot of famous people covered the song -written by george harrison. -george sing lead with paul on harmony vocals

The end

1969 Abbey Road -last song recorded collectively by all four Beatles. -all the beatles have a solo in this song. -this song was followed by 14 second of silence (people though it was the last song of the album)

Polythene Pam

1969 Abbey Road -liverpool accent -part of the medley -IT has the "yeah yeah yeah" of the earlier beatles

Come Together

1969 Abbey Road -opens the album, up-tempo blues in the style of Chuck Berry with a chugging rhythm guitar -opening line derived from one of Berry's car songs "You Can't Catch Me" -inspired by Timothy Leary's campaign slogan

You Never give me your money

1969 Abbey Road -opens the medley of side two of the album. -composed in the mist of the break up. -agressive blues rock style. -McCartney on piano -Inspired by the business tensions at the time with the Beatles

Sun King

1969 Abbey Road -second song on the medley -multi tracked vocal harmonies -faux mixing of romance languages((all gibberish-makes no sense)) -moog effects and crickets

Because

1969 Abbey Road -three-part harmony by George Martin represents the most intricate blend of their voices on recordd. -uses the harpsichord, -played through a leslie speaker -uses moog synthesizer. -Paul sings in Falsetto

Carry that weight

1969 Abbey Road -which is played and sung with immense power -grand finale -all 4 beatles sing on chorus

Golden Slumbers

1969 abbey Road -McCartney lead vocals -part of the medley w/ orchestra -based on the poem "Cradle Song", a lullaby by the dramatist Thomas Dekker. -It has very rough vocals

Dont let me down

1969 single -Written by Lennon as an anguished love song to Yoko Ono -genuine plea -lennons vocals on their way to screams -played this song in their rooftop concert

the ballad of John and Yoko

1969 single The song, chronicling the events surrounding Lennon's marriage to Yoko Ono, was the Beatles' 17th and final UK number one single The song was recorded without George Harrison (who was on holiday) and Ringo Starr (who was filming The Magic Christian). -had controversy over use of the words "christ" and "crucify"

Get Back

1970 Let it Be "the Beatles with Billy Preston." -closing track of let it be

Let it Be

1970 album -written and sang by paul mccartney -influence of phil spector; one version features the "more stinging" 4 January 1970 guitar solo, no backing vocals (except during the first chorus), -organ makes it sound gospel

Instant Karma!

1970 single Lennon Plastic Ono band Apple Records ranks as one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history was written, recorded and released within a period of ten days, Phil Spector finished the touches

God

Apple emi records 1970 In the first section, John Lennon describes God as "a concept by which we measure our pain". In the second, Lennon lists many idols that he does not believe in, ending by stating that he just believes in himself (individuality) and Yoko (his wife). The final section describes Lennon's change since the break-up of The Beatles. He states that he is no longer the "Dreamweaver" or "The Walrus", but just "John". The final line of the song, "The dream is over" represents Lennon's stance that the myth "the Beatles were God" had come to an end

Back in the USA

Chuck Berry 1959 "Back in the USA" was famously parodied by The Beatles with their song "Back in the U.S.S.R." from their self-titled 1968 album The Beatles

yesterday

Help! 1965 -This is the most covered pop song of all time. Paul McCartney wrote this song. He said the melody came to him one day in his dream and he was worried he had plagiarized someone else's work. One of the filler lyrics during the song writing process was "scrambled eggs". He is the only Beatle to play it; this was the first time a Beatle recorded without the others. A string quartet was brought to play on this.

Mother

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band 1970 -Lennon started taking therapy sessions with a known therapist who lived in LA. --he told that his unhappiness was due to his issues with his mother and father. -addressing his issues. -ringo plays the drums

We Can Work it Out

SINGLE 1965 -It was released as a "double A-sided" single with "Day Tripper". John and Paul divided the lead singing between the verse and the bridge of the tune. Paul started writing the song and then took it to John to finish it off. It is rumored the song was about Paul's relationship with Jane Asher. This was one of their first promotional music videos.

Day Tripper

SINGLE 1965 -It was released as a "double A-sided" single with "We Can Work It Out". Lennon's lyrics were his first over reference to LSD in a Beatles song. A short promotional film was made for this song.

Back in the USSR

The Beatles ( the White Album) 1968 -The title of the song is a tribute to Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A." while the chorus and background vocals pay homage to the Beach Boys' "California Girls" -song recorded without Ringo

Bad Dancer

Yoko Ono 2013 she's grown as an artist in the pop culture withe Beastie boys

Tomorrow Never Knows

album : Revolver 1966 -apart from bass and drums, consists entirely of electronic effects. -based on the Tibetian book of the Dead -surrealism like seen in Salvador Dali's paintings. -the vocals were put through a Leslie speaker -uses flanging effect on instruments. -The song was based on the book "A Psychedelic Experience"

Another Girl

album: 1965 Help! -With an up-tempo swing-beat -the song opens with a short refrain, powered by block vocal harmoniesmode chord changes the group currently favored. -the song is directed to the singer's girlfriend who is advised the singer has found "another girl." -Paul wrote the song while on Holiday in Tunisia

You've got to hide your love away

album: HELP! 1965 -Lennon's vocal style was inspired by the American singer Bob Dylan. Lennon wrote the song at home during what he called his "Dylan period" -The song is in a folkish strophic form and uses a Dylanesque acoustic guitar figure in compound time, chiefly acoustic accompaniment, no backing voices and light percussion from brushed snare, tambourine and maraca. -First time the Beatles had outsiders play on their record (session musicians played the flute)

You're going to lose that girl

album: HELP! 1966 -Lennon's lead singing is set in a call-and-response with the enthusiastic answering harmonies of McCartney and George Harrison, and Ringo Starr -added bongos, the addition of Latin-American percussion being another way the Beatles often exploited their new-found access to four-track recording. -motown flavor in the rhythm and backup singing -It has a notable key change during the bridge

Help!

album: Help! 1965 -flat bluesy melody not a love song in the conventional sense - four track overdub -song written for the movie. -often seen as a REAL cry for help by John Lennon -In stereo mix of the song, John rushes through the words"changed my mind" but he enunciated each word clearly in the MONO version

Ticket to Ride

album: Help! 1965 -it went immediately to #1 in Britain but not in America it took awhile -the song features a coda with a different tempo that extends the song's length past three minutes. -the girl is "riding out of his life" -riding was slang for sex. -filmed a music video -The song appeared in the movie in the scene where all 4 boys are skiing

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

album: Sgt.Pepper's (1967) -appears twice on the album: opening and reprise -song introduces the fictional band. -song opens to the sound of a chattering audience, and an orchestra tuning up -the Beatles assuming an alter-ego

Give Peace A chance

single 1969 John Lennon/plastic Ono Band apple records first solo single issued by Lennon, released when he was still a member of the Beatles, and became an anthem of the American anti-war movement during the 1970s. It peaked at number 14 on the Billboard -released as single while John was still in the Beatles

California Girls

the beach boys 1965 The song has been prominently referenced by other artists on more than one occasion. Most notably, the Beatles' "Back in the U.S.S.R." is considered a homage to the song

Mr. Tambourine Man

written Bob Dylan 1965 The Byrds band The term "folk rock" was, in fact, first coined by the U.S. music press to describe the band's sound in mid-1965, at around the same time that the "Mr. Tambourine Man -The byres were inspired by the folk-influences present in the Beatles songwritting and by Harrison's 12 string guitar jangle